Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Today Our Daily Bread 1 Cor 11 & 2 Cor 2:14

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

1 Corinthians 11
1 And you should follow my example, just as I follow Christ's.

Instructions for Public Worship
2I am so glad, dear friends, that you always keep me in your thoughts and you are following the Christian teaching I passed on to you. 3But there is one thing I want you to know: A man is responsible to Christ, a woman is responsible to her husband, and Christ is responsible to God. 4A man dishonors Christ[a] if he covers his head while praying or prophesying. 5But a woman dishonors her husband[b] if she prays or prophesies without a covering on her head, for this is the same as shaving her head. 6Yes, if she refuses to wear a head covering, she should cut off all her hair. And since it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut or her head shaved, then she should wear a covering.[c] 7A man should not wear anything on his head when worshiping, for man is God's glory, made in God's own image, but woman is the glory of man. 8For the first man didn't come from woman, but the first woman came from man. 9And man was not made for woman's benefit, but woman was made for man. 10So a woman should wear a covering on her head as a sign of authority because the angels are watching.
11But in relationships among the Lord's people, women are not independent of men, and men are not independent of women. 12For although the first woman came from man, all men have been born from women ever since, and everything comes from God.
13What do you think about this? Is it right for a woman to pray to God in public without covering her head? 14Isn't it obvious that it's disgraceful for a man to have long hair? 15And isn't it obvious that long hair is a woman's pride and joy? For it has been given to her as a covering. 16But if anyone wants to argue about this, all I can say is that we have no other custom than this, and all the churches of God feel the same way about it.

Order at the Lords Supper
17But now when I mention this next issue, I cannot praise you. For it sounds as if more harm than good is done when you meet together. 18First of all, I hear that there are divisions among you when you meet as a church, and to some extent I believe it. 19But, of course, there must be divisions among you so that those of you who are right will be recognized!
20It's not the Lord's Supper you are concerned about when you come together. 21For I am told that some of you hurry to eat your own meal without sharing with others. As a result, some go hungry while others get drunk. 22What? Is this really true? Don't you have your own homes for eating and drinking? Or do you really want to disgrace the church of God and shame the poor? What am I supposed to say about these things? Do you want me to praise you? Well, I certainly do not!
23For this is what the Lord himself said, and I pass it on to you just as I received it. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took a loaf of bread, 24and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is given[d] for you. Do this in remembrance of me." 25In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant between God and you, sealed by the shedding of my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it." 26For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord's death until he comes again.
27So if anyone eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily, that person is guilty of sinning against the body and the blood of the Lord. 28That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking from the cup. 29For if you eat the bread or drink the cup unworthily, not honoring the body of Christ,[e] you are eating and drinking God's judgment upon yourself. 30That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died.
31But if we examine ourselves, we will not be examined by God and judged in this way. 32But when we are judged and disciplined by the Lord, we will not be condemned with the world. 33So, dear brothers and sisters,[f] when you gather for the Lord's Supper, wait for each other. 34If you are really hungry, eat at home so you won't bring judgment upon yourselves when you meet together.
I'll give you instructions about the other matters after I arrive.
~Lena’s Journalin~
“Follow me as I follow Christ!” Oh that we would look for this in one another and then lay down our pride enough to do this. It is an independent spirit and pride which led to rebellion, that tries to prevents us from following after anyone. Then there’s also a religious stigma that has lied to us and has said men are all hypocritical anyway, so I’m not following a one of them! (as though we ourselves are perfected as of late) We who judge, should be careful lest we fall into our own sin as life and God prove our own weaknesses and the power of our own words meant to be examples or made examples of. The point is not that I am perfect, but that I am being perfected, that I follow Christ and not my own flesh natured desires. Yes I may stumble and fall, but Christ is greater and has provided for my mistakes as I remain His follower, I gain His great grace to wash and cleanse me from sin and to keep me on the pathway of life. Christians are not yet perfect, but are being perfected and know who to follow and who to go to where help is needed, when grief attacks, when sorrow tries to take rule, when stress and strife make their place, etc.
There are great responsibilities in following Christ, namely that another will also follow you! I always see that word as my ability to respond to God’s call for leadership. Response- ability. What helps or prevents me from responding to what God has called each one of us to do? Do I react and rebel or do I respond?
Ever heard the phrase, “in who’s name have you come?” The person being asked was obviously a representative of the person who sent them, and even in the NT Jesus stated that we can use His name. Well if a person had a bank account and they were wealthy and they said, you can use my name, wouldn’t you be so inclined to do so? You’ve been covered, you’ve been vested, you’ve been given power, and author-ity. You are not just – Lena Barnes alone, you are a representative of a wealthy person who gave you their name to use and who gave you a seat in a place of honor or it could even be someone who messed up a whole lot of things for you because of association by reputation!
God did not call any of mankind do dwell alone with no advisors, no representation, no accountability, no partnering no strength. We can take this scripture as a whole and look at it as God sees it, we can rise above what appears by our own worldly traditions and see that Our Lord did not desire mankind to be without Him (man has the Lord as his cover),nor without one another (woman has her covering). Have you ever watched a Western show and there’s a shoot out, one enemy against another and the guy says to his buddy- “Gotcha covered”?
This passage is more saying it could be very uncomfortable, even shameful to not be “covered” in life, than it is saying (legalistically speaking) you should not cut your hair.
In their day, it probably would feel awful and tremendously exposing to be shaven as a woman, and quite possibly it was a sign of someone who has sinned and was being publicly shamed. For the people of this day, Paul used this as an expression of his point. Jesus came to teach us how to make a show of His and our enemies, not a show of us, as our enemy would so love to do.
What is the way of “covering”, protection, strength to overcome in any battle and grace? How? Through authority given by God, submitting one to God’s will and plans through advisors, through accountability and most of all humility, which will take the advise of another and actually do it, rather than resist it and disregard it as though nothing at all was said.
More than even talking out the actual logistics of taking communion, Paul is speaking about division and its awful plight against brethren, the church and God. Think about it, Division is what the original sin did. It is the very spirit of satan. Satan wants to work in God’s houses and Paul is saying, look he even tries it in the midst of a holy and God thing, in the very act of remembrance of our Lord! Paul outlines a few guidelines to follow. Guidelines actually help eliminate the spirit of division, because they help define what unity looks like so one can follow after it. The main point though is to become aware of where satan devises to divide each of us as individuals who are or could become a part of a huge body of believers who become unified under the same name, under the same purpose, under the same Lord who cleansed us from all of our weaknesses and who forgave us our sins. This is the Lord Jesus who died a gruesome death and took blows to heal us from symptoms dissentions! Paul takes the very powerful act of obedience and shows how in our obedient action the devil could come right in and try to steal way our unity. The point is to stay aware and to guard our faith as though it is a priceless pearl, guard our brethren and their faith as though it is a room of gold bars, and represent Christ as though he means everything to you.
This is a covenant meal- Your life becomes my Life, Your name- my name, your home my home, your weapons my weapons, your enemies and foes- my enemies and foes! Some of God’s enemies are strife, division, hatred, rebellion, loneliness, etc. Communion is a time to say to God, Your enemies are my enemies also and I will love instead of fighting Your people, I will submit myself to you and to those You’ve set me under to follow. I’ll do it by faith and trust and reliance on You and in obedience to You, which is an act of defiance to Your enemies! I’ll allow you to fight for me, rather than me fighting for You, I’ll do this by my acts of obedience which are expressions of love to You and to others. The communion table is the place of evaluation, which is why He says- as OFTEN as you do this….He’d desire we get to and stay at that place of evaluation and surrender, OFTEN!

Footnotes:
a.
1 Corinthians 11:4 Greek his head.
b.
1 Corinthians 11:5 Greek her head.
c.
1 Corinthians 11:6 Or then she should have long hair.
d.
1 Corinthians 11:24 Some manuscripts read broken.
e.
1 Corinthians 11:29 Greek the body; some manuscripts read the Lord's body.
f.
1 Corinthians 11:33 Greek brothers.

(daily repetitive verse)
2 Corinthians 2:14
Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.