Attention: I have a question

Willy said:

Even the tolerant and the intolerant are welcome. I'm not sure why the Muslim, Jew, Hindu, or Atheist would want to sit at the table. But I suppose if they wanted to, they'd be welcome, too. Can you see Jesus at the Last Supper sharing the bread and wine of the Passover meal saying: Alright, you can eat this bread and drink this wine if you really, really, really, really believe that this bread and wine ontologically are me. If you don't really, really, really believe this, then step outside, because my death is not for you. This meal is all about having the "right" understanding of what is happening. You all are familiar with Greek concepts, so we want you to have the Greek Platonic understanding of reality. Bread is a substance, you know, that has an essence that can be gotten at only through right understanding. Got all this folks? Now if you do, eat and drink. If not, then wait until you got it all figured out. There will be some people who will appear in church history who will have it all figured out. They'll help you. They'll keep you from syncretism." Thanks goodness he said, "Eat this; it's my body. Drink this; it's my blood. Participating in this is participating in the very thing that I'm doing on the cross." Paul put it this way: "when you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." It's all about his death (a theology of the cross). It's all about his coming (a foretaste of the feast to come).

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Willy said:

Even those who are so bold to know what God thinks and even those who call others names are welcome. Although those who do truly discern the body as they take the Lord's Supper will probably want to leave behind their disregard for the well being of others and the community. It's part of the repentance that the meal of Jesus' self-giving engenders. AFter all, that is what Paul was getting at when he urged those early Christians to discern the body when they were celebrating the Lord's Supper. Some folks were disregarding the needs of others when they were coming together to celebrate the Agape meal. They were only concerned about themselves.

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Willy said:

I never claimed that I know what God thinks. The older I get the more mysterious the reality of God is to me. The Christian claim is that in Jesus we see and experience how God is and what God does. The Bible bears witness to him. It doesn't tell us what God thinks. It bears witness to God. It is transparent to God. That's why it is so important that it be read and preached upon, not obsessed over. The recent violence over the flushing of the Koran down the toilet demonstrates what some folks will do when they become obsessed with holy books, and not the holy God. In the word we experience the Word made flesh who reveals to us the heart of God. But you know what ? Even those who don't get this are welcome to the table.

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Willy said:

I never claimed that I know what God thinks. The older I get the more mysterious the reality of God is to me. The Christian claim is that in Jesus we see and experience how God is and what God does. The Bible bears witness to him. It doesn't tell us what God thinks. It bears witness to God. It is transparent to God. That's why it is so important that it be read and preached upon, not obsessed over. The recent violence over the flushing of the Koran down the toilet demonstrates what some folks will do when they become obsessed with holy books, and not the holy God. In the word we experience the Word made flesh who reveals to us the heart of God. But you know what ? Even those who don't get this are welcome to the table.

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Willy said:

The recent violence over the flushing of the Koran down the toilet demonstrates what some folks will do when they become obsessed with holy books, and not the holy God.

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ChiRho said:

How do you know that it is right to welcome anyone to the table?

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Willy said:

I never claimed that I know what God thinks. The older I get the more mysterious the reality of God is to me. The Christian claim is that in Jesus we see and experience how God is and what God does. The Bible bears witness to him. It doesn't tell us what God thinks. It bears witness to God. It is transparent to God. That's why it is so important that it be read and preached upon, not obsessed over. The recent violence over the flushing of the Koran down the toilet demonstrates what some folks will do when they become obsessed with holy books, and not the holy God. In the word we experience the Word made flesh who reveals to us the heart of God. But you know what ? Even those who don't get this are welcome to the table.

Click to expand...