Reverence

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I've been thinking a lot about this lately, for a number of reasons. The idea of reverence has become a foreign idea to most of society, in a time and culture where such sacred things as marriage and the marriage bed are now mocked and desecrated, our generation knows very little about the concept of truly revering someone or some thing.

One thing that has brought this to the forefront of my mine is some new and different perceptions and practices I've encountered regarding the Lord's Supper. For many decades now, most Protestant churches have practiced communion in generally a similar manner: a plate is passed around holding a bunch of little cups of grape juice, and a plate with pieces of cracker, and each member individually takes one, and following the reading of Paul's narration of the Last Supper, those elements are consumed in a solemn manner, after that reminder of Christ's sacrifice and the gravity of what He did for us on the cross, along with the hope of His return. Other denominations have some variations, but the key thing they all have in common is that they are done with reverence, with an emphasis on the weight of what Jesus asked us to do - to remember His loving and infinitely physically and spiritually painful sacrificial atonement for our sins.

And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, “Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.” After the same manner also, he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, “This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh condemnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. (1 Cor 11:24-29)

Clearly this is no matter to take lightly. The sins of the world were heaped upon Jesus, and He took the punishment for us, and that we must remember lest we be guilty of "eating and drinking unworthily". Some have said that communion is a celebration, and we should no longer look to the past but with thanks look to the future and His return when we partake of the Lord's Supper. This, along with a very prevalent movement towards an informality both in church and in our relationship with God, have unfortunately taken the practicing of communion in some fellowships to a mere side-line afterthought. To clarify, the issue of creating a man-made stigma of God as being an unapproachable, stern Deity were a real problem, it was one of the original issues about which the Reformers confronted the Catholic church. But in further avoiding it, the pendulum has swung the opposite direction for many. There are many churches which do not do communion every Sunday, despite the admonition in Corinthians to do so "as oft as ye drink it." Other churches have become very informal about communion, such that it has no gravity at all to it, and it loses it's meaning, particularly to the young people, without the reminder and explanation of the depth of the symbolism behind the elements. Our God is an awesome, incredible God, and even while He is our closest Friend, He is our Father, Savior, and the Master of the universe too! It's an incredible thought. We owe Him our reverence, and we must humble ourselves before Him.

So what can we glean regarding how this relates to one day being a husband and father? One thing I've observed which I like very much in communion is the idea of having each father lead his own family in the explanation and partaking of communion, rather than doing it as a church. It coincides with God's intended model within the family. In God's design, He has created the church's relationship with Him as a parallel to our relationships within the family unit. As such, Ephesians 5:23 tells us that the husband is the representative of Christ to his family, the things that a husband and father do and say to his wife and is children teach them about the nature of God, whether it is knowingly or not. Granted, as men, we are VERY fallible, and still very prone to making mistakes and sinning, but that is why we must strive for Christ-likeness all the more. We are not perfect, but our children have to see that we are striving after the things of God, and striving to become more like Him, the perfect Father. Christ humbled himself in coming to earth on His sacrificial mission, and we as men must humble ourselves before Him. In following with this example, we must teach our children the same kind of humbleness, how to obey and respect their earthly father, so that they will know how to obey and be humble before their Heavenly Father. The correlation between how children treat their parents and how they will treat God is very distinct here. God gives very clear and direct instructions for such, and that is why - the family model is a parallel of our relationship with God.

And so I pray that I may continually take on the image of Christ, that I may be His representative to my wife and my children, and lead them in every manner, with reverence before our Awesome Creator, towards a closer relationship with Him.