Notes from Norman

JUSTIFICATION AND THE LORD'S SUPPER

There is both a blessing and a threat in our regular observance of the Lord’s Supper.

It’s a threat when it is mechanically repeated. If it becomes mundane, routine, and meaningless, it is a threat to our spiritual development. It’s a blessing when we understand what it celebrates.

I want to ask you to think about the meaning of a five-syllable word. That’s risky because you lose some of us when you use long words. Preachers and theologians love to work them into their presentations. We enjoy using terms like “atonement,” “regeneration,” “glorification,” “sanctification,” and one of my personal favorites – “propitiation.” These are all good terms, and full of meaning, but they don’t mean a thing to person who reads nothing any deeper than the sports section of the newspaper.

My word for the day is “Justification.” Justification is a legal term It’describes what happens in a court of law. If a person is accused of committing a crime, the court convenes to see if the accused is justified. But nobody is really just. About the best our courts can do is to declare a defendant, “not guilty.” In God’s presence we can’t even do that. According to scripture we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory God (Roman 3:23).

But through God’s grace, we are allowed to be treated as if we are actually just. That can only happen because Jesus died for us. These are the very next after the one that convicts all of us, offers this good news. We “…are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Here’s the really good news. We’re not just, but we are treated as if we are. What does that have to do with the Lord’s Supper? No unjust person is allowed to dine with God. We are not just, but God sees us as justified through the blood of his son. The Lord’s Supper reminds us that we get to dine with the Lord at his table.

posted by Norman @ 6:56 PM