PowerPoint
First Corinthians 10:16-17
Originally scheduled for June 7
Those who spend their days within office walls
are undoubtedly familiar with a product known as Microsoft
PowerPoint. Its purpose is to provide an easy way to make a
presentation to other people with the best possible introduction for
your ideas. It is composed of two general items:
·
The bulk of the presentation is given
in an outline format. The idea is that you will catch the main
bullets from the slide on the screen, which is then explained by the
presenter in his talk. He may also hand you other reference
materials for further reading. The primary idea, however, is that
you understand his thesis by seeing it outlined in big, bold
letters. This technique is most successful when it is short and to
the point.
·
Accompanying these outlines are
various graphics, which illustrate the point being made. For
example, if the speaker is trying to present to you an idea which he
thinks will be overwhelmingly successful, he might present a picture
of someone hitting a homerun. The illustration must be something
which is easy to connect to the outline, and serve as an aid to your
memory of the presentation.
The objectives of a PowerPoint presentation are
simple: that you will understand what the presenter wanted you to
know, and that you will remember it.
In today’s Scripture we come upon an argument
that Paul is making concerning meat sacrificed to idols. It’s a
problem that hasn’t bothered Christians for about 1500 years, so we
will spend no great time on it. But in the middle of that
presentation he makes a point worth noting today. Please remember
that in his time communion would be taken with a common cup, shared
by everyone, and a common loaf of bread. (This method is still used
in many churches today.) Paul uses that common nature to make his
point. Partaking from the same cup implies that we are sharing in
the blood of Christ. Partaking from the same loaf, that we are
sharing from the body of Christ. You are what you eat; you are
therefore the body of Christ. The loaf, the cup are pictures of the
body and blood of Christ. Since he is one, and wants us to be one as
He and the Father are one, we are to be one body of Christ
This is stronger than you suspect. Listen to
Paul’s letter to the Ephesians:
By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight
into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made
known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy
apostles and prophets in the Spirit; to be specific, that the
Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow
partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel,
(Ephesians 3:4-6 NASB)
The mystery Paul refers to here is not that the
Gentiles will be saved; the Jews knew that from the Old Testament.
The mystery is that they will become one and the same with the Jews
— one body. When you partake of communion, you proclaim Christ’s
desire that we are all one, joint heirs with Jesus. Thus the
Christian should be wary of belonging to a faction in his church,
for Christ desires us to be one.
How do we achieve this? We must deliberately
lay aside divisions in the church. More than that, we must practice
forgiveness of each other, followed by reconciliation. We are to be
God’s family; not his Civil War. So, as you partake today, examine
yourself and see if there is anyone with whom you are at odds in the
church. Practice forgiveness, work at reconciliation. Be one body!
