Wednesday, August 31, 2011
The loaf and the cup
On my work desk today there are two everyday items: a loaf of Vienna white bread and a container of rich red grape juice. I bought them from a shop as I walked to work and doubtless the ones next to them will soon be put to everyday use.
Later today this loaf and juice will be used in a college communion service that I am assigned to lead.
There they will remain bread and grape juice (no accidental substance change here!).
However, their use will change. Hopefully they will provide pre-lunch refreshment (as we use prodigal portions not puny Presbyterian ones). They will also be presented as symbols of grace.
The loaf reminding us of the body of Jesus. Real incarnate flesh with muscles and sinews and sweat dripping from his brow. (No docetic deceit here.)
The grape juice (sorry folks, no wine in Oz land) reminding us of the blood of Jesus. Real blood, rich in red blood cells, iron and such like, pumping through his heart to blood vessels, tissues and organs. (Wonder what blood group he was?)
The loaf and the juice, the body and the blood. Reminders of the grace that led the Father to send the Son to make atonement for my sins and those of the world. Symbols of the grace that saves and enables people like to reconnect to God, start recovering creational identity, escape sin’s dread hold and to live now in anticipation and hope of resurrection to eternal life.
The loaf and the cup certainly should not be idolised (and our low church order will keep us well away from that). But nor should they be despised or neglected as some are in the habit of doing.
So, as I later break the loaf and pour the cup it will be my prayer that they lift minds and hearts to eternal things as Christ is present in his sacrament by his Spirit. And then, having been thus lifted, we go back to the everyday world of bread and juice and there live worthy of the body and the blood.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Cup of coffee?
I like coffee and in fact I’m drinking a cup as I start writing this.
However, it seems that not all cups of coffee are equal.
In my early adult life instant coffee was all the rage: cheap, accessible, instant and tasty enough. Sure, there were brands that were more or less tasty (cup of International Golden Roast anyone?). However, instant coffee made its mark and was everywhere.
More and more coffee-making devices came along. When I was married in 1972 we were given a percolator that came out for special occasions (and very fancy it was too!). Then came drip-filter machines and the plunger era. More recently, fancy coffee makers have moved from cafes to homes and every dad is a barista. Old technology comes back too: my wife and I recently bought a cheap old-fashioned Italian stove-top device that makes a great cup.
The same upgrade has applied to the ingredients. Good commercial ground coffees are eschewed. We want fresh beans from the best source to process in our home grinder just before brew time.
All this is welcome and I’ll put my hand up as one who likes a decent cuppa. And again, why not pursue excellence in coffee making and enjoy the best that God’s creation offers?
However, something less welcome happened alongside the upgrades. Attitudes also changed. Its now common that instant is regarded as beneath contempt and some skip their cuppa if that’s all that is on offer. A plunger is barely acceptable and we go to great lengths and expense to get the genuine article. This sounds like a coffee snobbery and is found in surprising places. Is coffee-sophistication a new badge of Christian orthodoxy alongside having the latest book from the current guru?
Are we missing something?
What about the grace of contentment with God’s provision, even if its poor instant coffee (Phil 4:12)?
Is our disdain for poor coffee and longing for the best becoming the greed that is idolatry (Col 3:5)?
Is our search for coffee satisfaction an example of the hebel of Ecclesiastes (Eccles 2:1)?
Can we imagine a coffee snobbery in the one who had nowhere to lay his head (let along his coffee machine) and who calls us to deny self in following him (Mat 8:20; Matt 16:24)?
Do we fail to love our neighbour in poor coffee-growing lands by demanding great beans at cheap prices rather than buy through a fair trade organisation?
Hmm … maybe it’s time to brew a cuppa and think about these things.
However, it seems that not all cups of coffee are equal.
In my early adult life instant coffee was all the rage: cheap, accessible, instant and tasty enough. Sure, there were brands that were more or less tasty (cup of International Golden Roast anyone?). However, instant coffee made its mark and was everywhere.
More and more coffee-making devices came along. When I was married in 1972 we were given a percolator that came out for special occasions (and very fancy it was too!). Then came drip-filter machines and the plunger era. More recently, fancy coffee makers have moved from cafes to homes and every dad is a barista. Old technology comes back too: my wife and I recently bought a cheap old-fashioned Italian stove-top device that makes a great cup.
The same upgrade has applied to the ingredients. Good commercial ground coffees are eschewed. We want fresh beans from the best source to process in our home grinder just before brew time.
All this is welcome and I’ll put my hand up as one who likes a decent cuppa. And again, why not pursue excellence in coffee making and enjoy the best that God’s creation offers?
However, something less welcome happened alongside the upgrades. Attitudes also changed. Its now common that instant is regarded as beneath contempt and some skip their cuppa if that’s all that is on offer. A plunger is barely acceptable and we go to great lengths and expense to get the genuine article. This sounds like a coffee snobbery and is found in surprising places. Is coffee-sophistication a new badge of Christian orthodoxy alongside having the latest book from the current guru?
Are we missing something?
What about the grace of contentment with God’s provision, even if its poor instant coffee (Phil 4:12)?
Is our disdain for poor coffee and longing for the best becoming the greed that is idolatry (Col 3:5)?
Is our search for coffee satisfaction an example of the hebel of Ecclesiastes (Eccles 2:1)?
Can we imagine a coffee snobbery in the one who had nowhere to lay his head (let along his coffee machine) and who calls us to deny self in following him (Mat 8:20; Matt 16:24)?
Do we fail to love our neighbour in poor coffee-growing lands by demanding great beans at cheap prices rather than buy through a fair trade organisation?
Hmm … maybe it’s time to brew a cuppa and think about these things.
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