To Become Eucharist

June 17, 2014

To Become Eucharist

“But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.””

Luke 10:41-42

I have loved this little episode because I always thought of myself as being just like Mary, sitting at the feet of Jesus. But the truth is, I am way more like Martha: too worried and upset over the details of life. It is actually pretty easy to deceive ourselves. My friend Dick was sharing with me at lunch the other day his plans for a sermon about all the lies people tell at church. He said often he feels the conviction of the Spirit as he is singing the praise songs in worship. Do we really mean it when we sing? This is the air I breathe Your holy presence living in me, And I I'm desperate for you, And I I'm lost without you, or, Every move I make, I make in You, You make me move, Jesus, Every breath I take I breathe in You, Every step I take, I take in You, You are my way, Jesus, or, He's the air that I breathe, The water I thirst for, And the ground beneath my feet, He's everything, everything to me.

At some level we want to mean what we sing. However, if we took the time to truly process what we are saying, I suspect we would shudder at the disconnection between what we are saying, and how we actually live our lives. But we are not to despair. Notice my friend Dick didn’t say he was feeling condemnation when he became aware of his own disconnect. His experience was one of conviction, the work of the Holy Spirit leading us into all truth.

I am trying to be more intentional about monitoring my outward actions and words, as well as my inner thoughts and feelings, to measure them with the person I want to be, sitting at the feet of Jesus. The word Eucharist is helping me in my quest. This word is translated “Thanksgiving” in protestant liturgy used in services of Holy Communion. It is because of all that God has done in Christ as represented in the sacrament of Holy Communion that we can dare to sing those powerful words of praise, Your holy presence living in me, Every breath I take I breathe in You, He's everything, everything to me. I believe it is God’s ambition for us to become Eucharist, living lives of joyful gratitude. As a living Eucharist I cannot save anyone, but I can reveal Jesus in my mortal flesh. I want to do just that!

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.