Scarcity Lies

He does this multiple places in the Bible. But here at the Lord's Supper, we typically think the Lord's Supper is a foreshadow of the death of Jesus, but it's so much more than that. Because here in this moment, Jesus is using tangible offerings and imagery to explain to them not just that he will die, but why he is offering his life. He's the bread. He's God's provision. God made a covenant, a promise that he would provide for his people, and here Jesus is proving that God once again is willingly offering up the provision we need in order to take us sinful, broken, selfish people and rescue us from the the consequence and the fallout of our own sinful choices. [00:56:09] (55 seconds)  #JesusIsBread

Jesus was the grain offering come to life and the peace offering. And Jesus invited all the apostles around that table, and that's a motley crew, but he didn't leave anybody out. He even included the one who would betray him. His death was a peace offering bringing together all the different broken people of the world into a relationship with God. See, when Jesus was offering himself up, he did not provide just enough to save. He provided enough to save us all and bring us to the table with God. [00:57:05] (55 seconds)  #PeaceOfferingForAll

And that's why we've been teaching through this series the last several weeks. We started last week today. We're gonna be in it for a while. We're in the series Holy Smokes, where we're studying through the book of Leviticus because Leviticus was God's sunscreen that he provided to the Israelites. That if if they lived in accordance with his commands, then they would be able to live in the powerful warmth of his presence without getting burned. The sacrifices were never about payment. They were pathways into relationship with God. He was using each of these sacrifices to teach this group of people how to let go of the bondage of the past, how to let go of the life consumed with not enough, and instead rely and trust in God. [00:28:30] (40 seconds)  #LeviticusSunscreen

It was an offering of remembrance, which is why I think it was so important for God to have the inclusion of frankincense, of incense, because God created our bodies for our olfactory sense, our sense of smell to trigger the most powerful memory recall of any sense that we have. And so if God is having them every time they offer up this grain offering, and he's firing not only their eyes and their smell and and the sounds of worship, he's using all these different senses to remind them again and again and again and ingrain more and more deeply into their minds and their hearts this important message that God has provided before, and he will provide again. [00:45:07] (49 seconds)  #SensesTriggerMemory

The Lord's Supper, communion, it's a memorial offering, an offering of remembrance to remind us regardless of our circumstance and the challenges that we may face that God has provided before, that he has sustained before, that he has chosen before, that he has loved before, and he will do it again and again and again and again and again. [00:58:54] (38 seconds)  #CommunionRemembrance

Because communion is not just some church ritual. It's not just some tradition. It's an offering of remembrance, a memorial offering that should to give us a moment to stop and say, God, even when it's not enough, even when it's not enough money, even when it's not enough strength, even when it's not enough hope, even when it's not enough peace, I know you have provided before. You're providing now, and you will provide again. [01:00:05] (34 seconds)  #RememberGodProvides

Jesus did not wait until those around the table had it together to invite them. He invited Thomas the doubter, Peter the denier, and even Judas the betrayer, which tells us something very important about the heart of our God. Jesus doesn't wait for perfect people. He gathers messy people. He invites broken people like me and like you. He pulls up a chair, and he says, come close. I got you. There's enough. [01:05:06] (51 seconds)  #JesusInvitesMessyPeople

But that peace doesn't start with agreement. It begins with proximity. God is bringing people together. He's saying, sit down. Eat together. Figure out how to live with one another. These two offerings are so important. They're so powerful to understand because the grain offering makes us pay attention and recognize God's provision, and the peace offering teaches us to share God's provision with others. [00:53:55] (31 seconds)  #PeaceBeginsWithProximity

And that peace, that unity, it didn't start with arguments. It began with presence. It's hard to keep someone as an enemy when you keep sitting across the same table from them. God is bringing together different people from the Israelite family, the Israelite nation, bringing them together at the peace offering. He's not just restoring an individual. He's rebuilding community. [00:53:19] (36 seconds)  #PresenceRebuildsCommunity

That's a bunch of meat. So when God says you got one to three days, either you are going to eat so much food, you will perish, or you're expected to share it. That this generosity, this gratitude in God isn't meant to be hoarded, but it's meant to help and sustain and provide and bring together other people. That's the imagery here that God gets a peace. The church, the priests get a peace. The people get a peace. God is showing how he's bringing unity. He's creating peace by bringing all of these different people, included, to the same table. [00:50:34] (35 seconds)  #GenerosityNotHoarding

But Jewish tradition tells us that with the peace offering, instead of confessing sin, you celebrated your gratitude. You sang songs of praise. You thanked God for his provision in your life. Another key difference was that not all of the peace offering was burned up. You know, I noticed in there the long lobe of the liver and the kidneys and all that stuff. They were doing different things with them. A portion was burned up on the altar. With the burnt offering, the entire animal went on the altar. Everything was burned up. It all belonged to God. But with the peace offering, a portion's given to God. A portion is given to the priests, to the church, and then a portion is given back to the worshiper and the people that came with them. [00:49:20] (42 seconds)  #PeaceOfferingPortions

Both of these offerings are given willingly. They're I want to offerings. They're not mandatory. This is something that the people gave. And God uses these two sacrifices to teach the nation of Israel something radical. God is teaching them, I am the source. And when I provide, there's enough, even enough to share. [00:30:17] (23 seconds)  #GodIsTheSource

And they didn't wanna share it. And so God is using this grain offering to try and teach them with something so precious. God is asking for them to bring back their bread, a part of their bread to him, not because God's hungry, but because he's trying to teach them. He's trying to teach them that none of it was theirs to begin with. That God is the source. That he is the provider. That everything they have, everything I have, everything you have, it comes from God. [00:38:15] (30 seconds)  #EverythingFromGod

They didn't wanna share any of this with everybody. They didn't think they had enough. But here's the interesting thing to know. Why'd they have bread in the first place? Because God rained it from the sky. And we read in in in Exodus that that God sent every morning. He dropped manna from heaven. They'd come outside, and there'd be, like, this wafer y stuff on the ground. They named him manna. They'd use that to cook up and serve him their different food and all these things. The bread that they were so afraid to give up wasn't theirs to begin with. It was something that God had given them. God had shared his bread with them. [00:35:13] (35 seconds)  #MannaFromHeaven

It's not about flavor. The whole idea is that you are supposed to be God's physical representatives, the embodiment of his commitment to humanity, that the way that we live should be symbolically sealing people into relationship, into deep bond with God. [00:41:43] (19 seconds)  #BeGodsRepresentation

And God's presence, like we talked about last week, man, God's presence, it is powerful. It is warm. It is restorative. It is life giving, but it is also overwhelmingly powerful. Just like the sun is beautiful and wonderful, and it's come back out, and some of that snow's melting off, everything's wonderful right now, but you spend too long outside in that sun without any protection, what's gonna happen? You're gonna get burned. And God's presence, his undistilled, his unfiltered presence is dangerous to selfish, sinful, imperfect humanity. And so God had to give us sunscreen. [00:27:51] (39 seconds)  #GodsPresenceIsPowerful

There's clearly more french fries that exist within this restaurant. There's more fries that are available. Instead of me being frustrated and stupid, I could've just ordered myself two things of french fries so that there would've been enough. But instead, I get angry sharing something that I think is mine. But whenever those french fries hit my plate, in my mind, they go from being available to only being mine, and I don't wanna share them. [00:37:33] (24 seconds)  #StopHoardingShare

It was called a drink offering. It was a portion of wine that they were instructed to completely pour out over the sacrifice. Jesus said this cup is the new covenant, the new permanence, the new bond I am making in my blood that'll be completely poured out for you. [00:58:18] (35 seconds)  #CupOfNewCovenant

So, God, let us be a people who can rest in the fact that you've given enough, that you can bring together different people of different backgrounds, people who might have thought they were enemies, but that you've brought in peace and unity because of your sacrifice. So let us believe the words that you have given enough, enough to share with people that need to know that there's a loving God who even shared his own life to rescue us. [01:07:24] (45 seconds)  #EnoughToShare