Welcome to Eat This Bread Drink This Cup. The title of my meditation today is "Business as Usual." I read from Luke 17: 22-30. All quotations are from the New Living Translation (NLT) and are used with permission.
22 Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see the day when the Son of Man returns, but you won’t see it. 23 People will tell you, ‘Look, there is the Son of Man,’ or ‘Here he is,’ but don’t go out and follow them. 24 For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other, so it will be on the day when the Son of Man comes. 25 But first the Son of Man must suffer terribly and be rejected by this generation.
26 “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. 27 In those days, the people enjoyed banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat and the flood came and destroyed them all.
28 “And the world will be as it was in the days of Lot. People went about their daily business—eating and drinking, buying and selling, farming and building— 29 until the morning Lot left Sodom. Then fire and burning sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 Yes, it will be ‘business as usual’ right up to the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
I imagine believers of every generation lament their day as being the time of longing for the return of the Son of Man. Life is hard, and believers long for the promise of heaven. Jesus warns some who are so anxious for His return they might fall prey to the schemes of men. Jesus' return will not go unnoticed; He compares it to an intense flash of lightning. Lightning is not an isolated phenomenon, and most often occurs during a thunderstorm, especially the kind of lightning that lights up the sky from one end to the other. Perhaps Jesus is telling the believer that during the thunderstorm that is life, He will return like a flash of lightning. As much as we hope, being a believer is not just blue skies! What about those who are not looking for the return of Jesus? In the midst of banquets, parties, weddings, eating and drinking, buying and selling, and farming and building, Jesus will return and business as usual will cease. Jesus compares people on that day to people in the days of Noah and Lot. Like them, they were giving no thought to God and served only themselves and their pleasures. Their destruction will be sudden and complete as this day is the day of judgment. There is nothing inherently wrong with banquets, parties, weddings, eating and drinking, buying and selling, and farming and building. Both believers and unbelievers will be engaged in these activities on the day Jesus returns. What is different is that the believer honors God in and through the activities of life, and their faith in Jesus will be rewarded in the end with eternal life. We assemble today to partake of the bread and drink from the cup to remember Jesus' suffering and death on a cross for us. Remembering His death helps us stay focused in the midst of the business-as-usual activities of life. Even though life is hard for us, it was even harder for Jesus, and we gain strength to persevere through His example and be ready for His return. Let us pray.
Abba, Father. Today we bless and set aside this bread and the fruit of the vine in this cup to remember Your Son, Jesus. We know that the bread represents His body that was nailed to the cross, and the fruit of the vine represents His blood that He shed for us. As we pour out the wine from the cup, we are reminded of how Jesus poured out His own blood that our sins might be forgiven. We long for return of Your Son, Jesus, to take us home. We do not deny it. But just as Your Son had a purpose, so we, too, realize we have a purpose in the world. Abba, Father, we pray for strength to do Your will for our lives while we remain. Help to overcome rather than be overcome by the business-as-usual activities of this life. We look to the example of Your Son, Jesus, as He endured the cross for us that we might gain strength for the day. As we partake of the bread and drink from the cup, we remember Him. In His name I pray. Amen.
Today, Jesus invites you to partake of His supper. I read from Matthew 26: 26-28 (NLT).
26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.” Let us partake of the bread.
27 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, 28f or this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many." Let us partake of the cup.
And the assembly of believers said, "Amen!"
Until next time, from Numbers 6: 24-26, "May the LORD bless you and protect you. May the LORD smile on you and be gracious to you. May the LORD show you his favor and give you his peace."
Artist's Note: If you have questions about the Lord's Supper, I invite you to visit my website, https://eatthisbreaddrinkthiscup.com, for a brief overview. The Eat This Bread Drink This Cup podcast is listed in most podcast directories, and I invite you to add my podcast to your favorites and be notified of new posts. There is a written transcript that accompanies each podcast, and you are free to use the transcript in accordance with US copyright law. My prayer is that you will benefit personally from this time with Jesus and encourage others to observe the Lord's Supper. In these trying times, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus!