Divine Communion
Part 2 – Self Surrender
By
David Woodbury
In his seminal selection, Divine Communion, Arthur Gullidge lays
down a key foundational principle to open his selection when he zeroes in on
the necessity for total self-surrender as the primary activity in our communion
with God.
Some would see this sense
of total self-surrender as an unrealistic and unachievable perspective but what
they fail to understand is what we seek, is not so much the physical action,
but rather the mindset the words imply. Realistically we cannot expect that: Each moment Lord be spent for thee. Pragmatically,
everyday living would soon grind to a halt. What we desire is a mindset that,
while it contends with the nuts and bolts of life, is focussed on an awareness
of God and communion with Him.
The Bible begins and ends
with communion with God. It is one of its central and crucial themes and we
need to get our focus and perspective correct if our worship is to be
meaningful and real. Authentic communion marks the highest pinnacle of a human
relationship with God. For many, the act of communion, often known as The Lord’s Supper, is at the very centre
of worship. However, it is in itself, only a symbol of an inward desire and
mindset; to be in an intrinsic and intimate relationship with God. At the very
heart of communion is an almost mystical yet real encounter with the living
God.
We need to move past any
material or physical symbols of communion if we are to truly experience the
reality of God’s presence in our lives. Perhaps that is easier said than done; for
the truth is that which we desire most; real and meaningful communion probably
requires greater effort and energy than most aspects of our spiritual
existence.
In the opening verses of
the 12th chapter of Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome, there is
sound advice and clear direction to finding meaningful communion with God.
And
so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God
because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the
kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy
the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new
person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will
for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (Romans 12:1-2 - NLT)
It is in the totality of
self-sacrifice that true communion with God becomes real and meaningful; all we
have, all we possess, all we hope for. To many Christians, the call in Romans
to present our bodies as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1), is familiar, but
puzzling. It is not only unique within the world of religion but is also unique
in the context of the Bible and the Jewish religion. Up until this point of
time, a sacrifice always included death. To suggest that there was such a thing
as a "living sacrifice" was a completely new idea, not only to the
Jews but to mankind. There is a sense in which the Biblical idea of sacrifice
had undergone a significant and fundamental change. I think that the great
danger is that, as Christians, we are still caught up with the Old Testament
idea that what we must offer is a spotless sacrifice; such was the Old
Testament requirement.
One of the challenges we
face in this scripture is a sense of the impossible. To the pragmatic mind, the
idea that we can completely surrender everything to God in a no holds barred
sense, seems quite unrealistic. However, we need to keep in mind that the Bible
of necessity deals in ideals for which we strive, knowing full well that some
we will never achieve in this lifetime.
William Barclay has a clear
and realistic take on this subject: True
worship is the offering to God of one's body, and all that one does every day
with it. Real worship is not the offering of a liturgy, however noble, and a
ritual, however magnificent. Real worship is the offering of everyday
life to him, not
something transacted in a church, but something which sees the whole world as
the temple of the living God."
This offering of oneself as
a living sacrifice cannot be some
sort of abstract spiritual function. It must be anchored in the acceptance of the
concrete aspect of who we are, what we do and have done, and the way in which
we live. The offering of ourselves can
only be the offering of our lived experiences because this alone is who
we are. And who we are - not what we want to be - is the only offering we have
to give. (Richard Foster) On the altar of the living sacrifice we give God
not just the good, but also the bad, not just our strengths, but also our
weaknesses, not only our fruit, but also the garbage, not only our giftedness
but also our brokenness.
We seem to have the idea
that life needs to sanitised and uncontaminated before we can even dare offer
it to God as a living sacrifice. The reality is that life consists of all of its
experiences, good and bad, whole and unwholesome. The truth is - that is all
we can offer to God. We do not have anything else of value or usefulness to
Him, save our broken and polluted lives. Unless our sacrifice contains the
totality of our life experience, it is not truly a living sacrifice. If the
sacrifice is only the sum total of our perceived goodness, it is a sham, and
not truly a living sacrifice.
Paul in writing to the
Jewish Christians reflects back to the activities of temple worship where
various types of sacrifices were offered. Under
the old system, the high priest brought the blood of animals into the Holy
Place as a sacrifice for sin, and the bodies of the animals were burned outside
the camp (Hebrews 13:11- NLT). The
sin offering was a sacrifice made to try and compensate for a person’s sin. It
was, in essence. a self-centred sacrifice in which a person sought something
for themselves.
True communion with God is
never just a personal experience. The sacrifice Paul is writing about here in
Hebrews is a thank-offering in which a person offered purely from a grateful
heart. Therefore, let us offer through
Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his
name. And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God
(Hebrews 13:15-16 - NLT). The
sacrifice of gratitude is very much part of true communion with God. Paul then
goes on to remind his readers that to do
good and to share ought to be part of the sacrifice we offer in authentic
communion with God.
The Apostle Paul knew that
a sacrificial lifestyle and service were an intrinsic part of a living
sacrifice; that there could be no real communion with God while ever he held
back from serving others. He understood that identification with the sacrifice
of Jesus, who gave his life for others, was part and parcel of being in an
intimate relationship with God. But I
will rejoice even if I lose my life, pouring it out like a liquid offering to
God, just like your faithful service is an offering to God. And I want all of
you to share that joy. Yes, you should rejoice, and I will share your joy
(Philippians 2:17-18 - NLT). Paul here uses an illustration that his readers
would have clearly understood, that of a libation;
a common practice where a cup of wine was poured over an altar as an offering
to heathen Gods. For Paul, every call to sacrifice and work was to be a
reflection of his closeness to Christ, his communion with him. For communion to
be a reality there is a cost attached to it, otherwise, we will most likely
devalue it.
The perfect, spotless
sacrifice has already been offered for us in the death of Jesus (1 Peter
1:18-19). It is a perfect sacrifice for all sin, for all humanity, for all
time. We are not called upon to sacrifice for our sins, that has already been
done. The reality is that there is nothing we could sacrifice that could ever
atone for our sin. We are called upon to offer a "living sacrifice"
for our spiritual growth, our own experience of holiness and a life of service
to others. The symbolism of sacrifice serves to illustrate Paul's meaning. It
was the outward expression of complete self-surrender to God.
There can be no doubt that
as Arthur Gullidge put pen to his manuscript on the battlefield, he understood
the priority of self-surrender in engaging in divine communion.
Link to music video: Divine Communion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWOu-XFi-rI
Next post: Divine Communion
Part 3 –
Sweet will of God
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