From the August 5 sermon “Jesus Gave Us Communion,” preached by Pastor Mark Driscoll:
Meals are eaten with or without God throughout the Bible. Adam and Eve ate the first meal without God. Jesus, our Passover Lamb, fulfilled over 1,000 years of the Passover meal at the Last Supper and established Communion, which is about Jesus’ broken body and shed blood for sin. It’s a meal eaten with God and his repentant people. We look forward to our last meal, the wedding supper of the Lamb.
Let's Reduce Your Expectations for Christianity
As God’s people take Communion, what we’re showing is, “I’m friends with Jesus and his people.” You can’t be a Christian and not connected to the church.
I don’t get this. This is like a dad with five kids who adopts a kid, and that kid says, “He’s my dad, but I don’t have any siblings and I’m not part of the family.” It’s all together. God’s a Father, adopts you, you’re now part of a family. You got brothers and sisters. I don’t get this solo, independent, me-Jesus, podcasting and rebelling Christianity. It doesn’t make sense. The Bible knows nothing of it. If you’re connected to God, you’re connected to his people. [. . .]
And here’s what we read in Acts 2:42: “They devoted themselves.” So, this is ongoing. It’s habitual, it’s common, it’s regular. “To the apostles’ teaching.” First thing, what’s the Bible say? “Fellowship.” This is where Christians hang out and get to know each other.
And you know what? You’re going to drive each other crazy, right? Some of you come in here, and let me just tell you, this isn’t heaven. This is Mars Hill Church. In heaven, Mars Hill Church is gonna be so much better. Until then, you’re gonna annoy each other because now you’re in a family.
Any of you come from a family? What did your family do? Annoy you. What did you do? Annoyed your family. Okay? So think of it this way: we’re all going to Dad’s house for a big party, feast, and in the way, we’re all in a station wagon annoying each other, okay? That’s called life.
So let me reduce your expectations for Christianity. You say, “They’re annoying me. They drive me crazy and they’re just booger-flickers, and annoyers, and wedgie-givers.” Welcome to the family of God. Welcome to it. And that’s fellowship. When the Bible says fellowship, it doesn’t mean perfect, reconciled relationship, we wear matching sweatshirts, we ride a tandem bike on the way to Bible study while quoting Leviticus to one another and singing songs from The Sound of Music. That’s not what it means.
What it means is you’re gonna annoy me, I’m gonna annoy you. If we kill each other, we’ll see each other in heaven. That’s fellowship.
History Will End with a Wedding Party
History, the Bible, it opens with a meal eaten without God, the most tragic, horrific, painful meal in the history of the world, the meal that has destroyed everything, has in every way contributed to every evil, suffering, injustice, and funeral in the history of the world.
And then the last book of the Bible, Revelation, it ends with another meal.
A meal of not death, but life; not damnation, but salvation; not condemnation, but forgiveness of sin; not weeping and mourning, but laughing and rejoicing; not famine kicked away from the garden, but feasting in the presence of the garden where the tree of life appears again and we partake together forever in the presence of the Lord. [. . .]
“Crying out, ‘Hallelujah! For the Lord our God Almighty reigns.’” The kingdom of God is a huge feast. It’s a huge party. It’s for God’s people to be together, forever, with him. Forever! It’s amazing!
Our view of the kingdom of God is so small. That’s why Christians don’t have fun. We don’t eat and drink well. Nobody accuses us of throwing too many parties.
Jesus got in trouble, didn’t he? “He’s always going to parties with the wrong kind of people that he loves. They’re not like us.” Yeah, they’re fun. They’re the kind of people, if you get them straightened out, they would actually appreciate an invitation to this kind of event. Get the lampshade off their head, find their pants, you know, get them straightened out. They actually could be fun at the real party, and the real party’s a party without sin.
The story continues: “Let us rejoice and exult.” That’s, be happy. So, practice this at your dinner table. Eat good food, drink something nice. When your kids come up, “Dad, can we have dessert?” “Yes! Yes! Yes! Have two. Jesus is alive! We’re practicing. Okay? We’re practicing.”
Hell Sucks (Bonus Clip)
Satan has wrongly marketed heaven and hell to where the average person thinks going to heaven sounds like hell.
The truth is, hell is hot, forever’s a long time, there is no bar, there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, and there is no dessert. Just worms feasting on your flesh forever.
Hell sucks. That’s the big idea. Heaven is awesome.
