Show Notes
In this episode of Peaceable and Kind, Derek Vreeland shares his deep love for the church and the community it fosters. He reflects on the significance of Holy Communion, discussing its role in worship and spiritual formation. Through personal anecdotes and biblical references, he emphasizes how Communion is not just a ritual but a transformative experience that shapes believers into the likeness of Jesus. The conversation culminates in a call to recognize the profound movements of taking, blessing, breaking, and giving in our spiritual journeys.
Books mentioned in this episode:
Blessed Broken Given by Glenn Packiam https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KVL3QM4/ref=cm_sw_r_as_gl_api_gl_KBSGKN3C8ZRVT0KJ5BZP
Scriptures mentioned in this episode:
Acts 2:42
Matthew 26:26-28
Matthew 14:19
Luke 24:30-31
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Transcript
Narrator: Welcome to Peaceable and Kind, the podcast where we explore the transformation. Each week your host, Derek Vreeland, will delve into the stories, scriptures, and practical steps that help us embody these essential Christian virtues.
Derek Vreeland: Welcome back to another episode of Peaceable and Kind. I am your one-man host, Derek Vreeland. Thank you for joining me for this episode. And if you haven’t already, make sure you subscribe to Peaceable and Kind. Wherever you’re listening to this podcast. And if you are finding any value in Christian content like this, I would love for you to share an episode with a friend Uh leave a rating or review, all of that helps us here. And today we’re going to go to church. Imagine that. A pastor hosting a podcast wants to take you to church. I spend, as you can imagine, a lot of my time. at church. And it’s interesting that even though I’ve been a pastor now 25 years, which is hard to imagine, I’ve been a pastor a quarter of a century. I still love going to church Which is probably a good thing given my vocation. I think pastors who don’t love going to church maybe need a sabbatical break of some sort, but I love going to church every Sunday I normally get to church early depending on if I’m preaching that day or not. If I’m preaching a particular Sunday, I get there really early. But even if I’m not speaking that Sunday morning, I still like to get to church early because I like to be there when the people get there. And we have a coffee shop on our church campus, and it becomes the gathering point when people arrive early. But every Sunday morning when I pull into the parking lot and I get out, a smile breaks out on my face because I love the church. I love church people. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes church people can drive me nuts. Uh that’ll be an episode for another day. There are challenges, there are setbacks, there’s difficulty in church life, but at the end of the day, I haven’t found anything exactly like the church Because church is not just hanging out with your friends. I advocate hanging out with your friends as often as you can. Uh we my wife and I have friends that we like to do dinner with and travel with. We have friends we watch football games with So having friends and spending time with your friends all valuable, but church is not just going and hanging out with your friends. Because the church is a diverse community. There are people that I go to church with that I probably would not hang out with Except that we have this common faith in Jesus. So we have a member of our church Nancy, Nancy White, and we call her sister Nancy. She’s the only member of our church who bears the title sister. But uh Nancy is retired now. I don’t know exactly how old she is, because of course I would never ask a woman her age. Nancy is retired and she’s black And I am not black and I’m not retired. And it seems like Nancy and I come from two different worlds. But we have this common bond. I try to go out of my way to make sure I greet Nancy before church, give her a hug. She always gives me a mint She carries them in her purse. She has a sunglass case that she’ll open up and she’ll give me a mint. And we may not talk long, but I try to connect with her every Sunday. But I think about Nancy, and I think, you know, I would not hang out with Sister Nancy if neither of us were Christians. I probably would never even have met her. But I see her every Sunday. You know, she just went recently through a medical scare, and she had to have a lump removed. Um and I think she is gonna do some treatment after that. And um the Sunday before the procedure to have this mask removed Um, she said, Well, if I don’t wake up after my surgery, it was good knowing you. And it was the sweetest, most sincere and also heartbreaking kind of goodbye. And I was like, oh, sister Nancy, I’m praying for you. God’s with you. I’ll see you on the other side. And of course it was a successful uh procedure. Uh but we’ve had all of these encounters that are such a delight for me. I treasure it But it’s interesting that Sister Nancy and I, we would not have been friends because we just we come from different worlds. But what has brought us together is the church. What’s brought us together is Jesus. And so for me, there is nothing like the local church. And I understand that some people have been hurt by the church. I know that there have been painful moral failures by church leaders that have left people devastated. I know people have been in unhealthy churches, toxic churches that are just split apart by fussing and fighting. And I always lament when I hear those stories. And so if that’s you, You have my sincerest apology as a pastor and church leader if you went through a horrific church experience. I understand that. But for me personally, even though I have had challenging days as a pastor, overall the overwhelming experience I’ve had in the church has been positive. Since I was a teenager, uh, the church has loved me and loved my family. And so I love it And so on this episode, I want to take you to church and I want to talk about just one aspect of our worship on Sunday morning. I want to talk to you about the practice of holy communion. Now, in your tradition, you might call this the Lord’s Supper, or you might use the more traditional term Eucharist. So whatever term you use, communion or Lord’s Supper and Eucharist, I want to talk about that experience of worship. And I’m really interested in how often you and your church celebrate Holy Communion I know some churches they celebrate the Lord’s Supper every Sunday. For some churches, it’s quarterly or once a month. Other churches, it’s a little sporadic. In our congregation, we celebrate the Lord’s Supper every Sunday, and then I lead a Wednesday noon prayer service where we also celebrate communion So for me, for more than 12 years, I have been coming to the table of the Lord to celebrate the Lord’s Supper twice a week. Now, we’re weekly in how we celebrate communion, but I didn’t grow up that way. My background is Baptist and then non-denominational charismatic. And growing up, high school, college, my time before being a pastor, I think we celebrated the Lord’s Supper maybe quarterly. It wasn’t once a month. uh it was less than that. But I do have fond memories of celebrating communion at church. I remember growing up in the Baptist church, we used the little plastic cups. And maybe that’s what you experience in your tradition. The little plastic cups, and they would set about twenty-five of those cups in this round silver container and they’d have a silver platter with these little uh chicklet looking um pieces, what they called bread. It tasted horrible. But I have memories as a teenager and a college student When it was Communion Sunday and we’d be celebrating the Lord’s Supper, how powerful and impactful those moments were In my closet, I have an old cigar box. This is a cigar box that I got at An estate sale when my wife’s grandfather had passed away. Um, he lived on a farm and grandma was going to move to town. They had this huge estate sale. And I’m not one for estate sales, auctions, garage sales. I’m a minimalist. I don’t collect a lot of stuff But at Grandpa Petty John’s estate sale, I bought this old cigar box, and I have kept it all these years. That was more than 30 years ago. And I have kept the cigar box, and in it I have mementos from high school, college, and from when Jenny and I were first married. And every once in a while I’ll crack open uh that cigar box to see the pictures that are in there My uh ID from seminary, my school ID is in there. I think one of my first driver’s license is in there. But in that cigar box is also one of those little plastic cups. And I don’t remember exactly why I kept that plastic cup in particular, but I remember I wanted to hang on to that cup because there was a communion service in my Baptist church that was so powerful and so meaningful. Which it’s interesting when Christians and churches choose not to celebrate the Lord’s Supper every week. Because when they do celebrate it once a month or once a quarter or on Good Friday during these high points on the church calendar, when they do it sporadically, people will testify, oh, what a powerful experience. And of course, the pushback is, well, we don’t want to celebrate communion every Sunday because then it will lose some of its value, some of its specialness. Well, I can just say for me, my own personal experience, in celebrating communion twice a week, it has lost none of its specialness, its sacredness, Yes, there are times in coming to the Lord’s table I don’t have an emotional reaction, but those experiences would be in the minority. Often in both receiving the Lord’s Supper and then serving the bread and the cup, there are times I have to hold back tears because I am moved emotionally. One of the reasons that we prioritize the celebration of the Lord’s Supper every week is that the early apostolic church was devoted to communion. There’s one verse in Acts, Acts 2 verse 42, that says the very earliest church, that Acts chapter 2 church They were devoted to four things. Acts 2. 42 says they devoted themselves to one, the apostles’ teaching. Two, the fellowship, three, the breaking of bread, and four, the prayers. And I do believe that this is a bit of a blueprint for us I think we in the church should prioritize the same four things. The apostles’ teaching. Well, of course, this this gets canonized in the New Testament. I think this is a reference to Holy Scripture. The fellowship, that is the sharing of our lives together, the partnering of our lives together Church is not just a room where isolated individuals come to have an isolated individual experience. Church is a shared experience and a part of our worship in some traditions, they call it passing the peace. But a part of our worship together is recognizing one another, greeting one another. In the New Testament, it says greet one another with a holy kiss Now I’m not ready to go that far. Maybe we’ll greet one another with a holy handshake or holy fist bump or high five. I’m a little more comfortable with that. But the early church, they were committed, they were devoted to not only listening to the apostles’ teaching, but the fellowship, the sharing in the lives of one another. The third thing mentioned in Acts 2. 42 is that they were devoted to the breaking of bread. And that is a picture of Holy Communion. So we invite people to the Lord’s table every Sunday. And I have seen that Holy Communion is not only at the heart of Christian worship. but that holy communion is at the heart of Christian discipleship. Indeed, our formation into the likeness of Jesus, this work of the Holy Spirit to form us into the image of Jesus for joy for the joy of God the Father, this process of spiritual formation is rooted in the Lord’s table So as we come to the table of the Lord, we put ourselves in a place where the Holy Spirit can form us and shape us into the image of Jesus. I think for many churches, The Lord’s table is a missing component to their discipleship. Discipleship comes across as simply a class that you take or a book that you read. But discipleship in following Jesus and becoming like Jesus requires these moments of spiritual encounter And that’s what happens at the Lord’s table. We come to the table of the Lord to commune with the Lord, that is, to meet with him. And if we look back into the Gospels to the place where Jesus institutes this sacred meal, we read verses like this. This is Matthew 26, verses 26 and 28 Matthew 26, 26-28. While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it, he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat, this is my body. Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many, for the forgiveness of sins. Now, in that passage, I want you to notice the four things that Jesus does with the bread. In Matthew’s gospel, it says that he took bread. He blessed the bread, he broke the bread, and he gave the bread And what’s interesting about those four movements is that Jesus did the same thing when he multiplied the loaves and the fishes. Jesus had spent a day ministering and teaching and healing, and so he retreated to a lonely place, a remote place, but the crowds followed him. and they brought more sick people. And there Jesus was ministering to them and healing the sick. It was getting late in the day, and Jesus told his disciples, Give these people something to eat. They’re probably hungry And the disciples said, well, all we have are five loaves and and two fish. And Jesus said, hand that over to me. And what Jesus does with those loaves is strikingly similar to what Jesus did in that Passover meal. In Matthew 14, verse 19, in this lonely place it says, Taking the five loaves and the two fish, Jesus looked up to heaven and blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. Interesting. The same four movements happen there. Jesus takes the bread, looks up to heaven, blesses the bread, breaks the bread, gives the bread. These same four actions took place when Jesus was sharing a meal with those two disciples in Emmaus. One of my favorite stories in all of the Gospels is after the resurrection of Jesus, Jesus is on the road with these two disciples, Cleopus and another disciple not named And these two disciples don’t recognize that it’s the resurrected Jesus. And they’re walking along the road, and Jesus saddles up to their conversation. What are you guys talking about? And the disciples are like, well, do you not know the things that have just happened in Jerusalem about Jesus of Nazareth? And they don’t know it’s Jesus. And Jesus plays a little coy. It’s as if Jesus is saying, oh, please tell me about this Jesus of Nazareth. What do you think about this guy? So they’re talking to Jesus about their hopes. They said, we really hope that this Jesus would be the one to redeem Israel. And what Jesus does as they’re walking on the road is he starts in the Old Testament with the law of Moses. And going all the way through the prophets, Jesus begins to interpret the Scriptures to them that they might see Jesus in the Scriptures, that they might see what Moses and the Prophets were saying about Jesus. Well, they still didn’t recognize this stranger on the road who was Jesus, so when they get to the turnoff to their house, they say Please, you have to come into our house. So Jesus goes and he shares a meal with them, and they’re sitting at the table, and Jesus is asked to offer the blessing. And here’s what it says in Luke 24. When he was at the table with them, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him and he vanished from their sight So here is a third place in the Gospels where Jesus does the same thing with bread. He takes the bread, blesses the bread, breaks it, and gives it. My friend Glenn Pacquiaum suggests that we are like bread in the hands of Jesus So bread almost becomes a metaphor where we can see ourselves as bread in the hands of Jesus. In his 2019 book, Blessed, Broken, Given, Glenn Pacquiaum describes bread as very ordinary. This is how we see ourselves as bread in the hands of Jesus, because just as bread on the table is ordinary, so we are ordinary too And isn’t that true? I mean bread is not the entree. Bread is not the super exclusive side dish. Bread’s not the dessert. Bread is just bread. It’s just ordinary. It’s just added there with the other things as a part of the meal. And so we are ordinary. We live our day-to-day lives. We get up, we have breakfast, we brush our teeth, we go to work. We’re raising kids, paying taxes, going to church. Hopefully you’re going to church, staying out of trouble. We just live, most of us just live ordinary lives. And bread on the table is ordinary, but bread in the hands of Jesus, well, that becomes extraordinary If you think back to those three gospel accounts, bread in the hands of Jesus at that Passover meal, the Last Supper with his disciples, that becomes an extension of his very flesh. Bread in that remote place with that crowd became a feast for 5,000 people. Bread in that house in Emmaus, it becomes revelation of Jesus in their midst. And so if bread in the hands of Jesus is extraordinary, and if we are bread in the hands of Jesus, then we can begin to see those four movements. As a process of spiritual formation. This is a picture of how we become more like Jesus. Jesus takes us Jesus blesses us, Jesus indeed breaks us open, and Jesus gives us away Think about each of those movements for just a moment. Jesus takes us in that Jesus is the great shepherd and we’re the lost sheep. Jesus leaves the 99 to come and rescue us. Jesus scoops us up in his hands and takes us and makes us his own. Jesus not only takes us, but Jesus blesses us. To bless is to say a good word And in taking us, Jesus brings us into his home, into his family, and Jesus speaks a good word over us. Perhaps people have spoken words of of cursing over you. Maybe people have spread rumors about you, lied about you, gossiped about you, or even directly. said things like your word flesh will never amount to anything. If you have received those words of of cursing, know this. that as Jesus takes you in his hands, just like that bread, Jesus blesses you, and the blessing of Jesus neutralizes any curse. So Jesus takes us, Jesus blesses us, and then Jesus breaks us. And this is the action that seems a bit counterintuitive Because isn’t Jesus the one who heals our hearts? Isn’t Jesus the one mending our lives? Isn’t Jesus the peacemaker who takes broken pieces and brings them together again? I would say yes. But there’s also this action of breaking open. And this is a movement, this is an action of Jesus that he does with our cooperation. When I imagine Jesus breaking open our lives like bread, I imagine that as a breaking open in vulnerability. And again, this is where we participate in the process because Jesus isn’t going to force us to be open and honest and vulnerable. We have to choose to cooperate with Jesus in this activity. Vulnerability is when we choose to boast not in our accomplishments, but in our weaknesses. And let’s be honest, as followers of Jesus, there is nothing to be gained by putting out an image that makes it look like we have it all figured out, or that we’re perfect people, or that we have all the answers. I think what an unbelieving world is looking for in Christian people is honesty is vulnerability because when we express our weaknesses and our faults, we allow people to see the forgiving and healing work of Jesus in us. And of course, the opening, the breaking opening leads to the fourth and final movement, and that is Jesus gives us. Jesus opens us up in vulnerability if we choose to cooperate with that, so that we can be given to the world. In acts of kindness and mercy and justice and service. God does indeed love you God indeed sent Jesus, the Good Shepherd, to leave the 99 to come find you. But the reason that Jesus takes and blesses us is not only for our sake. But we are blessed in order to be a blessing to other people. So the next time you’re at church, And you’re celebrating the Lord’s Supper, and maybe there’s a reference to bread being broken, maybe not, but when you see that bread, think about these four movements and ask yourself, where do I find myself in it? Is Jesus in the process of taking me up into his hands? Is Jesus in a process of blessing me, breaking me open, calling me to the vulnerable life? Or maybe is Jesus prompting me to be given to others? I believe that we can encounter Jesus every time we celebrate Holy Communion, but we can also see This wonderful process of spiritual formation. Well, that’s it. That’s all we have for today. Thank you so much for listening. Go in peace and be kind.
This transcript was generated with AI and may contain errors.