Tag Archives: communion

Spirituality and the Holy Spirit 2014-47

Posted in Spiritual by

 Spirituality and the Holy Spirit 2014-47

Spirituality and Religion are two words that are mentioned, frequently in the same context; that of going to a church (religious) and not going to church (but being spiritual). “I am Spiritual but not Religious,” is a statement by many that says to others, I DO believe in God, but I don’t go to church.  OK, I understand that, but what is really meant by both words? I have written the below, not to really explain the differences, but give a brief idea of the words.

Spirituality is a phrase that is part of today’s everyday life now. We have a Spirituality Director at my place of worship, who is trying to bring us closer to God via many ways.  One of our parishioners asked me at a meeting in 2013 when we hired him, “What exactly is a Spiritual Director?” This was a good question and I answered it, somewhat, at the time and I hope it gave that person and the rest of those in attendance some insight as to what a Spiritual Director actually is or does. Another member recently asked, “What will he do for us?” and we are finding out as he gets more involved.

Since then, I have been asking myself some questions about a number of things.

“Where are we as far as having Spirituality?”

“Does the Holy Spirit yearn to be included in our lives?”

“What can we do to be led by the Spirit of God?”

“What can I do personally for myself to be more spiritual” and the list goes on and on…..

I went to sources for information and the best source was by my bedside in the form of the Holy Bible, but more on that later.

Spirituality

But, before I continue, let me explain what Spirituality itself might mean:

The term spirituality lacks a definitive definition,  although social scientists have defined spirituality as the search for “the sacred,” where “the sacred” is broadly defined as that which is set apart from the ordinary and worthy of veneration. The use of the term “spirituality” has changed throughout the ages.  In modern times, spirituality is often separated from religion and connotes a blend of humanistic psychology with mystical and  traditions and eastern religions aimed at personal well-being and personal development.  The notion of “spiritual experience” plays an important role in modern spirituality, but has a relatively recent origin.

I take the meaning as a simple “Something that concerns the Spirit” – The Holy Spirit!!!!

I believe we can become spiritually connected or to feel the Holy Spirit within us. Perhaps some more than others (which is normal), but overall we have a feeling for the Holy Spirit that is part of our religious beliefs and practices.

I was also asked once, if I was religious or spiritual.  I can probably say both.   Religion is a form of “re” meaning again and the Latin “ligare” meaning ligament or a connection, so it is somewhat of a re- connecting and in the sense of belief, it is reconnecting to God every day. Religion has the meaning also of “respect for what is sacred, and reverence for God, so again, my saying I am “both” religious and spiritual, is somewhat true.

Holy Spirit

How I look at the Triune God of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit may be different than what others see or feel, but it is  not important what I perceive, but more of what we all experience.

I believe the Holy Spirit DOES yearn to be included in our lives.  Not just at church services, or when we pray to God Almighty for thanks, help or just to communicate with God.  The Holy Spirit wants to be in our hearts, our Soul and minds all the time. Simple as that!  The Holy Spirit therefore, desires to be included in your everyday thoughts, words and deeds. Simple as that!  That is what I believe. The Holy Spirit used to be referred to as the “Holy Ghost” and was from the Old English for Spirit, but in reality they have identical meanings. Ghost now generally refers to an apparition of a dead person, so it is out of style and usage and Holy Spirit is mostly a 20th century reference.

The following is taken from a letter by Brother Lawrence of the Carmelite monastery who lived from 1614 to 1691. It came from his book, “The Practice of the Presence of God” by Brother Lawrence

Letter 7

“He requires no great matters of us; a little remembrance of Him from time to time, a little adoration. Sometimes to pray for His grace. Sometimes to offer Him your sufferings. And sometimes to return Him thanks for the favors He has given you, and still gives you, in the midst of your troubles. Console yourself with Him the oftenest you can. Lift up your heart to Him at your meals and when you are in company. The least little remembrance will always be pleasing to Him.

You need not cry very loud. The Holy Ghost is nearer to us than we are aware. And we do not always have to be in church to be with God. We may make an oratory of our heart so we can, from time to time; retire to converse with Him in meekness, humility, and love. Everyone is capable of such familiar conversation with God, some more, some less. He knows what we can do.”

   Now I ask: How can we be led by the Holy Spirit?

First let me describe the Holy Spirit:  The Holy Spirit is seen by most Christians as one part of the Triune God, who revealed His Holy Name, YHWH, to His people of Israel, who sent His eternally begotten son Jesus to save them from their sins, and sent the Holy Spirit to sanctify and give life to His Church.  The Triune God manifests as three persons,  in one divine being called the Godhead,  the Divine Essence of God.

An important verse in the Bible (Romans 8:14) states, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”  The sons of God are led by the Holy Spirit in this life. Again, The before mentioned, “sacred” is broadly defined as that which is set apart from the ordinary and worthy of veneration as part of the Spiritual awakening in our lives.

We CAN develop a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit!! Just as we pray to God and Jesus Christ at church service or daily on our own, we can and are allowed to communicate with the Holy Spirit.  Let me use the apostle Paul as a source for this thought:

  1. “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the                                      Holy Spirit be with you all.” (2 Corinthians 13:14)
  2. “Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship                              of the Spirit …” (Phillippians 2:1)

The two words, communion and fellowship, again, means a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit. Not only can we develop a close personal relationship with both God the Father and Jesus Christ, but these two additional verses are telling us that we can also develop a close personal relationship direct with the Holy Spirit Himself. How wonderful that can be for all of us!

Not only can we develop a relationship with the Holy Spirit, but we can also have the Holy Spirit be our personal guide and teacher in this life we live.   Again, I use the Holy Bible as my source for this thought:

  • “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”  

 

  1. (John14:26)
  2. “However, when He, the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all truth …” (John 16:13)

The great thing is this regarding having a relationship with God, which IS the basis of Spiritualtiy. There is NOTHING you have to do to have a relationship with Him and you cannot do anything to merit having one.  We will have an eternal life with God (a relationship) because Jesus died for all of us. Having faith in Jesus Christ gives us the promise of eternal life. That is a wonderful thing and something to relate to in our daily lives.

When the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit will “teach us all things” and “guide us into all truth,” this tells us that the Holy Spirit has the ministry with each one of us as being our personal Guide and Teacher in this life. And if He is going to be our personal Guide and Teacher in this life, then this means He will start to communicate to us, so He can teach us what He wants to teach us. And our part will then be to learn how He will communicate to us so we can pick up that communication when He does start to release it to us. At this point I will encourage you to read my discourse on “Communicating with the Holy Spirit”, in my next blog.

Put these two verses together with the first two verses above about having direct fellowship and direct communion with the Holy Spirit and you can tell that God is letting all of us know loud and clear that we can enter into this supernatural realm with the Holy Spirit. If God is telling us that the Holy Spirit will be guiding us and teaching us in this life, then we can comfortably enter into that realm with Him so He can then begin to do that kind of deeper work with each one of us.

I would like to continue, but enough is enough for now.  Spirituality is something we will delve into with in various ways.  I welcome his knowledge, his education and experience in this realm of being with the Holy Spirit, the Son Jesus Christ and the Father in Heaven.   It will be up to us to reach out and experience any teachings for guidance.

Thank you for your time.

May the peace of the Lord be with you always!

Den Betts

Bread and Wine Meal 2014-11

Posted in Religious by

Bread and Wine Meal             2014-11

If we are practicing Christians, we know what is meant by the celebration of the Meal. Call it Communion, the Eucharist, the Meal, or whatever your Christian faith calls it. Theologians can describe it in any way they want, but I could call it the Rite of Life.

This Christian rite commemorates the time of the Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples. In the Bible it tells that— on the night before his death, Jesus consecrated bread and wine and gave them to his disciples, saying “this is my body” then saying “this is my blood.” He also gave instructions to his followers to repeat this rite in his memory, and the Eucharist traditionally involved the consecration of bread and wine by the leader and this followed the consumption by worshipers.  This celebration along when the first Christians gathered to share a meal, this rite soon became a central part of the formal worship service and, in a way; it still is the main part. It has also been a source of division because of differing interpretations of its nature.

For the Roman Catholics the Eucharist, as it became to be known is a Sacrament, and the bread and wine are thought to become the actual body and blood of Jesus through what is called the transubstantiation. Anglicans and those of the Lutheran religion also emphasize the divine presence in the offering and recognize it also as a Sacrament, while other religions may just regard it as a memorial type thing with largely symbolic meaning.

Eucharist

The term Eucharist is a Middle English term that started actually about the 14th century, so this word is somewhat new. The Catholics would use this as the Sacrament of the Holy Communion, signifying the consecration of the bread and wine and the actual partaking of the meal at the Lord’s Supper.

Lutherans believe that the body and blood of Christ are “truly and substantially present in, with and under the forms” of the consecrated bread and wine (the elements), so that communicants orally eat and drink the holy body and blood of Christ Himself as well as the bread and wine ( Augsburg Confession, Article 10) in this Sacrament. I have read that the Lutheran doctrine of the Real Presence is more accurately and formally known as “the Sacramental Union.” I have never heard of this phrase before, so include it, and hope that it is factual at my church.

It, the communion doctrine, has been inaccurately called “consubstantiation“. This term is specifically rejected by some Lutheran churches and theologians since it creates confusion about the actual doctrine, and it subjects the doctrine to the control of a biblical philosophical concept in the same manner as, in their view, does the term “transubstantiation by some, such as the Catholics.

I think all these words somewhat makes for a wide area of confusion, brought upon by man as a religious concept during the service. I do not believe that it is the actual blood and body of Jesus Christ, but the bread and wine both represent Jesus. We honor our Lord by remembering Him and the sacrifice that He made for mankind. For me, it is easier to think of it this way, but I still believe it has deep religious meaning.

When I take communion and the bread and wine come to me or I take it from my Pastor, I take the time to thank Jesus and say, “Thank you Jesus” as I take each and, if by intinction, my dipping the bread into the wine. If the Pastor or Lay Assistant is giving each, then I say this as I take each from them, and dip into the cup.

I believe that rules, policy and ways of doing things were developed over time, going back to the time of Jesus, when he instructed his disciples to partake of the bread and wine.

In the past, I took communion by rote. I went through the motions, listened to the minister say the words that were said, and finished like many others.  Since my Spiritual Journey began, well, sometime after it began, I felt the presence of my Lord Jesus Christ during the communion service. It is not just the bread and wine, but His presence is with me, either beside or around me.  As far as that goes, I feel His presence always now, regardless of what I am doing.

The Presence

This Presence is not something to be afraid of or in any way resent, but instead, something I feel is welcome and comforting to know and realize. To think that God in the form of Jesus Christ is watching me always, seeing what I do, hearing me when I talk to Him, having Him touch me, such as a hand on my shoulder, is so very great. The least I can do is thank the Lord Jesus Christ, when I try to remember Him during the simple act of communion. I wear a cross to remind me of His presence and it helps me in my daily life in trying to live a life as a disciple of Christ.

Many of the church procedures were arrived at in time. They were thought of, embellished and became a way of doing things. The higher ups, those in charge, decided on the way things were going to be done and then it became church law or rules.  I must say even having the requirement that an ordained person be officiating is still a man-made rule.  I am not suggesting any change and will go along with these, but feel that they are still archaic in a way, and not that important overall in life as being a Christian. It is important to those in charge, but that is the way it is now and has been in the past. If I was on a desert island with a bunch of people, I feel I could partake in communion, not have an official clergy present, and still have the service and communion as part of my life.

I am not going against my religion’s mandates and rules. I said I did not suggest any change, but will go along with the dictates of the religion I follow. There is nothing in the Bible that states I must follow this way or that way—- or else.  I said at the beginning, you could call the act of communion, The Rite of Life, and, somewhat, that is how I see it.  We are given the chance of eternal life, through Jesus Christ and the Cross and that is something I do believe in and I look at the Meal as the way to remember Him, forever in my time on Earth.