The Church of my Dreams

The priests would harvest the grain as the sun rose at the beginning of the Passover weekend. The grain would have to be crushed as it was ground to be made into the unleavened bread. It was then made into dough and baked into a loaf. Later at the meal this loaf was broken.

Today it symbolises the body of Christ that believers share in Holy Communion. Many different denominations have various ways of going about it but the symbolism remains the same. The wine represents the blood of our Saviour and the bread His Body. But what is this Body really? Many of us have experienced the blood of Christ and His forgiveness in our lives. He has reached down and plucked us out of darkness and restored our spirits. There are countless testimonies of His faithfulness and love all over the world and there is no doubt that The Holy Spirit is working in the hearts of people, drawing the broken to Himself and showing the way to Jesus, the only True Hope and real Love!

But what about the Body that was broken. Like millions, I have found His Blood and forgiveness in my life. He is my Saviour and Friend and I am so grateful for His Grace and Love! But what about the Body that was broken… The hands and feet of my Saviour? The ears to listen to my daily battles and struggles, my joys and victories? Someone to pray with and help me through experiences that they have already been through? Someone with faith when I am doubting? Where can I find that? The Body I find is dressed as the world, trying to make themselves appealing to her, to lure her and be like her. The body is perverted, serving the desires of man for greed and power, the lusts of the flesh, money. Where can I find the pure body that is living a life of sacrifice, crushed for the good of the whole, mixed together with ingredients, the water of the Spirit and kneaded together with the grace and love of the Father? A body where the grains of wheat no longer have an identity but only the whole nourishing life-giving loaf is displayed for all to see. The broken and resurrected Body of Christ.
 

I believe this Body is supposed to be us. Believers. Look at the New Testament. They taught each other from what they had learnt through their walk with the Lord. We’re supposed to be living letters read by all. Older women and men are supposed to teach the younger. Compassion and love should be flowing to the broken hearted. How many broken hearted are still among us?
 

We are that loaf, that Body of Christ. We have or are being broken, pride crushed in the work of the Holy Spirit. Self ground till it is unrecognisable, like the wheat into flour. Then grace and mercy are lovingly kneaded into the brokenness. In the fire of the Spirit, Jesus’ forgiveness, unconditional love and acceptance bring forth a whole loaf, ready to be tasted by all. We are that loaf. The loaf that is broken daily. His mercy has worked that wholeness into our lives for the good of the body, for all to taste. My experiences of Gods grace and forgiveness are like food to other believers. But just as we all need food daily, we need to feed from that broken, resurrected body in each others lives daily and collectively. That fresh bread of Gods work is going stale.

I have been walking with the Lord for many years. Yet I am still hungry. I am hungry for that daily bread. To feed from the Broken, Resurrected Body of my Saviour in His Body, Us. I am desperate. I ask Him, “How long Lord?” This is a lonely road and I don’t believe it was meant to be like that. We can walk alone. He said that His Spirit would be with us always and without that I would die. But looking at Paul and our New Testament brothers I see a life that was shared, “the fellowship of His sufferings”. This life was a joy to them in their dull existence of simply trying to find work in order to put food on the table. Sure, there was conflict and disagreement but their pride, like the wheat, was continually crushed and new loaves of grace came out in the lives of the believers as those things were submitted to the Spirit. Taste and see that the Lord is good. We are his hands and feet to serve those in need, to touch the broken hearted.

I am not talking about the structure we know as organized church. I see very little crushing going on and sharing in one another’s brokenness and the resurrection work that He has done in us. In most cases pride, position, money and power are the order of the day. The sheep sit in the pews looking and waiting longingly for their Shepherd, longing to eat of the Body of their Saviour. I am looking for the growing, thriving, organic, Body of Christ where I can be a part of that flour that is kneaded into the whole for the good of all. I have been broken and Gods unending Grace, which I am so grateful for, has come and restored me. I need to share this with others and share in their experiences. I long for that but it seems wherever we meet, people are following their own desires, lusts and plans. 

Where is Jesus? Where can I meet and discuss Him, His Love, His Grace, His daily working in my life. Where are these believers who are broken and have abandoned all to be kneaded into the whole loaf and become one, without individual identity, but a powerful unity, having only one Identity: Christ. Sharing in His brokenness, His suffering and also in His resurrection. Experiencing His grace, daily together. Only Jesus, together. Is that possible? I believe it is. I just haven’t found my loaf yet…

Come Lord Jesus, come!

With much love,


Jack.

God’s Love and Grace.

Human love can never endure the test of time. Actually when one looks around at the world today, real love is difficult to identify. Human love is often expressed in material ways. The giving of things is supposed to mean “I love you”. This expression of human love often hides the real motive and there is no real unconditional giving. Even the physical and sexual side of relationships have been counterfeited as the real thing.
As human beings we have been raised, most of the time, to believe that love comes as part of a reward system. If you perform in this way then I will love you and prove it with this gift. If you step out of line you step out of my love. If you don’t live up to MY standards then you don’t deserve my love. Human love is in most part granted on achievement. Human love is based on feelings and sentiment. Human love is a happiness hype. Human love is selfish and soulish. It resides in the emotions and that is why it needs to be fed. The self must be elevated. If you really loved me then… manipulative.

Human love is self-seeking. Another word for this is lust, not only the sexual kind but the lust of wanting, wanting for the sake of self gratification. Lust takes but love gives.

God so loved… that He gave. Which kind of love do you think God extends to us? In ancient writings different words were used to describe the different kinds of love. In Greek we have the words agape, phileo and eros. Most people know the third one. Well here is the meaning of each.

- Agape: seeking only the benevolence of others. Unconditional. Expecting nothing in return.

- Phileo: brotherly or social love, friendship.

- Eros: physical or sexual love.

Jesus said we are to love one another as He loves us. How does He love us? He showed us the Father’s love and then demonstrated it. He never considered Himself. He spent Himself for others. He only gave, gave, gave. Never asking anything for himself in return. Unselfish. Selfless. Sacrificial. He could not do anything else because He is God and God is love. Even when they hung Him on that cross He thought only of the good and said,”Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing”. Remember that He had the power of the entire universe at His disposal. He could have done anything but He chose to forgive. That is LOVE.

When human love is put to the test it retaliates (reacts) in different ways. None of them good. Certainly there is little or no grace extended to the “offender”. LOVE COVERS A MULTITUDE OF SINS. The word “covers” means that when some one says or does something that is hurtful, not only do we not retaliate but we also do not even mention it to any other person. In other words we do nothing that will in anyway break down that person’s character. How then do we deal with the hurt? Firstly we forgive. Forgiveness is an act of love and the more intimate our relationship with our Heavenly Father is, the easier it becomes to truly forgive. This is possible for us because God is continuously pouring out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. The veil of tradition begins to crumble in the presence of God’s love. When that veil is taken away we come to realise that it is only by His grace that we are able to forgive others as He has forgiven us. Grace is God’s unmerited favour extended towards us because of His love. The greatest act of love ever was God giving His son to die, in our place, to pay the price for our sin.

God’s grace is powered and motivated by His love. It is part of His character. God is Love and love is God. HIS LOVE IS TOTALLY UNCONDITIONAL. That is something that we cannot come to grips with. Unconditional love. It is this unconditional love that overflows into grace.

Love,

Jack Viljoen.