Holding, Looking In, Lifting and Drinking My Cup

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Holding, Looking In, Lifting and Drinking My Cup"

Winfred Andrews
6 years ago
Views:

1 Holding, Looking In, Lifting and Drinking My Cup Part 1 I. Intro: Matthew 20:20-23 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons, bowing down and making a request of Him. 21 And He said to her, What do you wish? She said * to Him, Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit one on Your right and one on Your left. 22 But Jesus answered, You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink? They said * to Him, We are able. 23 He said * to them, My cup you shall drink; but to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father. My cup you shall drink.. God writes in my book and yours those things in His heart even before we were born and gives every one of us a cup to drink. Jer 29:11 For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD, Psalm 139:16-18 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them. 17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. My cup is: My Destiny, the Good Deposit, the Greater Works. II. In the physical action of drinking the cup there are three aspects: Holding the Cup while Looking Into It Lifting the Cup Drinking the Cup There was protocol / rules associated with having wine on the table Holding the Cup while Looking Into It 1. Grandfather or Father poured the wine. 2. You never poured your own. 3. The glass was poured to half full. Lifting the Cup 4. No one ever drank from his glass until our glasses were raised. 5. With glasses raised Father would look at each one sitting at the table, speak a word of welcome and talk about the uniqueness of the occasion. 6. Then his glass would touch my mother s glass and the glasses of those present. Drinking the Cup 7. No gulping, sipping only. 8. No one ever drank too much. 9. You never asked for more wine, it is the duty of the host to offer you more. 1

2 III. Holding The Cup A. You have to know what you are drinking. You have to be able to talk about your cup. You smell the aromas given off by the wine. Holding the cup you begin to discern that which is in it. IV. Looking Into the Cup A. Similarly, just living life is not enough. We must know what we are living. A life that is not reflected upon is not worth living. The essence of being human is that we contemplate our life, think about it, discuss it, evaluate it, and form opinions about it. Half of life is reflecting on what is being lived. Is it worth it? Is it good? Is it bad? Is it old? Is it new? What is it all about? Reflection is essential for growth, development and change. LOOKING INTO THE CUP OF LIFE means looking critically at what we are living. (not complaining but looking analytically) B. Holding the cup and looking into it is considering what Jesus has poured for us. (our destiny, our good deposit) This requires courage. Because when we start looking into it we might become terrified at what we see. Questions arise Doubts may come up Fear may emerge We are tempted to say, Let s just live life, minimize the pain and maximize the pleasure. C. A Cup of Sorrows The cup that we are given to drink, at first glance, is a cup of sorrows. Fears Insecurity Sacrifice Labor Unrealized expectations Changes in our lifestyle 1 Peter 2:9 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; 13 but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. 2

3 Luke 22: And He withdrew from them about a stone s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, 42 saying, Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done. 43 Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. 44 And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground. Jesus saw the cup given Him and in it much pain to bear. Why then and how could He say, Yes to what was in His cup? He trusted His Father, no matter what it looked like. D. The Cup of Joy You must look deeply into the Sorrows to see the Joys. Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Run the race Drink the cup. that is set before us. Can you see the joy in the cross? Jesus did who for the Joy, set before Him The cup is half full God knows our limits. 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. If we refuse to drink the cup because of the sorrows, then we never experience the joys that our Father has for us. If we refuse to drink the cup because of the sorrows, then we become pleasure seekers who never bear fruit in the Kingdom. V. Lifting the Cup There was protocol / rules associated with having wine on the table Holding the Cup while Looking Into It 1. Grandfather or Father poured the wine. 2. You never poured your own. 3. The glass was poured to half full. Lifting the Cup 4. No one ever drank from his glass until our glasses were raised. 5. With glasses raised Father would look at each one sitting at the table, speak a word of welcome and talk about the uniqueness of the occasion. 6. Then his glass would touch my mother s glass and the glasses of those present. 3

4 Drinking the Cup 7. No gulping, sipping only. 8. No one ever drank too much. 9. You never asked for more wine, it is the duty of the host to offer you more. A. Lifting The Cup Lifting the cup is an invitation to affirm and celebrate life together. As we lift our cup and look each other in the eye, we say: Let s not be anxious or afraid, let s hold our cup up together and greet one another. Let us not hesitate to acknowledge the reality of our lives and encourage each other to be grateful for the gifts we have received. B. To Life The best summary of all of the toasts of the nations is To Life! We lift our cup to life, to affirm our life together and celebrate it as a gift from God. When each of us can hold our cup, with its many sorrows and joys, claiming it as our unique life, then too, we can lift it up for others to see and encourage them to lift up their lives as well. Thus we lift our cup as a fearless gesture, proclaiming that we will support each other in our common journey. This, is celebrating community. Nothing is easy about community. Community is a fellowship of people who do not hide their joys and sorrows but make them visible to each other in a gesture of hope. Living in community we say, Life is full of gains and losses, joys and sorrows, ups and downs, but we do not have to live it alone. We want to drink our cup together and celebrate the truth that the wounds of our individual lives, which seem intolerable when lived alone, become sources of healing when we live them as part of a fellowship of mutual care. Heb 10:23-25 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; 24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. 4

5 We tend not to talk about what is in our cup. Therefore, we do not know what is in the cup of others. The roots are pride (I want people to think I have it together) and fear of rejection. C. The Cup of Blessing The cup of Sorrow and the cup of Joy when lifted up becomes the cup of Blessing. John 17 Jesus cup was a cup of wrath. He saw the cup of God s wrath become a cup of blessing. Romans 8:28 All things work together for good Lift it and Share it or isolate yourself and Conceal it. D. To Life Lifting your cup of Sorrows and Joys brings Life (hope) to others. It is easy to live truncated lives because of hard things that have happened to us in the past which we prefer not to remember. Shame and guilt cause us to hide part of ourselves and thus we live half lives. We must move past guilt and shame, and become grateful, not just for our successes but also for failures and shortcomings. When we lift our cup to life and dare to say I am grateful for all that has happened to me that has led me to this moment our life becomes a true gift to others. This kind of perspective erases bitterness, resentment, regret, revenge, jealousy and rivalry. It transforms our past into a fruitful gift to others that gives life. Eph 4:11-16 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. 5

6 That which every joint supplies is not just spiritual gifts, it is also the sharing of the cup that we have been given to drink. Blessing = all the experiences of the past, present and future. There is an enormous spirit in our society that moves us towards individualism. There is much emphasis on doing it yourself. Doing it yourself prevents us from lifting our cup for each other. Each time we lift our cup: we dare to step beyond our fear, to be vulnerable,. Our lives and the lives of others will blossom in unexpected ways. Ps Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brothers to dwell together in unity! 2 It is like the precious oil upon the head, Coming down upon the beard, Even Aaron s beard, Coming down upon the edge of his robes. 3 It is like the dew of Hermon Coming down upon the mountains of Zion; For there the LORD commanded the blessing life forever. Acts 2:42-43 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. 44 And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; 1 Cor 12:26-27 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. 27 Now you are Christ s body, and individually members of it. 6

Happy Anniversary! Today: Stephen & Deb Aldridge

Happy Anniversary! Today: Stephen & Deb Aldridge AFTER Service! Thurs May 7 th Sun May 10 th May 17-19 UpComing Events: Children's Ministry VISIONing Meeting! Noon National Day of Prayer- Downtown Square 11am Mother's Day Service- Happy Mother's Day!!