Often, Christians may be classified as those who have drank the kool-aid, meaning their minds have been poisoned and they are not who they used to be. Sadly, the expression comes from a true story that began in Indiana. Jim Jones had begun a church in the late 1950’s called the Peoples Temple. Eventually he moved near Ukiah, CA where he would begin a church in San Francisco and eventually LA. His congregation had a positive impact on communities as they participated in many humanitarian focused efforts, but behind the scenes Jones was a manipulator.
He tore families apart and taught minorities to be believe that leaving this community would result in their demise from the government. Eventually rumors of abuse were leaking and as the government looked deeper into Jone’s operation, he eventually moved to Jonestown, Guyana were he had been building a compound. As the pressure increased on Jones and his operation, he eventually lead over 900 of his followers to drink from the cup of their own death. He had trained his community to be ready to drink a fruit punch drink laced with poisons and tranquilizers, voluntarily participating in a mass revolutionary suicide. Over three hundred of those who died were 17 and under thus establishing still to date the largest mass murders in history. -Alison Eldridge/ Encyclopedia Brittannica
This tragedy, thus coined as drinking the kool-aid, has been a stereotype given to those who have chosen to seek a path of spirituality, often towards Christians. With the way we as Christians often represent ourselves or speak to others about God or heaven, it’s not surprising to hear that we may be considered to the crazy ones, but I want to contend with you that a true expression of God’s character to the world does not need to be explained, argued about, or forced upon anyone. When the power of God’s spirit and truth enter a room or enter a person’s heart, there is an undeniable presence that can only be described as divine.
Ironically, the Bible has a lot to say about drinking from a cup, but rather than focusing on the physically act of drinking something, I want us to look deeper into the spiritual meaning beneath what is means to drink from a cup and how that ties in to communion for us.
Often when we share in communion, we are taught that communion was instituted as reminder of what Jesus has done for us on the cross, sometimes in a way to prevent ourselves from getting too puffed up or to keep us humble, but there is so much more being communicated. The concept of pouring out also carried the idea of abundance and generosity, as seen in the prophetic promises of God's Spirit being poured out on His people.
Then he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. Then he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. For I will not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God has come.” He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you. Luke 22:17-20
Not too long after this conversation with the disciples at this passover meal we know of as the Last Supper, we read of a prayer between Jesus and the Father where Jesus pleads with the Father to remove the cup that was right in front of him or to find the strength to drink from it.
“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
This conversation takes place in Gethsemane, an olive grove garden space outside of Jerusalem. Luke 22:42
Consider this...
Jesus didn’t go to the Temple to meet with the Father, he went to the garden, outside the walls and security of the city, away from the ways of the world.
Most of us know about the context of this conversation and that Jesus was aware of his looming truth of his own crucifixion that was soon to come.
From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Matthew 16:21
Although this entire story is about Jesus, we have been created to bear the image of God and in this moment, Jesus is a living example of what it means to live as though God lives and love as God loves.
The most challenging aspect of following Jesus is not simply in being allegiant to Jesus in all areas of our lives but being willing to follow him without knowing what the results are going to look like.
Where do we start then?
We simply need to start by echoing David who in Psalm 27:13 said “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.”
The Greek word for cup is potérion:
Metaphorically, it often symbolizes one's fate or experience,
A cup or drinking from a cup “held significant symbolic meaning, often representing hospitality, fellowship, and covenant.” https://biblehub.com/topical/t/the_cup.htm
Maybe the Lord has asked you to do something or give us something and similar to Jesus, you’ve said “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” But I want to encourage you to trust this cup. When we don’t trust in God in all things in our life, we are refusing to be obedient, we are not trusting in his cup, we are being unfaithful to him as a leader and the source of all wisdom. What we do when no one is watching will become noticeable to those around us no matter how private and hidden we try to keep our lives.
“No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them.” Luke 8: 16-18
A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. Luke 6:45
But wisdom is proved right by all her children. Luke 7:35
There is power in our surrender.
There is power in our allegiance to Jesus in all things. The gospel is far more than forgiveness for our sins and eternal life with God. Salvation is an incredible biproduct when we give our life wholly to Jesus, but we are designed to be prophetic witness of God himself. The enthronement of Jesus to the right hand of the Father was the proclamation that he is not just the redeemer, but he is the King of Kings, and he is seated in his proper position as Lord over all of creation. Seeing what he accomplished and realizing nothing has power over him, not even our own sin or the devil’s greatest tactics should produce a response within us. We can never by words alone proclaim the name of Jesus, but our decision to drink from the cup of sacrifice will make room for God’s spirit to raise us back to life and our lives, without words, will speak of the goodness and the power of God.
The two letters we have from Paul to the church in Corinth are only part of the story, in fact there’s believed to have been at least three letters written and the two that we have are not the first two. Although we call them 1 and 2nd Corinthians, they are actually the second and third letter that was written by Paul to this community of believers. We can see this more clearly when we see that what we call 1 Corinthians is actually a response from Paul who had received a letter from this community about some issues that were arising amongst them.
Keep in mind, many of these people were trying to learn a new way of living according to Jesus and it they were having to sift through what from their former traditions needed to go and what needed to stay. The bigger issues though that Paul addresses is the division that these topics were causing and how these people could see the bigger picture. There were people in their community who were truly in need yet being neglected.
I recently heard a story from one of my closest friends who said they drove past a family stuck in the snow as they were on their way to church. It was cold, it was windy, and they were on time. The two choices were clear as day and the right choice was even more clear, but the family stayed in the snow bank while the other family made it to church on time.
We are all facing these types of choices and so was this church in Corinth. Paul, in an attempt to shepherd them to seeing the big picture said this in 1 Corinthians 10
The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 1 Corinthians 10:16-17
The greatest tragedy in our lives will always be the division we create by leaning on our own understanding. Sin affects everything around us and in us. The invitation has always been to a committed, covenant relationship to God and it begins by drinking the cup of the new covenant, the cup that looks like self-sacrifice, the cup that looks like complete allegiance to God in all things.
God doesn’t want our attendance at church, he wants our heart. God doesn’t want our money, he wants our heart.
God wants to teach us to care about what he cares about and to be humble as he shepherds us.
This is what Paul was saying when in 1 Corinthians 11 he said "So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves." 1 Corinthians 11:27-29
I know many men and women who are truly incredible examples of sacrifice. They do the hard thing. They push their bodies past what’s reasonable, they sacrifice time and money for the betterment of their friends and family, but where is our loyalty to him when he asks us to give up the things that mean most to him? It’s one thing to sacrifice ourselves, but what about when he asks us to release our children over to him, or a spouse, or someone who has wronged us? Will we drink from that cup?
In Jesus, we can have incredible peace even while facing the greatest challenges of life.
The concept of pouring out also carried the idea of abundance and generosity, as seen in the prophetic promises of God's Spirit being poured out on His people. There is so much life found in drinking from the ways of Jesus.
Pride and humility are two choices all of us need to face every day, but true wisdom will only be given to the humble. It has to. Wisdom is far greater than knowledge. It’s a divine understanding that often is beyond human reasoning and understanding. The tree of knowledge of good and evil in Eden represents pride. It represents seeking knowledge outside of our allegiance to God. It was the one fruit that Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat from so they would not experience death, yet they did it anyways. They didn’t trust. They weren’t allegiant to God. The tree of life is Jesus. He is the author and sustainer of life and the only source of where true life can be found and yet he invites us to drink from the same cup of sacrifice.
I’m not sure today what your cup is, but I do believe Jesus is worth trusting. Maybe he’s asking you to let go of a lie you’ve been hanging on to. Maybe you’ve felt the Lord asking you to do something that seems radical or that could cause strife or tension amongst other people in your life. Maybe your stirred to step in to considering how real Jesus truly is. One thing that remains true, no matter the sacrifice, there is still an empty tomb that we can point to as an opportunity to trust God with our whole life knowing he will raise us.
Wisdom has vindicated herself through Jesus. His willingness to lay his life down set our hearts free from the desire to be so self-centered. He has given us a pathway to be satisfied through to the depth of our souls. The means by with this was achieved is beyond human understanding, but we are alive because he lives and wants to continue to produce new life in us so we produce new life all around us.
When we partake in communion together, our hearts should understand the decision we are making. We are not simply looking back at what Jesus did, but we are faced with the decision to drink from the cup of sacrifice of our own lives thus declaring it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ living in me. (Galatians 2:20)
I can imagine how this sounds like crazy Kool-Aid, but my prayer is that you encounter someone who’s life is undeniably different and you can’t help but ask why. This is what it means to be a prophetic witness. Just the mention of Jesus’ name does something to us. How much more effective could a life truly surrendered to and empowered by the spirit of God look? I believe wisdom will allow us to see we are all drinking from a cup.
What’s in your cup today?
Will you take one more step of faith in drinking of it or pouring out what’s in it and allowing God to overflow it?
I pray you will.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Psalm 23:5
Halak,
Paul
