What I believe - and what I realized

I believe a lot of things. For example, I believe that people use the English language very imprecisely. I heard someone on the radio this morning saying she "doesn't believe in war." Oh really? It exists, and I know lots of people that can prove it. I believe in war - I know it exists. I think she meant she doesn't believe that waging (or fighting in a) war is moral - but I can't be sure what she really meant, because she didn't use the language precisely.

I "believe in" war - I know it exists. Likewise, I BELIEVE IN God. I know He exists. I BELIEVE that I am a sinner, a "lost and condemned creature", as Martin Luther said, and that nothing I do can EVER pay the debt of sin I owe. I believe that everything I do is tainted by sin, and therefore it will NEVER be good enough, on my own, to make up for my sin. I believe that I sin every day, and even if I could start to make up for the sin I do, I have so much sin and evil in me, and commit more sin every day that I don't even realize I'm doing, that there's no way I could ever catch up. I also believe that God loves me, and wants me to be with Him forever. But, because of my sin, I - by myself - cannot join Him.
But here's the best part. I also believe that God sent His only Son to earth to pay for my sin. I believe that Jesus was both God and Man, that He died on the cross to pay for - not his OWN sin, for He had none - but for MINE. For every single person that ever was, and ever would be. Our sins are paid for. Covered. And nothing I did, nothing I can do, EVER came into play. He did it all on His own, without any input from me, without any help from me.
I believe that, because of this incredible gift of love that Christ gave me, I am washed clean of sin. ALL my sin is gone in God's eyes, because of Christ's sacrifice. Because of this, I can come to God as one of His own beloved children, and He will give me what I need, and what is best for me. He always hears my prayers - not because I deserve to have Him listen, not because I'm a "good person" (because nobody can EVER be good enough for God on their own), but because His Son made me His own.

I believe that Christ shares His body and blood with us every time we participate in the Lord's Supper. I believe that He gives His life to us every time we partake of His body and blood. I believe that He is truly present, that His body and His blood are really, physically present at every Holy Communion. The Jews in the Old Testament were forbidden from eating or drinking the blood of animals they killed, because that blood contained the very LIFE of the animal. That was not theirs to eat - they were only to eat the meat, not the life. Christ gives us his LIFE, and shares his life with us when we eat his Body and drink his Blood. I believe it's not a symbol, or a representation of Him - be3cause it's not a symbolic life! We're not going to "symbolically" go to heaven with Him - we are going to live with Him.

I believe that participating in the Lord's Supper with fellow Christians shows that we share the same beliefs. I believe if we do NOT share the beliefs of the people we are with, that we should not attend Communion with them. See that word "union" in there? If I'm not IN UNION WITH the people around me, I SHOULD NOT pretend I am by attending Communion with them. I SHOULD NOT lie to them, and possibly even myself. I will, instead, pray with them, sing along with them, and participate in the aspects of worship we DO agree on.

I realized this weekend that another of my "beliefs" was very wrong. I tend to think of "the mission field" as Somewhere Else. It involves leaving home and going to people in a far-away place, with a different culture, different habits, and probably a different language than I have. It likely involves a passport and lots of vaccinations. Missionaries are specially-trained people who have to learn a lot, including new languages, and spend years in a culture they didn't grow up in, teaching people who never met them before about the Gospel.
Guess what?
That's not the ONLY mission field out there, and the specially-trained people aren't the only missionaries. We all are missionaries. Everywhere is a mission field. Home, family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors are all a mission field. Sometimes it's a "small" task, and sometimes it is a decades-long mission to share Christ with a single friend, relative, or co-worker. It always involves lots of prayer, lots of patience, and sometimes, lots of grief.
We don't always see the "payoff", but that's the way mission work is, sometimes.

We don't have the luxury of waiting till "the right time", either. Who knows what will happen? The people of Noah's time sure didn't expect 40 days & nights of solid rain when that first storm started - and by the time they realized they were in trouble, it was too late.
Christ's coming will be the same way - once He has come, it's too late for that talk with your neighbor, your co-worker, your friend. Once He comes, it's too late to believe, as well. Sorry, time's up.

So...we need to share our beliefs with others, and we need to do it every day. I don't know how God's going to use me today, but use me He shall, and I'll try to be ready for Him, and do what He wants me to do.

And a BIG thank-you to our Pastor for helping me to clarify and realize all of this.