Mar | 12 | Resurrection Always Follows The Last Supper

Dream Word – COURAGE

Lamentations 5:1-4 Remember, O Lord, what has come upon us; Look, and behold our reproach! Our inheritance has been turned over to aliens, And our houses to foreigners. We have become orphans and waifs, Our mothers are like widows. We pay for the water we drink, And our wood 
comes at a price. NKJV.

Resurrection Always Follows The Last Supper

It is no doubt somewhat apocryphally that Justus Liebig was expelled from his German Grammar School, after causing an explosion in his chemistry class! Even so, Leibig’s love of chemistry set him on course for a very successful teaching career and a life of discovery. It was this same chemist, this ‘Father of Fertiliser,’ who developed a method of extracting meat from the carcasses of animals primarily slaughtered for their hide. This same concentrated meat extract, was invented by around 1840 and commercialized by the ‘Liebig Extract of Meat Company’ starting around 1866. The original product was a viscous liquid, containing only meat extract and 4% salt, but for the masses a cheaper, dried bouillon cube was invented, which the company trademarked as OXO.

From the early 20th Century, OXO began to thoroughly embed itself into the British and commonwealth psyche, indeed, in 1908 OXO became the first commercial sponsor of the Olympic Games which were then being held in London.

I write tonight’s 'Whisper' from the 8th floor of the OXO Tower, overlooking the City of London and the River Thames. The building was originally constructed as a power station for the Post Office, but was subsequently acquired by the ‘Liebig Extract of Meat Company,' for conversion into a cold store. Rebuilding the old power station to an Art Deco design the river facing facade was retained and extended. A tower was added upon which, Leibig wanted to feature illuminated signs, advertising the name of their OXO product. Permission for the said advertisements was refused, so instead, the tower was built with four sets of three vertically-aligned windows, each of which happened to be in the shape of a circle, a cross and another circle! This design both then and now, reads ‘OXO,’ thus proving the old saying that, ‘Where there is a will, there is way!’

In the latter part of the 20th century, there was in the UK, a famous OXO campaign featuring ‘The OXO Family,’ which simply depicted blue collar, working class folks eating a meal together. During the course of the years it tracked this same homely, gravy boat-focused, OXO family growing up, which in turn, reflected all the vast social changes of the time, especially depicting the decline and collapse of family values. In 1999, after 23 years on television, the advertisers believed that the home-cooked family dinner, with all the clan sat around the table, was outdated and frankly, because so many women were now working outside of the home, their fictitious advertising family, together with real ‘old fashioned’ families, were in fact, well and truly dead. The outcome of their conclusions was the airing of their final commercial which they entitled, ‘The Last Supper’ where, after 23 years of living in the same house, the OXO kids have grown up and flown the coop, whilst the world outside has turned and moved on unrecognisably. The final scenes depict the grieving mother crying in her empty kitchen being comforted by her husband one last time, as he whispers in her ear, “Time to go,” and the OXO family, together with real family values disappeared from our homes forever.

This factual and fictional history brings many important things to mind this evening, however for the sake of brevity let me leave your dreams with but two.

Firstly, I need to remind you that although the ‘Last Supper’ of Jesus was followed by death, just three days later it was followed by a glorious resurrection! While there is life, there is always hope you see, and though women may well be on the move, it is still true that mothers continue to weep all the more over their own lost calling and all their lost children. Listen! Do you hear the weeping? For mothers, the loss of family strikes at their very heart, their very being, and for society to resurrect itself, motherhood in the context of a valued family must be resurrected. Without the family, and the Biblical values of family, society is dying. Mothers are still weeping over this loss. Do you hear them? One thing we all must do, is show mothers the practical hope of our innovative love. This is true love, this is heroic love, this is the rough fight of love, which Spurgeon says, “No featherbed warrior can get involved with!” Yes, in our day, to resurrect family values we need true innovation of Biblical proportions.

Secondly, that although our Godless and ‘politically correct,’ morally corrupt and degenerately sick society, will not allow planning permission for such an innovative resurrection to occur, it is up to us to ensure that the Cross of Christ, once again becomes the touching centre of the circles of male and female, of man and wife. Me thinks that we Christians in our day, need to build another OXO tower.

Listen: - But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrog, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 2 Timothy 3:1-6 NKJV

Pray:- Lord, the joy of our heart has ceased; Our dance has turned into mourning. The crown has fallen from our head. Yes, woe to us, for we have sinned! You, O Lord, remain forever; Your throne from generation to generation. Why do You forget us forever, and forsake us for so long a time? Turn us back to You, O Lord, and we will be restored; Renew our days as of old, unless You have utterly rejected us, and are very angry with us. Please forgive us, and restore to us our mothers as we in new ways, restore their value to our society! Amen!
(adapted from Lamentations 5:15-22 )