On Serving Communion

 

 

If you didn’t know this yet, we’re front row folks at church.  Well not technically FRONT row, but we do like to be near the action.  This is a lesson we learned from our 7 year old when we asked him why he kept acting out in church.  He explained it was because he couldn’t see anything that was going on.  We moved ahead a half a dozen rows or so.  Problem solved (for the most part, some side effects included, just keep reading).

So last week we’re sitting there near the front and the pastor, who knows I have struggled with desiring to feel used as a Christian, leans down and asked me if I’d like to help serve communion.

3 thoughts ran through my head very quickly:

1.      Um quick, without looking down.. What am I wearing?  Will I look fat or sloppy in this outfit when I stand in front of the congregation? Wait.  That was selfish/vain.  Get your act together, Qt!

 

2.      Who am I to offer communion to these people?!  I ain’t no pastor.  I love Jesus, but is this really my place to serve?

 

3.      Hey I know who I am! I am a child of God, & I have been saved and set free.  THAT gives me the right to share this blessing with others who wish to do communion.  I am called to share this goodness!

 

 

So I accepted.  The whole process was really quick, but so deep.

 

I walked away changed by the experience. 

 

What an amazing opportunity to be on the giving side of the communion line.  I wish everyone in the church would take a turn serving communion.  When they’re ready.

 

I was holding back tears of joy, and sorrow, as I served.  Joy that we can do this to remember Jesus, and joy for all those faces who accepted the gift of communion.  Sometimes it’s really hard to accept gifts, especially a gift as monumental and sacred as this one.  I think we can often be hard on ourselves, and often feel underserving of His abundant Love.

 

I felt sorrow, remembering what Jesus went through for US, thinking of his sacrifice for us.  Thinking in my head, am *I* sacrificing enough in my daily routine for Him?  Am I prioritizing Him, and this church family in my life? 

What more can I be doing?   I don’t think this journey of life is about what you can get out of it, but about what you can put IN to it.

 

You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:5

 

And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you."   Luke 22:19-20