Day 19, Wednesday, Book of Faith – Lenten Journey
It is not unusual to hear some baptized believers describe the very disturbing, if not devastating, experience of being denied Holy Communion simply because they did not belong to a particular group of Christians. It is disturbing to hear these stories because the experience is so contrary to the nature of Jesus and what occurred at the Last Supper. Jesus did not reject those who followed him, and at the Last Supper, the disciple who betrayed him participated as did the disciple who three times denied even knowing him. In fact all of those at that meal would desert him that evening. In light of this, how can anyone deny followers of Jesus a place at the table?
In today’s devotion the author emphasized the communal nature of Holy Communion as expressing what we are praying for in the Lord’s Prayer. The bread and wine in Holy Communion is not my food. It is our food. And this food is given out equally to all. Some do not deserve more and others less. An equal blessing is given to all. No one is excluded.
And then the author writes: “When we pray for our daily bread, we are praying that the fairness and justice of Holy Communion would become the fairness and justice of our world.” I just couldn’t agree more; Holy Communion as the model for God’s vision of life.
This lesson provided me with thoughts I had never entertained before. I simply never imagined Holy Communion as being a sacrament which levels the playing field between the wealthy and the poor, the strong and the weak, the powerful and the powerless but it most certainly is. The Bible tells us that God loves all of us the same. To God each of us is his child and he loves us unconditionally just as any good parent does. The hard part for us, or should I say for me, is to love him above all else as he loves me…as he loves all his children.
And yes, it is extremely unfortunate when Christians are denied Holy Communion because they do not belong to a particular group. Jesus Christ always included anyone and everyone who wanted to follow him – it didn’t matter what their profession or how educated they were. Nothing mattered over the fact that they believed in him and had faith even if only the size of a mustard seed! This causes me to say something that just occurred to me and that is…. Christ included everyone and so should we. We may have a problem with those who have different life styles than our own – those who live together outside of marriage, those who have children out of wedlock, and those who are gay. It isn’t up to us to judge them – it is up to God. We’re just required to love them and we must try if we call ourselves Christian.