Hello,
One of the things
that I do as a pastor is to visit shut-ins, and as part of that visit bring
them Holy Communion. For many of us
Lutheran Christians, Holy Communion is a very important part of our spiritual
lives. When we gather around the Altar,
there is an experience of unity with God and with one another that is a “lamp
unto my feet, and a light unto my path”.
So, for those whose life circumstances keeps them from joining us around
the Altar, we take the bread and wine from the Altar to them, thus including
them in this highpoint of the Christian faith.
I was at the home
of a person who had become homebound, and after catching up on how things are
going for them, I said, “I have brought Communion with me, would you like to
receive?” Enthusiastically, the person
and his wife said, “We would love that.”
I broke out my home communion “kit”, a wooden box of sorts made for me
by my internship supervisor decades ago that carries the bread and wine from
the Altar. As I was getting everything
set up, their adult son walked into the house, having completed an errand that
he had run for them.
“This is our
pastor,” the parents said, “He has come to bring us Communion. Do you want to join us?”
There was a look
of surprise on his face, and stumbling over his words he said, “Well, I don’t
know. It’s been a long time since I have
been to Communion.”
“That doesn’t
matter,” I said back. “If you would like to join us, you are more
than welcome.”
Again, he
hesitated, and said, “It’s been a long time since I have been to church.”
“Well,” I said
with a smile, “God doesn’t keep an attendance chart. If you would like Communion, you are more
than welcome to receive.” And he
did. Into his hands I placed a piece of
bread with the promise of Christ, “This is the body of Christ, given for
you.” Then, I did the same with a small
glass of wine, and spoke the accompanying promise of Christ, “This is the blood
of Christ, shed for you.” Along with his
father and mother who had just received Communion, too, I spoke a
post-Communion blessing and gave them a benediction to seal our visit with
God’s grace. It was wonderful.
Two Sundays from
now will be Easter, the high-point of the year of the Christian faith. It is the anniversary of the day that Jesus
rose from the dead, and in his rising opened a life that nothing could steal
away…..nothing that we might do, and nothing that might come our way, even
death. So, as we bump into each other
through this Bungee Cord, might I be as bold as the mother I was visiting said
to her son, “Do you want to join us?”
“Well,” some
might say to my invitation, “I don’t know.
It’s been a long time since I have been to church.”
My response,
“That doesn’t matter.”
“It’s been a long
time,” might still roll from one’s lips.
“It’s been a long time because….I just got too busy with life…I don’t
like being told what I have to believe….I don’t know how much of the Christian
faith I really believe….I have made such a mess of my life, I am embarrassed to
go….I don’t have the money to give to the offering….I have been hurt by
Christians……….”
Still my
response, “That doesn’t matter. God
doesn’t keep an attendance chart.”
What God does is
to say to you and me, that each of us is so loved by him that he sent his Son
to die to wrap us in his grace, and he walked his Son out of the Easter tomb to
wrap us in his embrace forever. God
loves you…..that is what God does, and God loves it when God gets a chance to
express his love to you, because you and I know that love, especially
unconditional, divine love, has the power to give life.
I don’t care how often you come to church,
or how long it has been since you have come to church…and I am sure that God
feels likewise…as I invite you to join us for worship on Easter. I just hope you will. I hope that you will because God loves you
and wants to express his love for you, and just like the parent whose child’s
seat is empty at the dinner table, a measure of sadness will brush God’s heart
if you are not there.
Easter is two
Sundays away, and Christians will gather to celebrate the day that changed
everything. “Would you like to join us?”
Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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