Good morning…
Before lighting candles and singing “Silent Night” to end the sacred Christmas Eve service, our church family was invited to take communion. We were reminded that, at his final earthly meal, the grown up baby Jesus took bread and blessed it, broke it and said, “This is my body, broken for you. Take and eat.” Likewise, he lifted the cup, blessed it, and said, “This is my blood shed for the forgiveness of sins. Drink of it, all of you.” At that point in the regular ritual, my ears heard a hushed dialogue from the pew behind us.
“Grandma, if I eat it, will it kill me?” asked the five year old boy.
“No, honey, it won’t kill you,” responded my longtime friend.
“Well, will it make my eyes bleed?” he worried.
“No, sweetheart, it won’t make you eyes bleed,” she reassured.
“Is it safe to eat?” he wondered.
“Yes, dear, it is safe to eat.”
Through rote repetition, we church-going adults can be numbed to Christ’s powerful invitation to feed from his living presence. Think about communion with the ears of a child. “Eat my body.” “Drink my blood.” Jesus’ offer does sound gruesome and life-changing. This wise child is asking an important question. “What will happen to me if I choose to eat and drink the gift Christ was born into the world to give?”
Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: “God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20, MSG).
Feeding from the living presence of the risen Christ child, may we each eat, drink, and live well God’s life-changing commission, day after day after day.
…Sue…
