Preschool Snack….

In one of our recent “church shopping” experiences, we attended a mega church. By mega I mean really, really big. Think college basketball game arena meets concert meets God. It’s very high tech, very loud, and very crowded. We were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the worship service. It wasn’t showy or stuffy. It was genuine praise and worship. The preaching was engaging and real. It was very long…the preaching that is. Not long like a bad movie where you are just wishing it would end. It was just the opposite. It was like watching a very long but good movie. When it was over, you were surprised at how long it was!

Anna actually payed attention to the entire sermon. Of course, it was on pornography…actually what we allow to interfere with our relationships with each other and God. Not the subject I would choose my 9 year old to listen attentively to, but most of the pornography talk went over her head. She loved the fact that he used lots of scriptures. She took several of his little sayings to heart! One of those was “Don’t feed the Sumo,” which is just a whole other topic to write about.

The service was fine until the sermon was over. It was time for the offering. I was curious to see how this would take place with that many folks in the arena…I mean sanctuary. It was done by passing cloth bags. It was effective. What came next didn’t seem comfortable to those us from the Methodist tradition.

The offering bags were collected and without further adieu here came a platter with crackers and grape juice. I realized that it was COMMUNION. Nothing was said…just here came another offering plate…I struggled with the platter because I had Abby on my lap. I think I held up the process of the communion because I was trying to explain to the girls what was going on. Needless to say it was quite unspiritual.

Several days after that experience, we were talking about the different churches we had visited at the dinner table. We were discussing what we liked about each one and what we didn’t like about each one. We started talking about the big church as the girls call it.

Anna piped right up and said,”I didn’t appreciate how they did communion.” We didn’t expect that out of our nine year old. We, of course, asked her what she meant. She said that there was nothing said about it. The preacher didn’t call our attention to it. We were passed the crackers and the juice. We ate them and that was that. No prayer. Nothing. She said, “It was like they were passing out a snack at preschool. Don’t they know that it was communion!? I think Jesus said that we were suppose to remember him when we did it!”

We were shocked as parents. Shocked in a good way. I have thought about her comments several times over the last couple of weeks. Preschool snack…communion….remembering….

Communion, the Lord’s Supper…it is such a special, holy moment. She’s right…we are suppose to “do this and remember me.” Luke 22. But do we do that? How often do we listen to the liturgy what as United Methodist we say each and every time we participate in a communion service?

Each and every time we as United Methodists gather to partake of this special service we are invited by these words:

Christ our Lord invites to his table all who love him, who earnestly repent of their sin and seek to live in peace with one another…

What powerful words…those who love and earnestly repent fo their sin…do we do that? Do we earnestly repent of those sins? How often do we take that piece of bread and hear those words, “This is the body broken for you?” How often do we dip that bread while hearing, “This is the blood shed for you?” How often do we place that soggy bread in our mouths, utter “Praise be to God” and return to our seats without once thinking about earnestly repenting of our sins and honestly seek to live in peace with one another?

Do we even know how to do that? Are we willing to do that? To live in peace requires us to put others before us. To earnestly repent of our sins requires us to admit we are imperfect; that we sin. That is hard.

I used to think that it got easier as one developed a closer relationship with God. I think that the closer I come to God and the more I learn about him and his love for me and the extent to which he will go to have me with him for eternity the more I am acutely aware of my sins. It is easier to take that bread and juice, mutter my thanks, return to my seat and not let it change me.

But it does change me. I choose to allow God to change me. Slowly sometimes. Painfully sometimes. To know that I disappoint God is more than I can stand sometimes. But I am reminded that God loves me. Even when I take the soggy bread and return to my seat without a real thought about it. He knows my faults, even those I won’t admit to myself and he loves me anyway.

He knows that I will try to remember him. That I want to remember him. That I want to earnestly repent of my sins. That I want with all my heart to live in peace with those around me. He also know that I will not always think of him, that I will go through the motions and not repent, and that I will not do all that I can to live in peace with those around me. He knows that as hard as I try not to, I will still sin. Yet he loves me.

I try to remember that each time. I pray that it never becomes a “preschool snack” to me. I pray that it does not become a “preschool snack” to you.