Want Some?
Patti Coates came into my office today, carrying a paper she had found in some of her stuff. It was an article I wrote ten years ago for an Emmaus newsletter...and she thought I might like to be reminded of it on the "eve" of Christopher's graduation. Thanks, Patti. I've told this story elsewhere, but this devotional was my first time to share it. I present it here, slightly edited...
February 2000
About a month ago, our church went on a retreat to Epworth Forest. About 10 families joined together to share fellowship, study and worship over a period of about 24 hours. During the closing worship, we were preparing to share in the celebration of Holy Communion. I had prayed the blessing over the bread and juice and was just about to break the bread when the unexpected happened.
My son, Christopher, is four years old and hard to keep in one place. And right there, in the middle of worship, he got loose from Cathy and ran up to me. "Can I help to serve the bread?" he asked. I was just about to tell him "no" when suddenly I couldn't think of any reason to say no. In the back of my mind were Jesus' words, "Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs" (Matthew 19:14).
So, as much to my surprise as anyone else's, I said, "Yes, Christopher, you can help." He beamed from ear to ear. And as people began coming forward, there we stood, father and son, serving communion together. I, of course, was very proper, offering the cup and saying, "This is the blood of Christ, shed for you." Only later did I learn that Christopher, who was, of course, getting people first, was holding out the bread and saying to everyone, "Want some?"
Bill Cosby (following Art Linkletter) says that kids say the darndest things, but my experience is that kids say the holiest things. Christopher was preaching a better sermon than I ever could, for communion reminds us of a God who offers us His grace. He made the way for salvation and now says to the world, "Want some? Want some grace? Want some salvation? Want some mercy? You won't find it anywhere else except at my table."
As we work in our local churches to help the lost find the cross, as we seek to be servants of Christ in everything we do, may we remember that our task is to simply witness to God's matchless grace and say to the world, "Want some?"
"...and a little child shall lead them..." (Isaiah 11:6).
February 2000
About a month ago, our church went on a retreat to Epworth Forest. About 10 families joined together to share fellowship, study and worship over a period of about 24 hours. During the closing worship, we were preparing to share in the celebration of Holy Communion. I had prayed the blessing over the bread and juice and was just about to break the bread when the unexpected happened.
My son, Christopher, is four years old and hard to keep in one place. And right there, in the middle of worship, he got loose from Cathy and ran up to me. "Can I help to serve the bread?" he asked. I was just about to tell him "no" when suddenly I couldn't think of any reason to say no. In the back of my mind were Jesus' words, "Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs" (Matthew 19:14).
So, as much to my surprise as anyone else's, I said, "Yes, Christopher, you can help." He beamed from ear to ear. And as people began coming forward, there we stood, father and son, serving communion together. I, of course, was very proper, offering the cup and saying, "This is the blood of Christ, shed for you." Only later did I learn that Christopher, who was, of course, getting people first, was holding out the bread and saying to everyone, "Want some?"
Bill Cosby (following Art Linkletter) says that kids say the darndest things, but my experience is that kids say the holiest things. Christopher was preaching a better sermon than I ever could, for communion reminds us of a God who offers us His grace. He made the way for salvation and now says to the world, "Want some? Want some grace? Want some salvation? Want some mercy? You won't find it anywhere else except at my table."
As we work in our local churches to help the lost find the cross, as we seek to be servants of Christ in everything we do, may we remember that our task is to simply witness to God's matchless grace and say to the world, "Want some?"
"...and a little child shall lead them..." (Isaiah 11:6).
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