Family Feast

(A responsive call to Communion for a Presbytery, General Assembly, or other meeting of a faith’s governing body, because I always dreamed that grace could find and feed us more fully if the culmination of our debate and decision was Eucharist.)

We have gathered: sisters, brothers, uncles, aunts, cousins, young, old, left, right– all part of the menagerie of this faith (the Presbyterian) family.

Anticipation and anxiety are high; we all feel an important stake in what is said and done in the family name.

Lord help us! We’ve dared to discuss religion and politics, and risked examining levels much deeper than social chit-chat; maybe even had a little theology rub off on us.

We have been called to step beyond the trappings of religious convention into the living tradition of faith.

A vote has been taken; the results have been tabulated and announced; winners and losers beg to be identified.

Before the concession speech can come or the victory dance can begin, bread’s aroma wafts in; the noise of wine’s intentional pour echoes through the hall.

The smell and sound remind us of our gracious host: the One who spoke us into being; One whose mercy, grace, forgiveness unite us in joy and service. 

One loaf, one cup, one body.

Blessed, broken, shared.

Struggling to live faithfully into the kingdom for which we are being prepared.

Grappling with our understanding of God that can so easily turn into a wrestling match with one another.

“Truth in order to goodness” collides with “mutual forbearance.”

“Reformed and always reforming” intersects with our cherished principles of interpretation.

Christ’s invitation will not allow us to split the table– to disown one another.

“We are one in the spirit, we are one in the Lord, and we pray that all unity may one day be restored.”

Let us approach the table via the throne of grace, with humility to temper our certitude, and confidence to shore-up our disappointment.

[all] Let us taste and see that the Lord is good, that we might find the wellspring of our common faith from which to joyfully and courageously go out in mutual service.

© 2012 Todd Jenkins