Taste and see that the Lord is good (from Psalm 34)

I’m reading a book entitled “Take This Bread”, by Sara Miles. It’s an autobiographical story of a woman who became a Christian when she was encountered by Christ in Holy Communion. “I didn’t find God,” she says, “God found me.” In fact, Ms. Miles isn’t all that sure she was looking for God. One Sunday morning, a little wave of curiosity washed over her when she saw an Episcopal church. Their doors were open (literally, the doors were open), she heard the sounds of the congregation in worship, and she stepped through those doors.

But her awakening to faith in Christ happened when she was given a piece of bread. Jesus was placed in her hand. She ate the bread and was moved to tears, like the rest of us not totally understanding what happens there in that meal, but overwhelmed by the way she was being touched by God, and touching God. Sara Miles had been raised an atheist.

She was baptized a year later. The same week of her baptism, she started a community food pantry in the church’s sanctuary. The altar table was the first to be loaded up with things like canned corn, apples, and bags of rice. That pantry is still operating, mostly with the help and leadership of people who once were clients of the pantry.

Throughout the book, Ms. Miles is careful to note that from her perspective, receiving Jesus in a piece of bread at communion is the same thing as distributing Jesus to another human being by giving a can of corn. So it made sense to her to use the altar for this “program”. She began to see the Friday pantry shift as another time of worship. In fact, the priest of that congregation asked Sara to include the number of people receiving food in their worship attendance registry.

My message to you is that I hope you consider serving communion. Week after week the sign-up sheet has been blank. So on most Sundays before worship begins, I “scope out” the congregation to see who might be willing to serve Jesus. I have begun sharing the responsibility of handing out bread. Two positive benefits to that are that others get a chance to place Jesus in the hands of recipients, and I get to pray a short prayer or say a blessing for others as I come around with the chalice. It’s a wonderful experience.

The first time I served communion, I was a student in college. I helped in our local congregation in Issaquah Washington. After the service I remarked to Pastor Larry how powerful and significant that experience was, that I got to see the faith of the person as they waited for me to place Jesus in their hand. It was actually quite profound. And humbling.

Would you like to be part of that? There’s room for you to serve! Taste and see that the Lord is good.