Submitted by Kerry Patton
“For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the
fullness to dwell in Him, 20and
through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the
blood of His cross; through Him, I
say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.” Colossians 1:19-20
The
Lord’s Table
Many years ago, I was conducting a worship service at a
retirement care facility in Rising Star, Texas.
That Sunday afternoon was the first of the month and I was also leading
them in the Lord Supper after my message.
There was one resident, a woman we will call Doris, who
sat silently in her wheel chair the entire time I was preaching; her head was
bowed and her eyes were closed. I closed
my message with a prayer and then entered the liturgy for the Lord’s
Supper. Shortly, I had completed the
liturgy and was now distributing the elements to those in attendance. Making my way around the room, one person at
a time received the elements of the bread and the cup.
Finally, I got to the place where this woman was still
sitting silently. “Ms. Doris, would you
like to receive the Lord’s supper?”
There was no response. “Ms.
Doris, would you like to receive the Lord’s supper?” I repeated. This time a bit louder. The woman jumped and opened her eyes. She had been sleeping. I smiled to myself and repeated a third time:
“Would you like to receive the Lord’s supper?”
This time, her aged eyes looked at mine and she replied: “What’s
that?” I explained to her that I was
serving what is known as “The Lord’s Supper.”
I told her that the cup of juice represented the blood of Jesus shed
upon Calvary’s cross for our sins, and the bread represented his body, broken
for us. The woman sat for a moment in
silence staring at the elements of the Lord’s Supper. Then with a sweep of her hand, she picked up
practically all the wafers of unleavened bread on the plate, closed her hand,
and sat back in her chair.
I stood in front of her for a moment, shocked at what had
just happened. Instead of taking a
single piece of the communion bread, she had essentially taken it all. Only a couple of pieces remained. Momentarily, I panicked! I looked to my right and there were two
attendants remaining. There would be
JUST enough. I moved on to serve them.
It’s
an All You Can Eat Buffet
Looking back on this event, and I do think of that
precious lady from time to time, I don’t know what she was thinking as she
swept the plate with her hand. But I do
recall what I was thinking: In that
moment, I was smiling. Her action had
placed in my mind an image of her understanding that the Lord’s Supper elements
were connecting her to Jesus, to his love, to his salvation, to his power…and
she wanted all she could get!
Have you ever been to a mall food court and experienced
the persons standing outside an establishment giving away samples of what they
can find inside? “Here, taste this. Have a free sample!” Yes, the Bible does invite us to “taste and
see that the Lord is good…” in Psalm 34:8.
However, Jesus isn’t just a sampler that we taste a bite or two of and
then go on about our shopping! Above,
we read in Colossians 1:19-20 where we are told that – the fullness of God…is
in Christ Jesus. He is all there, and
you are invited to receive all of him.
ALL his love, all his grace, all his wisdom, all his power, all his
presence…in your life!
God desires for us to experience the FULLNESS of Himself
in Jesus…Not merely a sample of what He is like, but an all you can eat buffet
where we can come and be filled over and over and over with the fullness of God
in Jesus. Indeed…taste and see. Taste it all, and take it home.
Prayer
Almighty God, how we long to
experience the fullness of you. As Jesus
prayed for his disciples to understand the height, breadth, and depth of your
love for them, so also we need that knowledge.
Do your work of revelation in each of us, and fill us with deep desire
to follow you ever more closely, and seek you as we have not before. Help us, O God, to know your fullness in
Jesus.
In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen.
