Several months ago, I read a book titled "take this bread" by Sara Miles. I copied a passage from that book into a blog post, but never sat down and thought about what I wanted to say about it, or why I had felt compelled to copy it down and remember it. So I never published it.
Here is the quote from the book:
"What happened once I started distributing communion was the truly disturbing, dreadful realization about Christianity: You can't be a Christian by yourself. Sooner or later, if I kept participating in communion, I'd have to swallow the fact of my connection with all other people, without exception.
I was going to have to see and understand the hunger of other, different men and women, and make a gesture of welcome, and eat with them. And just as I hadn't 'deserved' any of what had been given to me...I didn't deserve communion myself now. I wasn't getting it because I was good. I wasn't getting it because I was special. I certainly didn't get to pick who else was good enough, holy enough, deserving enough, to receive it. It wasn't a private meal. The bread on that table had to be shared with everyone in order for me to really taste it.
I was not going to get to sit by myself and think loftily about how much Jesus loved me in particular. I was not going to get to have dinner, eternally, with people just like me. I was going to get communion, whether I wanted it or not, with people I didn't necessarily like. People I didn't choose.
Conversion isn't, after all, a moment: It's a process, and it keeps happening, with cycles of acceptance and resistance, epiphany and doubt. As I struggled with bread and wine and belief...I began to understand why so many people chose to be 'born-again' and follow strict rules that would tell them what to do, once and for all. It was tempting to rely on a formula-- 'accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and savior,' for example-- that became itself a form of idolatry and kept you from experiencing God in your flesh, in the complicated flesh of others. It was tempting to proclaim yourself 'saved' and go back to sleep." (Emphasis mine)
Wow... As I re-read that I am struck once again with conviction about my own life. There is a lot in that passage that challenges me. Am I communing with others? Am I sharing the bread? Am I relying on a formula or am I truly experiencing God? Am I asleep?
Another reason I am taken by this passage and this book is because of the mission trip that Alecia and I are taking with our church this summer. We're going to Swaziland, Africa. Two years ago, through some generous donations, our church helped set up a food program that provides food to orphaned children in Swaziland. See, Swaziland has the highest per capita rate of HIV infection in the world, over 26% of the total adult population and over 50% of all adults in their 20's. That's a mind boggling statistic. And one of the effects of this HIV pandemic is the large numbers of orphans left behind. So, as I said, our church has helped set up food distribution centers for orphans. And now, we and our local partners have taken the next step at one of those distribution centers by setting up a farm that will actually grow some of the food that they're giving away. Our group will be going this summer (which will be winter there) to see how this program worked out in its first year and to learn more about the needs of the community there. We'll be looking at how we can expand the farming to other food distribution centers.
So much of the world needs food and water, bread and wine, communion. They need that interaction, gathering at the table, partaking together. We have so much in this country and so many countries have so little.
Jesus talked about the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven, but he wasn't talking about the apocalypse. He was talking about bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to earth now. The Lord's Prayer says, "they kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven." Jesus gave us two commandments to guide us in establishing His Kingdom on earth: Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. So simple, yet so difficult. As Sara pointed out in her book, loving your neighbor means you might have to commune with people you don't like, people you don't agree with, people you have nothing in common with. But by doing so, we come closer to realizing the Kingdom of Heaven here, now.
Please consider helping with our mission project. Or donating to a local food pantry or homeless shelter. Anything that tugs at your heart. Just, please, don't go back to sleep. We all have work to do, here and now. God's work.
Here is the quote from the book:
"What happened once I started distributing communion was the truly disturbing, dreadful realization about Christianity: You can't be a Christian by yourself. Sooner or later, if I kept participating in communion, I'd have to swallow the fact of my connection with all other people, without exception.
I was going to have to see and understand the hunger of other, different men and women, and make a gesture of welcome, and eat with them. And just as I hadn't 'deserved' any of what had been given to me...I didn't deserve communion myself now. I wasn't getting it because I was good. I wasn't getting it because I was special. I certainly didn't get to pick who else was good enough, holy enough, deserving enough, to receive it. It wasn't a private meal. The bread on that table had to be shared with everyone in order for me to really taste it.
I was not going to get to sit by myself and think loftily about how much Jesus loved me in particular. I was not going to get to have dinner, eternally, with people just like me. I was going to get communion, whether I wanted it or not, with people I didn't necessarily like. People I didn't choose.
Conversion isn't, after all, a moment: It's a process, and it keeps happening, with cycles of acceptance and resistance, epiphany and doubt. As I struggled with bread and wine and belief...I began to understand why so many people chose to be 'born-again' and follow strict rules that would tell them what to do, once and for all. It was tempting to rely on a formula-- 'accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and savior,' for example-- that became itself a form of idolatry and kept you from experiencing God in your flesh, in the complicated flesh of others. It was tempting to proclaim yourself 'saved' and go back to sleep." (Emphasis mine)
Wow... As I re-read that I am struck once again with conviction about my own life. There is a lot in that passage that challenges me. Am I communing with others? Am I sharing the bread? Am I relying on a formula or am I truly experiencing God? Am I asleep?
Another reason I am taken by this passage and this book is because of the mission trip that Alecia and I are taking with our church this summer. We're going to Swaziland, Africa. Two years ago, through some generous donations, our church helped set up a food program that provides food to orphaned children in Swaziland. See, Swaziland has the highest per capita rate of HIV infection in the world, over 26% of the total adult population and over 50% of all adults in their 20's. That's a mind boggling statistic. And one of the effects of this HIV pandemic is the large numbers of orphans left behind. So, as I said, our church has helped set up food distribution centers for orphans. And now, we and our local partners have taken the next step at one of those distribution centers by setting up a farm that will actually grow some of the food that they're giving away. Our group will be going this summer (which will be winter there) to see how this program worked out in its first year and to learn more about the needs of the community there. We'll be looking at how we can expand the farming to other food distribution centers.
So much of the world needs food and water, bread and wine, communion. They need that interaction, gathering at the table, partaking together. We have so much in this country and so many countries have so little.
Jesus talked about the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven, but he wasn't talking about the apocalypse. He was talking about bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to earth now. The Lord's Prayer says, "they kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven." Jesus gave us two commandments to guide us in establishing His Kingdom on earth: Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. So simple, yet so difficult. As Sara pointed out in her book, loving your neighbor means you might have to commune with people you don't like, people you don't agree with, people you have nothing in common with. But by doing so, we come closer to realizing the Kingdom of Heaven here, now.
Please consider helping with our mission project. Or donating to a local food pantry or homeless shelter. Anything that tugs at your heart. Just, please, don't go back to sleep. We all have work to do, here and now. God's work.
