GOING FOR SECONDS

We closed our Vacation Bible School, Paul and the Underground Church, with a time of communion. With the number of kids who don’t regularly attend church, there were
likely to be more than a few who had never had the chance to share at the Table before.

As we began to invite the kids forward, there were amazing smiles on their faces. There was anticipation and excitement about what we were doing. The week had been a time of
ongoing celebration and real fun. In our singing, our praying, our playing and our learning we grew in our understanding of how God loves us.

Every day, the kids visited the Apostle Paul under house arrest. They were able to see the grumpy jailor, Brutus, accepted Christ by the end of the week and joyfully accepted his new post, cleaning the emperor’s stables. In the light of God’s love, anything can be done joyfully.
In the midst of learning about God’s love, we learned also about loving each other. In a bit of a surprise, (your’s truly was playing Paul), the kids consistently said one of their favorite
parts was visiting Paul & Brutus, and the folks in the underground church. We talked about how
we treat each other, and how God loves us unconditionally, and how, through Christ, he saves us from our sins.

We leaders discussed whether or not to have communion that last day. It was the expected concerns—would some of these kids understand its significance? Would they know what they were doing? Could they take it seriously? Was is appropriate to serve to children of such
young ages? Would it lose its power in the midst of the dancing and singing? With some faith, we went ahead with it.

You could have heard a pin drop. The smiles, joy, and whispered ‘Thank yous’ as the kids came forward removed any doubt that may have been there. Take it seriously!? Understand
it? Appropriate!? As those kids came forward, the thought struck me that none of those disciples that Jesus originally handed the bread and cup knew what they were doing either. None of them could grasp the significance, because none of them really got what was about to happen. And appropriate? Is the sacrificial love of Christ appropriate for any of us? Do any of us deserve it? When we remember it, we ought to also recall that it is undeserved, and offered only because
of Grace.

The idea that Christ’s love is never appropriate struck me as several of the kids, not thinking we saw them, came forward a second time. One of them even said, ‘That was really good, could I have some more?’ Do we approach the table of grace with that question often enough? “I really needed that, could I get some more, Jesus? I’d say you have no idea what my life is like, but you do. I know I have no reason to expect this, I can’t pay you back, but, man, I needed that.”

Thank you—with smiles of anticipation for what the Grace Giver can do—
Hanging onto the Rock,

Pastor Dan