Communion Meditation: God With Us

We call this the “Lord’s Supper,” but we often forget why. You see, Jesus not only instituted this meal, he promised to be with us when we eat it.

(Mat 18:20)  “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”

We believe that Jesus himself is here with us. The question is, do we see him?

Close your eyes. Try to see Jesus. 

Well, I just saw the back of my eyelids. Jesus doesn’t live there. He didn’t promise to be there when I close my eyes. He promised to be here among us.

So let’s try that again. Look around. Is there anyone here that you’ve ever helped? Have you raked someone’s yard? Shoveled snow? Babysat for free? Tended nursery? Given some money in tough times? Visited a brother or sister in the hospital? Given food?

Then when you see the person you helped, you see Jesus. Jesus said that when we help the “least of these,” we help him. Do you see Jesus?

Have you ever made a point to talk to the quiet person? The friendless? The disabled? The disfigured? Do you make time to make sure that the least attractive person feels welcomed and loved? Well, when you see that person, you see Jesus.

Do see a brother or a sister in whom the Spirit burns like a firey coal in the evening? Are there people here whose love for others draws people like a magnet? If so, Jesus lives in them. If you see anyone like that, you see Jesus.

Do you see someone who’s been changed by God? Someone in whose heart Jesus lives so powerfully that they seem to have truly been born again? Then you see Jesus.

Do you see someone that comes to church because no one else will take him or her in? Someone who can find love nowhere else? Then you see Jesus.

Jesus lives in the unloved, the rejected, and the scorned.

Jesus lives in those whose hearts are open to the working of the Spirit and who let Jesus change them.

And Jesus lives here.

As we take this dry, crusty, tasteless bread, remember that Jesus lives in the ugly and the undesirable and the broken. But Jesus lets us see each other as we will be when he returns — with new bodies, redeemed, beautiful, desirable, and whole. He lets us see each other as we really are.

And so we see this bread for what it really is. A blessing from God that tastes a little like heaven. Savor it for what it really is — a meal eaten with Jesus.