Missing out on the feast
My family and I spent the weekend in Ft. Worth. Our son, Aaron, got to work at the Colonial PGA Golf tournament. I spent all day Saturday at that beautiful, classic golf course, watching these amazing golfers do their thing.
Since I'm such a cheapskate (I like to call it "frugal"), I made sure ahead of time to pack my pockets full of peanuts and peanut butter and crackers. Something just irks me when I'm asked to pay $6.00 for a little chicken sandwich at these tournaments. So there I was, seated at the green of the 8th hole, watching several twosomes come by as they tried to get their birdies and make some money for the weekend. I ate crackers and drank water. But I didn't realize that I had a ticket to a much greater feast.
You see, just before heading to the tournament with my son on Saturday morning, my brother-in-law, Jim Weaver, handed me an extra ticket. It said on it, "CBS Hospitality Suite -- West View." Jim told me I could go in there, eat some great food in a nice, air-conditioned room. And I assumed that "west view" meant that I could watch the tournament while eating.
The problem was I forgot to ask Jim one critical thing -- "where was this hospitality suite?" So as I walked around the course I looked for this place. I couldn't find it on the map. When I asked an official where it was, he told me he had no idea. And so I ate crackers in the 96 degree.
When I got home that afternoon Jim asked me how I liked the hospitality tent. I told him I couldn't find it. He said, "Oh, it was in the clubhouse. You could have gone right in."
If I had only asked Jim directions, I could have enjoyed a nice meal in an air-conditioned room with a great view of one of the fairways. Rather than a bag of peanuts while baking in the heat.
And I couldn't but think of the spiritual feast that Jesus offers lost people if we who are in His "hospitality suite" would just give them directions.
Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens...How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. -- Ps. 36:5a, 7 and 8
Jim
posted by Jim Clark @ 8:08 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Jim,
Next time loudly say, "HELP ME SOMEBODY." That's quickly becoming a common proclamation at Highland. Yesterday one of our seniors used it when stumped for a word. He immediately broke into joy filled laughter(with the rest of us)that relieved any panic that he might have had.
Those 48 seniors seemed to all be carrying God in their bag along with all the other clubs they have.
It's exciting to see how God is using them.
Jim-
I guess that is the way I look at the Lord's Supper now. What have we been missing??!!
Paul's admonition to the church at Corinth about "discerning the body" is so interesting, because he said they were failing to share with their brothers and sisters...they were selfish. The result was that some were weak, some were sick and some had died. Isn't the opposite side true, then? If we share the Lord's Supper properly, communing with our brothers and sisters, and discerning the body, will it not impart strength and health and life? So how do we go about that? It seems more and more to me that navel contemplation and silence and introspection are pretty selfish, and have little to do with "communing" and discerning the body. Without a doubt, these are proper for some times and circumstances, but aren't "communion" and "communicate" out of the same roots? When Paul said to examine yourself, he was talking about how I relate to the brethren, not how deep my sins are, and I think the context is clear on that point.
Sunday night was our last Life Team meeting with Mark and Beth Hadley before they move to Ruidoso. They got to choose how we celebrated the communion service we always have, and this is what they chose:
Mark prayed over the supper, then they went around to each person, one at a time. Beth shared the bread with each person and then Mark followed and shared the cup. They told each person how they loved them and how much it meant to commune with them and how they would never forget us, and how they were blessed by us. We got to tell them the same things and look them in the eyes from close-up and smile and cry and share and hug. Each person's meal was slightly different in the sharing, because each had different relationships and different histories. Did it take some time? Yes. Was it worth it? YES a million times over. It was a feast of biblical proportions.
When we look at the covenant promise of Jesus (Eat my body, drink my blood, and I will give you eternal life), and the statements by Paul (We, who are many, become one because we partake of the one Loaf, etc.), what should our feast look like?
Maybe it should never look the same every time, but we, as a church, should loosen up and really commune. This is a family reunion with a theme, and the theme is Jesus and us, not Jesus and me, or we would be told to take it alone. Isn't the strength and health and life of the church worth spending some time on? I think so.
Oh, how I have missed the point of that feast for so many years! ....And I had the ticket in my pocket all the time.
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