So Ordinary

Luke 22:14-23 NKJV
14 When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. 15 Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
17 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; 18 for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
19 And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. 21 But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table. 22 And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!”
23 Then they began to question among themselves, which of them it was who would do this thing.

Dear Jesus,

The Sacrament.  Bread and wine.  So ordinary.  Yet eternal.

"The bread which we eat at the sacrament is common bread, but, for him who has a heart to feel and understand, it is the very body of Christ" (William Barclay in The Gospel of Luke, 1953, p. 277).

At first glance, the invitation to bread and wine seems almost mundane.  Daily.  Ordinary.  Such was the staff of life in Your first century world.  You came through the ordinary.  You transformed ordinary into extraordinary.

Barclay put it this way:  "In the rush and press of things you will forget me.  Man forgets because he must, and not because he will.  Come in sometimes to the peace and stillness of my house and do this again with my people--and you will remember" (In The Gospel of Luke, 1953, p. 278).

Certainly, these words capture Your invitation into the extraordinary.

Thank You for Your call to Your table.  I have celebrated Your gift of sacrifice with a group of teenagers on a mountainside in Pennsylvania, an altar at church, with 39 Kenyan pastors being ordained into Your ministry, with my own family, and more.  I feel the choke in my throat.  Tears sting my face.  My heart breaks at the consideration of Your sacrifice.

Dr. Bill Ury wrote: "We are made for a Mediator. We have no answers to the stark pain of life without Another bearing our anxiety. All of us need the blood of Jesus to remove our sin." (The Bearer: Forgiving as Christ, 2015, p. 45).

Humbled. Broken. Penitent. Loved. Inspired. Thankful. I rise from the communion rail. Each time, I am changed.
Draw me again into Your presence.  Invite me to the table.  Bring me to the foot of the bloody cross. Make me new in You.

Thank You for changing me in Your holy presence.

In the Name of Christ, my Lord,
Amen.