Communion, Boy Style

I held the communion plate in my hand and waited for each of my older boys to break a piece off the half-loaf of bread.  Remembering a Sunday several months ago when one of them had helped himself to a veritable chunk of communion bread, I instructed in a whisper, "Break off a little piece.  A little piece."

They obeyed, each taking a respectably small portion of Christ's body, broken for us.  I smiled, pleased with my boys for behaving so beautifully and for resisting the very compelling urge for "more."

When the tray of communion cups came round, I could tell one of my boys was sizing up the cups to see which one held the most juice.  I smiled again as he took a cup and sat back quietly.

A moment later, I looked to my left to see my dear son dipping his bread in his cup to soak up the grape juice.  No big deal there, but I advised him to take the bread out so it wouldn't crumble to the point of falling completely apart. His finger swirled in the cup, mixing up a nice bread/juice pudding as he attempted to retrieve his bread.  As I watched, he tipped the cup to his mouth and proceeded to lick out every last morsel of juice soaked bread. In the back of my mind, I hoped no one else noticed his busy tongue cleaning the inside of that clear plastic cup.

At this point, if you are a ninny or even a mildly respectable individual, you might be cringing just reading this record. But watching him, I felt there was something so right in his approach to partaking of Christ's body and blood.  He came to the table, ready to be filled, eager to drink fully of Christ's abundant feast. Shouldn't we all approach our Saviour thus?

Now, I know...  He's a kid who really likes his bread and juice.  Surely he didn't tell me that he wished he could have a huge hunk of bread and a big glass of juice because he is uber-committed to Jesus.  But you know what, I still think he's beautiful and I still love his enthusiasm.  And I hope that enthusiasm carries over into his relationship with his gracious Creator and Savior. I hope he understands all that Christ desires to bestow upon him, and I hope he comes to Jesus with his arms stretched out and heaped with blessings, and says, "More?" I'm pretty sure Jesus will give him the "more" he seeks.

When he plopped his communion cup down, I leaned over and told him, "Because so many people are taking communion today, we have to take a little.  Remember that a little of God's grace and love go a long way."

But I'm with him, and I told him so, too. I'm sure Jesus would LOVE for him - and each of us - to have an entire loaf of bread and a whole jug of juice.