Come to the Table
When we celebrate Communion, we are reminded that Jesus invites everyone to the Table. In the hymn Let Us Talents and Tongues Employ (The Presbyterian Hymnal, #514) the second stanza begins, “Christ is able to make us one, at the table He sets the tone, teaching people to live to bless, love in word and in deed express.”
When we come to the table, we are reminded that there are folks missing. We read of people in churches who have been turned away from Communion because of inappropriate behavior or left out because they cannot eat gluten or because they don't have the cognitive ability to understand the mystery of Communion (who does?).
One of our priorities at FPC is to expand the breadth of the Table by offering gluten-free Communion elements, addressing mobility issues of coming to the Table, and inviting people of all ages and abilities to lead and participate in worship. We continue to learn that our church family is complete only when everyone gathers at the Table together – when our Leader Dog for the Blind puppy-in-training yelps in an unexpected interlude, when our friend Terry reads Scripture in Braille, when Walt can find a place to easily maneuver his walker, and when children of all abilities are welcomed in worship with their unique needs and gifts of joyful noise.
When we are able to partake together of the bread and cup, God gives us a glimpse of the mystery of wholeness, and we begin to understand that this is indeed the joyful feast where “Jesus lives again, earth can breathe again, pass the Word around: loaves abound!”
Prayer: Gracious God, yours is an open Table of welcome and hospitality for all people in the name of Jesus Christ. At the Table of Christ all are received with gracious love and open arms. Let us share the means of your grace in the name of Christ who makes us one. Amen.
Cindy Merten
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