Holy Communion

(This picture is from Easter Sunday.)

One of the things I have been commended for by my church is the hospitality I show on behalf of the church when we celebrate the Lord's Supper. The current "motto" (for lack of a better word) of The United Methodist Church is "Open hearts, open minds, open doors." One of the ways that plays out is that we celebrate an "open table," which means anyone and everyone is welcome to participate in communion. Some churches require that you be a member to partake; others that you be baptized. In The United Methodist Church we say that everyone is welcome. Nothing more matters than that you have a desire to come and "taste and see that the Lord is good" (Psalm 34:8). Every time we celebrate Holy Communion at Unidos por Cristo (about once a month) I make it a point to say that. We have folks from various church and non-church backgrounds - Baptist, Pentecostal, Catholic, lapsed Catholic, etc. I want to make sure that each person present knows that they are welcome at the Lord's table, that it is not my table or the church's table, but it is God's table. And God welcomes everyone who comes to him.

Of course, still not everyone present participates. There are still those who think they are unworthy. Those who think they are not hungry. Those who are still holding on to the tenet of a previous church. Not everyone comes, but everyone is welcome.

Maybe about a month ago I visited with a Señora who was one of those few who stayed in her seat during communion. She shared with me why. Years ago, her family went to the Baptist church up the road. At that church they taught that if you were sinning, then you could not receive communion. She is not married to the man she has lived with for 20 years and the father of her teenage boys. Technically, he never divorced his wife in Mexico. By common-law standards, this Señor and Señora are married. But they've never actually had a wedding in a church. And so she did not participate in the Lord's Supper because she was taught that she was unworthy.

My heart went out to her, while two responses were forming in my head. One, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). No one is worthy. We are all sinners in need of a Redeemer. Two, I was reminded of a song the praise band loves to lead us in: "Amor Sin Condicion" (Unconditional Love). Communion is one sign of God's unconditional love for us, one means of grace. God loves us no matter what. God puts no conditions on his love for us; we put no conditions on who can participate at his table. The Señora said she had heard me say that each time we celebrate communion, but she had not yet been able to come forward. I asked about maybe the next time. She said she would pray; I said I would, too.

This past Sunday we celebrated the Lord's Supper. The Señora participated. Gloria a Dios!