This morning during the Lord’s Supper I was doing my best to “discern the body of Christ” by looking to see who was seated around me and think about what was going on in their lives. In my immediate area of the auditorium I was in arms length of people in these situations:
- A young man who was going to be baptized following the sermon
- A mother whose daughter lost her faith two months ago
- A couple struggling with their marriage
- A woman who may have cancer and who needs your prayers…more answers this week
- A woman struggling with addiction
- A man who is getting his life back together
- A man with multiple disabilities who was in tears
It struck me just how much is going on in the lives of so many people. If those seven people are going through that much, what about the other 450+ people in the room? Not everyone at church who has a smile on their face is on “easy street” and yet many of the people who are happiest are those who are undergoing great difficulties. I am blessed to know people who are living through some difficult circumstances and am confident that God will use these things to make them stronger. It also reminded me of the power of prayer and the need for me to be more consistent in my prayers for these people.
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Great thoughts. Thank you for the reminder. I need to pray more.
Thanks.
And, sadly, there are those who would see the same people around you and – knowing their circumstances – would judge a couple or more of them “unworthy” of the supper.
Powerful stuff Matt. Another thing that is amazing about what you saw was in spite of everyone’s circumstances that are so different, the One’s death whom you were commemorating together is actually what brings all of us together to share a common (and very special) bond.
One of our pastors in a sermon a few months back paused and said something to the effect of, “Literally, if you knew the struggle and pain of every person in this room at this very moment, you would be completely overwhelmed.”
There were probably around 500 in service. It took my breath away at the time and still does when I think about our awesome God and how He’s able to take all of that struggle and pain plus that of the rest of the world on his shoulders.