Words from Willie for December 2009
Big People
As I sat in church a few weeks ago, we sang songs as usual and did our announcements just like normal. We stood and greeted everyone just like the Sunday before. We came to our communion time and after I had passed the trays and taken my sacraments I noticed across the isle one of the families. They had two small children that were eagerly awaiting the plate to pass in front of them so that they too could take that small cracker and cup of grape juice.
As I sat there and watched them take communion my mind was struck with this thought. Those kids so badly wanted to take communion. They wanted to be like the "big people". I doubt they knew the theological implications for accepting those sacred symbols of our faith. I would find it difficult to accept the idea that they understood the gravity of the situation in which those things came to be. Can mere children understand what it means to die daily to yourself and carry your cross? Can they comprehend what it means to be a living sacrifice, pure and holy, tried and true? Maybe not, but what I did see were two young kids that were excited about communion. What if we were as excited about communion as these little kids? After all, we know all the theology, and the deep commitment it takes to follow Christ, right?
But how many of us come to the time of communion with this kind of anticipation, this kind of excitement, about what Jesus has done for us? What if we would stare down the aisle just waiting for the moment when we too can reach with trembling hands and a racing heart into that golden plate and with a smile on our face pull out the body that was broken for us and the blood poured out to cover sin? We sometimes let the most extravagant things in life become mundane and usual, when instead we should keep them elevated and awesome. Isn't it ironic that these kids just wanted to be like the "big people", when in fact it is the "big people" who need to be more like little children?
William Tryon
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