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"Consider
your calling, that there were not many wise
according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many
noble, but God has chosen the foolish things of
the world ... and chosen the weak things of the
world ... and chosen the base and despised things
of the world ...." (1 Corinthians
1.26-28)
_____________________________
Taken
The
Lord's Supper not only reminds us of Christ. It
reminds us of ourselves. While we meditate on the
death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, the
wafer and the juice beckon us to also consider our
own life experience.
In
1941, Dom Gregory Dix (an Anglican monk)
identified and described what he called "the shape
of the liturgy." He noted the four-part formula
that appears in so many of the New Testament
meal-stories involving Jesus, climaxing in the
Passover meal (the Last Supper).
"He
took some bread, and after
blessing it He
broke it; and
gave it to them ...." (Mark
14.22)
These
four terms crop up repeatedly in the Gospel
stories: taken, blessed, broken, given. They
describe Jesus feeding the 5000 (Matthew 14.19).
They appear in the special meal of the Upper Room
(Matthew 26.26). They resurface at the Emmaus meal
(Luke 24.30). But, most profoundly, these verbs
express the essence of the truly
Christian
journey.
Taken.
Henri Nouwen considers the word "somewhat cold and
brittle." He prefers the warmer word
"chosen." Our first step towards becoming
deep nourishment to others (whether family,
friends, community, or further afield) involves
the deep conviction that God has chosen
us; not because we're mighty, noble, wise,
strong, or important. Indeed, as Paul writes
(above), God specifically calls and
chooses men and women who model weakness,
lowliness, foolishness, and ordinariness. He
chooses us not for what we can do but for what He
can do through
us.
Just
as Jesus used the simplest of elements to feed a
crowd, so He continues to choose the simplest of
people to touch the
world.
Do
we believe
it?
It
defies our expectation. Surely Christ can do
most with the wealthy, educated, well-connected,
and powerful. But in the simple meal of life,
where God acts as host and prepares the table, He
continues to choose the unexpected and least
likely.
Others
may not choose us. And in our self-deprecation we
may not choose ourselves. But God takes us in His
hand, and the journey into life's greatest liturgy
begins.
A
simple meal becomes a profound expression of our
lives. He took the bread ... He
chooses us. "Consider your calling
...."
In
HOPE
-
David | 
