Like many churches, here at Wake Forest Presbyterian it’s our tradition to serve communion the first Sunday of each month. I’m glad that we do, because it means we’re celebrating the Lord’s Supper with our friends back in Brandon, too, along with thousands more of our brothers and sisters throughout the world.

Rebekah’s message this past weekend came from her teaching series on The Lord’s Prayer, and the focus was – fittingly – “Give us this day our daily bread.” Hopefully, by the time I publish this, the sermon will be available online at this link (Sermons at WFPC). If it’s not posted yet, I recommend starting with March 16, the beginning of the series.

HOLY HANDFULS: When it was time for the bread and the wine, Moffett (who works with Rebekah on the pastoral staff), talked about the Hebrew tradition of holding up a fistful of dough, and asking God’s blessing before kneading it into the mix; God’s spirit works with the leaven and helps the entire batch of bread rise.

She then charged us all to be “Holy handfuls of dough,” bringing life and light and blessing and healing into the world, by virtue of our communion with Jesus.

BREAD: In the sermon, Rebekah talked about the phrase, “Give us this day our daily bread.” It’s a powerful image, but dealing with a calorie deficit is not exactly a pressing issue for most of us here in North America. Fact is, when it comes to calories we have quite the opposite dilemma. Cookbooks may be a best-selling item in bookstores, but diet plans tend to run a close second.

Regardless, each one of us needs God for life, for sustenance, for meaning, for peace, for creativity and for abundance. God is the essential building block for life. When we take communion, then, we are inviting the God-life to enter into our core, the beating heart of who we are; we become enriched, enlivened, vitalized by God, and then we are transformed into the leaven, and we take God into the world.

When we take communion we are inviting the God-life to enter into our core, the beating heart of who we are; we become enriched, enlivened, vitalized by God, and then we are transformed into the leaven, and we take God into the world.

But first we must be lifted up, like that fistful of dough, and become saturated with God. For me, that is what happens when I take communion; I take life into myself, and I renew my commitment to be life for this world.

Peace and Promise – DEREK