Listen to this devotional: |
Listen while you read: "Jesus Friend Of Little Children"1 (Lyrics) |
Editor's note: Welcoming children to the Lord's table is commonly but not universally practiced among Christian churches. In some denominations, such participation is at the discretion of the elders and with the consent of the parents, and varies from congregation to congregation, as does the way the elements are served and the actual elements used.
Luke 22:19 – And [Jesus] took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." (ESV)
As we visited multiple churches to worship with extended family and friends, my young son had become quite a connoisseur of the sacramental communion elements. He voiced his pleasure or displeasure in loud whispers from the pews. Preferring soft white bread to the crusty loaves, he exclaimed, "Mom, they have King's Hawaiian bread!" Disappointed and shocked in the paper texture of the communion wafers, he asked, "Are we really supposed to eat this?" Or alarmingly realizing that it's not grape juice and declaring, "This is wine!" We just never knew what he would say or do during communion time.
Once, as his favourite soft bread was being passed, he pulled off two big chunks of bread, one for each hand. Double-fisted. I suppose I could have been embarrassed by it and shrunk down in the seat with my hand on my forehead. I also could have thwarted his excitement and corrected him to immediately return the second piece. (But then again who wants communion bread that has been put back by a child's hand?) I decided that I'd explain it to him later and chose just to smile and enjoy the pure innocence and exuberance of my son in the moment.
Did he understand the complexities of holy communion? The forgiveness? The sacrifice? The reverence? The poignancy? The symbolism of body and blood? Of course not. He only knew that it had something to do with Jesus' love for him … and that it was tasty, soft bread. Is it enough that his only perspective was that God provides us all our needs through Jesus, and right now, He is supplying physical food of a couple of handfuls of delicious, sweet bread? In my opinion, it is more than enough at his age. He associates church and communion with a doting church family, loving parents, good food, and a divine man named Jesus Who loves him unconditionally.
As he grows and continues to partake of this holy sacrament, his knowledge and his faith will grow. One day, he will be excited that it is the King's Bread (not King's Hawaiian). But until his own understanding matures, his act of double-fisted exuberance ministered to me and hopefully to those around us. It whispered to me that we should all grab hold of the gospel message assuredly with two hands! In the innocence and whole-hearted delight of a child, may we be spiritually and physically fed by the bread of life and bask in the double-handed generosity of Christ the Saviour!
Prayer: Thank You, God, for letting us partake of Your holy meal. Whether we are holding on to You by a thread or grabbing hold with two hands, thank You for Your extravagantly generous, sacrificial, and merciful love. Amen.
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Beautifully written!
What a wonderful, stirring, and encouraging devotional you have written!
Please continue sharing these meaningful, God-inspired messages!
Love it. Keep on raising him this way and he’ll make it, handsomely!
Many thanks for your thoughts,
(BC)
No one understands – we accept with faith.
Thanks, Kerri, for this devotional. Blessings.
Now you have made your memory ours. Thank you.
(Texas)
Good for him, going for the gusto!
We use small pieces of gluten free bread, and it can be quite dry sometimes. Fresh white bread would be a treat, but we have members who can’t eat gluten, so we keep it simple by making it all gluten free.
Blessings.
Thank you for sharing this sweet story of your son participating in communion. Those little youngsters can really surprise us at times with their words or actions and give us delightful memories to reflect on through the coming years. No matter our age or learning times, our loving Lord is watching over us and giving us life experiences and for that we need be ever thankful. Blessings for your very special writing.
Mark 9:36-37…whoever welcomes one of these little children…I can relate as a child myself. Before I fully comprehended communion, I enjoyed the bread our church served as it tasted more like a cookie. Funny, my children grew up the same. The takeaway is that my parents exposed me to, and brought me up attending church at an early age. Over 6 decades later I’m so grateful for them leading me to a life of faith.
Thanks Kerri
I believe that Jesus loves to have children share in communion – and as they mature, their faith will fill in the nuances. I can’t imagine Jesus saying to an innocent child wanting to join in the “partaking of Jesus body,” that it would be in any way “inappropriate.”
Blessings.