{"id":22772,"date":"1993-01-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1993-01-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/1993\/01\/01\/power-of-communion\/"},"modified":"1993-01-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"1993-01-01T00:00:00","slug":"power-of-communion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/power-of-communion\/","title":{"rendered":"THE POWER OF COMMUNION"},"content":{"rendered":"

I served my first Communion a few months ago.<\/p>\n\n

I’ve been no great leader in the church-my husband and I simply teach Sunday school. I’m a 33-year-old white woman with three children who usually can be found in the nursery. But my congregation, LaSalle Street Church, gave me a wonderful gift, one more among many-the gift of being a servant at the Lord’s Supper. And what a wonderful supper it is.<\/p>\n\n

My first Sunday I was doing fine. Basically my head was filled with whether to move to the left or the right, when to sit, and memorizing my line, “Christ’s body broken for you . . . Christ’s body broken for you . . . Christ’s body broken for you . . .” I didn’t want to mess up. <\/p>\n\n

But as I stepped forward to offer the bread to the first believer, one of our pastors, I felt I could empathize with John the Baptist: I had no business being here. But for God’s grace, that’s right. <\/p>\n\n

And that was only the beginning. Person after person, believer after believer, my sisters, my brothers, a man with several days’ growth of beard who had no doubt spent the previous night in a shelter (at least I hope he had a shelter) . . . “Christ’s body broken for you” . . . then a couple I think of as “beautiful” people who might brunch in a cafe after church . . . “Christ’s body broken for you.”<\/p>\n\n

Then a shaking hand, wrinkled and black; a white man in a business suit; a boy in his jeans and sweatshirt; an Asian couple and their friends; a bi-racial couple; a single mom and her young son taking his very first Communion; a Latino family, the daughters dressed in Sunday ruffles; a woman in professional clothes; a student with a kind face; a recently unemployed woman; a mom and dad with two children. “Christ’s body broken for you . . .and for you . . . and for you.”<\/p>\n\n

As I held the bread and walked down the line, some tore away a whole chunk, others just a pinch. Some took the soft, fresh middle and others the tough, dry crust. <\/p>\n\n

Some looked me right in the eyes. “Christ’s body broken for you.” Sometimes tears pooled, sometimes they spilled down.<\/p>\n\n

Some took the bread as something very intimate. A few smiled broadly and said, “Hallelujah” or “Amen.”<\/p>\n\n

I was overwhelmed. I’d always focused on my own heart at the Lord’s Table. But this time I saw a little bit more of how big God’s grace is-so free, so unconditional, offered in so many different ways to so many different people. By the third or fourth group, I managed to control my tears but not the change in my heart.<\/p>\n\n

What a great God!<\/p>\n\n

-Barb Shackelford<\/p>\n\n

LaSalle Street Church<\/p>\n\n

Chicago, Illinois<\/p>\n\n

Leadership Fall 1993 p. 71<\/p>\n\n

Copyright © 1993 by the author or Christianity Today\/Leadership Journal<\/em>.\nClick here<\/a> for reprint information on Leadership Journal<\/em>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I served my first Communion a few months ago. I’ve been no great leader in the church-my husband and I simply teach Sunday school. I’m a 33-year-old white woman with three children who usually can be found in the nursery. But my congregation, LaSalle Street Church, gave me a wonderful gift, one more among many-the Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"tax_ctp_authors":[871],"tax_ctp_books":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[160],"tax_ctp_field_guide_subcategory":[],"tax_ctp_field_guides":[],"tax_ctp_format":[131],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[632,156,636],"tax_ctp_tags":[3921,4012,4067,5043,5046,5049],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-22772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tax_ctp_authors-barb-shackelford","tax_publications-1993-leadership-journal","tax_publications-leadership-journal","tax_publications-winter_1993-leadership-journal","tax_ctp_tags-experiencing-god","tax_ctp_tags-formation","tax_ctp_tags-god","tax_ctp_tags-spiritual-discipline","tax_ctp_tags-spiritual-formation","tax_ctp_tags-spiritual-growth"],"acf":{"scripture_references":null},"yoast_head":"\nTHE POWER OF COMMUNION - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I served my first Communion a few months ago. 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