The task of bringing our children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord is a task of enculturation. We are teaching and training, but it’s far more like coaching football or soccer than a dry lecture hall. Good parenting means tons of practice. Preparing to obey. Practicing obedience. Practice saying “thank you.” Practice saying “yes sir” and “yes ma’am.” Practice being cheerful.
And it turns out that this is one of the lessons of this meal. Jesus gave us this meal in order to make us practice obedience every week. What do we practice exactly? We practice remembering all that God has done for us. We remember His faithfulness to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, His faithfulness to Israel, particularly through Moses and the Judges and David and all the prophets, culminating in Jesus Christ. We review all the previous games.
We also practice gratitude and cheerfulness. The prayer I’m about to pray is a prayer of thanksgiving. We are to receive the bread and wine with thanksgiving, thankful for the death and resurrection of Jesus, for the forgiveness of our sins, for the gift of His Spirit. We practice cheerfulness.
We also practice waiting for one another. This was a particular instruction of Paul’s in 1 Corinthians: make sure everyone is served, make sure none of God’s covenant people are left out.
As we celebrate this meal, please feel free to talk quietly with your children. Remind them of God’s covenant faithfulness, remind them of their baptisms, remind them of the gospel, and teach them gratitude by your own joy and gratitude. Teach them to look around at everyone else sharing this meal with us. All of these people are God’s people, and by God’s great grace they have become our people. And so we wait, to make sure everyone is served.
And remember to talk about this during the week. Ask your young children if they are going to take the bread and wine and what does it mean and how are we going to do it? With joy and thanksgiving, with reverence and godly fear, with all of God’s people.
So come and welcome to Jesus Christ.
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash
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