The pagan mind can be summed up as trying to make bread and enjoy it without saying thanks. Think of bread as the sign of all human life and productivity. The pagan mind wants to make life and produce good things, and it wants to do so above all else without saying thank you to God.
But the insanity of this is that gratitude is the one thing necessary for any kind of productivity in the world. You might say it’s the secret of the universe. God is overabundant and massively generous. He gives and gives. The raw material for wealth and productivity is strewn about the world lavishly. And really, the only thing God asks is simple thanks. Thanksgiving is the hand that receives all of the blessing. But the refusal to give thanks is like making your hand into a fist and then still expecting your hand to be full.
So God places this meal here for us to remember and do, week after week, so that we might stay in His blessing, so that our hands might stay wide open. So as you take the bread and share it, as you take the wine and share it, see Christ struck for you, see Christ risen for you, and see Christ in all of life, in every gift, given for you. And give thanks. And come and welcome to Jesus Christ.
Photo by Elena Mozhvilo on Unsplash
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