What is Communion? 

It's remembering His grace!

Brenning Manning tells the story of Fiorello LaGuardia, who, when he was mayor of New York City during the worst days of the Great Depression, was called by adoring New Yorkers 'the Little Flower' because he was only 5’4” and always wore a carnation in his lapel. He was a colorful character who used to ride the New York City fire trucks, raid speakeasies with the police department, take entire orphanages to baseball games, and whenever the New York newspapers were on strike, he would go on the radio and read the Sunday funnies to the kids.

One bitterly cold night in January of 1935, the mayor turned up at a night court that served the poorest ward of the city. LaGuardia dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench himself. Within a few minutes, a tattered old woman was brought before him, charged with stealing a loaf of bread. She told LaGuardia that her daughter's husband had deserted her, her daughter was sick, and her two grandchildren were starving. But the shopkeeper, from whom the bread was stolen, refused to drop the charges. "It's a real bad neighborhood, your Honor." the man told the mayor. "She's got to be punished to teach other people around here a lesson." LaGuardia sighed. He turned to the woman and said "I've got to punish you. The law makes no exceptions--ten dollars or ten days in jail." And then he reached into his pocket and paid the fine. Then he turned to the crowd in the court and said, “I am going to fine everyone in this courtroom 50 cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. Mr. Bailiff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant." $47.50 was turned over to a bewildered old lady who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed her starving grandchildren, 50 cents of that amount being contributed by the red-faced grocery store owner, while some 70 people, petty criminals, people with traffic violations, and NYC policemen, each of whom had just paid fifty cents for the privilege of doing so, gave the mayor a standing ovation. That’s grace.

Grace blesses us when we don’t deserve it. Grace is received when we fall down and fail, when we fall flat on our faces, when we’re exposed and are found out and forgiveness and restoration meets us. In fact, it is grace that finds us out. Grace meets us in the middle of our mess and offers us forgiveness and restoration. And grace takes away the power and control that fear, sin and failure have over us. It frees us up from our baggage. It empowers us to address our failure. In doing so, it takes away fear’s power and control over us so we don’t have to run anymore. That’s why Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” In other words, “Blessed are the ones who don’t have it all together and who are deeply aware of it because it is there that grace meets you and freedom begins.” When we come to this table we admit we are broken and thus make ourselves ready to receive God’s grace.

-Tim Smith (from sermoncentral.com)

 

Lord Jesus, this Dennis, I will never forget Your gracious act of giving Your blood and Your body for my sins!

 

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