Communion Meditation – 08.02.26

Last weekend, when our men’s tubing trip suddenly turned into a slow meandering marathon down the river, I came home with a sunburn that I’m still feeling a week later. No sunscreen? No problem. I’ll be fine, I told myself. There’s clouds coming by every now and then. I’m on the water. It’s the NH sun it’s not FL. Our ability to rationalize our bad decisions is amazing, let me tell ya.

And I’ve rediscovered that a bad sunburn is one of summer’s most humbling reminders that we are not as tough as we’d like to think. We are not as invincible in this world as we like to imagine. We need a covering and we need protection from the heat of life. Now, sometimes we’re just burned by circumstances beyond our control. But a lot of times, we tell ourselves I can manage this problem without prayer, without rest, community, listening to God’s word and the wisdom of trusted friends. I’ll be fine! And then we wind up carrying the blistering wounds from choices we made while insisting we knew best.

But take heart! Here at the Lord’s Supper, we can bring all of that frailty and stubbornness to Christ. He knows every tender place, every regret, every bad decision, and every place where life has scorched us. And he doesn’t meet us here with a, “You should have known better. I told you to wear your sunscreen!” No, he just says, “Come.”Come with all the places you have tried to tough it out. Come with all your exhaustion, shame, and need. For here in the broken bread and the cup—here in my life for you—is mercy instead of judgment, rest instead of striving. And my love that was there for you yesterday, is just as real for you today, a love that can heal all wounds.