Perspectives: Have you been served?

Have you ever noticed that during communion, the pastor who is leading cannot serve him/herself. Someone else has to do it. It would be easy to reach for a piece of bread, dip it in the juice, and eat it, but the pastor never does that. Someone who is helping, hands him/her the bread, holds the cup, and says the reassuring words of remembrance - This is the body of Christ, broken for you. This is the blood of Christ, shed for you.

Whoever we are, we need someone to serve us. It is the way church is created. Church and grace are not solitary pursuits. 

I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said, "Nature is my church." Don't get me wrong, I find God in nature all the time, and nature - God's creation - can be a wonderful place to encounter God. But it isn't community and it isn't church.

Church is the place where we can serve. Church is the place where we can be served. Both of these must happen. 

It's hard, isn't it, to be served. But it's necessary.