Sunday mornings are not for the faint of heart.
The alarm fails.
The oatmeal burns.
The clothes I set out the night before are covered in cat hair.
My children, who never have to leave the house before 10 AM, suddenly find it difficult to talk, or eat, or match shoes. And I find it hard to think about worship when all of Sunday morning is one manic rush to get to a place of rest.
But all of the rushing ends in a sanctuary where Word and worship work to restore what has been broken, clouded, and marred. There, a wedding feast has been prepared and set out for me by the Lover of my soul, the Groom who knows my weakness and understands my sorrow.
And yet He loves me. He loves me when I’m harried and late for Sunday School and forgot to bring my tithe. He loves me when I can’t worship because I’m thinking about the pipes freezing and the argument I had with the kids over toothpaste.
There, in the midst of all the shortcomings, He ushers me in to this beautiful mystery of grace. Mercy. Love unbounded. He gives me a common meal to illustrate the uncommon affection between a holy God and His undeserving bride.
Bread, like a body, broken for me.
Wine, like blood, spilled out for me.
Hushed by the sacred, awed by the reality, I come into His presence, into His rest, to eat and drink of His goodness.
And oh! How I need it. I need it for yesterday. I need it for today. I need it for tomorrow.
That is the beauty of this day. Those elements of bread and wine are not just a picture of what has been done for me. They are a picture of what is being done for me day by day. They remind me that I need Jesus. They remind me that I have Jesus.
This is the body and the blood that was shed for me. This is the covenant that brings me into a new relationship with God. This is the adoption that gives me the rights to all the riches in the heavenly places. This is power. This is life. This is rest. This is all I need.
What a beautiful thing it is to start my week with this thought in my hands.
How beautiful – please may I use your words and pictures for our Covenant Renewal Sunday as a reflection before we take Holy Communion?
What a blessing this is and how it brings to life the words of the liturgy.
Thank you.
Of course you can! Thank you for asking, and thank you for the privilege of joining you in worship.
my eyes filled with tears reading this post. thank you for sharing. you have such a sincerity in your voice. i just found your blog today, i can’t stop reading it. thank you for being so encouraging and uplifting, and light and funny, and deep and thoughtful and so entirely devoted to God and willing to share your journey. it is beautiful.
Welcome, Ileene! Thank you for stopping by and coming along the road with me. I am so blessed to be here with you all.
Sunday mornings…one of the enemy’s busiest times. I wish every mom would read this post.
It is a crazy time, isn’t it? It’s amazing how Sundays test my sanctification. But at the end, there is grace. Praise God for that!
That was beautiful. I remember feeling the same way about sunday mornings when i was trying to get my 7 kids ready for church and help hubby finish up with the dairy. By the time we were ready to go, all i wanted to do was run away somewhere!