“The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way after supper, he took the cup saying, “This is the new covenant in my blood; do this whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” Now may this true body and blood of our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ strengthen and keep you in the true faith until life everlasting. Amen.” 1 Corinthians 11:23-25
The above passage from 1 Corinthians should be very familiar to each of us; in Haiti you will hear the Pastor speak these verses usually in French and sometimes in Haitian Creole. Receiving the Sacrament of Holy Communion in a foreign country really puts the work of the Holy Spirit into a more profound setting; reminds us of our commissioning to “go and make disciples of all nations…”
There is a song written by Carolyn Arends called “They’ll know we are Christians” that has some wonderful lyrics and here are just a few of them;
“We are one in the Spirit; we are one in the Lord. And we pray that all unity may one day be restored. And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love. They will know we are Christians by our love. We will walk with each other; we will walk hand in hand. And together we'll spread the news that God is in our land. And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love, they will know we are Christians by our love.”
Hand in hand; the hands in the attached photo belong to a Haitian woman waiting to receive Holy Communion at Bon Berger Eglise Evengelique Lutherienne in Caredeux which is a suburb of Port-au-Prince. Where do you suppose her hands have been during her lifetime? They certainly appear to be filled with much personality, probably have seen their load of trials, the earthquake, political problems, troubles and prayerfully there were also times of rejoicing.
Look at your hands for a moment, where have they been during your journey on earth? Have they toiled in the hot sun, done laundry outdoors on a washboard, labored in the garden, changed diapers, mended clothing, assured a sick child, repaired equipment and seen moments of rejoicing at the direction of your journey?
Imagine if the photo would have shown the hands of Jesus; where have they been? His worked with wood, changed water to wine, healed the sick, restored sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf and speech to the dumb, raised the dead and were nailed to the cross for you, me, the Haitian woman in the photo, your family and over 33,500 Trinity/HOPE kids. Christ did it all for us.
When you next prepare to receive Holy Communion and are standing at the foot of the cross with the Body and Blood of our Savior take a long hard look at your hands, think about the hands in the photo and then think about how much His hands accomplished for you and how much you have accomplished for Him…we have so much yet to accomplish to further the Holy Gospel throughout this world.
Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you…Jay