Eavesdropping

I try not to make it a habit, but occasionally I’ve caught myself eavesdropping on someone else’s conversation. I know, I know, it’s rude and I have no business doing it. But the conversation today was irresistible. I was sitting at lunch, celebrating someone’s graduation from seminary when several older gentlemen were discussing their churches. They were members of another denomination and went to different churches. They were sort of comparing notes. One says to the other, “Ya’ll do communion every Sunday?” After an affirmative response he went on. “Yeah, we do too. I just have one question, why? Why? Why? Why? I mean, it hasn’t changed anything.” Luckily for me, someone asked me a question at this point and I wasn’t given the chance to jump into the previous conversation uninvited. I was struck by the gentleman’s simple disgust for the sacrament of the church. Like it was something that their minister insisted on them doing, sort of like when your parent’s forced you to wash your hands before dinner or when you just had to brush your teeth before going to bed. I felt sorry for the man. I felt sorry for his church. But, I also felt sorry for his pastor. Whoever he or she is must have to deal with that kind of attitude all the time. But more so, I feel sorry for the pastor who has done such a poor job explaining why we share in this sacred sacrament, that he or she has parishioners running around being angry about it. Based on this conversation, I’ve learned that maybe I need to do a better job of explaining to God’s people about communion and other things that we do in the church. I take for granted that they know as much about this stuff as I do. I mean, I’ve always wondered about new Christians and how they must feel when they walk into a service and see new things that are unfamiliar and uncomfortable to them. I’ve never thought that some of our members, life-long Christians, would have just as little knowledge about the church as the strangers in our midst. Lesson learned. Thank God for communion, thank God for teaching moments, and thank God for the blessing of good ears that over-hear some pretty interesting conversations. -Brad