The Lord's Picnic

I visited a church a little bit ago, it was my father's church. That Sunday, they happened to meet in a park. A platform was setup and everyone sat in lawn chairs under the trees. The weather was perfect. The service was very nice.

But after the service was lunch. BBQs were hot and burgers were ready. Everyone lined up for a great picnic lunch. What made it great was the atmosphere - friendly faces, friendly conversation, good company. It wasn't that the hamburgers were the best in town, or the potato salad. It wasn't that the people hadn't seen each other in months. It was just the combination of food and friendship.

While I sat and enjoyed the atmosphere of this gathering, I was impressed that it represented communion. We were meeting together in the name of the Lord and sharing food and drink with kind hearts and good will. There is more to the sanctity of communion than that, but what I felt is a big part of it. It was the Lord's table spread out under the trees in a quiet neighborhood - a small piece of heaven on earth. Shared hearts, happy faces, good food, great Family.