I couldn’t help but laugh to myself as I watched the Tobo people prepare the Lord’s supper yesterday. My memory kept playing back to how we Americans prepare communion. Our church elders stand in the church’s kitchen wearing their nice pressed suit and ties, pouring grape juice into little plastic communion cups. Then they quietly passing it out with the little crackers while everyone sits their silently. The formality of it always scared me a little as a kid (“What if I dropped the juice on my new dress?” “What if I sneezed?” “And why do saltine crackers always taste so much better at church?”).
There was no grape juice or crackers, and definitely no suit and ties being worn yesterday. The babies continued to cry, the little kids played soccer on the grass, and the dogs kept on barking. There was a small fire in the middle of the adults and one lady slowly turned the sweet potatoes over the open fire during the sermon on baptism. When the sweet potatoes were done, Jason and Alex took their knives and peeled them. Then Jason led us in prayer, and the sweet potatoes and water were passed around for everyone to share. And that is how we remembered our Lord’s sacrifice and death for us.
This was the first time we have done the Lord’s supper as a complete group with the believers. But there was that one time on the trail that Chad ate beef crackers with one of the guys, and a couple other times when the ladies were together drinking tea and eating sweet potatoes. We have been teaching them that we can eat and remember what Jesus did for us on the cross at any time. I love the simplicity of scripture and how Jesus took the staple of the Jews and used an everyday occurrence (eating and drinking) as a way of reminding us of what he did for us. The Tobo people have no way of getting wine or bread. But God provided them with their staple: sweet potatoes and water, for them to be able to break and eat and remember His son Jesus, and the sacrifice he made of himself for them.
Keep looking forward to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, when we will no longer have to “remember”, for we will be with Him in person!
His Clay Pots,
Jason, Kellie, Micah, Sophia, Malachi Knapp & The Tobo Church
2 comments:
What an amazing picture of a global church! That´s, soon very soon we are all gonna see the king, but for now, we celebrate communion, remembmering what He did for us all.
Saltines taste better at church because by the time communion rolls around, you're pretty hungry! ;-)
Praising God for your openess to the truth of God's word, encouraging the Tobo that they are, indeed, having communion the "right" way. I'm so thankful we'll one day feast with them in heaven!
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