Wonderful Words

"Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ redeemed by his blood."

These words invoking the presence of the Holy Spirit are not just for the bread and wine. The goal of communion is not merely to transform the substance of the bread into something magical or special, but to transform us into the living and breathing body of Christ. The purpose of the bread is to convey grace so that we are made like Christ in a world that is unlike Christ. The bread's purpose is to - through the chrch - transform the world.

When we took communion last night, we had just arrived in Maua, settled into our rooms and eaten dinner. We were supposed to arrive hours earlier, but the trip had its unexpected delays. We waited at a rest stop for some baggage. Two people are still hoping that theirs will arrive. We also were stopped by a political rally, an accident on the side of the road, and four wild elephants across an electrc fence. (Our guide says that the electric fence would throw them back if they decided to attack us. While I wasn't prepared to test that theory, a local decided to enrage the elephant by throwing a stick at it. Fortunately, the elephants decided to wander off rather than squish some missionaries.)

While I promised in the first post to talk mainly about the orphans in the Giving Hope program, it is rather difficult since I have yet to meet any orphans. That will change today. Today, we are beginning our process of participating in the lives of the Kenyan orphans. We start with an orientation to the program at 8:30 (all times local) and then we will find out how Reagan - our program coordinator in Kenya - will divide us to go into the countryside to meet orphans in our program.

I truly do not know what to expect. Greg Jenks - the Executive Direcor of ZOE (I call him bossman) - tells me that my life is going to change the moment that I encounter these young people. He predicts an indwelling of the Holy Spirit such that my already existing passion may increase a hunred-fold. I would be lying if I said that didn't scare me. I have heard stories about what people ae liable to do once the Holy Spirit gives them direction. Moses walked straight into the courtroom of the Pharaoh. David decided he could fight Goliath. The Zebedee brothers dropped their nets - their livelihood - to follow Christ. Paul lost his sight so that he could see the truth of the gospel.

I am scared because I know that there was something in that bread and that cup last night. Last night was my first time to officiate at communion, just having ben commissioned by the UMC this summer. Until last night, I had never said the crucial words above. I had never been the one up front calling for the bread and the wine to be transformed. I have communion countless times, but last night I was struck by the power of the grace of God that allows even me to aid in the conveyance of God's grace. I am scared because the words of invocation should not be taken lightly. I felt the Holy Spirit was present in this place last night. If God can change Hawaiian bread and grape juice, God might just be able to change me too. For that, I give thanks in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit...

Amen.