This Meal Has Been Prepared for You

Good afternoon community of LUMC,

As I prepare for worship this week, I have intentionally chosen to engage some of Paul’s commentary on communion for the people of Corinth on a week during which we will break bread and share the cup together. Communion is by far one of my favorite parts of being an ordained clergy person. There is something incredibly spiritual about being a vessel for a person’s intimate connection with God while participating in a ritual Jesus and his disciples started thousands of years ago. It is a personal moment I hold with the highest honor and respect.

I was once told the most Christian thing you can do is invite a person into your home for a meal. Preparing a meal for someone in your home pushes us to be hospitable in a way I haven’t experienced in other areas of my life. Baking requires planning and foresight. Bread baking requires a dexterous engagement of touching and kneading and molding the food you’re preparing for another. The care of food preparation takes knowing who is coming over - their preferences, their allergies, their family.

When done with care, sharing a meal you’ve prepared for another pushes us to think outside of ourselves, outside of our kitchen, outside of our home. What will those who have yet to arrive want or need?

This week’s communion meal has been prepared with you in mind. In the United Methodist tradition, you and your whole family are invited to receive a reminder of God’s unconditional love. It is an open table prepared to be a source of grace and wholeness for you, for your neighbor, and for the stranger you and I are yet to meet. We offer bread and juice, gluten free, and enclosed elements for those with compromised immune systems. If there is something you need to participate in this meal of community and tradition that we haven’t thought of, please let us know. We want you to know all are welcome here and at God’s table.

Peace,

Rev Elizabeth

PS - IMPORTANT NOTE: Construction in Louisville is in full swing. Please keep this in mind during your commute on Sunday. Pine and Spruce are closed, so it is necessary to come to our location from the east, Main Street area.