Them: “What if it goes to someone undeserving? Someone who hasn’t earned it? Me: “Who am I to keep someone from grace, from help, from the table?” The “rule” of my denomination that I break most often and most fragrantly regards Holy Communion. In the guidelines about the “means of grace” (ways God is revealed to us), pastors are instructed to offer communion to baptized individuals (regardless of age). The pertinent documents declare that “there is no sin” if an unbaptized person is to receive communion, but to begin withholding the sacrament until there is understanding and baptism. No. Firstly, I do not believe in hierarchy among the (two) sacraments. Communion is not *more* sacred than baptism. If both are the work of God, then who am I to say that one must be held back until the other can occur. God washes, welcomes, and feeds. It is a gift to be part of that work. It feels like a risky business to withhold the gifts of God based on my own judgment a...
Thoughts on what it means to be a traveler on the Way of Jesus the Christ