 Communion by the handful produces gasps and lessons By John H. Adams The Layman Online Friday, May 30, 2003
Eckel, the preacher during the Thursday morning worship service of the 215th General Assembly, recalls the occasion, a communion service at First Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. "During our time there, we tried to work with some mentally challenged adults," said Eckel, who is now president of the Renewal Ministries Foundation in Sarasota, Fla. "They began to believe, and rightly so, that this church was their church. "I must have said something to the effect, 'If you're hungry, come to the table and eat. I saw a man, poorly dressed, who stepped out of the pew and began to walk forward. I chose to ignore him at first. When he got to the front at the table, he grabbed a handful of white cubes of bread and began stuffing it in his mouth. "But, hey, he was hungry! And I had invited him to come, and he was the only person in that church who did." As the man stood in front, "The clerk of our session came over, threw his arms around him gently, and I heard Bob whisper to him, 'Come sit with me here. In just a moment, they'll pass the bread to all of us," Eckel said. ""So, there sat that simple, hungry brother, welcomed and nestled in comfortably among the elders of First Presbyterian Church." Eckel's point: "The ground is level at the foot of the cross, and we're all beggars before God." That message was the subhead to his sermon on hospitality. Eckel said he was leading a retreat of Presbyterian officers and decided to ask an ice-breaker question: "'When was the church really there for you?' As it turned out, two hours later, we were still warmly sharing the way in which the church was there for one another." "The best thing about the church," he said, "is not that it's a well-oiled ecclesiastical machine, not that it's a beautiful building, but the best thing about the church is that it is a community where welcome, spirituality and grace is experienced." Eckel's text was Romans 1:11-17; he honed in on verses 11 and 12 - "I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong – that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith." "'I am longing to see you … to impart some spiritual gift to you' – this is the passion of every pastor I know… and yet, that's not the whole of it. Pastors don't have all the gifts; the gifts of God are sprinkled throughout the congregation, according to Calvin." "It's not a one-way street," Eckel said. "It is a gospel that is shared together, experienced together, known together." Eckel will present the first Robert L. Howard Lecture on the Essentials of the Reformed Faith at the Presbyterian Lay Committee's annual conference at Grove City College in Grove City, Pa., June 19-22. Howard is immediate past chairman of the Presbyterian Lay Committee. |
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