Communion’s Mystery Gives Joy To Little Tino

Lucy

My name is Lucy. Let me tell you how my how my six-year-old son, Tino, came to experience the thrill of Communion. Oh! Here comes my husband, Tiger. He looks tired. He’s been guarding the home of a mine owner all night, a dangerous job, because thieves roam through these Central American mountains.

Tiger

(Yawn) Forget breakfast, Lucy. Just let me hit that bed! (Start to walk off.)

Lucy

(Jerk Tiger back by the arm.) Wait, Tiger! Tino has a question.

Tiger

Later. I’m bushed after circling the mine owner’s house in the dark all night, looking every way.

Tino

Please, papa. It’s just a tiny question.

Lucy

Oh, Tiger! Let him. He’s been dying to ask you. He’s been waiting, all antsy.

Tino

Papa, why do you and mama drink blood in our meetings?

Lucy

He means when we take Communion.

Tiger

Son, it’s a mystery; no one fully understands a mystery. You’re too young to grasp it.

Tino

No, I’m not, papa! I’m not too small. I can run faster than Cousin Andy.

Tiger

Okay. I’ll try. I’ve been reading about these things. Spirit-filled worship leaders make it easy for believers to experience the divine mystery of the Communion bread and cup. Some theologians think they can explain it in rational terms, but it’s only because they don’t accept the invisible, inscrutable work of God.

Lucy

Tiger! (Throw up your hands.) You left us both behind! Come down from the moon!

Tiger

Sorry! I’ve been reading too much! Tino, let’s take a quick trip way back in time. Before Jesus’ birth, faithful Jews led a lamb to the temple, tied it on the altar, laid their hands on its head and confessed their sins. A priest cut the victim’s throat and blood spurted all over the altar, like in a slaughterhouse. Imagine the smell and…

Tino

That’s awful! Awful!

Prompter & Companions

Awful! Awful!

Lucy

Tiger García! (Shake Tiger’s arm.) Now you’re being too tangible! Well, at least you’ve gotten Tino’s wide-eyed attention.

Tino

The poor lamb! That’s cruel, papa!

Tiger

It was ugly ? the stench of blood, manure and smoke. Next, they burned the lamb.

Lucy

Disgusting! That was worship? It was shocking!

Tiger

Yes, because our sins are disgusting and shocking to God and must be covered by an innocent victim’s blood so God can forgive us. The victim was a lamb, and this hasn’t changed. Our sins still require an innocent victim’s blood, or else we’re doomed to face God’s judgment and end up in hell.

Tino

Really? Oooo! (Pull on Tiger’s sleeve.) I sinned yesterday, Papa. Real bad! I give Andy a nosebleed. So I need a lamb to kill, so I won’t be in hell when I die. Hilda’s mom raises goats and sheep. Can I go get a lamb from her?

Tiger

Jesus is God’s lamb now, Tino. Jesus bled on the cross to take away our sins. We relive His death when we take Communion. When He broke bread and told His disciples to eat it, He said. “This is My body.”

Tino

My schoolteacher said cannonballs eat up human people.

Tiger

Cannonballs? What…?

Lucy

Let me translate. Tino means cannibals.

Tino

They wear bones in their noses, papa. They poison their spear points to kill gringo missionaries and eat them up.

Tiger

I guess they prefer white meat.

Lucy

Tiger! (Slap Tiger’s arm.) Explain why we’re not cannibals.

Tiger

It’s because the Communion bread is Jesus’ body in a mystical way, son.

Tino

What does that mean?

Lucy

Isn’t the bread just a symbol, Tiger?

Tiger

It is a symbol but don’t say “just” a symbol, Lucy. It’s much more. Eating it is communion or ‘participation,’ in Jesus’ body, as 1 Corinthians 10 says. The symbol points us to the real thing that we experience ? The crucified Jesus is present with us.

Tino

 Why do you call it “simple,” papa? For me it’s complexicated.

Tiger

“Symbol” ? not “simple”. Like a road sign, it points to something important. When we use a symbol with true faith, trusting God to do what the symbol points to, it takes on the authority and value of the real thing that it symbolizes.

Tino

I still don’t understand it, Papa.

Tiger

Okay, son, here’s an example. If I sign a serious agreement and later break my word, can I excuse myself by saying “My signature was only a symbol”?

Tino

No, papa! You’d spank me if I did that! It’s dishonest.

Tiger

That’s why a symbol used with sincere faith takes on the power of what it symbolizes. The symbol affirms its reality. The Communion bread and wine make Jesus’ sacrifice real to us, not only by focusing our attention on Jesus’ crucifixion but also by enabling us to experience His Presence. Do you understand this, Tino?

Tino

I’m not supposed to. You said nobody understands the mystery, papa.

Lucy

Touché!

Prompter & Companions

Touché! Touché!

Tiger

Son, you’ve more sense than some learned theologians who write as though they fully comprehend every detail about the Lord’s Supper and everything else.

Lucy

I know one thing for sure about Communion; it makes me aware of Jesus’ Presence, provided the pastor doesn’t turn the ceremony into just another teaching session.

Tiger

I feel His Presence, too, Lucy. The original Passover was a moving event, as was Jesus’ talk about eating His flesh and the Last Supper. We must share that ardor in Communion, and not just analyze Latin terms about it. Just think! Jesus is present.

Prompter & Companions

Jesus is present! Jesus is present!

Tino

Papa, I like you to tell me these things. I won’t be bored no more during Communion. I know it’s important. I won’t squirm, like last time when you took me out and paddled me.

Tiger

It wasn’t for squirming. You sneered at your mom when she corrected you.

Lucy

Oh, Tiger! Spend more time with Tino!

Tiger

I promise not to go anywhere today, Lucy. Now, let me get some sleep. I…

Tino

Wait, papa. Wait until I finish drawing the Communion pitcher. It’s important.

Tiger

“Communion pitcher?” What does he mean, Lucy?

Lucy

We’ll soon find out. Oh, Tiger, God used your talk with Tino. Now I have a question. You stressed Communion’s mystery. Why is that so important?

Tiger

Those who reject the mystery deny any real work of God, which doesn’t help anyone.

Lucy

My Catholic catechist taught that the bread becomes Jesus’ actual body.

Tiger

To transform lifeless bread doesn’t help anyone, either Lucy. It’s we, sinful people, who need transforming. God uses Communion to strengthen our spirits.

Lucy

Ananias and Saphira died when they didn’t respect the body, just as it says in 1 Corinthians. But which body? The one on the cross? The bread? The congregation?

Tiger

Scripture gives several meanings to key words. When Paul called the sacred bread Christ’s ‘body’, he meant both Jesus’ flesh and the church, as we see by comparing 1 Corinthians chapters ten and eleven.

Lucy

Didn’t the first believers eat dinner together when they had Communion?

Tiger

At first, but the Corinthians paid more attention to the roasted chicken and gravy than to the sacramental aspect, so Paul told them to eat at home.

Tino

Look, papa! I drawed my pitcher! It’s our pastor handing people Communion. I wanted light to shine down from heaven, so I rubbed the white crayon real hard, but the light didn’t come.

Tiger

Yes it did, son. Light from Jesus’ face is shining on your heart. Eyes of flesh can’t see it. It’s a mystery, like Communion, but in heaven we’ll see not only that light but also its source: we’ll see Jesus face to face.

Prompter & Companions

Face to face! Face to face!