God's generosity

God is pouring out generosity on me! Yesterday we had communion at Solace, and it was a typical Jude communion - forget the cracker and sip of juice - this was fruit, cake, cheese, biscuits, bread, tea, coffee and juice by the glass! To me, the variety, generosity and plenty of the blessings of God were demonstrated there on the communion table.

I remembered one of the telling differences I noticed between "normal" communion and Greek Orthodox communion. At the Orthodox church, everyone was welcomed: babies, children, teenagers, adults, the elderly, wheelchair-bound, demented and all with no questions asked. Those who couldn't chew the bread had it soaked in the wine and spooned into the mouth. Those who could take bread had our hands filled with as many pieces as we could hold. It was a time of generous and unconditional giving, as God's love should be.

The priest explained to me that the idea is for the first memory of church as being given and fed, and the last as well. That we come to be fed, both bodily and spiritually, and that meager feeding diminishes everyone and makes us stingy in return. I loved being given as much bread as I could manage - that really chewy and heavy sourdough bread they use. I wondered how surprised everyone else would be if I said "sorry I can't eat any more, but I had communion at church this morning!"

So that was the Sunday morning gathering, then we had lunch at my parents' house, which was, naturally, another food-filled event! In the evening I decided to go drop in on the local church in Clayton which I had been invited to, but had not yet seen.

I arrived at the advertised time for the evening service (6pm) to find the church dark and quiet. I was beginning to feel a bit discouraged and to think about leaving, when someone walked through the church foyer into the hall next door carrying something which looked promisingly like a musical instrument. I wondered if the location had been moved to the hall, and followed next door.

The hall had been set up as a dining hall, with a large table down the middle and the band setting up at one end. It turns out that it was their quarter-annual Fellowship Dinner, and I was welcomed to join them for more food! We had singing, prayer, fellowship and lots of Indian and Sri Lankan food (the majority of the congregation) with dessert and coffee and sweets. I was almost overwhelmed by the welcome and interest shown in me - this is obviously a congregation where everyone knows everyone and a new person is the subject of much discussion and welcome. Nearly everyone there made a point of speaking to me and asking me something and telling me something about themselves. I was invited to join groups mid-week and on weekends, a marriage course and a regular Bible study. The warmth of the welcome was even better than the food.

So this is the hospitality of God!