Thursday, April 1, 2021 – Maundy Thursday

Special Delivery

Read: Luke 14:12-14, Proverbs 16:9

I’m sure that everyone has some kind of COVID story to tell. It might be about a chance encounter when walking in the neighborhood, or failing to recognize a long-time friend because of masks (sorry about that), or it might be something even more serendipitous. That’s what I have to share – a story of serendipity.

As you remember, we wanted to celebrate Communion at the Christmas Eve worship service. Of course, we couldn’t be in the Sanctuary together at that time, so what were we to do? Since we had other things to distribute – Advent kits, Luminarias, and Butter Braids – we thought we would distribute the elements at the same time as those things.

That went quite well. We passed out a lot of elements to the folks who were picking up that other stuff. Then we did some home deliveries. A few people took elements to those who couldn’t make it to church to pick them up, and I was one of those deliverers. I handled several drop-offs to people whose homes I knew well, but I was also asked to take some additional cups to a relatively new person – one who wasn’t in the aging directory I keep in my car – as they were going to have more family at home than they had realized.

I checked with a friend to get the address, and it was right on my way to church where I had to drop off some other stuff anyway. I pulled up, masked up, grabbed the correct number of communion cups, and knocked on the door. A young girl answered, and I told her I was from the church and just dropping off the communion elements. She took them, looking a bit confused, thanked me, and closed the door, so I headed to the church and did my stuff there.

While I was finishing up, I got a text telling me that I had gotten the wrong address – I had just delivered the elements to the house across the street from where I was supposed to be. No wonder the girl looked confused! Anyway, I grabbed a few more cups and headed over to the correct address, where a different young girl looked nearly as confused, but thanked me just as sincerely.

I’ll bet there was an interesting conversation in that “wrong” house about just where those communion elements came from! I hope it led to their taking Communion that evening, and that it was one of those nudges from God to all involved, reminding us that even when we think we know what we’re doing, we may just be doing His will.

Prayer: Father, thank you for taking our mistakes and turning them into opportunities for your Love to shine through. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Charlie van Becelaere