Focus on Jesus

What reminds you of the joy Jesus brings? What helps you to focus on Jesus?

Each month, I am privileged to take Communion to our Homebound people. As a pastor, Communion always means more each time I preside over the sacrament and each time I partake of the sacrament.

Something is different this month.

Division, politics, theological debates, and so much more, are no different than any other month. But none of this stops us from partaking the elements of Holy Communion. Communion brings us together with Jesus and each other.

Whatever you call it—Eucharist, The Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion—each time we participate in this sacrament we are meant to be reminded of everything Jesus went through for our salvation and the salvation of the world as well as remember and receive the gift of Jesus’s presence with us here and now. We take the time to remember it is all about Jesus and how he calls us to be like him.

As I was making the visits this month, I found myself speaking about Jesus sitting down with his disciples. Think about it. Those he surrounded himself by included greedy, brown-nosing, loud mouthed, tax collectors, formerly demon possessed, and other broken, fallen, sinful people. The point is not just who is present at the table, the point is to remember who Jesus calls to be in his presence.

Notice how, no matter how the rest of the world views the people Jesus calls, nothing changes his mind about their need for redemption, their need for grace, their need for salvation.

Think about it. We are not truly defined by how the world sees us, we are defined by how Jesus sees us and transforms us. Jesus brings people into his presence, and because of his presence we all leave transformed. This is the gift of Jesus. He works in us and through us to make us whole, and to transform us into his image.

Each time I mentioned this reality, the people who were present for communion said they needed to hear these words today.

One of the best parts of this time of taking Communion was visiting a 104 year old woman with dementia. Each time I visit her, I always ask if she remembers me. It is a gift of grace, she remembers me as the minister who brings her communion. I am always filled with awe at how God helps her know why I am visiting that day.

After I sat down and we were visiting, I talked about Communion and prayed over the elements, she continued to pause. Then, she offered the sweetest prayer for pastors and herself.

I sat there quietly. I was in awe. What a gift she was to me, this day.

Yes, there may be so much going on in our world, and in our work. But the reality is God’s presence changes people and situations. Those who Jesus calls, and those who receive his grace, he transforms.

Because of Jesus, we too can experience the transforming, reconciling, forgiving, healing power of his presence and grace. It’s really not about what we have done to bring us into Jesus’s presence, it is about what Jesus does in us and through us as we share his grace with the world.

May we always be open to stay focused on Jesus, be in awe over everything he does, and watch how he is bringing people together in ways only God can do. Then, watch how the Holy Spirit of God changes you in order for you to be the best representative of Jesus this world needs.