Gotta love my church family... They sure put up with a lot from me! Twice a year we have a very special worship service that is modeled after Jesus' last supper with his disciples before his crucifixion. It's called the Love Feast. A very special service.
In it, we examine our relationship with Jesus, eat a simple meal together, wash one another's feet (I know, I know what some of you are thinking... but it is a VERY humbling part of the service) and receive communion. It's held on Maundy Thursday (the Thursday before Easter) and on World Wide Communion Sunday (the first Sunday in October).
Anyhow, at this past week's service, as I was leading up to the communion time, I had a graphic on the screen that was supposed to be the classic art painting of the last supper. You know the one! Anyhow, I was in a huge hurry when I realize that I hadn't put the complete slide show together earlier in the day and I threw that picture into the show and was all ready for the night. Well, when that picture came up on the screen, I noticed that the table I was sitting at was busting a gut and I couldn't figure out what I had said that was so funny. (My back is to the screen and a long time ago, I gave up turning around to see if the correct slide is up -- I trust the computer operator fully!) My daughter was operating the computer this time and as we shifted gears toward another part of the service, she got my attention and told me what everyone was laughing at. I'll post the picture. It wasn't the classic art piece. This one has a star wars character in it. So, when I saw it... I told her to go to the next slide.
A few minutes before all this we had been listening to a favorite song -- How Great Thou Art... except this version by a group called Selah sings the second and third verses in an African language. When the song started playing, the group started singing along... until they got to the African language which of course they didn't know and then they returned to singing when it got back to English. After that was over, I said to the congregation, "I've just got one question" And my table thought I was going to reveal my mistake. When instead, I asked them why they stopped singing. And I told them that I intentionally used that song to remind us that God is the Lord of all the world not just those who speak English. Then I referred to the picture and said it was up there to remind us that God is the Lord of the Universe -- outer space creatures as well! Everyone busted a gut and it will go down as a memory in our congregation's sacred journey! Hope they forget it when I retire from pastoring this church in 30 years!
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