Say Thank You, it’s good manners after all

Say Thank You, it’s good manners after all

As I write, Carol Palmer is busily making soup for Good Shepherd’s first Soup Tuesday lunch of the year. Smelling the chicken stewing in the church kitchen and watching Carol stir the rue to thicken the broth is more than a gastronomic sensation, it reminds me of last year and the year before, and the year before, recalling in total, many years of Soup Tuesday fellowship at Good Shepherd.

On Wednesday mornings, Katie Jones and Emmie Ward organize cooking teams who make the most delicious meals for our Wednesday evening suppers served in the Parish Hall. Men and women who prepare the dinner also serve the food, adorning aprons and smiles. It is more than a feast for the senses, it is good for the soul.

Our breakfast teams serve delicious eggs, bacon, toast, biscuits, and grits every Sunday morning. Our youth eat together on Sunday evenings and share a Tuesday morning Prayer Breakfast. We feast! Whether the menu happens to be doughnuts and a hot cup of coffee or roasted pork, with black beans and rice, and homemade peach cobbler, we come together as a family and eat. When we eat together we are nourished in body as well as spirit. The simple act of sitting with another and sharing a meal is not only necessary to sustain life, it is also very important to the deeper part of our being, our souls. Naturally, at the end of our meal we make a point of saying thank you to our chefs, it’s good manners after all.

As Jesus invites his closest friends to feast with him at the Last Supper it is our Lord himself who serves. “Take eat,” Jesus says, “This is my body which is given for you…” “Drink this all of you, this is my blood for the forgiveness of your sins.” It is our Lord Jesus Christ who makes the meal of our salvation possible. He prepares the meal with his life, he gives the meal through his death. As we gather for the most important meal of the week, the most important meal of our lives, we should all remain until we properly thank the Host, the giver of Eternal Life.

Some folks prefer to leave worship after they receive Holy Communion, before the Post Communion Prayer in which we give thanks for receiving the Pascal Feast. However, I would like to pose this suggestion. After receiving the bread and wine, the body and blood of our Lord, return to your pew in silence and truly receive the gift of fellowship in Christ. Reflect on what Jesus has done and continues to do as he nourishes your body and soul. Perhaps pray for those who are receiving Holy Communion, that they too will be truly nourished in Christ’s Body and Blood. We would never think of getting up from the dinner table while others are enjoying their meal and would never leave the table without saying thank you to our host, so it is for the Eucharistic Meal.

It is good for our soul to say thank you. Saying thank you to God in the fellowship of all believers is the beginning of receiving His nourishment and new life in Christ. Please stay until the meal has been served to everyone and then wait to say thank you, it’s good manners after all.

- Lynn +