The Table

I just got home from Preteen Camp. I have so many "moments" that I could blog about, but I decided to blog about "The Table." A few years ago, I heard a message taught by a guy named Rodney Anderson. The message was entitled "The Table." It told the story of how the Jews celebrated the passover meal by "remembering" what God had done for them. He told of how each person told stories of old, stories of Moses and Noah and David, as though they, themselves had lived them.

That same summer, I was leading a preteen camp and we were trying to decide how to celebrate communion and at the same time, make it unique and different and something the kids would never forget. So I told my team about "The Table." And we chose to celebrate communion that way. Each of us, children and adults alike, telling our rememberances of all God had done as though we, ourselves, had lived the moment. But we also included moments from the life of Christ, as though we ourselves were there. Wow. What an incredible communion service. It truly was a celebration and the first time that I think I actually understood what Jesus said when he said, "As often as you do this, remember me."

Fast forward four years. This morning we celebrated communion again with children ranging from 8-13 years of age. And we celebrated it the same way. This year though, they added their remembrances from the week of camp. "I remember that on Monday night I asked Jesus to be my Savior." Or "I remember on Wednesday when God showed me that I was holding on to bitterness, and I let it go."

There was this one little boy at camp, though, that had really struggled to make good choices all week. When it came time to celebrate communion, he said, "I remember . . ." and then he couldn't speak. He could only cry. He said, "I can't do this. I owe you all an apology for my behavior this week." And when he was finally able to talk again he said, "But I remember this week that Pastor Greg said that God teaches us that our past is the past. And today I can choose to let go of the past and live for Him." "I remember that God loves me." And then he ate the bread and drank the cup in a worthy manner.

All that to say, people doubt that children have the capacity to truly and deeply understand the things of God. But I don't doubt it. Not for a second.