Rev. Dr. Mark Yackel-Juleen
We had a foreign exchange teacher from China live with us for a year. That year was 1988. She was teaching at our local high school from where both my spouse and I had graduated. We had just returned from teaching in Hong Kong, had traveled into the People's Republic of China three times, and could speak some Cantonese. It was a good fit. I was studying at Luther Seminary at the time. Shi Lin was curious about Christianity. She wondered why we went to church on Sundays and why I was studying to be a pastor and even what that meant. One day she asked to come to church with us. It happened to be communion Sunday. Lin wanted to sit in the back so she could observe. So we did. When the time came, my spouse and I went up for communion. When we returned to the pew, Lin had a strange look on her face—shocked, almost frightened. After church, we asked Lin, “What was the matter?” She struggled a bit to find words to describe her reaction. Basically, she said that she had witnessed in the solemnity of the ritual and the reverent faces of the people something that was important, real, and powerful, and she didn’t understand it. And it frightened her. It was something akin to awe. We often take for granted the words “this is my body…this is my blood.” Hear those words through the ears of someone who had never heard them before. See the ritual through the eyes of someone who had never witnessed it. Shi Lin did not taste, but she saw and listened, and it impacted her significantly.
We tried to explain to Lin the meaning and purpose of communion. I wish I could say that she had a conversion experience and became Christian. She has not. That was not our purpose anyway. My spouse and I were there to provide faithful hospitality. It is the Holy Spirit’s work to call, gather, enlighten, and sanctify. We are friends still today. She respects our faith, and we love her and her family for who they are in God’s diverse world.
The reason I share this story is to acknowledge the gift Shi Lin gave me, what she taught me through her experience. Her experience reminded me of the awesome reality of the eucharist. It is easy to take it for granted. It becomes mundane and rote. I image the first disciples may have had something of Shi Lin’s reaction, especially after they connected the deep meaning of what Jesus was saying about the traditional bread and wine to the actual sacrifice of his body and blood the next day and then his resurrection three days later for the sake of salvation for all. In that ritual meal, we taste and see the goodness of God and take refuge in the death and resurrection of our Savior and that is awe inspiring. I try to remind myself of that each time I have the privilege to taste and see. May the Holy Spirit open your eyes, your mouths, and your ears to the awesomeness of God’s Holy Meal this Holy Week.
