Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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Holy Qurbana: Table of Reconciliation

Bible Reading:   Psalms 85

Key verse:  10

V 10 ‘Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other”

DEVOTION

As Christians, we gather around the Lord’s Table on most Sundays, but in doing so, we must not lose sight of what Holy Communion truly means. It is more than a remembrance of Christ’s sacrifice; it is the Table of Reconciliation, where God’s mercy, truth, righteousness, and peace meet. Psalm 85 gives us a beautiful picture of this reconciliation: “Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed.” The psalm begins by remembering God’s forgiveness: “He has forgiven the iniquity of His people and covered their sin”, and then looks forward with confidence to God’s word of peace. Psalm 85 is a beautiful prayer by the Sons of Korah for continued favor and restoration – restoration of the relationship between God and man, and man with his brethren. 
The psalm begins by remembering God’s forgiveness: “God has forgiven the iniquity of His people and covered their sin,” but then moves toward restoration: “Restore us again, O God of our salvation.” This movement from forgiveness to restoration, from estrangement to peace, is at the heart of the Holy Qurbana. In receiving Christ, we encounter the mercy of God that reaches toward us before everything within us has been fully resolved. Christ meets us in our brokenness and embraces us with a mercy that makes reconciliation possible. 
And this reconciliation cannot remain only between God and us. Jesus teaches in Matthew 5 that if we remember that another person has something against us, we should first seek reconciliation and then bring our offering to God. At the Table, we receive God’s peace and are called to extend that peace to one another.

PRAYER

Lord, as we come to Your Table, give us the grace to receive Your forgiveness, the courage to seek reconciliation, and the heart to extend Your peace to one another. Amen.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

  Holy Communion calls us to a two-way reconciliation: upward with God and outward with one another.

 
Reno Cherian
St. Stephens MTC, NJ
 

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