December 20
I SEEK THE LAMB OF GOD
“The next day, he saw Jesus coming toward him and said,
‘Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’.” John 1:29
I’m a very ecumenical sort of person. I was dedicated in the Baptist church as an infant; spent some years in the Berean Baptist Sunday school; fell in love with an Anglican boy and cheerfully joined his church; fell out of love and went to the United Church with my mother; moved away from home and found myself back in the Anglican church where I was then baptized; then I joined in with the Presbyterians, moved again and now I’m happily back in the United fold. In between, I’ve dipped my toe into Catholic, Pentecostal and Methodist waters.
In all these places I have found Jesus, and enjoyed fellowship with other Christians. Each denomination may have its own special flavor, but they all serve the risen Lord.
However, I must make a small confession. There is one time when I do discriminate between denominations. On Christmas Eve, I seek the nearest Anglican church and the midnight communion service. There is something about the night, the candles, the choir, and the familiar litany that speaks to my soul and tells me that Jesus is born in Bethlehem.
And when I come to the place in the service where we say, “O Lamb of God that takest away the sin of the world, grant us thy peace,” I feel that peace descend upon me like a quiet blanket of calm. For a short space of time, I allow the Lamb of God to surround me with his love.
Having such a broad ecumenical background, I don’t have any difficulty with the notion that the Lamb of God died for all of us – Baptist, Catholic, Pentecostal or Presbyterian. I don’t worry about who has the ‘right’ way to worship, or the ‘right’ liturgy, or the ‘right’ way to pray.
As a Christian, I belong to a larger fellowship that is comprised of all those who serve Christ and recognize him as their Savior. However we may worship in our individual churches, there is a bottom-line bedrock of faith that binds us together, even more so at Christmastime when we feel that we are the voices crying in the wilderness, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”
MEDITATION: O Lamb of God, thank you for loving presence in my life. Thank you for being my Savior. Grant me your peace. Amen.
more quiet spaces 