I had an assignment to speak in another congregation on Sunday, and while I didn’t feel especially nervous, I noticed my hands were shaking when I tried to take the bread and water for the sacrament. As I took and returned the small cup, the tray rattled with my efforts so much that it made some noise. I said, “I’m sorry,” to the young man holding the tray for me, to which he whispered, “It’s okay,” and the words immediately had more meaning than an 11- or 12-year-old could know. Isn’t that the whole meaning of the sacrament right there? We come, flawed and sorry, and sometimes broken, ill-composed, and making a mess, and it’s a time when the Lord can just say to us, “It’s okay.”
With those simple words, I knew that the rattling was okay, but also that I was okay with the Lord at that moment. He used a kind young boy to teach me that, and it felt so very sweet to hear it from a child.