Vast Quantities of Love

Vast is a good word. I like it. The universe is vast. God is vast. God's love is vast.

The very word 'vast' has that sound of enormity. I think it is due to the 'Ah' vowel in the middle, surrounded by the hard consonants of V, S, and T, that emphasise the size of the word.

Perhaps the fact that 'vast' only has four letters also adds to the appeal and attraction of the word. I have to be careful these days which four-letter words I am using.

Vast is a safe word. Although if we start thinking, reflecting, pondering, dwelling, on the nature of such vast things as God, love, and the universe, then we might move out of safe territory and enter into a realm of risk and danger.

Speaking of which, my friend Steve's Cool Risk site has some interesting topical articles and pictures on Risk and Perception just now.

In contrast to the word 'vast', the four-letter word 'tiny' conveys the exact opposite condition. Tiny bird, tiny mouse, tiny morsel, tiny pay packet, tiny house, tiny feet, and so on.

The contrast between these two words was highlighted at a recent thought-provoking Communion service.

The broken bread, representing the broken body of Jesus, was brought to us by one of the servers, and we were able to tear off our own piece. The person next to me commented how many folk tore off a great big crusty piece. I certainly did, and maybe there was a bit of a dig in her remark.

The cup of red wine, representing the blood of Jesus that was spilled on the Cross, was also brought round by a server. Often we only use tiny individual glasses, each with a tiny quantity of wine in the bottom. However, on this occasion, we could choose to receive our wine from the Common Cup, or an individual glass. As you might have guessed by now, I chose the Common Cup. That way, I could have a big mouthful - even although the 'wine' is a sanitised drink to make it 'safe' for church usage.

On Sundays we have been working through Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. In chapter 11:17-34 he gives them advice and direction for their celebrations of the Lord's supper.

He criticises the greediness of some folk, to the extent that some folk get drunk, while others are excluded and go hungry. Instead folk should wait for one another, and perhaps wait on one another, and if people are hungry then they should eat at home.

Over the years, Paul's instructions have been interpreted to mean that tiny is better than vast. On most occasions, the portions of bread are little more than a crumb. No-one could possibly over-indulge and leave someone else hungry. Self-discipline is not required.

Similarly with the wine, where we use tiny glasses, thus ensuring that no-one could possibly get drunk.

In some traditions, they only rarely have wine at their Communion services, merely sharing the bread on those occasions. Yet other traditions insist that all the wine must be consumed before the end of the service. Not one drop must remain, so the celebrant and the servers consume any remaining wine themselves. Maybe not drunk - but tipsy might be an accurate description!

God's love is vast beyond measure. Our Communion services are an occasion of joy where we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and his invitation to us to live with him forever. The guy who runs the Universe invites us to his party.

We invite people to have a tiny piece of bread and a tiny sip of wine.

I have been to a few Communion celebrations where we sat round tables, with coffee or tea to drink, and fruit to eat, during the first part of the service.

When the time came to share Communion, the warm bread loaves were brought in from the kitchen, and distributed one to each table. We broke the bread and shared it amongst us. We poured the 'wine' from the jug in the centre of each table into our own and each other's glasses, and shared it amongst us.

It wasn't a banquet, but it was closer to a meal than most formal celebrations of Communion. I liked it. Although it wasn't the same as that first Lord's Supper, I got a sense that we were sharing the eating of a meal together. It wasn't a ceremony, it was a meal, a supper.

Jesus said, "The Kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet." (Matthew 22:2&4 NRSV).

I think it will be a vast banquet, for a vast number of people, with vast amounts of fun, joy, and love. I don't know about food and drink in heaven, but if there is any, then I am sure there will be vast quantities of that too.

The universe is vast. God is vast. God's home is vast. God's love is vast.

Come and join the vast throng at God's vast and ever-lasting party.