The Significance of One
The pastor cups bread in his hands when he tells us this: A single loaf of bread contains 23,810 tiny grains of wheat. And those grains of wheat come from 63 million acres in the U.S. each year.
“I wonder, if any of those grains of wheat feel insignificant,” he asks.
Would anyone notice if the loaf contained only 23,809 grains of wheat?
Then he tears the golden loaf in half, and holds them high. He speaks words that Jesus spoke: “This is my body, which is given for you.”
Beggar hearts receive torn loaves. The pastor sends 23,810 grains of wheat into a room of hungry souls. I don’t know much, but I do know this: the body of Christ is the only thing that will ever satisfy the hunger of the world.
I’m among the terminally ill — always one step closer to the end — and I know I will starve without this.
I rip deep into the loaf, and partake. Jesus is more than a lofty idea, a nice story, a fine philosopher, a good teacher. He is Body, who reaches down and touches me. I taste forgiveness, God-Incarnate.
I swallow hundreds of grains of wheat; and I need every grain I can get. Every grain is significant. Every part of every loaf — every part of everybody — matters.
The bread matters because of Christ.
I matter, for the same reason.
And friend, so do you …
“Because there is one loaf, we, who are many,
are one body,
for we all partake of the one loaf.”
– 1 Corinthians 10:17
“Everyone has a unique role to fill in the world and is important in some respect. Everyone, including and especially you, is indispensable.”
~ Nathaniel Hawthorne
Oh, Jennifer, thank you for this. I just had a teary talk with my husband wondering if I really mattered. (I’m sure that it’s partially hormonal.) This is a beautiful picture of communion and how it makes significant participants of us all.
It’s funny, I always feel insignificant, until I take Communion.
Thank you, Jennifer, for this beautiful, inspiring, and humbling post. Because Jesus is the Bread of Life and because, through His atonement, He bids us partake of Him, we are nourished and fed. We, amazingly, are part of His body. And because of Him, we have significance. He also bids us share His bread with others, to show their significance to Him. Thanks for the Hawthorne quote, which rurther reminds us that Christ has given us a significant bread-dispensing role to fulfill. For me, it’s (primarily) as an author. I stopped writing professionally eight years ago for a number of reasons, foremost of which, I believe, was because the Lord actually told me to put down my pen–a kind of heartwrenching “Isaac” sacrifice. It is only recently, that I sense He wants me to pray about picking it up again. And I have felt, “Why should I? So many new authors are writing now.” What can I say that would matter? And yet, reading your post helps encourage me to know that each of us is a crucial part of the Body of Christ, and God calls each of us to feed a different population, if you will. I think of the loaves and fishes, and how Jesus broke, blessed, and multiplied them in order to feed the multitudes. He will multiply gifts given to Him for His use and feed the multitudes of this world who need to know His love. It’s a big job, and He doesn’t just use one person to accomplish it. We all play a part. We need to feed on Him in repentance, become broken bread, ourselves, and then be obedient to feed those sheep whom He puts in our pasture. Bless you, Jennifer, for obeying His call and feeding the hungry with the soul-satisfying words of Christ! Your readers are nourished at your writer’s table.
Lynn
gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous post on communinion.
I really didn’t have time to read posts today, but this drew me Jennifer. I needed this…more than I can fully say. You are a beautiful channel of His love. Thank you.
Seeds for the soul. You sow them here. Love you.
Thanks, Jennifer, for a brand new perspective.
I have never seen myself as terminally ill before, and yet I am. This has grasped my attention. God is nudging me to talk with Him about this. There is more that I need to get. 🙂
I know I’m not insignificant to Him. He proves this to me each day by the things he does for me and the fact that He speaks to me continually. But this wasn’t the case when I was younger. This was one of my greatest challenges growing up because of the things I went through as a child and young adult. Your thoughts caused me to reflect on how far God has brought me in this area.
Thank you for this post, Jennifer. Praying God overwhelms you with blessings and favor for your continued obedience. 🙂
beautifully written and thought provoking. just think all those grains united under the Bread of God. Love the image.
What a beautiful post about the communion and the bread of life. It doesn’t just fill a physical hunger, but a spiritual one as well.
Grains all together make up the whole loaf. That is a lovely thought and so true. It is a beautiful example when our Pastor also breaks the loaf in half and says those beautiful words. One missing grain and it would be missed. We are all important in our own way. So glad that we are!
Thank you, dear Jennifer…I will never look at a loaf of bread the same way again…thank you for writing with such insight 🙂
You farmers can sure bring perspective into the common. Who would have thought? And I’m just one guy, one voice, one speck in all of creation, and yet he died for me.
A powerful analogy, Jennifer. Thanks so much and I completely agree. Without His body, we are incomplete and lost…
Oh, how he loves us. Thank you for the pause, the time to reflect in communion with you this night. Aren’t the layers of truth and application and transforming grace unending when we gaze into his word?
How beautifully you’ve illustrated the reality and necessity of unity here, Jennifer.