weed

He was a soldier during the First World War...

He had been in the trenches for some time and had not gotten any mail.  So, when he was back in the barracks, he was anxious to open a letter from home.  When he tore open the envelope, it was upside down, and some blade of dried grass fell out onto the floor.  When his buddy saw this, he thought it was funny and sarcastically said: "It looks like someone has played a joke on you.  They've mailed you some dried weeds."

But when the soldier finished the letter, he folded it carefully and put it back into the envelope.  Then he picked up the dried grass, held it for a time in his hand, finally putting it back into the letter.  Then, after thoughtful silence, he explained to his buddy: "This is  a letter from my sister.  Our mother has died, and I didn't know it until now.  Sis wanted to send me something as a remembrance, but she was afraid to send anything valuable.  So she just picked a few blades of grass from my mother's grave."

What to one boy was nothing but a few pieces of dried weed was to the other young man the memory of a mother's love.  And, what to unbelievers may seem no more than a pinch of bread and a sip of grape juice is to Christians the memory of a Savior's love.  Thus the emphasis is not merely on the Supper of the Lord, but more especially on the Lord of the Supper; not just on the emblems, but rather on Emmanuel.  Our attention is not so much on a supper, but on the Savior.  It's more than a table; it's a testimony.  

-david pharr