Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

Some of us are old enough to remember the classic movie starring Sidney Poitier, Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn entitled, "Guess Who's coming to Dinner." It is a movie about an interracial relationship which hit the big screen at a time when such things were either unheard of or at best in their very infancy. The "Guess Who" is the African-American boy friend of a caucasian family's daughter. There were many nuances in that movie, but it is the great discomfort that pervades the early part of the movie that I remembered as I worked on a series of sermons about Holy Communion. In many ways, we are very uncomfortable with the idea that Jesus Christ comes to the Table to be with us during Holy Communion. Whether one believes, as do our Catholic Brothers and Sisters that the bread and cup become the body and blood of Christ, or, as do other denominations, that Christ is physically present in the bread and cup, or whether you believe that Christ is present with us in a Spiritual way, all Christians are called upon to believe that Holy Communion is more than just a ceremony or ritual which is repeated over and over without real personal meaning.
Instead we are called into relationship with that "Guess Who" who joins us at the Communion table. And we can have a happy ending, just as did the movie. More recently we have seen a representation of this relationship in a small book entitled, " Dinner with a Perfect Stranger." Here, a typically overwhelmed family man of the 21st Century gets an invitation to go to dinner with a Stranger who calls himself Jesus. Though so many other things are pressing on our protagonist, he goes, and his life is forever changed. Maybe it isn't communion, but perhaps it ought to be.
I would invite you to go to the video store and find a copyof "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," and watch that and then read "Dinner with a Perfect Stranger." Then come to Holy Communion at COJ with a new heart and a new attitude.

Pastor Realff

It's a New Year

Well, its 2007, which, in and of itself is not remarkable. But, it will be a year in which their are great opportunities abounding. I am sure that in some cases we will take advantage of them, and in others, we will either ignore them, or do them wrong. That is just the way things seem to work out.

Many of those things will have to do with the way the United States governs itself. A change in the legislative leadership in Washington can either bring good or bad or same ol', same ol' depending on the will and virtue of those who will lead. They all seem to be talking a good game, but I will wait and see if it really pans out. And on the heals of that, men (and women) are stepping forward offering to lead the country as President. I hope that we can see our way clear to select someone who has high personal morals as well as seeing the necessity of high cultural morals as well. We certainly need it.

On a more personal level, here at COJ, change has been happening slowly, but it is happening. Our outreach to feed the hungry (the COJ Food Pantry) is thriving and getting stronger each month and severed more than 5000 folks in 2006. Our effort to clothe the naked (otherwise known as the clothes closet) is also thriving and growing. With partnerships with sources for good infant's and children's clothing, it is emptying its shelf each month. Our effort to care for the sick brought us our first nutrition and health fair, an event that grew from a concept to a succesful offering in the fall--so much so that we will do it again.

But we still have a long way to journey, and I hope that we always will. Jesus has called us to be his brothers and sisters, adopted by God and saved by grace. I don't know about you, but I know I still have to keep walking just to keep up. I know that there is no time to just rest.

May 2007 be for you a year of reflection, of moving forward, and a year to claim Jesus Christ as Lord of all that is in your life.

Pastor Realff