"Here you go, weirdo."

Last year my family and I were at our church retreat at the HEB encampment on the Frio River. On Sunday, before we all pack up and head home, the church gathers for a worship service. Given that the service is in the open air the worship has an informal vibe to it. More cozy and free form.

Well, last year the person leading the worship asked us to serve each other during the sharing of the Lord's Supper. That is, rather than have attendants watch for and move the trays around we should feel free to take the bread and grape juice trays to a friend or neighbor sitting close by. And when we handed the tray over we were encouraged to pass it along with a word of encouragement such as "This is the Lord's body, given for you."

Okay, so in the middle of this service a tray comes to our youngest son, Aidan. He takes a bit of the bread and we encourage him to take the tray to a friend of his with the prompt to not hand the tray over silently but to offer a word of grace or welcome.

So Aidan gets up and walks over to his friend. Then he passes him the tray and says, "Here you go, weirdo."

Shocked (and amused) we quickly step in to get Aidan to say something more appropriate. He mumbles something and the moment passes. But back in my seat I can't help but chuckle through the rest of the service. "Here you go, weirdo" just keeps playing in my head.

And then I start thinking about the theology of it all. And it dawns on me that "Here you go, weirdo" is how I really think about the Lord's Table. All these odd, broken and, well, weird people drawn together in this quirky family we call "church." And that maybe the problem with Christianity today is that we don't want the weirdos in our sanitized and orderly assemblies. Church is for the proper and well-adjusted.

But Jesus hung out with prostitutes and sinners. He seemed to prefer the weirdos. So I'm absolutely convinced that the Messiah looked down upon "Here you go, weirdo" that day and cracked a small smile and whispered in a voice only the angels could hear:

"Exactly."

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8 thoughts on “"Here you go, weirdo."”

  1. some times it's us simple minded folk,that teach you in the brain trust, that, .some things are just to simple for your complex minds.and just complex for your simple minds.....study is all about my attitude & effort and raw knuckles from banging on god's door in prayer. balance

    blessings all you weirdos, oh yes you to rich
    rich constant

  2. HEB Camp is my favorite place on earth. Does your church use the Echo Valley Camp? My home church outgrew is years ago and spilled over into other camps. And how 'bout that Blue Hole? I am homesick for the hill country.

  3. It is good to go to church and pray to god for an other person. Me and my family also go to church every Sunday and pray to god for our and everyone better life.

  4. There are so many churches available in my city. I strongly believing in God. I think from childhood that if you have any problem than you tell to god and they must resolved it.

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