We do not presume to come to this Thy Table, O merciful
Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in Thy manifold and great mercies.
We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under Thy Table. But Thou
art the same Lord, Whose property is always to have mercy …
-- Beginning of The Prayer
of Humble Access,
from the Book of Common
Prayer.
In the traditional Anglican
Rite, this prayer precedes the Communion rite. It is a prayer with deep meaning
and I reflect on it here as it relates to something I heard recently.
A retired gentleman I know
(an electrician by trade), like many others in these hard economic times has
found it difficult to make ends meet on just his retirement. So, as a rather
accomplished woodworker, he makes hand-crafts to sell. His profit margin is not
very high at all but he does it for the love of it; (he keeps a picture of St.
Joseph in his workshop and frequently invokes his help and intercession). We
sit around in his garage/workshop and talk about things and he said to me once,
“Sales used to be pretty steady. Now it seems like God is just throwing us
scraps.” As a hand-crafter myself (though not with wood) I understood his
meaning and the hint of despondency in his voice resonated with me. It got me
thinking about scraps. And crumbs.
In an age when so many
churches and pastors preach a Gospel of social prosperity those who fall prey
to believing such a false concept naturally cannot understand why, when they
seem to be doing what is right and good, they do not prosper financially. Of
course, many of the preachers of such a gospel seem to prosper well enough as
do many who seem to have no regard for God at all. In the face of all this it
is easy to understand why some give into despair and even begin to envy and
resent those who have more than they. Some even make it the thrust of their
political ideology under the guise of “justice”. But the bringing about of
justice – true justice that is - is the
property of God, not of philosophies or ideological political systems. It is
not for us Christians to try and affect the outcome of history. We do well to
heed the advice of the Psalmist:
Do not fret because of the wicked; do not envy those who do evil: for they wither quickly like grass and fade like the green of the fields. Be still before the Lord and wait in patience; do not fret at the man who prospers; a man who makes evil plots to bring down the needy and the poor. Calm your anger and forget your rage; do not fret, it only leads to evil (Ps. 37).
Back to scraps and crumbs.
When I think of scraps and
crumbs I naturally think of something that is a remnant, a leftover, something
that is lacking wholeness or fullness. But when I reflect on the gifts and
activities of God – His life-giving energies (My grace is sufficient for you),
the sacrifice of His Only-Begotten Son ( .. it is finished), the
indwelling of the All-Holy Spirit ( .. who will teach you all things) –
I can see nothing that is lacking. All is filled and being fulfilled – in
Christ. Is this perspective based on my having wealth and possessions? It is
not. In times past I have had a lot and I squandered a lot. Now I survive on
the crumbs that fall from God’s Table, and that is sufficient for this time and
place in my life, according to His Most Excellent Will. I am not concerned with
what or how much someone else has for they would not have it if God had not
allowed it to be so. Nor do I seek to benefit from the redistribution of others
property. I am concerned with being grateful for and a good steward of what He
has given and entrusted to me.
Nothing God does or gives is
lacking or deficient in any way. God is Good and everything He does and gives
is completely and wholly good. He gives us fullness and we offer Him leftovers
and complain about our circumstances. We throw Him our scraps and pity
ourselves because we have received only crumbs. If we are unable to perceive
God’s love and wholesome Goodness in the midst of our circumstances and in some
sense learn to be at peace with the circumstances because of the Goodness
within, then the transformation that comes through the renewing of our minds is
not yet complete and we are still conformed to the world (Rom. 12:2). The
deficiency is on our part, not God’s.
If we can let go of our
grievances and not fret over disparities; live humbly and honestly before Him,
occupying our minds with all that is good, pure, true, noble and beautiful and
enduring to the end whatever comes, we will be saved and lack for nothing that
is good.
Does this mean we will never
struggle with the means to obtain the things we need and sometimes want? No. We
will struggle. Some will struggle more than others. But we will not be overcome
if our heart’s desire is fixed on God.
It is in the midst of the
hardest struggles when God showers us with the crumbs from His Table. We must
never be afraid or ashamed to look for and gather up these crumbs, for each one
of them is a full meal and contains its own unique abundance.
