It's a meaningful question to ask a congregation after communion: "Has everyone been served?"
Our first inclination might be to assume that, yes, everyone has been served. After all, we've seen everyone walk down and receive the bread and cup. The music has stopped, and the pastor has put everything back into place. It seems complete. But the question reaches further than the sanctuary.
It stretches beyond those of us seated in the pews and into the lives of people we haven't noticed, the people we haven't named or invited to the table yet.
When Samuel came to anoint a new king in 1 Samuel 16, Jesse presented his sons one by one. They were strong and capable. Obvious choices for a new king. And yet, something was missing.
"Are all your sons here?" Samuel asked. That sense of incompleteness stirred the question for him.
Of course, there was still one more. David. The one left in the field. The one forgotten. Seemingly by choice, David wasn't brought with the others. Even though he was a part of the family, his presence didn't matter. Before the story could move forward, though, someone had to say, "We're not done here."
That's what the communion question is really asking. Has everyone been served? No. Not yet.
There are still people in the fields overlooked, unseen, and assumed to be outside the story of God's grace. People who don't look the part, don't feel worthy, or haven't been reached because we stopped too soon.
So, the question becomes more than a part of our ritual. It becomes our calling. Go get them. Because God's grace is still reaching, and our mission isn't finished.
Every time we ask, "Has everyone been served?" we are reminding ourselves that there is always one more. And God is still sending us to find them.
Stay blessed...john
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