A while ago I had the opportunity and pleasure in assisting on the Lord's Supper. I was responsible for leading at the serving of the fruit of the vine, like I should be doing today. Because I did the prayer and was the first one to handle the trays, I got to see them first. When I went to fetch them, I couldn't help but notice that one of the cups was empty. No red ring, as if it had been drunken from and replaced, it was clean as could be. Clearly it had simply been overlooked by whoever prepared the Lord's Supper that day. Before I gave the tray to anyone else, I did what might surprise you. I palmed the cup on the sly and put it in my pocket.

Later, I thought a lot about that cup. As you may know from a prior bulletin, it was on my mind when I was almost piled into by some driver who crossed over from the left lane into mine right in front of me on the way to services one Sunday night. I thought about it at other times, too. Whenever I looked at a business sign with a whole bunch of lights and one was not working I thought about that cup. I mean, wouldn't you notice a tray full of purple cups and one oddball clear one? It kinda stands out.

If we were "one cuppers", this simply couldn't happen However, I am sure it has happened before. It's just that I have never seen this happen myself, and in all my years of being a Christian or attending church (about 40 of them) I can't recall anyone ever mentioning it happening. I've been related to or close friends to the person who prepares the communion at most of the places I've ever been, so this isn't some casual observation.

HOWEVER! Let me state clearly and for the record that I am not trying to tease the ones who do this very important service for us! Let me assure you that if it was up to me to do it every week there would be a lot of times something would be wrong, and I am grateful for the kind and generous ladies who take care of this unappreciated task! I am simply using this cup as an example for a bulletin point. Please don't lynch me!

As I said, I thought and thought about that cup, and I have it at home on my desk where I look at it now and then. Why was the cup unused? Did it sin? Sometimes in our lives we aren't "used by God" as we expect. We feel we are pretty much just like everyone else. We may have always just assumed we'd grow up, get married, have kids, live a faithful life, and ride off into the sunset of heaven. Evil, worldly people get this (well, not the heaven part!) when sometimes we Christians don't. We may wonder what we did wrong. We may feel like we're getting "cheated" out of something. Is it for sin? No. The cup didn't do anything wrong and neither did we. It was just overlooked. I mean, I can't imagine anyone saying "I will punish this cup by putting it out and not using it". Nope, someone just overlooked it.

It sounds like I am saying that God overlooked us. Let's consider that. We sometimes pray and pray for what we want. We may feet lonely, or unfulfilled. We might start to feel despair that God forgot about us. Sometimes we feel so bad, it's hard to remember others who didn't have things go their way, such as Job. Was he overlooked by God? Who was it that brought him mischief? And what about Joseph? Turned on by his own brothers, sold as a slave, thought to be dead and abandoned in a strange land, yet he had great honor in the end. God never left him, not for a moment, and so many unexpected bad things happened to him! God had a purpose for him, and God has a purpose for all of us, often greater than we ever though possible ourselves.

I know a passage about cups. It talks about vessels of honor and dishonor. I know this cup on my desk looks like all the rest, and if it had feelings it might feel it got a bum ride in life because it wasn't used for the purpose it was intended. It might feel it had been cheated.

I also know a passage about how God saves his people, described as being plucked from a fire unburned. Again, this cup looks just like all the rest, they all look the same. Sinners all look the same to God, too. Lost! But we don't have to stay that way. Yes, this cup didn't get used as it was intended. But instead of ending up in the trash like all the others, (after serving a good purpose and being used up) it "lives" on my desk. And it's being used as the topic for one of my crazy bulletins. And if this bulletin helps someone become a better servant in the sight of God, or helps someone grow in patience and in wisdom, this cup served an even better purpose. One that, just like us, it never expected. A special one.

Randy