Stacking Cups

Last night my wife and I attended our church's "Maundy Thursday" services. Now, I did not grow up under the liturgical calendar, so for those like me that do not know what "Maundy Thursday" is all about here is the Wikipedia definition:
"In the Christian liturgical calendar, Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday is the feast or holy day falling on the Thursday before Easter that commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles. It is the fifth day of Holy Week, and is preceded by Holy Wednesday and followed by Good Friday."
During the service everyone that follows Christ was invited to come forward and participate in communion. My wife and I were on the front row, because she had a small speaking part in the service :), and were one of the first ones to go forward. While I sat there watching all the others come forward for this very special moment, I began to notice that the communion cups (as seen in the picture above) began to be stacked one on top of another. After a while, the cups began to look like a sky line of a major city with some stacks towering high and others only having two or three.

At first, I was a little upset that people just placed the cups on the table. Don't they know they should have taken the cup with them, like the good person that I am. No, they just took their drink and then placed the cup on the table. How could they! How could they dirty the Lord's Table that way. (I really hate to admit this, but these were things that were running through my mind)

After spending some time focusing on those cups, God began to speak to my spirit. I began to feel a shift in my mindset toward the scene that was playing out before me. I began to see those cups as a representation of the lives of the people that drank from them. Just think about the stories behind those cups. Each of these people have come to this place in time on a path that God has placed before them. From the child that was 12 and could have been taking their first communion in this service to the older gentlemen that almost tripped on a cord laying across the floor because time has made it harder for him to pick up his feet, they all have a story. They all have their good days and their bad days. They all have moments in their lives that they know the presence of God is with them and then they have those moments where they cry out to Him wondering where He has gone. "The Stories" began to intrigue me. I began to picture the individual ways that Christ has worked in each of their lives. I began to see the freshness of faith through the eyes of the children and the roots of faith through the elderly. I began to understand that Christ does love us individually. He is there for us through the ups and the downs, the joys and the tears. Those stacking cups began to be much more to me than just a few used drinking cups. And if that is the case, then why shouldn't those used cups be place at Christ's table. Isn't that were they should be? When we are going through our greatest success in life or our greatest struggle, where would Christ want us to bring our cups? To His Table. If we have questions about life that we can not find any answers to, where would Christ want us to bring our cups? To His Table.

The rest of the service went on, but I could not get those cups out of my mind. Now that I think about it, I may never get those cups out of my mind. We are all on a journey. A journey that has so many twists and turns, ups and downs that it may make us sick at times, but all of that is part of our cup. And because of the gift that Christ has given us on this Easter weekend, He now looks at us and says, "You don't have to carry that cup anymore. Just put it on My table."