The Cup We Share

 My most cherished glass

This is my most favorite and most cherished glass, to understand you need to know the story.  A friend of mine was starting a church in Atlanta.  Their meeting place was to be an old strip-club.  He asked me to come and help clean the place up.  Contrary to the glamorous portrayal in the media of strip clubs this place was filthy.  While cleaning I found this glass. It was nasty beyond words.  Why someone would relieve themselves in a cup is beyond me.  

When I found it my first thought was to throw it away. But for some reason I didn’t.  Instead I put it in a bucket and took it home.  I filled the bucket with water and chlorine bleach and after letting it soak for a couple of days I put it in a pan of boiling water.  After another soaking in bleach water I washed, rinsed, and dried it.  Now I use this cup for only one purpose.  I tell the story of the cup and then I pour the wine of the communion service into this same cup.  What once held something that was revolting and disgusting now holds that which is most sacred.  

That, by the way, is our story.  We were once filled with all kinds of evil, at our best we were as ‘filthy rags’.  But Jesus washes us, He cleans us, He removes from us all that is revolting and then He fills us with the Holy Spirit.  We who once held the most disgusting things possible now have dwelling in us the very Spirit of God.  

We may not be able to fully explain how God did what He did, but we invite you to join us as we explore the wonder of God’s kindness and love for us.