Holy Communion is one of those sacred mysteries we practice as followers of Jesus. This Sunday is World Communion Sunday, when we pay special attention (and celebration) to the fact that Christ’s mysterious table of grace and forgiveness extends around the world to unite us all. As part of the liturgy we recite every time we receive Communion, we remember the first time Jesus offered it to the disciples, and we remember that it was only after giving thanks to God that he shared the cup and bread with words of forgiveness. It’s easy to miss this small act of gratitude, and yet everything else Jesus does stems from that one act. Jesus does not give his life out of obligation or duty. There was no contract with God that he would have 33 years in the flesh in return for an excruciating death. Instead, Jesus’ gratitude to God and his sacrificial response are an overflow of his own grateful heart. In the season of stewardship in the church, we talk about our own giving back to God, but where does our own giving stem from? Does it come from a sense of obligation or guilt, or does it come as an overflow response, with grateful hearts, to all that God has given us?