I heard from one of my cousins earlier today – he sent me an interesting piece on the lunar landing of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin back in 1969. It seems that there was a quiz about the first food consumed on the surface of the moon and although it was a little known event, it seems that Buzz Aldrin thought it was appropriate to take communion in the lunar lander before heading down the ladder to become the second man on the moon. So, the first food items consumed were the communion elements.
It turns out that Aldrin was an elder in his Presbyterian church and he was trying to think of something appropriate to do when he landed on the moon. His minister consecrated a wafer and some communion wine which were then transported aboard the spacecraft and made it all the way to the lunar surface. After the lunar module landed, Aldrin asked that people on earth take a moment to commemorate the event in whatever way they personally chose as appropriate. It was at this time that he took the wafer and the wine that had been consecrated by his minister back home in Texas.
Who would have thought that the first food and drink taken by man on the surface of the moon would be the commemoration of the Lord’s Supper? After all, God was not only the architect but the Creator of the heavens and the earth – and that includes the moon.
Aldrin originally wanted to broadcast his taking of communion to the world, but NASA asked him not to. Based on lawsuits that NASA was dealing with as a result of Frank Borman and crew reading from Genesis was they circumnavigated the moon prior to the Armstrong/Aldrin/Collins trip, Aldrin reluctantly agreed to take communion without broadcasting it back to earth.
Our verse for the evening is the verse that Aldrin used as he took the Lord’s Supper. The words he used are from the Gospel of John and are found in John 15:5, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.”
My encouragement this evening is that Jesus and His Father want us to acknowledge that everything that exists was created by them – and that includes the sun, the moon and the stars – all the heavens. My prayer is that no matter where you are, even on the moon, that you will remember to worship the Creator of the universe and give thanks for the blessings that Jesus brought to us as a result of his death on a cross – and subsequent resurrection. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…