Gospel
Lesson Luke 17:5-10 NRSV
“The
apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” The Lord
replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could
say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’
and it would obey you.
Who
among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing
or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your
place at the table’? Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare
supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink;
later you may eat and drink’? Do you thank the slave for doing what
was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were
ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only
what we ought to have done!’”
Today
is World Communion Sunday. We'll look at a couple of different ways
that we can interpret the meaning of “communion” as Christians -
and as members of our world community.
One
part of today is recognizing and honoring the sacrament that we, as
believers, practice. Today it will be celebrated all over the world
by a variety of denominations. In some places it will be called “The
Eucharist” and in others it will be “The Table of the Lord” or
“The Lord's Supper.” In some gatherings it may be an “Agape
Meal” or a “Love Feast” and sometimes simply, “Communion.”
In
some places the elements may be a little different – there may be
wine instead of the our traditional Methodist grape juice. Did you
know that Thomas Welch was a Methodist? In 1943, at age 17 he joined
the Wesleyan Methodist Connexion which strongly opposed the
“manufacturing, buying, selling or using intoxicating liquors.”
In 1869 he successfully used pasteurization to create un-fermented
sacramental wine for fellow parishioners in Vineland, New Jersey.
That was the beginning of Dr. Welch's Grape Juice.
In
some congregations there will be leavened bread, in others there will
be unleavened bread, still others use communion wafers. Once, when I
was about 13, I was visiting my grandmother's church in a small town
in Northern Virginia...it was a very small congregation that was part
of a three point charge. When one of the ladies of the church arrived
for worship that Sunday she saw in the bulletin that it was communion
Sunday and she was that month's communion steward! She ran home (just
a few doors away!) and grabbed a jug of grape juice but there wasn't
a slice of bread in the house! She snagged the best substitute she
could find and ran back to the church and had everything in place
when the pastor rushed in from his first service. It wasn't until my
large family was kneeling at the rail that we discovered what her
substitute element was...it looked just like a square cube of bread.
But when all of us respectfully placed the bread in our
mouths...there was an unexpected crunch. Croutons are not a good
idea...even in a pinch. My brother was trying so hard to suppress his
laughter that he was shaking the whole communion rail. I like to
think that the rest of the congregation believed he was overcome by
the spirit. I was pretty proud of his self-control.
I even
read about a pastor in New Mexico whose elements one Sunday were root
beer and Twinkies. When he was asked why – he explained that he
wanted to do something that would make people stop and think. He felt
that something as important as The Lord's Supper needed thoughtful
consideration, not just a mindless ritual.
That
is something that pastor and I wholeheartedly agree on. I believe
that this is one of the best parts of worship...when I take my own
advice and give it the thoughtful consideration that this holy
mystery deserves.
World
Communion Sunday was begun among several Protestant denominations in
the 1940s as a way of recognizing and celebrating that we celebrate
Communion with Christians of many theologies and denominations all
over the world. At that time, many Protestant denominations in the
United States celebrated Communion very infrequently. Quarterly
celebration was often the norm, and it was rarely coordinated across
denominations or even within them. That was certainly true in the
Methodist church despite the fact that John Wesley strongly urged
“every Christian to receive the Lord's Supper as often as he can.”
In his 1872 sermon The Duty of Constant Communion, Wesley gives two
reasons why: #1 – he states that it is a plain command of Christ,
from his Jesus' own words “Do this in remembrance of me.” and #2
– “because
the benefits of doing it are so great to all that do it in obedience
to him. Benefits such as; the forgiveness of our past sins and the
present strengthening and refreshing of our souls.”
He continued by admitting how challenging life is, “In
this world we are never free from temptations. Whatever way of life
we are in, whatever our condition be, whether we are sick or well, in
trouble or at ease, the enemies of our souls are watching to lead us
into sin. And too often they prevail over us. Now, when we are
convinced of having sinned against God, what surer way have we of
procuring pardon from him, than the "showing forth the Lord's
death;" and beseeching him, for the sake of his Son's
sufferings, to blot out all our sins?”
In short, by humbling ourselves and seeking God's mercy, we bring
ourselves into communion
with God. Into a relationship with God. Intentionally. Deliberately.
Communion,
in addition to the sacrament...is also about being a part of
community. Of being in communion with our fellow man.
Setting
the first Sunday of October as World Communion Sunday through the
Federal Council of Churches became one way to ensure that at least
once each year, many American Protestants, and their related
missionary churches outside the U.S., might celebrate at the same
time. All together – pulling in the same direction! Because as
diverse as the titles of this holy mystery are (Love Feast, Lord's
Table...) and as unique as the elements may be...that is nothing
compared to how unique and diverse the people coming to “table”
are!
Even
within this room we come from a variety of life experiences and
traditions. We have different backgrounds – maybe you're a farmer
or a banker or a teacher. Some have college degrees and some of us
were lucky to make it out of high school! Big families and little
families. And those are just some of the varieties in this room. When
we look outside these walls to the community around us we see poor
and rich, content and anxious, spenders and savers, red, yellow,
black and white...
If
we look beyond our region and our state and even our national borders
– there is a global smorgasbord of people! All differently abled.
Each with gifts to share. All part of this glorious dysfunctional
family of human beings.
Mother
Teresa, well...now Saint Teresa of Calcutta, diagnosed the world's
ills in this way, “maybe,” she said, “we've just forgotten that
we belong to each other.” I want someone with the gift of
needlework to cross-stitch that on a pillow for me: We Belong to Each
Other. One of my favorite authors, Father Greg Boyle calls it
“kinship.”
Kinship
is what happens to us when we refuse to forget that we belong to each
other. When we see our similarities before we focus on our
differences. When our goal is to seek out the common places instead
of jealously guarding our position or opinion. Too often we want
others to bend to our perspective. It is an area that I struggle with
on a daily basis.
I
was blessed with a keen intellect and good memory. I get a lot of
satisfaction from researching topics and enjoy sharing my knowledge.
I'm the first to reach for my handy reference tool (my smart phone)
when questions arise in a conversation. “Who was the king that
abdicated his throne for love?” or “Is Lucille Ball still
living?” or perhaps “What was that movie with Kevin Bacon as a
lunatic whitewater rafting guide?”
I
enjoy having the right answers (which by the way are Edward VIII to
marry American socialite Wallis Simpson, Lucille Ball passed away in
1989, and the Kevin Bacon movie was White Water Summer). I have also
worked as an efficiency expert helping increase production outputs...
This is a recipe for disaster! I always want people to do things my
way or see things my way! I'm right, right? Well...not always... and
sometimes doing things a different way isn't stupid – it's just
different.
I'm
pretty good about accepting differences in others when it comes to
gender or race or cultural backgrounds. I work as a landlord for
people with disabilities...so I'm accepting of people with
intellectual or developmental disabilities, physical disabilities and
mental health struggles. Since many of them are unable to work...I
get socioeconomic differences and the challenges of generational
poverty. Maybe some of those are differences that challenge you.
Where I
get humbled is having to climb down off my high horse of being an
insufferable know-it-all offering unsolicited solutions to problems
that might not even be there!
In
order to live in community we have to learn to embrace the varied
gifts and experiences of the others we encounter. It is this
marvelous variety which is our strength!
Tex
Sample, a professor of Church and Society at St. Paul School of
Theology, cites in his book “Ministry in an Oral Culture” an
observation made by a colleague, that goes like this. 'What is
common in community is not shared values or
common understanding so much as the fact that members of a community
are engaged in the same argument... in which alternative strategies,
misunderstandings, conflicting goals and values are thrashed out."
Think about that for a minute. What helps to define us as a community
is the fact that we are all engaged in the same argument - that we
all view ourselves as followers of Christ. That we are all trying to
work out the best way or the right way, to live our lives as his
people in response to his calling.
Part
of what makes us a World Wide Communion - is not that we agree
with one another in everything - but that we believe that the
discussion we have - even that the arguments that we have -
are of importance. The Apostle Paul, in discussing the
differences of opinion in the Church in Rome over the Holy Days that
they should celebrate and whether or not people should eat or not
meats that had been purchased in the market place - which generally
came from the animal sacrifices that were offered at various pagan
temples, writes : One man considers one day more sacred than
another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be
fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special,
does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives
thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives
thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us
dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we
die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the
Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that
he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.
The
important thing that Paul is telling us in this passage, is that -
"each of us should be fully convinced in our own minds" as
to what is important - and do all that we do - or don't do - with
thanks to God and in the realization that Christ is Lord of all.
There
is nothing wrong with our differences of opinion as to what is right
and what is wrong, what is good - and what is not good, what is true
and what is not true. Our common argument in fact helps to define us
as a communion - as the people of God, as brothers and
sisters of one another.
Indeed,
there will be differences, some of them quite profound, in how our
brothers and sisters around the world view the sacrament of
communion. Some will think that their way is the only proper way to
do it. Some traditions will welcome only those persons who have made
a public profession of their faith to the table, while others will
welcome very young children, even babies to the table. Some will
insist that each person must belong to the denomination and the
community where the sacrament is being observed - others will have an
table open to "all those who love the Lord and desire to walk in
his path". There will be a tremendous variety of practices and
understandings this day as we celebrate the Lord's Supper - but one
thing will stand out above all the differences of opinion and
practice. That we consider what we are doing as important, so
important that we might even risk argument with one another about
it's meaning. So what do we make of that? What is our communion with
one another when we have such a wide variety of practices and
understandings? Where, given our differences, is our "Commune -
ity"
Think
of your own families for a minute - families of flesh and blood and
how they function. Is there perfect agreement among you? Are there
not members who believe, sometimes quite passionately, that the
family should do this or that thing while others in the family hold
forth for something else - something entirely different? Yet - while
there are these kinds of disputes - do we not sit down together at
meal time - and eat as one? We eat of the meal which has been
prepared for us - some taking more from a particular dish as their
tastes and their inclinations lead them - others more from another?
Do we
not, if we have any sense at all of being a family, gather on special
occasions and join together at the table that has been set and give
thanks to God for providing us the opportunity to be together and
providing the food that we eat - even if our diets are different?
The
church around the world today is a family. We are the family of God -
a family formed by our common desire to follow Jesus, who is both our
brother and our Lord. We are the people of God, called together and
given life, through Christ Jesus our Lord.
In
the Gospel reading today, the disciples asked Jesus for more faith.
He told them they didn't need MORE faith. They needed a different
kind of faith. They needed mustard weed faith! What does that mean?
The disciples may have known, because they knew about mustard weed.
Mustard
weed was the curse of farmers in Palestine. It grew wild. Birds would
eat but not entirely digest its seeds and drop them everywhere. It
would take over fields and vineyards. It would compete with existing
crops. Pulling it up did little good, because more birds would just
bring more seed from somewhere else, and you'd be back in the same
place in a few weeks. It was persistent, irritating, and
fast-spreading. It would be there whether you liked it or not. It was
like kudzu around here!
Mustard
weed was so effective because it was so purpose-built and so intent
on fulfilling its purpose—to spread itself by all means everywhere.
That's
the kind of faith we need, Jesus says, faith both small
and
contagious
enough
to be carried everywhere by folks living like birds. Not more. Not
bigger. Not even deeper. Just contagious enough to be caught,
dropped, and then take root. We need faith that goes and gets carried
everywhere. That’s how the message spreads. Are we spreading like
kudzu? We can be! We can spread the love of God by all means
everywhere – it doesn't have to fancy to be contagious!
As we
prepare ourselves for our time of communing and remembering today, we
will share an experience that is a little different from the Lord's
Supper that you are used to. As a lay servant and not an ordained
minister, I am not qualified to perform the sacrament of holy
communion. It is an act that the United Methodist Church considers so
important and significant that is requires an additional level of
knowledge and training. Instead we will observe the tradition of an
Agape Meal or Love Feast.
The
Agape Meal is a chance for us to thank God for all his many gifts,
but especially his gift of grace. We will humble ourselves and have a
time of remembering that we are human and fall short – confessing
that we fail in many ways and recognizing that we need God every hour
of every day. Then we will thank God for the gift of his only Son,
and while remembering the sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf we
will partake of the Agape Meal together – in the form of a grape
and small cracker. The cracker – simple, unadorned, unbroken –
represents the body of our Lord and Saviour. The grape reminding us
of the blood shed for our sins.
This
time of remembrance will end with a renewing of our determination to
follow Jesus. And to obey his commands – Love God with all our
heart, mind, soul and strength...and to love our neighbor. Love God
and love who God loves. It really is that simple. Thanks be to God.
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