World Communion Sunday, October 3, 2021,
Introduction
Today is World Communion Sunday. That of course means on this day, regardless of faith tradition, Christians all across the world are gathering around the Lord’s Table, to share in the Eucharist, the Last Supper.
Christians in the Kanton Islands, who are seventeen hours ahead of us, have shared in communion, and today is tomorrow. Christians in Hawaii, who are six hours behind us, will share in communion later today when we’re watching the fourth quarter of Browns game. All Christians, in all places, today, come together, around one common table, to share in this meal of remembrance; this meal of forgiveness; this meal of hope, peace, joy, and love; this meal of new life.
That’s a lot of people around this one table, but somehow, some way, there is room enough for all. There is room enough for all because that is what God is able to do.
In a world of division, God unites. In the midst of hate, God loves. In a place saturated with sin, God forgives. In a culture that so often seems merciless, God offers grace. In the torment of death, especially senseless death, God brings life.
And even though that is what God does every day, it is what comes fully into focus on World Communion Sunday.
Today, regardless of our faith tradition; regardless of how we enact this sacred meal; regardless of what kind of bread; what shape it takes, what taste is has—regardless of what kind of drink—whether grape juice, real wine, or even Coca Cola because it’s the safest beverage available in some parts of the world—Christians are uniting, coming together, gathering, to share in a meal that is all about life.
Think on that. Sit with that. Imagine that. Let this image, let this reality, come into view in your mind’s eye, and then let it sift down into your heart… For in a world that seems so determined to destroy itself…In a world where heinous violence has become normative…In a world where death and destruction has become more fascinating that life and creating… we need a day like today— an intentional day that is World Communion Sunday— to remind us that our God is not a god of hate, not a god of retribution, not a god of death. Our God… Our Creator… Our Savior… Our Sustainer… is a God who is all about life.
Move 1
In our text for today Jesus asserts, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” The person who eats this bread is promised endless satisfaction— freedom from hunger and thirst— and life everlasting. Consume this bread, and you’re eating for eternal life.
But not everyone who is listening to Jesus believes what he says. They are actually skeptical about Jesus who is saying to them, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” And the reason they are skeptical is because they know Jesus! They are aware he’s the son of Joseph and Mary, a couple of regular Galileans they know personally. I mean just like Julie and I tell the story of our son being born in an ambulance, Mary and Joseph surely dropped the “born in a barn” line.
And because they know Jesus and his parents, they wonder how he can say, “I have come down from heaven”? And really, it’s a good question. If the 10-year-old daughter of our next-door neighbor claims, “I have come down from heaven,” we’re going to think she has an active imagination. If the 30-year-old son of our neighbor says, “I have come down from heaven,” you’re going to wonder about their mental health.
All that is to say is that the people of this passage aren’t opponents of Jesus. There’s no evidence they’re antagonistic toward Jesus like the religious authorities who plan to hand him over to the Romans for crucifixion. The people of this passage aren’t against Jesus. They’re just confused and concerned. And who wouldn’t be? Not only is it an odd statement to hear (let alone say) it’s just too good to be true. Bread that will give us life…forever? That seems as far-fetched as… oh, I don’t know… all the Christians of the world coming together, around a single table, to share a meal.
But yet it’s all true. And it’s true because…our God is not a god of hate, not a god of retribution, not a god of death. Our God… Our Creator… Our Savior… Our Sustainer… is a God who is all about life.
Move 2
Now I can almost predict the thoughts going through the heads of many of you who have for some time now been hearing me preach this message: “God is a God of love and grace and new life”, that “life in Jesus is what brings forth that which we want and need” and not just on World Communion Sunday. I know I have my versions of this message I use frequently, and that I have actually used them with increased frequency over the last year or more.
But do you know why I’ve been going to that well so often? Because it seems we can’t hear these words enough. The cultural climate of our country and world has escalated in divisiveness and strife. We see and hear and even experience critical, harsh, ugly vitriol daily. And because we do, I believe we can’t hear this repetitive message enough because we are certainly hearing a repetitive message every other hour of the week.
And so yes, I have been repeating myself. Because we don’t dare forget for a moment: “God is a God of love and grace and new life”, that “life in Jesus is what brings forth that which we want and need”— because who else is saying such, if not the church—if not the body of Christ? We have to, because the other message— the critical, harsh, ugly vitriol message— is being shared and spread at unprecedented volumes and speeds that are successfully drowning out the message Our God… Our Creator… Our Savior… Our Sustainer… is a God who is all about life.
So yes… I am a broken record. Or for our younger listeners…I am an endless loop of an annoying Tik Tok video. (Later I’ll ask Christian if I got that reference right.) Just go back through my sermons from the last year and you’ll see the repetitive pattern I’m talking—that I am a broken record. But let me ask you this… Where else are we hearing such a message? Anywhere? I mean, I hope you are. But are you… are we hearing anywhere…
Our God… Our Creator… Our Savior… Our Sustainer… is a God who is all about life…The divide is not as wide as we think…A new normal thing is a faithful thing…We can have a profound impact…There really is an invitation to healing and wholeness…We can build with care and novelty—i.e. joy and fun…We can be friends with God…There are true blessings of life to be found…We can have integrity and we should celebrate such…There is a pathway to God and it is found in the awe of God that is all around us…There is more to discover and embrace beyond what we can see…God really is doing a new thing…We don’t have to lose heart because Our God… Our Creator… Our Savior… Our Sustainer… is a God who is all about life?
Are we hearing anywhere else an invitation to come and sit with the world and share in a meal where all are welcome and where all are forgiven, reconciled, and loved without condition?
These are all the messages—all based in God’s holy word—I have been led to share for months now. I’m not boasting here because like I said, I was led by the Spirit—convicted by the Spirit—to share them. That’s my job. I’m doing what I am called to do. Sharing and spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. That’s all of our jobs, right?
But what are the other messages we are hearing? What are the other messages we are sharing? What are the other messages we are living?
I know that sounds like a shameful indictment, but to be clear that’s not my intention. I say often and openly, my sermons are typically directed at me. Last week’s sermon—I was preaching not just to you, but to me too because I have to hear and believe the divide is not as wide as we think.
My intention is: For us to consider, intentionally, what we say and what we live. Are we spreading hope or discouragement? Are we inviting people in, or are our words and actions keeping people out and/or driving people away? Are we loving others as ourselves, or are we not? Are we sharing good news or bad news? Are we sharing THE Good News or are we sharing the news of our media outlet of choice?
These are the questions we must ask ourselves, and challenge ourselves with.
Yes, they are repetitious—but until the message Our God… Our Creator… Our Savior… Our Sustainer… is a God who is all about life is the dominate message; the dominate understanding; that which embodies our daily interactions with all children of God—including those who are different from us and think differently from us—then repetition is what we need to hear.
Conclusion
Jesus’ message of “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” wasn’t just said and shown in this one story of his ministry—it was his ministry. And he said it—in some way or another—again and again and again. And it worked.
His message, the one he repeated like a broken record, like an endless loop of an annoying Tik Tok video—the message we are called to live and share like Jesus—it changed the world again and again. And we know this because today the world gathers to share in the bread of life.
So let us join with the world. Let us share the bread of life. And let us do so again, and again, and again until it changes the world for the better again. Amen.
Pastoral Prayer: World Communion Sunday 2021
Lord God as we gather around your communion table on this World Communion Sunday, thus linking arms around the world, we ask you to pour your grace into us so we may we see in each other your light, your love and most of all…you. May it not matter our differences, our languages, our looks, our way of life. May what matter today, and every day, be that we are one in you.
Eternal God, we are ever aware of the critical, harsh, ugly vitriol that so permeates the world today.
There are unholy alliances.
There is the dynamic of the fearful trying to crush out perceived threats to their power.
There is still the problem of evil in the guise of good.
There is still deceit used to gain selfish ends.
All of it, and more, we hear and see seemingly without end.
So we seek your help in building a better way, by sharing a better message—a true message that new life in you is within reach.
But we know we must first believe this true message.
We must first, like the people in our text today, dispel our veiled disbelief that the bread of life has come down from heaven and we can and must share it with the world.
We must dispel the skepticism that your love won’t conquer today’s deceit and selfishness and divisions.
We must stop listening to, and believing the voices that only speak of harsh, critical, ugly vitriol.
So on this World Communion Sunday help us to see that the world has gathered around your table, where there is room enough for all.
May that vision, and the hope filled message is speaks, inspire us to keep sharing and living the truth that the bread of life—Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior, still can, and does still, change the world for the better.
And may we share that message again and again and again.
We ask now that you hear the prayers of our hearts as we offer them to you in this time of Holy Silence.
All this we pray in the name of our Lord and Savior, the bread of life, Jesus the Christ, who taught us to pray saying, “Our…”