World Communion

2 Tim. 1:1-14

Luke 22:4-23

               Once again there is so much in this passage that we can glean.  What do you learn about communion from this passage? 

               Jesus starts off by saying that he is eager to have this Passover meal with his apostles.  He wants to share his ending with those he loves.  He wants to eat and commune and be with those people who have been with him, with his family, his community.

               He gives of the meal even to his betrayer.  He does not withhold his meal, his food, his love, his communion, even from those who would destroy him.  Jesus is announcing that this is his body and blood.  This has layers and layers of meaning, but one of the things it says to me is that it is God’s sacrifice, God’s giving of God-self, provides for us everything that we need.  When we eat, when we drink, it is because God has provided that to us out of the sweat and tears of God’s own being.

In light of that, why does Jesus then give this meal, this food, this sustenance, this sacrifice even to the one who would betray him?  This is such a strong statement about God’s love and forgiveness of us.  Even those of us who have made mistakes, or done bad things, ALL of us are offered the life that God gives because ALL of us are loved, all of us are forgiven.  It doesn’t mean there are not consequences for our actions, but it was not Jesus who rejected Judas, but Judas who eventually was so devastated himself by his own actions that he hung himself, according to the gospel of Luke.  God was still offering love, still offering bread, still offering life even to the one who would hurt him.  He still offered forgiveness, and what’s more - a new chance, in every moment, with every bite of bread and drink from the cup he offered Judas, and he offers us a new choice, a new option for choosing life.  Judas, in the end, did not choose life, but still it was offered.

               I think about this in light of World Communion Sunday in which we take communion with Christians of all denominations all over the world today.  It doesn’t matter today if you are Presbyterian or Catholic or Greek Orthodox or Baptist or Pentecostal or whatever.  This, too, is incredibly significant because we all come to communion with different understandings of exactly what communion is.  Catholics believe in transubstantiation, which means that the bread and wine literally become the body and blood of Christ.  Lutherans believe in consubstantiation which means that while the bread and wine stay bread and wine, the literal body and blood of Christ become “attached” to that bread and wine and are taken in with the bread and wine.  For Presbyterians we believe in something sometimes called “receptionism” which basically means that we do not believe that there is a literal blood or body in communion: it is symbolic and God is spiritually present with us in the meal that we take. 

               But what is amazing about this day is that on World Communion Sunday, we put aside these differences, we put aside a belief in the importance in our dogma or understanding and we choose instead to focus on what we have in common.  We share a faith, we share a deep belief that our relationships with God matter, are important, are significant.  We share a belief that we are all God’s children, united through this meal, for one thing, and united by the fact that God loves each of us deeply, fully, completely.

               Jesus’ ministry included so many meals, so much feeding.  There was the story of the feeding of the 5000.  And in Matthew as well as Mark there is also the feeding of the 4000 which is a very similar story but simply with different numbers of fish, loaves, people and left-overs.  But other stories in the Bible also talk about food and eating.  The disciples, we are told, picked grain and ate on the Sabbath.  Jesus was eating with the Pharisees when the woman came and washed his feet with her tears (Luke 7:36- 50).  Jesus was attacked for eating with sinners and tax collectors. (Mark 2:0-6)  Jesus tells us we are the salt of the earth.  He compares the kingdom of God to yeast.  He chooses to eat and drink, changing the water into wine.  He tells the parable of the great banquet.  He describes himself as the bread of life, and says those who take of him will never hunger.  He deals with his own hunger as a temptation which he defeats.  After the resurrection, we are told, the disciples recognized the risen Christ when he broke the bread, THROUGH the breaking of the bread.  Jesus was recognized through his sharing food with his disciples.  Food is an important theme throughout Jesus’ ministry and in this, too, he never discriminates, never differentiates.  He feeds everyone who comes to him, he eats with any who will eat with him.  And it is through that feeding, that sharing of food, that sharing of a meal in which Christ is known.

               It is another thing as well.  There is a wonderful song called Big Joe by David Bailey.  The words are:

It was just another Sunday at the big church down on main.

He was just another homeless man, Big Joe was his name.

She was just a kitchen helper, Miss Betty mild and meek,

who prepared the sacred elements, every single week. 

Well the prayers had all been said, the hymns had all been sung. 

The pastor set the table, invited everyone.

Big Joe heard the music, he took a step inside. 

He saw a bunch of well-dressed folks who looked like they were trying to hide. 

He saw a man in fancy robes hold up a loaf of bread,

tear it into pieces.  And Big Joe thought he said,

“All ye who are hungry…”  Joe thought, “That’s me!” 

So, he walked on down the aisle, hoping it was free.

Well the pastor looked uneasy, not sure what to do.

But the usher held the plate out and said “broken just for you.”

Big Joe felt pretty lucky, then they handed him some wine.

The cups were pretty small but it tasted pretty fine

Then he said to the usher, “That bread was good.

Could I have a little more? Do you think I could?”  

Now the usher looked uneasy, looked a bit confused. 

Then he said “I'm sorry sir.  That's not how this bread is used.”

Joe said “I'd like to talk to the master of this meal. 

I'd really like to know just exactly how he feels.

'Cause up there on the table I can see it plain as day:

You got a half a loaf left over  - you’re gonna throw it away.

Cause I got a bunch of friends – they’re sleeping in the street –

right outside your door and they could use a bite to eat.” 

Well the ushers got to talking, then they began to shout.

Then before you know it, a fight had broken out. 

Meanwhile miss Betty slipped away, to the kitchen she did go,

filled a basket up with bread.  She brought it back to Joe.  

She said “Take this to your friends and you come on back next week”. 

Joe said “As you've done to them - you've done to me!”

That's how it all got started at the big church down on Main,

where people come from miles away to break bread in His name! Hallelujah!

As this song points out, communion was a meal, was a feast, was a celebration, was a feeding.  But it is also an opportunity for us to expand our vision of who is to be included, who is to be invited, who it is we are called to feed and with whom we are called to eat.

               It is in all of these things – Jesus’ ministry of feeding, Jesus feeding of even Judas at the last meal, the opportunities we have to feed each other, and this day in which, every year, we celebrate our collective faith through World Communion Sunday – in all of these ways and in all of these things the overabundant theme is once again a grace that overcomes every barrier, a grace that breaks down walls, a grace that forgives and offers new life to any who would like to partake.  World Communion Sunday is a day in which we are all invited to eat together a meal and to remember that God is in this meal with us.  God is in community with us.  God is in the basic stuff of life with us.  It is through this meal that we remember what God has done through history and what God continues and will continue to do through our lives. 

               Communion is remembering.  We remember Jesus’ death and resurrection.  But it is also a time to remember what God has done throughout history.  When Jesus ate the Passover meal, he was remembering the Israelites freed from slavery.  We also remember the return from exile.  We also remember that Jesus was recognized by his disciples after the resurrection through the breaking of the bread – through eating with them in communion and community.  Communion is the New covenant of forgiveness and grace and life.  Through it, we thank God, we bless God, we anticipate God’s fulfilling of the kingdom on earth.  We trust in and receive Christ’s love, we manifest the reality of the covenant of grace in reconciling and being reconciled.  We proclaim the power of Christ’s reign for renewal, justice and peace in the world.  The church is also bound with Christ and with one another, united with all Christians, nourished by Christ’s presence, and we ask to be kept faithful.  We renew our baptism vows by taking communion.  We celebrate the joyful feast of the people of God and anticipate the great banquet where all people will be united and made whole.  We are given a gift in this meal.  And that gift is a grace, a grace that we accept by eating together.  It is a grace we are also invited to pass forward by inviting all, as Jesus invited all, to join us in this meal. 

Come to the table and let us truly celebrate together.        

Sunday's Sermon - Hard Choices

Isa. 43:16-21

Psalm 126

John 12:1-8

               The story we hear from John is one that I find filled with challenges for all of us as people who strive to follow Jesus on the Way.  Jesus himself feeds people, heals people, comforts people.  He tells us that whenever we feed, visit, care for, or provide clothing or shelter for the least of these we do it for God.  He calls us to follow in his path of caring for and loving others completely.  And yet in this story a woman has just spent an extraordinary amount of money to celebrate Jesus, who he is, what he has done and what he will do.  She recognizes that his path is one that will lead to his own destruction and yet to life for so many, and she comes to celebrate and honor that choice. This is a story that is told in all four of the gospels, though slightly differently. In Luke, the woman is not Mary but a “woman of ill repute”, someone who is seen as unclean, unworthy and untouchable.  In that version especially, there are parts of the story that we recognize as the way that Jesus always behaves: Jesus is not afraid to talk to or even be touched by a woman that others reject and condemn as sinful and unclean.  Jesus honors and lifts up a person whom others would not see except to harm, and would not ever approve of.  Jesus empowers, supports, and LOVes a person others saw as the dregs of society.  We get that.  That is the Jesus I love.  That is the Jesus I follow.  That is the Jesus I want to be like.  But I have to admit, Judas had a point here, too.  The nard with which she anointed Jesus represented a great deal of money.  And it could have been used for the poor.  John discounts Judas’ motives saying that he wanted that money for himself.  In the other gospels, it is all of the disciples who are upset at this use of the money, and it is for exactly the reason they say: they think, as any of us might, that this extravagance was a huge waste of money, money that could have served many people. 

               I preached on a similar passage before when I talked to you about how in the midst of suffering and struggle, God is not only the God of comfort and healing, God is also the God of celebration, of abundance, of JOY.  And that is true.  We see it in the overflowing of food when he fed the 5000.  We see it in the overflowing of wine when he turned the water into wine.  We see it in the two old testament passages we read for today.  And we see it here as well… “This woman has done a wonderful thing for me!  Let her alone.”  I shared with you before the story of Dorothy Day, founder off the Catholic worker making a very similar choice when given an expensive diamond ring that she chose to give to a poor woman.  The other volunteers at the center condemned her saying that she could have sold that ring and helped many, many people with the money.  Dorothy Day responded by saying, “Do you believe Diamonds were only made for the rich?”  and we recognize in her words the Jesus who did not condemn the woman who celebrated him with this expensive nard.

               But I think Jesus was about something very different in this story.   

               As I have said before, even God’s celebrations are about lifting up those who are downtrodden.  We have Luke 14:13-14 in which Jesus says, “But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid (at the resurrection of the righteous).”  In today’s story, Jesus is lifting up the woman who has been scorned and rejected.  Every time there is a celebration, those who previously have not had the opportunity to celebrate and “party” are given that chance.  But this story is more, even, than that.  While the woman in the story was honoring Jesus, she was also being given the opportunity to give something back.  In Jewish practice it is considered a blessing, a Mitzvah, to allow someone to serve you.  It is considered an act of service to allow another to serve you, to give something back to you.  This is a woman, again, who was rejected by society, according to the other gospels.  She would not have been allowed to touch others, to serve others, in any way.  But Jesus gives her the gift of allowing her to serve him, to give to him.  And he honors that, says her actions will be remembered, and raises her gifts and her offerings up for all to see.

We know from psychological studies that when people are allowed to contribute to what they are given, it impacts them very differently than when they are only served and not allowed to give anything back in exchange.  It was for this reason that one of the soup kitchens where I volunteered “charged” those who came a quarter for their meal.  This was a token amount and did not begin to make any difference financially for the soup kitchen.  But in terms of the esteem and sense of worth of those who came, it made a huge difference.  The guests no longer felt they were receiving charity.  Instead, they felt that they were paying for something, contributing to their own nourishment, participating in their own lives in a different way than when they were just given food for free.  It changed the way they saw the exchange, and we found that many asked to volunteer to prepare and serve the food as well and to give back in other ways, too.  They saw themselves as worthy and able enough to contribute when we asked them to “pay” for their meals in some small way. They came to the table as equals: people who had paid for what they were given.  And that equality allowed them to offer more, to contribute and care more about what they were giving and doing.

               I think this is a practice we need to consider whenever we give someone a gift of our service.  During the many years that I have visited people who are “shut ins” or who are in the hospital and convalescent homes, the comment I have heard the most often, and which I hear again and again and again, is that the people in these situations feel useless, pointless.  I try to explain to them that they are giving a gift by allowing others to serve them.  They have served others many times, and now it is their turn to receive.  And while I believe that deeply, I find it is not satisfying for those listening to what I am saying.  They often would rather die (and they express this to me in phrases such as "Why am I still alive?  There is no reason for me to still be here!") than to live without purpose or meaning. And I have found myself wondering, isn’t there instead a way that we can help even those in the hospital and those who are shut in to “give back”?  We can bring those whose hands and arms are still functioning yarn and invite them to knit hats or scarves for various programs and projects.  We can bring in birthday cards and ask them to send them to those in the church who are having birthdays this month.  We can ask them for advice and listen to their wisdom.  We can bring them small hand sewing projects. 

               Again, the studies show that when people are given the opportunity to be useful, they recover much more quickly and much more fully.  When they have a purpose, meaning, a reason – no matter how small – to continue, they make a fuller effort to do exactly that. 

               I invite you to think for a moment about your own experiences and ask if this isn’t true for you as well.  Personally, I am reminded of a time when my church was invited to join other congregations in serving a monthly community meal.  We were already serving a monthly community meal in an inner city Presbyterian church, but our local Ecumenical group also served one just down the street and we were encouraged to be part of that as well, to join with our brothers and sisters of all faiths in serving people in our own neighborhood.  About ten of us showed up to help, only to find that the woman in charge of the kitchen would not allow any of us to help.  She kept saying kind things, “Oh, you all do so much already!  Just sit back and let me serve you!” and these words were sweet, sounded generous and helpful, they seemed good and right.  But I’ll tell you, all of us left feeling useless, frustrated, pointless in that situation.  And none of us returned to help again. 

               In contrast, when I have visited people in prison, I often hear stories of even the prisoners’ needs to serve in some way, to help, to GIVE in some way.  One person told me he would not eat everything from his meal but take the morning bread he was given to feed the birds.  He needed that opportunity to give and found it in his own way.  He told me that he noticed that several of the other prisoners were feeding the local skunks in the same way, calling “Here kitty, kitty” each morning as the skunks came by – incorporating laughter with their “service”.  And while at some level this was just funny, it was also necessary.  They found their spirits lifted immensely by this simple act of giving to something else.

               I think we get stuck in an ideology of either serving or being served.  But this doesn’t help us.  We all need to give as much, if not more, than we need to receive.  It doesn’t matter how old we are, it doesn’t matter what we have been through, it doesn’t matter what we have done or failed to do, how much we have given or been given in the past.  Having purpose, giving to others, serving others, and receiving care – all are vital to our well-being. But sometimes we get stuck in an ideology of competition which serves no one.

               "There was a farmer who grew excellent quality corn. Every year he won the award for the best grown corn. One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors. “How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?” the reporter asked.

“Why sir,” said the farmer, “Didn’t you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn.”

So it is with our lives.  When we deny education, for example, so some people, all of us are lessened in our wisdom, our insight, our ability to grow and learn more fully.  When we deny food to our neighbors, all of us are lessened by not connecting with these others who would bless our lives.  And when we deny others the ability to give and to serve, we take away a collective sense of purpose, of meaning, and of true community. The fact is, none of us truly wins, until we all win!

               In today’s story, Jesus served the woman, whoever she was, by allowing her to do a good thing for him, by honoring that service and by celebrating it.  We are called to do the same.  We are not called to just serve others, but to see them for the full humans they are, people in need not only of our love, but people in need of loving as well; people not only in need of being served and cared for, but people in need of serving and caring for others as well.  It is a gift to allow another to serve you, whoever they may be.  Jesus saw that and recognized that in allowing the woman in today’s story to offer him care.  Let us pray to be just as generous in allowing ourselves to be served as well.  Amen.