October 6, 2013
Why I Take Communion
- Lamentations 3:19-26
- Rev Ruth Chadwick Moore
The first Sunday in October is designated as World Communion Sunday, which celebrates our oneness in Christ with all our brothers and sisters around the world. The idea for World Communion Sundays originated in the 1930’s, a time of economic turmoil, fear and the rise of militaristic fascism abroad. Hugh Thomas Kerr, the pastor of Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh persuaded our denomination to designate one Sunday a year when American Christians would join their brother and sisters around the world at the Lord’s Table. The idea caught on and many denominations and churches all over the world come to the table on this special Sunday each year.
To make this a special communion celebration this year, we are doing some things differently today. We are bringing the elements into the sanctuary during the singing of a hymn. We will have servers of all different ages share with us the bread and cup. And we will have a hand washing ceremony before the communion servers serve all of us.
Of course every Sunday is in a sense World Communion Sunday since many churches celebrate the Lord’s Supper every Sunday. But I still appreciate the specialized day, because some churches don’t serve communion very often. On World Communion Sunday I know I am partaking in the bread and the cup on the same day as my friends and family all over the world. I am sharing this meal with my husband, my children, my mother, my aunts and uncles, my friends in Philadelphia and my friends who live next door. I am sharing this meal with my friends in Ireland and Scotland and I am sharing this meal with our church partners in Mexico and Kenya.
Of course some churches do not welcome everyone to the table. Lutherans exclude other Lutherans and in some churches a place at the table is reserved for members only. But here at Northminster we believe that when Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me,” he was referring not only to the Last Supper but to his entire life of teaching, healing and welcoming all – a welcome so radical that it scandalized religious leaders. So no one is excluded from this Lord’s Supper today, because this table and this meal commemorate Jesus – and in the bread and the wine we see Jesus’ grace and love and forgiveness for all people– so how could we not include everyone?
Buy why do you take Communion? Communion probably has as many different meanings as there are people here today. For me the Lord’s Table offers us the promises of God. We not only hear but we can taste these truths – that no sin is beyond grace and no betrayal is so deep that it cannot be healed. It reminds me that a day is coming (and is in fact already here) when all shall eat and be filled and that death is not the end of the story – but joy will come in the morning. Communion gives me a time to give thanks to God and to remember that we are dependent on the grain of the earth for our existence. And for me it is a time to acknowledge that in the symbolism of the broken bread we must acknowledge our own brokenness and the brokenness of the world – while hearing in the prayers and the liturgy that we are redeemed through Christ. Communion helps to rekindle my faith, to rekindle the gift of God that is within me, as Paul urges Timothy in our epistle reading today. Communion, like the author of Lamentations says – reassures me that the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases and his mercies never come to an end.
But would you like to hear why other people take communion?
Patheos.com – a website for dialogue about religion and spirituality asked people why they take communion and this is what they said.
Danielle Shroyer, the pastor of Journey Church in Dallas Texas says: I take communion because I am hungry for a place of radical acceptance, where the tragedies and hopes of life are confronted. I am hungry for food that reminds me God’s love is so abundant it feeds the whole world. I take communion because I have been hungry for the wrong things. I have wanted to name God all by myself, to exclude others, to feast on my own apathy and be left to my own devices. At the table I am reminded of my hunger – and of the Only One whose bread does not leave me empty.
Bruce Reyes-Chow who is a former moderator of the PCUSA says: I take communion because it reminds me that the Body of Christ goes far beyond those who circle the table in our little church; rather it is extended to those whom we will most likely never meet, which in turn compels us to live in the world as if every person is a brother or sister in Christ.
Monica Coleman who is a professor of Theology at Claremont says: Once a month I gather with community – some are friends; some I barely know. We tell stories of how God brought us out of difficult times and into freedom. This is bread for our journey together. We sit at the table with people who have hurt us. We trust that God will give us the grace we need to be more than we are. We drink in these promises of God. Once a month, I gather in community to learn friendship, fellowship and forgiveness from what Jesus did … and this kind of work requires a meal.
Other bloggers when talking about communion said: What’s more countercultural than a meal in which, regardless of status, everyone eats the same thing and is nourished? Or: Communion is a reminder that I am broken and beloved. And Bruce Epperly a professor of theology at Lancaster Theological Seminary says: Communion is, as the Celts say, a “thin place,” a place which helps us discover the everlasting life of God in our ever changing world.
Another reason I take communion and the reason children are in worship with us this morning as well as helping to serve communion, is because it is in communion that we teach our children the rituals of our faith. We remind them of a faith that was probably lived first in their family in past generations. As Paul reminded Timothy, he was taught about Jesus from his grandmother and mother. In our worship, in our sacraments, in our WAM program we teach our children about Jesus just like our mothers and grandmothers taught us. In communion we show our children and encourage them to taste and see what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. In this way we pass on our spiritual heritage to our children so they can carry on the legacy of the faith. And they do this because they have been fed and nourished at the table of Jesus Christ.
I am extremely grateful for my Christian faith. It has been passed down to me by my grandparents and my parents. It is a strong legacy of faith for me to lean upon. And one way to celebrate that faith is in bread and wine. We celebrate because faith is at the heart of our lives. We celebrate because faith gives us a lifetime of purpose and direction. We celebrate because faith gives us strength in tough times and a vision in good times. We celebrate because faith unites us in compassionate and just deeds with our sisters and brothers. We celebrate because faith will carry us through time to the embrace of God that is beyond time. We celebrate because in bread and wine we are strengthened and challenged to act. And that is why I take communion. Amen.
Resources
Pantheos.com
Seasons Fusion Tip for October 6, 2013
The Christian Century: Editor’s Desk, Shared Meal, September 26, 2013