October 1, 2000, Worldwide Communion Sunday

Text: Matthew 26:18-21

          Two South American neighbors, Chile and Argentina, were preparing for war in 1900 over a border dispute in the Andes Mountains.  On Easter, one of the bishops delivered a sermon that begged the question, “Why not make friends with your neighbor?”

          The appropriate people were listening.  Before long, the two countries signed a treaty of arbitration, pledging mediation to settle any disputes.  To seal their peaceful intents, guns and weaponry were melted to make the striking bronze statue known as “Christ of the Andes.”

          The figure of Christ, 23-feet tall, was situated high on the mountain boundary.  At its dedication, Chileans and Argentineans knelt at the feet of Christ.  They saw his hands outstretched in blessing over them both and realized their brotherhood.  Enshrined on the plaque at the base of the statue are these words, “These mountains will fall before Argentines and Chileans break the peace sworn at the feet of Christ the Redeemer” (From Our Christian Heritage, p. 298).

          Today, Christians gather under a similar symbol; and it is, again, a reminder of our call to unity.  We assemble for communion today.  But this day is different from other celebrations of communion.  This day is worldwide communion Sunday, an attempt to call all Christians, around the world, to come together under our common Lord.

          Today, the words, “Do this in remembrance of me,” will be spoken in hundreds of languages.  It will be spoken in the most ornate cathedrals in the world and in the open-air huts of the most remote corners of the planet.  The words of institution will be broadcast loudly over television and radio, as well as whispered in underground, politically illegal, churches.  It will be served in polished brass and gold, or as old wine in Styrofoam cups.  Today is our reminder that even in our differences, we come together under the saving grace of our Lord’s sacrifice.

          Today is our attempt to live in part what Isaiah prophesied will happen in the Kingdom.

          “On this mountain, the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine – the best of meats and the finest of wines.  On this mountain he will destroy the veil that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations…” (Isaiah 25:6-7).

          The veil is the barrier to understanding and good will that separates one nation from another.  The veil is the shroud that causes Christians to battle other Christians.  The veil is the wall that separates the differences between Christians around the world, or Christians in this country, or Christians in this state, or Christians in this town, or Christians in this church. The prophetic vision is that God will destroy those barriers, and that people who were once enemies will sit at the banquet table of the Messiah.

          Worldwide Communion Sunday is our effort to experience part of heaven on earth.  But worldwide begins with church wide.  Communion is the call to gather with each other in peace, realizing that we follow a much greater cause in unity than we do in division.

          To do so is to follow the pattern of the very first communion, the installation of the supper during Passover.  It was literally a feast of enemies.

Matthew was a tax collector.  Most people considered him a traitor to his people, because he sold himself into the hands of the country’s authorities for personal gain.  He was hated in his own town.  Even his own family would have excluded him.  But, a tax collector decided that money was good enough to give all that up.

Jesus called him to follow him.  Along the way, Jesus was condemned for eating with tax collectors.  When he had this final supper with Matthew, he was, even then, going against much of what his people believed.

          On the other end of the spectrum, Simon was a zealot.  The zealots were the fourth party in Judaism.  They stood for liberty and were prepared to face any kind of death for their country.  They would commit secret murders and assassinations in order to rid their country of foreign rule. 

One of their hated groups, their enemy, one of their direct targets, was the tax collectors.  Had Simon the Zealot met Matthew, the tax collector, anywhere other than in the company of Jesus, Simon would have considered him a traitor and would have likely killed him.

Enemies, who found a greater cause for peace in the purpose of our Lord, came together for the meal.  From the example of these two, the church must learn that we should put down our weapons of hate or envy, and instead join our forces against our real enemy.

          Then we had the fishermen.  Peter and Andrew, James and John were two sets of fishermen brothers.  Same occupation, but they were different as night and day.

          Peter was a pleaser and often promised much more than he could deliver, while Andrew seemed to be the kind of person who willingly took second place and preferred to work in the background.  James and John, however, were known for their short fuses and were nicknamed “sons of thunder.”

          As different as they were, they came to the table together.

          Thomas was at the table too.  He was the one who consistently had questions about what was happening and why.  After the resurrection, he was the one who would not believe anything based on second-hand information.

          He was not rejected from the table just because he was a skeptic by nature and found it so difficult to accept.

          Philip was one of the first disciples called.  However, it would be at this very supper that Jesus would say to him, “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time?” (John 14: 9).  Philip finds familiarity with all of us who feel ill-equipped even to study Scripture.  He could not quote chapter and verse why he was there, but he was a believer, so he had a place.

          Bartholomew or Nathaniel, James the son of Alpheus, and Thaddaeus, also were at the table, but we know almost nothing about any of these three.  They followed Christ for three and a half years, but their work and discipleship were quiet and behind the scenes.  This is not a table reserved for the big shots and those who are the heroes of the faith.  This table has many place settings for the little guy who quietly does his or her task in faith.

          Then, there was Judas, the one who became identified as the betrayer.  He was the treasurer who was called by Jesus to be a disciple.  Disciple-turned-enemy, Judas was there being offered the meal.  Up to the very end, Jesus reached out to Judas. 

While the other disciples represent the division that existed among themselves, Judas represents Jesus’ own enemy.  The supper was one more attempt to remove the veil.

          There we are, the feast of enemies.  It was a gathering of political enemies, of opposing personalities, of various levels of belief, and even of a wide-spectrum of conviction.  But there they were, assembled around the table.  Why?  Because the Lord, our Lord, is what brought them together.

          Two thousand years later, not that much has changed.  Here we are, a room of very different people in a world of many different people.  That first table was no different from this table. 

We have the same host: our Lord is our host.  He is who calls us together.  It is His body and His blood.

He calls us to put aside our differences:  differences between husband and wife, between families, between church members, between races, between work colleagues, between ages, between employee and employer, between rich and poor, between political parties, between countrymen.  He invites us to leave those differences at the door and to share communion. 

He invites us to consider what really matters.  When it finally comes down to the base truth of life, this is what matters:  the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

          Christians can never come together because we look the same, or because we drive the same kind of cars, or because we live in the same kind of houses, or because we share the same persuasions on societal matters of the world.

          The only cohesion that forms us into a community is our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.  That is why we call it “communion.” 

Are you willing to melt down your own guns to kneel at the feet of our Lord?  To forgive the one who has hurt you?  To forget the insignificant differences that divide us so that we can find truth in our greater purpose? To look at your brother or sister with the same love that God does?

For just a moment, I invite you to talk with God about that.  Prepare yourself before Him to come to His table.

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