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Proper 15B, – John 6:51-58
Using As We Gather at Your Table (Carl P. Daw)
Listen to the first verse of 522 –
1 As we gather at your table, as we listen to your word, help us know, O God, your presence; let our hearts and minds be stirred. Nourish us with sacred story till we claim it as our own; teach us through this holy banquet how to make Love's vict'ry known.
As I was forming this message
I kept getting distracted. –you see, since we had VBS last week, and I had a funeral on Sunday – I didn’t get started early enough
Call this person about a baptism – she wasn’t in
And the mother I was trying to get last week finally got back to me
About a baptism
Which required me to schedule the baptismal meeting
Where I try to get families together and talk about what raising a child in the church is about.
So I must e-mail Christine and Carla and Joyce for calendars, and to reserve the room.
Which reminds me - create a new baptismal form.
And think about how the curriculum I’m using doesn’t work
Which made me think about the pre-marriage couple I was meeting, and that I had to get the video out and wonder at which building it would be better to meet with them.
And – oh, yes, - I’m trying to write a sermon about communion.
But it’s lunch time. And I have no money, but I can got to the ATM when I visit that lady who is in the hospital ICU. Let me look up Becky’s note from Friday to remind myself what she’s there for. And who she is related to.
On my way there I saw another e-mail about another issue and I needed to check . . . . . and maybe I should e-mail Tim even though it’s his day off. At it was only noon.
I’m not trying to impress you with all I have to do. What struck me was how much ‘community’ and ‘communion’ fit together. I’m busy doing that thing – making Love’ victory known. In fact, my funeral sermon last night, for a woman widowed last December, a mother and young grandmother – had the theme – LOVE Wins. Death does not win, Love wins.
2 Turn our worship into witness in the sacrament of life; send us forth to love and serve you, bringing peace where there is strife. Give us, Christ, your great compassion to forgive as you forgave; may we still behold your image in the world you died to save.
Here we learn about the connection between this meal we share in the church – and our going out to be Christ’s witnessing people.
Between communion and community.
Between being together in one place and becoming body together in spirit.
Between what we receive and what we learn we can give away.
All those things I talked about before, as well as the things you did today – at work, or as a volunteer, as a homeowner or however you spent your day – they are all elements of this ‘community’ that is made through communion.
We think of Luther as stressing the individual benefits of Holy Communion - forgiveness of sins, life and salvation, as the Small Catechism has it. But most of us do not realize that Luther had a fundamentally communal perspective on communion – one of my favorite quotes is this:
When you have partaken of this sacrament, therefore, or desire to partake of it, you must in turn share the misfortunes of the fellowship. . . Here your heart must go out in love and learn that this is a sacrament of love. As love and support are given you, you in turn must render love and support to Christ in his needy ones. You must feel with sorrow all the dishonor done to Christ in his holy Word, all the misery of Christendom, all the unjust suffering of the innocent, with which the world is everywhere filled to overflowing. You must fight, work, pray, and – if you cannot do more – have heartfelt sympathy. (M. Luther, The sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ.)
3 Gracious Spirit, help us summon other guests to share that feast where triumphant Love will welcome those who had been last and least. There no more will envy blind us nor will pride our peace destroy, as we join with saints and angels to repeat the sounding joy.
The whole point of our being people of the bread – those who spend Six weeks –SIX weeks – hearing bible lessons on the body of Christ – is that this part of the story – this language – is supposed to form us, mold us, draw us in. It’s pretty dramatic language after all – eat my flesh, drink my blood. Thanks, Jesus.
But listen to Jesus – he is trying by another way to speak of the mystery of abiding in him as he abides in the Father. It is about being so close to Jesus that we are part of him as he is part of the Father. It is about being Jesus here and now.
And that brings us back to the idea that communion creates community. Worship leads to service. Dwelling in the word leads to transformation of ourselves and the world. All the distractions and individual moments of my day, and your day as well
– come together in Christ, by Christ’s blessing,
– as the work of Christ done by his hands, feet, mouth, his body.
During this busy day I visited the ICU. And there one sister was standing by the bed of another. One distressed by illness, one healthy and attentive.
Who was Christ? I was the professional praying person, but really, Christ was already in that room. Christ was present in the care-giver, Christ was present in the sick and the needy. They were already Christ for each other.
Communion creates community.
Let's sing 'Blest Be the Tie that Binds.
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