Sunday, October 3, 2010

World Wide Communion 2010

One Bread... One Life...

Introduction

Now, you have to appreciate that this is an impossible statistic to keep track of, it has probably changed countless hundreds of thousands of times since I wrote this... but for the sake of argument – there are 3.7 million Christian churches in the world.

Within those churches there are somewhere in the 2 billion range of people.

I imagine that this number really means nothing to us ... either we use billion too often without understanding it, or we just can’t imagine it.... so let’s put it into perspective:
To count to one thousand, counting one number every second continuously, it would take 17 minutes. Counting to one million at the same rate, it would take 12 days (counting nonstop, day and night). But counting to one billion would take 32 years! Two billion would thus take 64 years to count.

Imagine if we tried to say all their names?

Clearly – as a group – we would have almost nothing in common. Some live in the desert and some in the snow, some are rich and some are poor, some are old and some are young....

Today – we all – everywhere – at just about the same time – are going to do the same thing.
Two billion people will celebrate the sacrament of communion this morning.

Communion Basics

- What do you do when you want to remember something?
- Is it easier to remember with a reminder?
- Communion is like that – a reminder – what do you think we remember with communion?
- What is the bread? What is the Juice?
- Is there anything that all of your friends do?
- Isn’t it cool that we all are celebrating communion this morning?

What are We Doing

World Communion Sunday began in 1936 in the Presbyterian Church and was adopted by the Federal Council of Churches (predecessor of the NCC) of the United States in 1940. Since then, the celebration has grown into an international ecumenical celebration of Christian unity.

The key word for World Communion Sunday is communion, or unity. It is a day when we mark the almost universal Christian practice of breaking bread with one another and remembering that last night Jesus shared a meal with his followers — when Jesus instituted what we now call the Lord’s Supper as a lasting remembrance.

But it is more than just remembering – it is a statement of faith.

That statement says two things – first, and probably most importantly, it talks about our sense of continuity; our belief that no matter what, things will still go on.

Jesus knew something bad was on the horizon. He knew he might not be around for very long – and he wanted to created a community; togetherness, by sharing an event and having it mean something. No matter what happened, they could keep doing it.

I want you to consider that this is what Lamentations is all about – Jerusalem used to be a mighty city, it is not now, but it will be once again. That is the promise, that is the belief, that what allowed the faithful to hold on...

In essence, Jesus created the same thing with the Last Supper – Soon I will not be with you, but the spirit will come and be with you, and each time you do this, you will remember.

Increase Our Faith

So, the disciples wanted a magic bullet to increase their faith – and I have to say, there isn’t one.
I think that is what Jesus was getting at too... the point is to keep on keeping on.
Eating the bread, drinking the cup – that alone does not make us more like Jesus; it does nothing to increase our faith...

The thought, however, of being connected to Jesus, to the disciples, to 2 billion other people who are all saying, “Increase our faith” - well, that has power.

And so Jesus says that we should have just the tiniest bit of faith, we should allow that what we do, we do because we believe in something bigger than ourselves... do it because it is the right thing to do... not for some reward, not for some future hoped for payback – but because we believe.

Conclusion

I want us all to go out from here with a feeling that if it comes right down to it, we are all one family. We have more in common than the things that separate us – perhaps it does not always feel that way; and perhaps we should

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