John 21:9-14 (English Standard Version)
When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
Luke 24:28-31
So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.
I was fully prepared to get back to our Summer Sermon Series today after our little side-trip into small church spontaneity last Sunday. There are only two letters to go and we’ll be finished for this season, but those Letters from Peter are going to have to wait one more week because today is World Communion Sunday.
Although today is, in truth, no different for us than any other Sunday in the year, I love the emphasis on the recognition that Christians all over the world are gathered today to celebrate Jesus’ giving of himself in the form of bread and cup.
Because that is indeed what we are celebrating here – Jesus’ giving of himself – his complete abandonment of himself in this act of giving himself away to us, for us – holding nothing back for himself. This is the meal to which we are invited today, and every day.
To paraphrase a blurb from the Global Ministries web site: The first Sunday of October has become a time when Christians in every culture break bread and pour the cup to remember Jesus’ gift of himself. We remember that we are part of the whole body of believers. Whether we’re in a gothic cathedral, a mud hut, outside on a hilltop, or in a storefront – whether we call it Holy Eucharist, Communion, or the Lord’s Table, we celebrate this communion act in as many ways as there are congregations.
Last Thursday, the 4th, was also the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi. The juxtaposition of these two events may be coincidence, but they fit together as if it were planned. If ever there was a human who, to the best of his abilities, walked in Jesus’ footsteps – it was Francis. When he could no longer make sense of a life of luxury for the few in the midst of the suffering of the many, he stripped himself naked in the marketplace and walked away from that old life. He literally gave himself away in order to find his true self.
One of my favorite Francis stories comes from later in life when his small gathering of followers had grown into an order. Francis had called for a fast, for some reason, but in the middle of the night was awakened by the sound of weeping. Upon investigating he discovered one of the brothers eating some forbidden food, while crying out that he was doomed and damned for breaking the fast that he was too weak to keep. Rather than condemn the weak one, Francis sat down with him and began to eat, as well, breaking his own rule, and declaring that if it was a sin then he would sin as well and go to hell with the brother so he wouldn’t be alone.
The meal we share at this table, or at any table anywhere, is always all about inclusion – invitation and welcome. Everyone is invited and no one, NO ONE is excluded. This is the rule of the one who prepares and offers the bread and cup which are his very self.
After yesterday’s farce of a Supreme Court vote, many of us are crying, “what do we do now?” My granddaughter who lives in the Bay area is looking for recommendations for a self-defense class, since, as she puts it, “we seem to be on our own now.”
Dear friends, two young women who live in the South, are seriously looking into the possibility of moving to Canada, not knowing where all this is going to go. If certain people have their way, their marriage could be invalidated, they could even end up losing citizenship rights we’ve always taken for granted, simply because of who they love We now have a government that has recently stripped visas from diplomat’s same-sex partners. It’s clear that people like my friends face some frightening days ahead -- and for no reason that Jesus would accept.
It is tempting to go back to bed and pull the covers up over our heads for, say, the next four years – but I’m pretty sure that’s not an option. Just as we are invited to share the gift that is Jesus, so we are then expected to share that gift on with others until everyone has been invited and everyone has accepted and everyone has shared.
This thing we are about to do now, here at this table embodies our response to the hatred and fear set loose in our country. Regardless of what our deranged governing bodies may do, we continue to invite people to the table. We continue to open our arms and offer welcome to everyone. Not just here in the meeting room, but in our homes, on our streets, our workplaces, our schools. And in doing so we learn to recognize each other – as did the travelers to Emmaus – we recognize Jesus -- and we recognize each other as fellow inhabitants of the Kingdom of God.
Like Jesus, we offer ourselves – our hearts, our hands, our whole beings in service to building the Reign of God, in truth and present reality – for everyone, everywhere.
I can’t even imagine what I will be called to offer in the days and weeks and years to come – courage, grace, solidarity, hope -- but I pray that when I’m asked, I will have the courage, the heart, and the will to answer “here – come and sit here by me -- share this table with me.”
Although today is, in truth, no different for us than any other Sunday in the year, I love the emphasis on the recognition that Christians all over the world are gathered today to celebrate Jesus’ giving of himself in the form of bread and cup.
Because that is indeed what we are celebrating here – Jesus’ giving of himself – his complete abandonment of himself in this act of giving himself away to us, for us – holding nothing back for himself. This is the meal to which we are invited today, and every day.
To paraphrase a blurb from the Global Ministries web site: The first Sunday of October has become a time when Christians in every culture break bread and pour the cup to remember Jesus’ gift of himself. We remember that we are part of the whole body of believers. Whether we’re in a gothic cathedral, a mud hut, outside on a hilltop, or in a storefront – whether we call it Holy Eucharist, Communion, or the Lord’s Table, we celebrate this communion act in as many ways as there are congregations.
Last Thursday, the 4th, was also the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi. The juxtaposition of these two events may be coincidence, but they fit together as if it were planned. If ever there was a human who, to the best of his abilities, walked in Jesus’ footsteps – it was Francis. When he could no longer make sense of a life of luxury for the few in the midst of the suffering of the many, he stripped himself naked in the marketplace and walked away from that old life. He literally gave himself away in order to find his true self.
One of my favorite Francis stories comes from later in life when his small gathering of followers had grown into an order. Francis had called for a fast, for some reason, but in the middle of the night was awakened by the sound of weeping. Upon investigating he discovered one of the brothers eating some forbidden food, while crying out that he was doomed and damned for breaking the fast that he was too weak to keep. Rather than condemn the weak one, Francis sat down with him and began to eat, as well, breaking his own rule, and declaring that if it was a sin then he would sin as well and go to hell with the brother so he wouldn’t be alone.
The meal we share at this table, or at any table anywhere, is always all about inclusion – invitation and welcome. Everyone is invited and no one, NO ONE is excluded. This is the rule of the one who prepares and offers the bread and cup which are his very self.
After yesterday’s farce of a Supreme Court vote, many of us are crying, “what do we do now?” My granddaughter who lives in the Bay area is looking for recommendations for a self-defense class, since, as she puts it, “we seem to be on our own now.”
Dear friends, two young women who live in the South, are seriously looking into the possibility of moving to Canada, not knowing where all this is going to go. If certain people have their way, their marriage could be invalidated, they could even end up losing citizenship rights we’ve always taken for granted, simply because of who they love We now have a government that has recently stripped visas from diplomat’s same-sex partners. It’s clear that people like my friends face some frightening days ahead -- and for no reason that Jesus would accept.
It is tempting to go back to bed and pull the covers up over our heads for, say, the next four years – but I’m pretty sure that’s not an option. Just as we are invited to share the gift that is Jesus, so we are then expected to share that gift on with others until everyone has been invited and everyone has accepted and everyone has shared.
This thing we are about to do now, here at this table embodies our response to the hatred and fear set loose in our country. Regardless of what our deranged governing bodies may do, we continue to invite people to the table. We continue to open our arms and offer welcome to everyone. Not just here in the meeting room, but in our homes, on our streets, our workplaces, our schools. And in doing so we learn to recognize each other – as did the travelers to Emmaus – we recognize Jesus -- and we recognize each other as fellow inhabitants of the Kingdom of God.
Like Jesus, we offer ourselves – our hearts, our hands, our whole beings in service to building the Reign of God, in truth and present reality – for everyone, everywhere.
I can’t even imagine what I will be called to offer in the days and weeks and years to come – courage, grace, solidarity, hope -- but I pray that when I’m asked, I will have the courage, the heart, and the will to answer “here – come and sit here by me -- share this table with me.”
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