Our Bible readings each week come from the Revised Common Lectionary, which most Christian churches around the world follow.
I love knowing that each and every Sunday, Christians around the world — be they Methodist, Episcopalian, Presbyterian or Catholic — are all focusing on the same Scripture readings.
And I love that (with the exception of the Orthodox churches) we all follow the same liturgical calendar for Lent and Easter and Advent and many other feast days.
Today on the Christian Church calendar, we are celebrating World Communion Sunday. World Communion Sunday began in 1933, and it’s always celebrated on the first Sunday in October.
It’s the Sunday is which all the different Christian denominations around the world come together to honor and recognize our communion with one another.
I know you may find this hard to believe, but there are more than 40,000 different Christian denominations in the world today. More than 40 thousand! Such a staggering number!
And, although we all call themselves “Christian” denominations, we are all so very different from one another, aren’t we?
Some denominations are very conservative. Others are very progressive.
Some denominations take the Bible literally. Others understand the Bible symbolically.
Some denominations ordain women. Others say that women are to be “silent in church,” because that’s what it says in the Bible.
Some denominations celebrate the LGBTQ community. Other denominations call them abominations and say that they’re going to hell.
Some denominations walk in solidarity with the poor and speak out against injustice. Other denominations preach the Prosperity Gospel, and they cozy up to the rich and powerful.
So, my question for you this morning on World Communion Sunday is: Which Christian denomination is right? I mean, they can’t ALL be right, can they?
Well, we are so fortunate to be living in a country where we have ‘Freedom of Religion.’ That means that people are free to believe what they want to believe; to pray how they want to pray; and to worship how they want to worship.
That is such a wonderful thing! But, that freedom doesn’t mean that we get to impose our religious beliefs on others.
I am very proud to be a part of the United Church of Christ, but we – like all Christian denominations – are not perfect. We are a work in progress, doing our best to pay attention to the movement of the Spirit, which is constantly moving us forward, never backwards.
Now, although Christian denominations are all so different, there is one thing that we ALL have common, and that is our faith is Jesus.
Well, the one thing that connects us all is Jesus. So, what was Jesus like?
Well, he famously told the Scribes and Pharisees, the Scripture scholars and religious leaders of his day, that they were more concerned about following the letter of the law, than the Spirit in which it was written.
And, he called them “hypocrites” to their faces for doing so.
And, Jesus welcomed women into leadership positions in his ministry, and he refused to view women as inferior to men.
And, Jesus embraced people who were outcast and marginalized because they were different. Jesus celebrated their difference.
And, Jesus always stood with the poor. He said, “The Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.”
As for the rich, Jesus said it’s easier for a camel to pass thru the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
That’s who Jesus was. So, if we truly wish to call ourselves “Christian,” then we must be people who follow in steps and in his Way of Life.
Jesus was about inclusion, and yet there are so many denominations in his name today who exclude people and refuse to invite them to the table.
I’ve shared with you before the story of my aunt who’s a very devout Catholic woman. But, when she divorced, she was told she couldn’t receive Communion anymore. And, so, every Sunday, she was forced to sit in the pew while those around her got up to receive.
I, myself, a few years ago went to another church for the funeral of a neighbor who had passed away, and at right before Communion, the pastor announced that only those who were members of their church could receive.
That meant that I as an ordained Christian minister was unable to receive Communion!
Do you think that Jesus — a man of such inclusive love for all people– would deny anyone from coming to the table to receive?
Our Christian calling is all about “drawing the circle wider” and inviting more and more people to the table.
Our denomination, the United Church of Christ, has been attempting to do that since our inception.
In our rich history of many “firsts,” we are the first mainline Protestant denomination to ordain an African American minister; the first to ordain a woman minister; the first to ordain a gay minister; and the first to openly celebrate marriage equality in our churches over 30 years ago.
That’s why we are known as the church of the “extravagant welcome,” and we are called as Christians to extend this welcome to everyone, especially the least of these in our midst.
In the gospel reading from today’s lectionary for World Communion Sunday, Jesus gives the disciples his final discourse.
As we just heard, Jesus is praying to God, and he says that his wish for us is “That they may all be One.”
Those are words on our UCC logo: “That they may all be One.”
Jesus wanted us to recognize our Oneness with one another.
Not let me be clear: Oneness is not sameness. Jesus didn’t want us all to be the same, but he wanted us to recognize that we are all Children of One God, brothers and sisters of one another.
As he says to God in today’s gospel reading: “You are in me, I am in you, they are in us.” We are all one!
And, so, my friends, on this World Communion Sunday, let us recommit ourselves to that Oneness.
Let us go forth this day – united in love – to build a bigger table together, so that we can invite more and more people to it, for all are worthy and all are one.
Questions for Reflection:
- The sermon emphasizes that “Oneness is not sameness.” In what ways can you celebrate the diversity of Christian faith traditions while still living out the call to unity that Jesus prayed for — “That they may all be one”?
- Reflecting on Jesus’ example of welcoming all people to the table, who might be excluded from the “table” in your community today, and how might you personally or collectively help to “draw the circle wider”?
- The United Church of Christ is described as a “church of extravagant welcome.” What does “extravagant welcome” mean to you, and how can you embody that spirit of inclusion, compassion, and justice in your daily life?