World Communion Sunday

“While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread,
and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them,
and said, ‘Take; this is my body.’  Then he took a cup,
and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of                                             
them drank from it.  He said to them, ‘This is my blood
of the new covenant, which is poured out for many.’”

                                                                                    Mark 14:22-24           

This coming Sunday, October 3rd, is World Communion Sunday – a symbolic day in the life of the world – as Christians around the globe affirm their connectedness to Christ and one another.  In our fall journey and sermon series: “Finding Fullness and Wholeness as a Family of Faith”, we will be exploring “Tasting Completeness” as part of our worship and communion celebration.  

Given the ongoing nature of the pandemic, you will have two possibilities for sharing in communion this weekend.  One is virtually as we did last year.  When you are about to share in worship through our online video, you are invited to prepare a small piece of bread and a small cup of juice, wine, or water and then be ready to partake when we come to that part of the service.  Even though we won’t be together physically, we can be united in spirit as we share in the Lord’s Supper each in our own respective places.  The second is by joining us for our in-person worship at 10:00 Sunday morning.  The worship ministry team decided it would be good to offer communion to those who gather Sunday and to do so in a very safe manner.  Whichever way you choose to worship this weekend, I hope you will participate in communion if you are comfortable doing so.

World Communion Sunday is a vivid reminder that the larger body of Christ is extremely diverse. There is diversity in thought, politics, economics, culture, language, and race.  And yet, we affirm our unity in Christ’s spirit which is larger than us all.  

A friend of mine told me that she and her mother had been having some difficulties of understanding.  And then, as they shared in communion together at church, just after partaking of the elements, her mother reached over and touched her.  No words were exchanged, they were not necessary.  And from then on, things were much better between them.  Some might call it magic while others might say such an experience is unreal, but I say that both were touched by the mysterious grace of God moving powerfully through the sacrament of Holy Communion.

Through the broken bread our brokenness is acknowledged and in the cup poured out our suffering is sensed.  And with it comes the transforming promise that out of it all - a presence which restores, heals and gives fullness of life will carry us forward.  In the words of the Apostle Paul,

  “For in him (Christ) all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth
or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”

                                                                                               Colossians 1:19-20

In the Wholeness only God can give,

Rev. Dr. David D. Young
Senior Minister

This piece originally appeared in The Wave on September 29, 2021.