Brothers and sisters,
First of all, don’t worry. I’m not working while I’m on vacation; I wrote this article ahead of time! It would be silly to preach a whole sermon series on taking time to rest and then refusing to rest, wouldn’t it?
More importantly, however, this coming Sunday is World Communion Sunday. This tradition was originally started by Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, PA all the way back in 1933 by Dr. Hugh Thomson Kerr. The Presbyterian Church (USA) adopted it as an annual celebration in 1936 and in 1940 the Federal Council of Churches (now the National Council of Churches) endorsed it and began to promote it to other denominations all over the world. Thus, on the first Sunday of October every year, churches all over the world, across denominational lines gather to celebrate Communion. It serves as this wonderful moment of unity among a church that can sometimes get so caught up in our differences, we forget that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ and are united by our belief in his grace and his gospel.
And while here at Hope Valley Baptist Church, we will celebrate with grape juice and bread, I remember a professor of mine once telling my class at Duke Divinity a story about a unique style of communion she took years ago. She was in Southeast Asia (I don’t remember where exactly, but I believe it was either Indonesia or the Philippines) on a mission trip. She and her group were there to provide services to local communities and connect with some of their Christian brothers and sisters living on the other side of the world. They were there one Sunday and so they went to church with the Christians in the area, singing, praying, and worshiping together.
Toward the end of the service, they took communion—though the communion in that
Southeast Asian community looked a little different than ours. When my professor went
forward, she was presented with a saltine cracker and a glass of milk to dip it in. She gratefully took the cracker, dipped it in the milk, and ate it, but after the service she talked with one of the locals who they’d been staying with. She explained to them that in America, we typically use bread and either grape juice or wine for communion and asked why it was saltines and milk here. The local told her, “The reason we use the saltines and milk
is because those things are precious here. They are not easy to find! So, since we want to offer our best to Jesus, we use the saltines and milk.”
On this Sunday, all over the world, our brothers and sisters in Christ will be taking
communion. Some will use bread and grape juice. Some will use a wafer and a chalice of wine. Some will use saltine crackers and milk. But all of us will be united in our common belief that this table was set by none other than Jesus Christ himself and that anyone who would like to lay down their burdens and take up his goodness may come to it. Eat the bread. Drink the cup. Rejoice with your church family all over the world.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben