As you read this, I want you to think of the best meal that you've ever had. Think about the time, place, food, drinks, and stuff going on that made it such a good meal. Hold onto that thought. If you're like me, you've probably had lots of good meals in your life, but the best ones stick out for important reasons.
They could stick out because of the food, but I'd imagine that they stick out for other reasons as well. I have one of those meals that sticks out for me. It was one that came at the end of a great event.
The Summer I turned 14 I took a trip to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. We were out on the trail for 12 days, 10 days actually backpacking, and we did 100 miles in that time. It was an incredible trip for a high school kid. When you look at those pictures, the top one is from the Tooth of Time which is this big rock on the side of a mountain that overlooks the Ranch, specifically the base camp. The bottom picture is of all of us as we were making the final trip back into base camp.
When we got back, we could shower, do laundry, and so simple things like put on deodorant. It was kind of nice. But the big thing was dinner that night. We went to the dining hall and they were serving hamburgers and french fries. For those of us that had just come off the trail that day, we could have as much as we wanted. They gave us a bunch of hamburgers and a tray full of fries just to get us started before we went back for more. For dessert we had vanilla ice cream cones. To this day, that is still one of my favorite things.
The thing about it was, the food wasn't all that good. It was about what you'd expect from a dining hall. It was the meal that was important. It was the sign that one journey was coming to and end, but I wasn't going to be the same because of it. I was different after that journey. Going forward, I wasn't going to be the same person I was, and that was a good thing.
One of the things that makes churches different is that we talk about food a lot. Most often it's about the food that we love to eat, or that we're making for an event, or food that we're known for. But we also talk about coming to the table and sharing in a meal as a part of our worship service. When we do that, we're referring to Holy Communion. This last Sunday (10/7/18) was World Communion Sunday. It's not just a day to celebrate Communion with folks all around the world, but it's also a good time to take a look at the meal we share on a regular basis that also marks a change in our journey as we go forward.
We're looking at two different places. One comes from 1 Corinthians 11, and the other comes from John Wesley's sermon on, "The Duty of Constant Communion." In those places, we have two presentations of communion and the role that it plays in the life of the church. Paul starts it off and explains it this way,
He points out that he received this tradition, but it was a tradition that started something new. It gives to us why Jesus was doing what he was doing, and lays out for us the purpose behind it. But most importantly, as he is writing to the church in Corinth, Paul reminds us that this is what brings us together and shouldn't be something that drives us apart.
John Wesley, in his sermon reminds us even more clearly of the purpose of communion and what it does for us.
Just as other parts of our body are fed: food for nutrition and sustenance; books, learning, and conversation for our minds; exercise, sports, and activity for our bodies; our souls need to be fed also. Because of the nature of our souls, we do this best in community with others. Wesley would argue that we need to do it as often as possible.
In his sermon he points out the many excuses that people give for not receiving communion. When you look at that list, it feels like he is writing it today. But this is where one of the most brilliant pieces of his sermon comes out. Wesley is working from a very different place when he looks at communion.
For Wesley, and I would argue for Paul as well, communion is not the goal of a journey. It is that important meal that is shared together, and that when we leave the table we are different than we were before. For them, when we gather at the table, that means that everything else that divides us and separates us fall away. Those issues and divisions may not disappear, but they are subordinated to the command that Jesus gives us to share in this meal.
This is one of the things that distinguishes a church from any other organization. We are built on a pastor, building, or other temporal leader. We are built on the command of Jesus that we come together. We gather at the table first because it is where we come to experience Jesus in a sacrament that we can't explain how it works, but we know that he is there.
From that point on, the differences that we have can be worked out. They can be fixed. As long as we can come to the table together, then we can handle anything else because we know that Jesus goes with us.
My challenge for us is to go out, receive communion as often as we can, and with as many different people as we can. In those moments, we take the time to see how Jesus is shaping our journey as we go forward, and know that through him our souls are fed and made ready for that journey. Go and do this all, in Jesus name.
PS: You'll see at the start of this there is the image that says "Wesley for Armchair Theologians." That's intentional. Every once in a while we'll make a stop through one of John Wesley's sermons. The title comes from a wonderful book that carries that name.
The Summer I turned 14 I took a trip to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. We were out on the trail for 12 days, 10 days actually backpacking, and we did 100 miles in that time. It was an incredible trip for a high school kid. When you look at those pictures, the top one is from the Tooth of Time which is this big rock on the side of a mountain that overlooks the Ranch, specifically the base camp. The bottom picture is of all of us as we were making the final trip back into base camp.
When we got back, we could shower, do laundry, and so simple things like put on deodorant. It was kind of nice. But the big thing was dinner that night. We went to the dining hall and they were serving hamburgers and french fries. For those of us that had just come off the trail that day, we could have as much as we wanted. They gave us a bunch of hamburgers and a tray full of fries just to get us started before we went back for more. For dessert we had vanilla ice cream cones. To this day, that is still one of my favorite things.
The thing about it was, the food wasn't all that good. It was about what you'd expect from a dining hall. It was the meal that was important. It was the sign that one journey was coming to and end, but I wasn't going to be the same because of it. I was different after that journey. Going forward, I wasn't going to be the same person I was, and that was a good thing.
One of the things that makes churches different is that we talk about food a lot. Most often it's about the food that we love to eat, or that we're making for an event, or food that we're known for. But we also talk about coming to the table and sharing in a meal as a part of our worship service. When we do that, we're referring to Holy Communion. This last Sunday (10/7/18) was World Communion Sunday. It's not just a day to celebrate Communion with folks all around the world, but it's also a good time to take a look at the meal we share on a regular basis that also marks a change in our journey as we go forward.
We're looking at two different places. One comes from 1 Corinthians 11, and the other comes from John Wesley's sermon on, "The Duty of Constant Communion." In those places, we have two presentations of communion and the role that it plays in the life of the church. Paul starts it off and explains it this way,
He points out that he received this tradition, but it was a tradition that started something new. It gives to us why Jesus was doing what he was doing, and lays out for us the purpose behind it. But most importantly, as he is writing to the church in Corinth, Paul reminds us that this is what brings us together and shouldn't be something that drives us apart.
John Wesley, in his sermon reminds us even more clearly of the purpose of communion and what it does for us.
Just as other parts of our body are fed: food for nutrition and sustenance; books, learning, and conversation for our minds; exercise, sports, and activity for our bodies; our souls need to be fed also. Because of the nature of our souls, we do this best in community with others. Wesley would argue that we need to do it as often as possible.
In his sermon he points out the many excuses that people give for not receiving communion. When you look at that list, it feels like he is writing it today. But this is where one of the most brilliant pieces of his sermon comes out. Wesley is working from a very different place when he looks at communion.
For Wesley, and I would argue for Paul as well, communion is not the goal of a journey. It is that important meal that is shared together, and that when we leave the table we are different than we were before. For them, when we gather at the table, that means that everything else that divides us and separates us fall away. Those issues and divisions may not disappear, but they are subordinated to the command that Jesus gives us to share in this meal.
This is one of the things that distinguishes a church from any other organization. We are built on a pastor, building, or other temporal leader. We are built on the command of Jesus that we come together. We gather at the table first because it is where we come to experience Jesus in a sacrament that we can't explain how it works, but we know that he is there.
From that point on, the differences that we have can be worked out. They can be fixed. As long as we can come to the table together, then we can handle anything else because we know that Jesus goes with us.
My challenge for us is to go out, receive communion as often as we can, and with as many different people as we can. In those moments, we take the time to see how Jesus is shaping our journey as we go forward, and know that through him our souls are fed and made ready for that journey. Go and do this all, in Jesus name.
PS: You'll see at the start of this there is the image that says "Wesley for Armchair Theologians." That's intentional. Every once in a while we'll make a stop through one of John Wesley's sermons. The title comes from a wonderful book that carries that name.
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