World Communion Sunday

Today is a day of celebration; a day to rejoice; a day to give thanks to God.

Today is World Communion Sunday, a day on which we recognize the great diversity that exists in the body of Christ.  Gathered around the Lord’s Table are people of every nation and race: male and female, young and old, rich and poor.

At the table of Jesus, there are tax collectors, foreigners, and women.  There were also Pharisees and other religious leaders.

The Pharisees and the religious leaders didn’t like some of Jesus’s invited guests.  They didn’t think Jesus should be dining with people like that.  They didn’t think that those people were good enough.

But Jesus never said no to anyone.  Jesus never turned anyone away.  Every person was welcome to take a seat at his banquet feast.

The Lord’s Table is so important to who we are as Disciples of Christ.  We gather around this table every time we worship.

Today, on World Communion Sunday, we are reminded that this table is not ours.  We don’t get to decide who is welcome here, and who is not.  The table belongs to Christ, and it is Christ who extends the invitation.

200 years ago, a man named Alexander Campbell went to worship at his local church. 

Alexander Campbell’s church only celebrated communion several times a year.  So it was a big deal – a special occasion – when worship included the Lord’s Supper.

Because it was such a special occasion, Alexander Campbell’s church wanted to make sure that only the “right people” were present.  So, in the weeks leading up to that special worship service, each person had to meet with the pastor.  The pastor would decide if each person was “good enough” to be present at the table. 

To be good enough, each person had to be a member of the church, and had to have the right opinions on various questions of faith. 

If the pastor thought you were good enough, the pastor would give you a token that you would present when you came to the Lord’s Table.

On the day of the special worship, people went up in groups to receive communion.  Alexander Campbell had his token, but he didn’t think it was right that only some people should be allowed to come to the Lord’s Table.

He waited until the last group went up.  Then Alexander Campbell walked forward to the front of the church, and threw his token down hard, so that it made a loud noise.  Then he immediately turned around and walked out of the church.

Alexander Campbell realized that the Lord’s Table is for everyone.  He and several others started their own movement.  They had their own worship services, which included communion every Sunday.  And they extended a great big welcome to everyone, to gather at the Lord’s Table.

The movement they started became the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).  Today, we continue to extend a great big welcome to the world to gather at the Lord’s Table.

Extending the welcome is not always easy.  Despite our best efforts, there are still those who have been excluded from the Lord’s Table.  The church still struggles with welcoming those who are different.

This is the struggle that the disciple Philip had.  One day, Philip met a man from Ethiopia who was a eunuch.

Philip knew what the scriptures said.  In Deuteronomy, chapter 23, it clearly says:  “no one who is a eunuch or a foreigner is allowed in God’s house.”  The man from Ethiopia was both a eunuch and a foreigner.  This scripture was clearly talking about him.

However, Philip also knew that the scripture in Isaiah said something very different.  Isaiah says:  “Don’t forbid the eunuch and the foreigner from worshiping me.  Don’t condemn them.  For thus says the Lord: my house shall be called a house of prayer for all people.”

Philip knew both of these scriptures.  Which one was right?

The Ethiopian eunuch said to Philip, “Will you baptize me?  Will you welcome me into the church?  Is there any reason that I should NOT be welcomed?”

Well, there WAS a reason for Philip to say “no”:  it was those verses in Deuteronomy.  But there was also a reason for Philip to say “yes”:  those verses in Isaiah.  What should Philip do?

Philip thought about what he knew about Jesus.  He remembered how Jesus always showed love and compassion.  He remembered how Jesus always welcomed and accepted whoever showed up to eat with him.

In that moment, the Spirit helped Philip realize that the gospel is all about removing the divisions between people.  The Spirit helped Philip realize that if two scriptures contradict, the one that is the most loving, most compassionate, and most accepting, is the one to go with.

When asked to decide whether or not to welcome and affirm the Ethiopian eunuch, the Spirit led Philip to vote “yes.”

At one time, I shared Philip’s struggle.  I had to decide whether or not it was right to exclude certain individuals from fellowship and ministry because they – like the Ethiopian eunuch – were sexually different.

I had to consider scriptures which said they should be excluded, and I had to consider other scriptures in which the love of God appeared to overcome any and all divisions.

Today, there are millions who are asking the same question as the Ethiopian eunuch.  They are asking: “Will you welcome me into the church?”

Philip said yes.

I have to preach this.  I know too many people who have been hurt, terribly, by churches that said: “No. You are not welcome.”

But this church is not my church.  This ministry is not my ministry. It belongs to all of us.  As a congregation, WE need to answer that question together, as a body.

Will we welcome everyone to the Lord’s Table?

[Note: later in this worship service, the congregation voted to become "Open and Affirming.]