“Open Your Eyes!”

John 9:1-11

October 25, 2015

Mark S. Bollwinkel

[this sermon is delivered by the pastor as he makes pottery on a potter’s wheel…]

Jesus heals a blind beggar with saliva and mud.   This is the only such example in the gospels of Jesus healing with mud.   Potters rejoice at this story for many reasons, not the least is our passion for clay!  It describes the opportunity for us to open our eyes to the God who is right here in our midst.

In our scripture this morning, a man born blind is begging by the side of the road as the disciples and Jesus walk by.   “Who sinned him or his parents?” asked the disciples assuming the long held tradition that God rewards the faithful with health and prosperity and punishes the sinner with illness.  It was believed that such punishment could be contagious, passed along the generations (Ex. 20:5, 34:7, Ps. 109:13-15, Isa 65:6-7), so much so that one born with a physical challenge such as blindness was cast out of the family unit and left to their own devices rather than “contaminate” the family.  Thus the man born blind begs by the side of the road.

In many miracles reported in the gospels, the recipient has confessed faith in the divinity of Jesus.   Jesus acknowledges this often with a phrase such as “your faith has made you well” (Matthew 9:22, 15:28, Mark 2:5, 5:34, 10:52, Luke 5:20, 7:50, 8:48, 17:19, 18:42).  But not in this case.  The beggar was minding his own business and didn’t ask for the miracle.   Jesus explains that the man is blind so that God might use him as a sign of Jesus’ divinity.  Only later will the man come to faith.

When the Pharisees get wind of this healing occurring on a Sabbath day they are outraged and investigate.  First they go to the man healed.  The officials don’t believe him and then go on to question his parents.   Now his parents had already kicked him out of the household to fend for himself on the streets.   It is no surprise when they dodge the Pharisees questioning and let their son face the consequences alone. [Note: the text suggests they were afraid of expulsion from the synagogue, historically Jewish Christians weren’t expelled from synagogues until after 80CE].

The officials go back to the man healed for a second inquiry and try to trap him in their theological dispute.  They are outraged that the literal word of their scriptures wasn’t followed according to their interpretation and that somebody was healed on the Sabbath; keeping the rules and regulations of their religion was more important to them than the needs of people.  But not to Jesus.  The formerly blind man answers them, “I do not know whether he is a sinner or not but one thing I do know is that once I was blind and now I see and only a man of God can do that!”  

Jesus comes along to check on the man who, along with being healed without being asked, has run into trouble with his parents and been kicked out of the synagogue as a result.

In this story, the author of the gospel John seems to be much more interested in the implications of Jesus’ divinity rather than the miracle itself.   We are not told why he used saliva and mud, although any potter could tell you.  Rather, the author is interested in who is really blind and who can really see.  The parents and Pharisees can’t see God when he is standing right in front of them in the form of Jesus, while a beggar born blind, just minding his own business, is the one who ends up really seeing God in his midst.  He is the one who will say to Jesus, “Lord, I believe.”

Opening our eyes to God’s gift of beauty, truth and love is what art can do.  The Hassidic Jewish rabbi and philosopher Martin Buber once defined “art” as “the residue of the dialogue between the I and Thou”.   Human beings are an art-making species.  Since the birth of Homo sapiens, we have drawn on cave walls, created music, spoken poetry and formed images and utensils out of clay.  Human beings can not not do art.

In August while visiting the museums of Santa Fe, New Mexico, I saw a quote on a wall from a young Native American man, who said in effect, “We don’t know what ‘art’ is.  It would be unthinkable for my mother not to weave in the shapes of her dreams in the blanket she is making to keep her children warm at night, or for my grandfather not to paint the symbols of our clan on the pottery we will prepare our food in.  We see Spirit in everything we do, in every moment.  What you call ‘art’ is simply ‘life’ to my people.”

Art in all of its mediums is simply and profoundly the reminder of transcendence available in each moment. 

If we have eyes to see.

Contrast drinking from a Styrofoam coffee cup, mass produced by the billions to drinking from your favorite coffee mug each morning as you wake up.  Our morning rituals often involve a refreshing warm cup of something as we take a breath and launch into the challenges of the day.  Maybe your mug was decorated by your grandchild and given at Christmas; maybe your cup is an antique once owned by your parents; maybe your cup is a sleek and stylish travel mug designed to fit just right in your car’s cup holder as you commute down the road.  But we all have favorite food and drink utensils we use at one of the most sacred moments of each day, that moment we stop to nourish our bodies and for some of us its also a moment to thank God we’re alive.   Coffee out of a Styrofoam cup just isn’t the same.  Our favorite cups have history, meaning and necessity in them; they call us to remember that something important is about to happen as we nourish our bodies and spirits.   They are art!

A painting can evoke a memory.  A poem can confront our assumptions.   A concerto can move us to ask forgiveness.   A dance can remind us that we are alive.

Good art reminds us to open our eyes to God’s gift of beauty, truth and love.

            Here in Carmel-by-the-Sea, we are blessed with many art galleries offering visitors and residence alike the chance to see beautiful art produced locally and in some cases by famous world renowned artists.  We are a part of a global art economy with the sale and investment in art.

Like any economic transaction, the industry of art investment can be full of ethical challenges and failures. When it comes to Christian stewardship, every penny we earn and spend should be measured in relationship to our investment in the poor and suffering of our communities.  That includes making and buying art.   Our stewardship always should reflect a balance between the commitment to care for life’s essentials for self and family with God’s call to invest in a future where all of God’s children have enough.

            Assuming that we humans can not not do art, the challenge is to, rather than abstaining from art making or appreciation, do our art in ways that reflects God in our lives.

            The Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC was dedicated in 1922 and cost $3 million dollars, a huge sum for public art at the time.   Yet Daniel Chester French’s marble statue and Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address etched in the building’s wall continue to inspire our nation to it potential for greatness. 

            Lilly Hitchcock Coit’s estate endowed the building of Coit Tower in San Francisco in 1933 and the Federal Public Works Association paid a dozen San Francisco artists to paint murals inside the Tower that remain a legacy to those hard times and the vision of public art.  The WPA sponsored art making across the country as a way to stimulate the economy during the worst of the Depression. 

            The Vietnam Memorial on the Capital Mall in Washington DC cost $8 million in donations, but Maya Lin’s elegant simplicity and the over 58,000 names of honored dead inscribed on the polished marble walls are a priceless.

            Could all of that money been spent on the homeless then and now?  Absolutely.  Yet this art’s contribution to move a nation to its potential for peace, justice and forgiveness is beyond calculation.

Good art reminds us to open our eyes to God’s gift of beauty, truth and love.

            Sure we can pour our ice tea or orange juice out of a Tupperware pitcher.  There is nothing wrong with Tupperware; I love my Tupperware.  Yet in the moment we refresh ourselves or someone else with a cool drink, poured out of a vessel with the mark of human design, color and weight, singularly unique, minutely flawed here and there…as each human being is…yet beautiful and true…is to be reminded of the divine in the human touch of creatively and purpose.

            It is God’s nature to create.   When we are creative we co-participate in God’s spirit.  And can there be a better medium to record that dialogue between “I and Thou” than a bit of clay; simple, common mud and water, textured and fired to last a life time?  Any potter can tell you why Jesus used mud to heal.  And why he told the man to wash himself clean in the pool of Siloam.  In Jerusalem, the pool of Siloam was fed by the waters of Hezekiah’s aqueduct built under the city at the end of the 8th century BCE to stave off enemy siege.    Today’s visitors can see that it still runs today; life giving waters that can save those in desperate times. 

            The pious and proud were blind to what Jesus was doing and who he really was.   An outcast beggar was the one who could see in the end.   The art around us can point us to the reality of God’s love, beauty and truth all around us.

            If we have the eyes to see.

Amen.

Fruitful Congregations: Extravagant Generosity

Matthew 20:1-16

October 18, 2015

Mark S. Bollwinkel

Managers, business owners and economists may find this morning's gospel lesson offensive.   Those who object to an increase in the minimum wage may find it outrageous.  What could Jesus be thinking?  A landowner pays a worker the same wage for one hour of work as paying a worker who has labored all day?  The world just doesn't work that way; not 2,000 years ago and not today.  Even the laborers in the story get upset. 

Remember, that in the earliest traditions of the Hebrew people, landowners (the wealthy) were to look out for the needs of the poor.  At harvest, the workers were to leave enough crops in the field that the poor could glean the excess (Leviticus 19:9-10, 23:22).  Every seven years their fields were to be left fallow to allow the landless poor to grow and gather food for themselves, a term from which we get our English word "sabbatical" (Leviticus 25:1-55).

In Jesus' story, only found in Matthew, the landowner intentionally looks for extra workers throughout the day so that the idle unemployed would get a chance to work as well.  This harkens back to those social safe guards often forgotten in the Hebrew tradition.  It would be as if today's fast-food industry voluntarily insisted on paying their workers a living wage.   It would be shocking.  The world just doesn't work that way.

Commentators suggest that Jesus' conclusion, "The last shall be first and the first shall be last," refers to the reversal of fortune anticipated at the End of Time, where those who suffered the injustices of the world shall be rewarded and those rich and powerful who inflicted the injustice shall get their due (Matthew 12:45, 19:30, 27:14, Mark 9:35 [in reference to servanthood], 10:30-32, Luke 13:25-31).  As foretold by the ancient prophets and fulfilled in Jesus, God promises a future where the balance between the rich and the poor will be restored.

But our story isn't simply about fair labor practices.  To the grumbling workers who were getting the same wage as the ones who worked only an hour, the landowner says "...am I not allowed to be generous?"

The writer of Matthew may have included this parable to remind those who were coming to faith in Jesus late in life that they would still be included in the promises of God, even if they weren't there at the beginning. Jesus is talking about the extravagant generosity of God.

"Extravagant Generosity" is one of the five spiritual practices (Robert Schnase's book The Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, Abingdon 2008) that lead toward Christian discipleship.  Can you name the five practices?

            Bold Service and Social Justice

Passionate Worship

Deepening Faith

Extravagant Generosity

Radical Hospitality

We are convinced that anyone, anywhere on their spiritual journey, who commits to live out these five practices, will be blessed as they grow in discipleship to Jesus Christ.  By “discipleship to Jesus Christ” we are not talking about an intellectual conformity to doctrine or some new standard of piety.   We are talking about "Reaching up, reaching in and reaching out", our mission statement here at Church of the Wayfarer.  The work of the church is to invite, equip and support discipleship.  That is our business, our mission and our purpose as an organization.   As we practice these steps in discipleship we will grow and prosper as people and as a community. 

Today as we end this sermon series, we are going to look at the spiritual practice of Extravagant Generosity.   

What is the first thing that comes to mind when we hear that phrase?  "Oh, here comes a pitch for more money for the church?"   We are so conditioned to hear appeals for fund raising in church life that even the mention of the word "generosity" elicits a programed response. 

I understand why.  We are a church with history for supporting service in our community and around the world.   As prosperous and compassionate people, we want to change the world for the better.  We have no shortage of causes to do so, all deserving of our time and attention.

But dropping a twenty dollar bill in the plate as it passes by on a Sunday morning, without thought or intention, is not "generosity."

Dr. Lovett H. Weems, Director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership in Washington, DC, reminds us that "The Christian's need to give as a fruit of discipleship is far more important than the church's need for money."   We forget that as we get caught up with the stress and distraction of money in our lives.  We often bring those assumptions about money to our church life as well. 

Consider how we do the Offering each Sunday in worship - it is so routine that we don't really pay attention to what we are doing and saying.   Like Dennis the Menace says to his father one morning as the ushers pass the plates, "Dad, wouldn’t it be better just to buy season tickets?"

Making an offering to God in gratitude for the blessings in our lives is as ancient a form of worship as you can find.   It was the first thing Noah did when the flood subsided and he could let all the animals out of the Ark (Genesis 8:20).   It was the first thing Abram did when he and Sarai arrived in the Land of Canaan following the covenant with God to create a nation of blessing for the world (Genesis 12:8).   If we truly believe that God is the source of all our gifts...as we sing each Sunday...then to return a portion of that wealth to the work of God through the church is a true act of thanksgiving. 

The pastor invites us to return "God's tithes and our offerings."  Ever notice the distinction?  

A "tithe" is a dedicated gift of "first fruits," traditionally 10% of one's wealth (Leviticus 27:30-34, Deuteronomy 14:22-29).  For us Protestants, a "tithe" can be a gift of any portion of our wealth that is given with intention and purpose.  A "tithe" is not what we have leftover at the end of the month or a donation given at the last minute without much thought.  I urge everyone to consider tithing not as a way to raise money for the church but as a spiritual practice of discipleship.  As you sit down and work out your budget for the week, month or year, make a conscious decision about what portion of the wealth God has bestowed you will dedicate to God's work in the world.  That's "God's tithe."   We give money through the church to God's mission in the world.

Please note the crucial role lay people play in our worship services and thank all the volunteers.  This holy space is not restricted to the ordained, as it is in other churches, and neither is it restricted by age or understanding.  Thank God for our young acolytes who symbolically bring in the light of Christ from the world to begin our worship as they light the candles and then symbolically lead us out into the world for service as they take the light of Christ back out into the world.  They also receive God’s tithes and our offerings from the ushers and then place it on the table of the Lord.

Technically we do not have an “altar” in the sanctuary.   An altar was the place where animals were sacrificed during ancient worship.  Theologically we should understand this as "the table of The Lord," reminding us of the Last Supper on the night that Jesus was betrayed.  It is the Christian belief that in the death and resurrection of Jesus, God supplied the ultimate sacrifice in reconciliation with humanity and so no other sacrifice is required (Genesis 22:1-18, John 1:29-36, I John 2:2).

Traditionally, during the Offering we listen to meditative music.  We are blessed to have talented musicians to lead us during that time.  This is a time when we can contemplate the meaning of the sermon we have just heard, the purpose of our offering this morning, or the prayer card we put in the plate offering our deepest hurts and hopes to a loving God.

When the collection is completed, we sing a "doxology," a traditional song of glory to God (Latin, doxa = glory):

            Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;

Praise God, all creatures here below;

Alleluia!  Alleluia!

Praise God, the source of all our gifts!

Praise Jesus Christ, whose power uplifts!

Praise the Spirit, Holy Spirit!  Alleluia! Alleluia!  Alleluia!

(United Methodist Hymnal, # 94)

All that we have comes from God.  God is the source of our health, intelligence, strength and spirit.  If we truly believe that, then giving of our time, talent and wealth is a spiritual practice.  It is not an obligation or duty but rather a practice of discipleship; "Reaching up, reaching in and reaching out."  It is an opportunity to grow closer to God and to others.   

If you feel resentment or anger when you hear a financial appeal at church, or feel guilty or ashamed that you can't give any money at the time or enough of what you'd like to give...if all you are doing is tossing a $20 into the plate without a thought... it really would be better to wait to give when you see it as the spiritual opportunity that it is.

Extravagant generosity isn't so much about the numbers as it is about the intention with which one gives.  We worship a God of extraordinary generosity who will love and save all.    

When we come to know deep in our hearts that all we have comes from this God, then financial appeals from the Girl Scouts selling cookies, from the brochure that comes in the mail for Habitat for Humanity, or as the plate is passed around during our worship services all become opportunities to give.   As giving is a spiritual practice of discipleship, whether we have any money to give at all, we are thankful for the opportunity.  Remember Dr. Weems' admonition:   "The Christian's need to give as a fruit of discipleship is far more important than the church's need for money."

Whether we can share a dollar or a dime, when we can say with clarity and confidence, "thank you for this opportunity to give," that is when we experience the spirit of "Extravagant Generosity".

Amen.

Fruitful Congregations: Bold, Risk-Taking Mission

Matthew 5:10-12

October 11, 2015

Mark S. Bollwinkel

When the gospel writer Matthew edited our scripture lesson for today, the eighth and final of Jesus' beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount, he was writing to a church facing persecution.  Jewish converts to the new faith were being expelled from their synagogues and estranged from their families.   The new Christians were losing jobs and property as a consequence of the prejudice against them by the dominant culture.  

In places, the Roman occupation government asserted loyalty to the divinity of Caesar with public rituals of the worship of Caesar's image.  Christians refusing to do so were beaten, jailed or killed.   The same would happen to those Christians refusing conscription into Rome's military on the basis of conscientious objection.  Sporadic empire-wide persecutions were sanctioned by a number of Caesars during the first 300 years of Christianity during which thousands of Christians were martyred in the most violent and degrading ways.

Ironically, the organized persecution of Christians encouraged its growth.  After three centuries Christianity was adopted as the official religion of the Roman Empire. 

After all, Jesus died a martyr's death.   It was his loving sacrifice and forgiveness in the face of unwarranted suffering that inspired millions to love God and neighbor.   It still inspires us today.  We see the face of God in those who are willing to stand up to power and speak the truth in love, even when the cost is dear...especially when the cost is dear.   

For example: Over the western entrance to Westminster Abbey in London there are a distinctive and famous series of stone sculptures entitled "Martyrs of the Twentieth Century".   The ten statues include tributes to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one of the leaders the "confessional" church's resistance to the Nazi Third Reich during World War II, Saint Elizabeth killed in Russia in 1918 by the Bolsheviks, Baptist preacher Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who died fighting for civil rights in the United States and Archbishop Oscar Romero, of El Salvador.

As in much of Central America during the twentieth century, the United States supported military dictatorships for geo-political and economic reasons. This was the case for years in El Salvador.   As a result, during a period of brutal civil war from 1980-1992, it is estimated that 75,000 civilians died. 

Archbishop Romero, a contemplative and academic minded priest, became increasing outspoken against the capricious violence of the government sponsored death squads and the corruption of the El Salvadorian dictatorship.   The people he served were desperately poor.   Fr. Romero knew all-too-well the preferential option for the poor in our biblical tradition.  In spite of continual death threats, Romero would not be silenced.  On March 23, 1980 he preached a sermon from the national cathedral, which was broadcast on the radio, imploring government soldiers to refuse the orders of their superiors to kill civilians.  The next day, while consecrating Mass, literally as he held up the chalice over the altar of a hospital chapel in capital city San Salvador, he was shot through the chest by a lone gunman, ultimately identified as a member of the death squads.

Now we can see his likeness in stone at Westminster Abbey, testament to modern day martyrs.  We see the face of God in those who are willing to stand up to power and speak the truth in love, even when the cost is dear...especially when the cost is dear.   

Today Christian communities have been the victims of organized violence in Nigeria, Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.   Protestants and Roman Catholics try to maintain a fragile peace after years of community violence between them in Ireland and Northern Ireland.    

Here in the United States where our religious freedoms are protected by law, there have been significant occasions, even recently, when the state has organized or tolerated violence against those with religious convictions speaking out against the status quo; in the 1960's civil rights activists struggling for the end of segregation, in the 1970's during the Vietnam war and the Hispanic farm worker movement organizing for fair wages and benefits.

For us "comfortable Christians" who so often view our religious behavior as just another social obligation among many, the eighth beatitude must seem especially bewildering.  Why anyone experiencing persecution would be blessed?

Eugene Peterson in his paraphrase of the New Testament in The Message puts it this way:

"You are blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution.  The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.   Not only that, count yourself blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me.  What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they feel uncomfortable.   You can be glad for that...give a cheer, even...for although they don't like it I do.  And all heaven applauds.  And know that you are in good company.  My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble."   

(The Message, NavPress, 2007)

Few of us will die a martyr’s death but most of us are given opportunities to stand up for our faith.

A young adult once told me of an experience at her workplace.   In the lunch room, the social conversation between colleagues turned to the subject of "those Christians".   This informal daily ritual while eating lunch usually took on a variety of subjects with humor, teasing and comments from that day's news.  It was an occasion to blow off some steam, get away from work and maintain friendships.  Our friend enjoyed these moments, until "those Christians" became the brunt of the talk.    "Those Christians" were described as hypocrites who deny civil rights to gays and lesbians while their preachers confess to sexual infidelities.  "Those Christians" go on the TV and suggest that 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina are God's punishments.  "Those Christians" reject the science of evolution and believe the world is flat. [We can only imagine what lunch room conversations will be about tomorrow about "those Christians" who predicted the end of the world last Thursday! (The Guardian, 10/08/15)]

Our young adult friend took great exception to the group's definition of what a "Christian" is or isn't about.   She loves her church, considers herself a Christian and knows that her lunch-mates' examples of Christian behavior only define a small minority of people which the media loves to hold up as if they are the majority of those who follow Christ in this country.

She wrestled with what to say or not to say, knowing that by speaking out against the portrayal of "all Christians" as ignorant hypocrites she would break the fun and risk being ostracized.   But she was just too uncomfortable to remain silent and so she decided to take the risk and speak up, gently reminding her colleagues that she was a Christian, that she goes to "a church that isn't like that at all" and that if anyone wanted to see they could come with her some Sunday.

There was a sudden pause of silence with her friends not knowing what to say.  They changed the subject and moved on.  Only later in the day did they come to her desk, one-by-one, to apologize and say how much they appreciated her willingness to speak out.  To date none of them have taken up her invitation to come to church.   The lunch group has continued but she is the brunt of good natured teasing every now and then about her Sunday activities.

Is this persecution?  No, of course not.   Some of us know the reluctance to tell our family and friends that we are Christians and enjoy going to church.  We all know the media's portrayal of today's Christians as ignorant hypocrites.  But such is far, far different from being arrested, beaten and/or killed for one's beliefs.

Why does Jesus insist that persecution is a blessing?

The blessing of speaking your truth in love isn't that you may or may not convince another of your point of view.  Jesus calls it a blessing to be persecuted because it describes one's commitment to love God and neighbor so significant that it cannot be silenced, that it defines who we are and the world we hope to see.

That's also the nature of bold, risk taking mission.  It offers us the opportunity put our faith into action and actions always speak louder than words.  

During this sermon series on “Fruitful Congregations” we have been blessed and challenged by the vision of United Methodist Bishop Robert Schnase's book The Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations (Abingdon 2008).  His five practices describe the heart of discipleship and the fulfillment of our membership vows as United Methodists.  

Can you name the five practices?

Radical Hospitality

Deepening Faith

Passionate Worship

Bold Service and Social Justice

Extravagant Generosity

We are convinced that anyone, anywhere on their spiritual journey...from newcomer to old timer...who commits to live out these five practices will be blessed as they grow in discipleship to Jesus Christ.  By “discipleship to Jesus Christ” we are not talking about an intellectual conformity to doctrine or some new standard of piety.   We are talking about "Reaching up, reaching in and reaching out", our mission statement here at Church of the Wayfarer reflecting Jesus’ “Greatest Commandment”:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  (Matthew 22:34-40)

We don't have to go to Haiti after an earthquake or to a war zone in the Middle East to find that bold, risky opportunity to speak our truth in love.  The opportunity comes in all shapes and sizes. It can happen in the lunch room.  It may present itself as we invite a friend or family member to their first AA meeting.   We certainly make a loud statement when we volunteer to support the Alzheimer’s Walk or to tutor students in our United Methodist weekly afternoon program at Salinas Hispanic Ministries.  To make a volunteer commitment to iHelp homeless ministry or the Joining Hands benefit shop can be a bold thing indeed.   

No we won't be persecuted for such, thanks be to God!   But at least we'll raise the curiosity of family and friends who will wonder about a faith commitment that cannot be kept silent and finds itself perfected as we put it into action.

Amen.

Fruitful Congregations: Radical Hospitality

Acts 10: 23-35

October 4, 2015

Mark S. Bollwinkel

The experts (Schaller) suggest that 83% of new members to churches join because they were invited by friends or family.  It helps to have great music and programs and preaching but in the end it is that invitation to those with whom we associate that grows a church.

During this sermon series on “Fruitful Congregations” we have been blessed and challenged by the vision of United Methodist Bishop Robert Schnase's book The Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations (Abingdon 2008).  His five practices describe the heart of discipleship and the fulfillment of our membership vows as United Methodists.  

Can you name the five practices?

Radical Hospitality

Deepening Faith

Passionate Worship

Bold Service and Social Justice

Extravagant Generosity

 

We are convinced that anyone, anywhere on their spiritual journey...from new comer to old timer...who commits to live out these five practices will be blessed as they grow in discipleship to Jesus Christ.  By “discipleship to Jesus Christ” we are not talking about an intellectual conformity to doctrine or some new standard of piety.   We are talking about "Reaching up, Reaching in and Reaching out", our mission statement here at Church of the Wayfarer reflecting Jesus’ “Greatest Commandment”.

This morning I can't think of a more powerful way of exploring the meaning of Radical Hospitality than by sharing the Sacrament of Holy Communion; especially this first Sunday of October which for the Protestant churches of the world is "World Communion Sunday".

Consider our Bible lesson for this morning.   At a time when Orthodox Jews such as Jesus and his twelve disciples were expected to have no association with Gentiles, following Jesus' resurrection, the Apostle Peter is called by God to visit the home of a Roman Centurion by the name of Cornelius.   Not only is Cornelius a Gentile but he is an officer in the Roman Occupation forces that are oppressing Israel.  These are the people who when manipulated by the Hebrew Sanhedrin crucify Jesus as a subversive.  God sends Peter to the home of Cornelius to accept his hospitality; that means to spend a few days under the same roof, to share meals together, to touch and be touched by people who would ritually defile an Orthodox Jew according to their traditions.   

This Peter, our beloved fisherman who sinks while trying to walk on water, who denies Jesus when The Lord needed him the most, who runs away from the cross...this Peter learns in this encounter with Cornelius that "God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who is in awe of God and does what is right is acceptable to God".  In the original language the word "nation" comes from the root for our English word "ethnic" [ethnos]; it is not so much about national borders but about people, every race, every religion, every class is acceptable to God.

The Apostle Paul, Peter's colleague and theological competitor will write to the church in Galatia, “There is neither Greek nor Jew, male nor female, slave nor free, but we are all one in Christ Jesus our Lord..." (Galatians 3:28).

In a time when race and religion, gender and social status divided societies, the church practiced radical hospitality...all were included and all meant all.

This is at the heart of the United Methodist doctrine of "open communion"; how we offer the sacraments to anyone and all present regardless of membership, age or status.  While many denominations will restrict access to the sacraments to members only, or only to those members in good standing by creed, canon law or moral behavior, in the United Methodist church we don't believe that human rules and regulations can restrict anyone to God's love which is given for all.  

In the Church of England during the 18th century, at a time when the sacraments were only offered to church members and to be a member one had to own property, John and Charles Wesley, founders of the Methodist movement and ordained clergy in the Church of England offered communion to prisoners in jail, workers in the fields and factories, slave or free.  This got them into a lot of trouble!  But for us all are welcome to the table of The Lord.

We don't adhere to the doctrine of transubstantiation as our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters do, believing that the consecrated bread and wine actually, literally become the body and blood of Jesus.  The Wesley's rejected the "adoration of the host", such as bowing to the altar when the elements are present as one enters and leaves the sanctuary, or parading the elements in and around the church.  We understand the elements of Holy Communion to be symbolic of Christ's body and blood not mystically transformed into the real thing.  As a result following the consecration of the bread and the wine by ordained Elders, the elements can be distributed by anyone...men, women, young, old. 

As a part of the Temperance Movement in the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries, it is our tradition not to serve wine in Holy Communion but grape juice.  We do not want to exclude from the sacrament anyone who struggles with alcohol or who might be in recovery.  It’s the same reason we now offer gluten free bread and juice so that anyone with allergies will be included.

As contemporary as all this may sound our "Eucharist" ("thanksgiving", "grateful" or "gratitude") liturgy contains elements that go back centuries:

The Sanctus-A reminder of the hymn sung in heaven day and night around the throne of God as envisioned by John of Patmos in the Book of Revelation where at the End of Time all the faithful will join in singing; "Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory...hosanna in the highest..." (Revelations 4:8-11)
 

The Words of Consecration-When the ordained breaks the bread and lifts up the cup she recites words first said by Jesus at the Last Supper the night before he died two thousand years ago (Matthew 26:26-29, Mark 14:22-25, Luke 22:14-20) and reiterated by the Apostle Paul (I Corinthians 11:23-25).  They remind us of that unbroken chain of faithful people who gather around the Table of The Lord to celebrate God's love and seek God's healing and inspiration to live as disciples; "This bread is my body broken for you...this cup is my blood shed for you..."  Said today in all he languages of the world.

Confession of faith-Before we share in the meal we, in the simplest and most profound words, join together to say what believe and have since the very beginning of the church; "Christ has died.  Christ is Risen.  Christ will come again."

These basic elements of the Eucharist are found in almost all Christian communities.  We share these traditions together even when we disagree on other details.  By tradition we United Methodists share the element by intinction (dipping bread into the cup) rather by the common cup (eating the bread and individually drinking from one cup).  But in spite of our differences we are all one in the body of Christ as we repeat this ancient rite of Holy Communion.

While working for the Methodist Church in Kenya 39 years ago, Bonnie and I shared World Communion Sunday with thirty or so African brothers and sisters crammed in a thatched roof school house with blackboards and wooden benches on the dirt floor.  We have served Holy Communion to muscled bound, tattooed male prisoners in the Medium Security Prison in Carson City, Nevada who broke down in tears discovering that even they were worthy of receiving the symbols of God's love for them in Christ.   We have given Communion to those about to die at home or in a hospital or to those all dressed up in their Sunday best worried that they might get germs from the juice.  We have shared Holy Communion with teenagers at the beach when all we had was chocolate chip cookies and milk.
 

Many churches will insist that one must "understand" what they are doing to make Holy Communion effective, so they restrict it by age or conformity to creed or canon law.  However well-educated or experienced how can anyone ever fully comprehend, define or intellectually limit the love God has for creation?  It is not what we do that makes the sacrament work but what God has done for us in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That's why it is offered to anyone.  That is why our hospitality, if it is in the spirit of Christian discipleship, must be radical.  This God we worship, this father of Jesus, knows no partiality.  Neither should we. For God knows all-too-well that there is not one person here, especially me, who deserves this gift, but we stand to receive it because this God of love wants us to have it that we might be free.

Come let us share the Lord's meal together...Amen.