10/5/58

Scripture: I Corinthians 10: 1-4; 16,17.

Christians of many denominations - perhaps of most Christian communions - are observing today, the first Sunday in October, as World Wide Communion Sunday. Each participating church observes the rite, eats and drinks of the Lord’s supper, after the manner of its own denomination. But there is some significant fellowship in the fact that it is done simultaneously.

The idea for World Wide Communion came into being some twenty years ago. Leaders in the Federal Council of Churches (predecessor to the National Council of Churches) and in the World Council of churches (which was being formed about that time) were convinced that such an observance could be one way of advancing the cause of Church unity in a world where Christians are scandalously and disastrously divided by their sectarian beliefs.

There are those who have argued, and still argue, over “consubstantiation” and “transubstantiation” as miracles accompanying the act of communion. Is it not a tangible and easily understood miracle, when one cup or one loaf, shared by many, becomes the means of nourishing the bodies of all? And is not the spiritual grace which each one seeks and receives, the grace which is shared by all? Paul must have had this in mind when he was writing to the early Christians at Corinth, saying: “Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the same loaf.”

There is a sad irony in the fact that some Christians are barred from the Holy Table by others who are convinced that only those who belong to one particular sector of the visible church may rightly partake.

And there is irony and self-destruction in the human family when some Christians refuse to eat with their brethren because of race or because of inherited tradition.

But there is some progress toward the unity that should characterize the family of Christian folk when more and more churches join in simultaneous participation in the Lord’s Supper on one day, throughout the world. The very fact that World Wide Communion Sunday could have been inaugurated is visible evidence of a dawning general consciousness of community.

In 1937, William Temple, then the great Archbishop of Canterbury, reminded representatives of 120 denominations meeting at Edinburgh that folk do not voluntarily do things together, or assemble themselves to consider the body of Christ, unless they already possess some sense of belonging, of fellowship, of community.

One of the most widely used names for the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is “Eucharist.” It is a term derived from the Greek word for “thanksgiving.” There is great ground for hope, and for thankfulness that there are so many Christians today and that they have some disposition to find their common bonds of unity.

150 years ago there were no Christians in two thirds of the world. Today there is no land where there are not at least some Christians. And it is said that there is at least one Christian Church in every world capital but two. There is cause for Christian gratitude at this. There is further cause for Christian gratitude in what is known as the “ecumenical movement,” in that it is evidence of a growing sense of the need for community.

The non-Christian world can hardly be blamed for skepticism concerning the spiritual vitality and power of the Christian churches, and of the churches’ power to hold the world together, if Christians ban each other from the Table of the Lord because they mistake it for their own.

The present division of Christians - racial, geographical, national, linguistic, and denominational - is considerably reduced when we are all conscious of communing together on this one day. At least this is an acknowledgment of a bond of fellowship. And the survival of the world depends on at least a rudimentary consciousness of community.

Look for a moment at some of the characteristics of the symbolism that Jesus used and commended to his followers. Jesus seldom spoke of principles or philosophical concepts. He dealt with persons and the relationships they bore to one another. Much of his teaching was in parables; pointed stories of symbolic meaning or otherwise easily understood application.

When it came to what we now know as the sacraments, he accepted one (baptism) -- even demanded it of John the Baptist as the symbol of spiritual cleansing that we all need (whether he needed it or not.) When it came to instituting that form of remembrance which we call the Lord’s Supper, or Eucharist, he chose something very close to human experience -- food and drink -- as symbols of that which nourishes and satisfies.

Jesus used only a few of the figures of speech that are used in the Scriptures for the people of God. But his favorite simile was the ideal human family. From the family, he took his name for God -- Father; for himself -- Son; for people -- Mother, Sister, Brother. He took it for granted that people who heard him speak would know that, without a Father, there are no brethren; and with one Father, all are brothers, even when they fail to act like it!

In every family, there are both utilitarian, and symbolic acts of washing, eating and drinking. Washing is still symbolic in the ordinary life of the East. In the West, the common table is apt to be thought of as ceremonial, or symbolic for the family community. And, for both East and West, there is something about sharing of food and drink that has more than just utilitarian meaning.

Jesus chose something of universal experience when he chose food and drink as the symbols of remembrance for him and dedication to his cause.

He actually appropriated, in the case of the Last Supper, a custom of long standing among his people. There was among the Hebrews a natural reverence for food as a symbol of life. We are told that, then and even now, the people of that place would not knowingly step on a bit of bread. For them it possesses the mysterious power, deriving from God’s creativeness, of sustaining life. It is to be revered as a gift of God who alone can provide it.

So the people to whom Jesus spoke naturally saw a peculiar significance in the act of eating from a common loaf and drinking from a common cup. They would share food with one who was departing, possibly never to return, as a symbol of continuing fellowship. This symbolism was well understood.

And so Jesus could, and did, use this sharing of food and drink as a symbol of the continued fellowship that they had with him and with one another. Ever those among us who are not particularly imaginative, can understand the significance of such an act.

The practice of World Wide Communion may only faintly bring forth the unity which Christians should possess. But it is a beginning upon which we can lay hold with firm confidence. In this time of really dangerous and disastrous divisions among the peoples of this earth, one of the least things we can do, as well as one of the most hopeful, is to avail ourselves of the inspiration and encouragement that so many have already found in the observance of World Wide Communion.

As we do, one trusts that all may hear with understanding the words of Paul, that first great missionary of the Christian Church, as he counseled the people at Corinth: “We who are many are one body, for we all partake of the same loaf.”

The church that can prevail against the “city of evil” will be the one that learns to work unitedly against all the forces of evil. Let us continue to try and find our unity in World Communion and in Christian community of thinking and action.

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Delivered in Wisconsin Rapids, October 5, 1958.