God Gave You a Gift
Rev. Linda Meyer, October 6, 2019
Community United Methodist Church, Keenesburg, CO
Today is World Communion Sunday. We celebrate it every year on the first Sunday in October. It began as World-Wide Communion Sunday at Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1933. This was between the two World Wars, during the Great Depression. It was not an easy time to be living anywhere in the world.
The Rev. Hugh Thompson Kerr and his congregation wanted to demonstrate the interconnectedness of Christian churches, regardless of denomination. In 1940, the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America, which included all of the predecessor denominations of The United Methodist Church, adopted World-Wide Communion Sunday. Today, The United Methodist Church celebrates World Communion Sunday with congregations all over the globe. Christians all around the world gather in large churches and small, on farms and in cities, in brick and stone buildings and under tents, and together they receive the bread and cup of Holy Communion.
The Conference sent out an email this week, written by Michael Smith, our Superintendent of Congregational and Community Vitality. He included this story:
“On this Sunday, we take communion together; all at the same time. It is an important part of telling our story. This year, I think we should serve Big Macs for communion. Hold on – don’t call the liturgy police on me just yet.
“A few days ago, I read an article about a Burger King in Argentina. You might be thinking, “Wait – Burger King is home of the Whopper not the Big Mac!” Correct. Burger King encouraged all of their customers to purchase their competitor's burger instead. In fact – they didn’t even sell Whoppers that day in order to make sure that Big Macs across the country would be consumed. Why? Because for every Big Mac ordered, money was donated to fight cancer.
“With this move, Burger King helped to ensure that an extra 73,437 Big Macs were sold that day compared to the previous years. It was a record-setting day. This gesture speaks about something much bigger that unites us and it isn’t about the two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, and onions on a sesame seed bun. I believe that if Burger King and McDonald's can do it, then the church has to figure out how to do it, too.
“There is much that is pulling us apart these days. How will you join hands with one another (even if they don't agree with you) for the sake of that which is so much bigger than just a local church, a conference, a denomination? Will you have the courage to let go of your way to lift up another’s voice? My hope for your church this Sunday is that you can speak to what brings us together. Let this World Communion Sunday be different.
“Grace meets us at the table. Don’t forget the fries.”
World Communion Sunday really does remind us we are all one in Christ. We may be very different, but we are one.
At first glance, the scripture readings for today and the celebration of World Communion don’t quite go together. But just as World Communion Sunday began during a time of war, our Old Testament scripture from Lamentations remembers a time of war and devastation for the people of Judah. After a series of tribute payments, conflicts, and uprisings between the Jewish people and their overlords in Babylon, an invading army under King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem, devasted its great Temple built by Solomon, and took captives into exile.
Our readings from the New Testament were written during the time the Romans ruled over the Jews. Jesus’ disciples ask how they can increase their faith. It’s a hard scripture to understand, but essentially Jesus is telling them to continue being faithful, and their faith will increase.
In our scripture reading from 2 Timothy, Paul is trying to encourage Timothy. Apparently Timothy was struggling with the work of the early church, and Paul is trying to remind him of his faith, and that he is not alone in his work. And that is something we do need to remember ourselves: we are not alone in our work for God. We are one in Christ. We have each other to lean on when life gets difficult, and we have each other to celebrate with when life is full of joy!
Some Bible scholars question if Paul actually wrote the two letters to Timothy and the letter to Titus. The letters were written late in Paul’s life, or possibly after his death. Different scholars have different opinions, but whoever wrote these letters was certainly associated with Paul and knew all about the struggles of the church. We can certainly take these words to heart. Today we also struggle with the work of the church. It’s always a good reminder to us that no matter how hard things were after Jesus’ death, the church continued to grow and spread throughout the world. No matter how bleak our own future may seem at times, we can still be Jesus’ hands and feet in the world: feeding the hungry and helping people around us.
What Paul never really says in the letter, is what gifts God gave Timothy. Was it faith? Power? Leading others? Maybe it’s a good thing Paul didn’t specifically say what that gift is. It allows us to substitute in our own gifts. The gifts of leadership, being computer literate, managing money, teaching, self-discipline, cooking.
Each of us has a least one specific gift that comes in really handy from time to time – no matter what you do every day. What can be hard is remembering we have these gifts. We use them every day without even thinking about it. God gives some people gifts to be used for the benefit of all, including the power to make things happen within the life of the church. This can 3
be a very mysterious power. It isn’t just the ability to hold a position of leadership, or having a strong personality, or having a strong faith.
It is a matter of having the ability to say and do things that can change a situation. To lead in a way that makes others want to follow. To speak words of wisdom that can help someone through a rough time. To bring healing and hope wherever it is needed.
In 2 Timothy, Paul writes, “for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.” Most likely, Timothy had these gifts of power and love and self-discipline, but it was hard for him to use them. He may have been shy, or afraid he might make someone angry or upset. Paul is trying to encourage him how to use his gifts.
When someone has power, they need to be seen as someone has generous love for others, and then people may be more inclined to follow them.
To listen to what they have to say.
To follow where they lead.
The power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ comes from the fact that God gave God’s own son to save us. Because of God’s unbelievably enormous love for us to sacrifice God’s son, we give our love and loyalty back to God.
Paul also reminds Timothy of his faith, faith that was already there before Paul met Timothy. He reminds Timothy of the faith of his mother and grandmother. Each of you are here today because of your faith. We all probably got our faith from someone in our life – a parent, a grandparent, a brother or sister, or maybe even a neighbor or a friend. That faith gets us through the good times, and through the hard times.
We commit ourselves to God, and God commits something to us:
God’s love.
That may include our gifts, perhaps a calling, some responsibilities.
God’s love is so strong that it goes onward through death, and comes out the other side – even stronger. The love and goodness of God, given to us. That is truly good news!
Celebrating World Communion Sunday itself offers good news. Our world seems always to be filled with rumors of war, and some days our lives are full of devastation and sadness. Both our world and our ordinary lives often call us to lament. We may even feel a similar anger to that of the Judeans imprisoned in Babylon. We fear we have lost faith, that God has turned away, and that hope isn’t possible.
The gift of World Communion Sunday is that even in the midst of brokenness and despair, God’s vision calls us forward. God’s love calls us forward. With Jesus, table fellowship must have been amazing. He ate with diverse groups of people, including some who were not welcomed by others. Gathering around the table for a meal was a way of representing the vision of Isaiah,
“On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 25:6-8).
Through table fellowship, Jesus called his followers to feed one another and build community.
Today as we eat the bread and share the cup, we remember God’s gifts of a good creation, and God’s continuing creation. We remember the gift of Jesus and the way he taught us to live. We remember the continuing presence of the Holy Spirit among us. The message of World Communion Sunday is not simply hope instead of despair or endurance instead of tears. It calls for work, too!
The vision of God’s banquet calls us to join with others. It calls us to reach out across barriers, just like we work with other churches to support Loaves and Fishes food bank. It asks us to work with others to make the heavenly banquet a reality. In Luke, the apostles’ question about “increase our faith”, becomes a little clearer. The gift of the vision of God’s table calls us to do more than the ordinary. We are called to live the table – to join with those who are different from us, to work for healing and build community together. We need to be faithful and responsible before God.
Paul writes Timothy to “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”
May we do the same, today and every day.
Amen.
