"Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf." (1 Corinthians 10:17)
The first Sunday in October, Christians around the world gather to worship and share the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. We remember one another and celebrate the presence of the Holy Spirit at tables from every culture, every land, every people, and every global situation possible. During the Communion Sunday, we, Christians, dare to proclaim peace and hope to this world. The Holy Communion and baptism are two sacraments that all Christians administer and observe regardless of denominational differences. These two are sacraments that the Lord Jesus Christ asked us to continue doing until His return.
By partaking the Holy Communion we testify to the love of God to each other and to the world that we are children of God because of the suffering death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul is addressing those who misunderstood the purpose and the power of the Lord’s Supper. On one hand, they overestimated its power because they thought if they just ate the bread and drank the cup, God would be pleased with them and they would be safe from His judgment. He makes it clear here that the holy communion is more than just some religious ritual. And the key word that helps us to understand that is the word “participation” in verse 16 and the related word “participants” in verse 18. That is the same Greek word that is normally translated “fellowship” in the New Testament. It comes from a root word that means “common” and refers to something that people share in common. So it might be best to think of this word in terms of “joint participation.” When we take the bread and the cup, we testify to each other and to the world around us through the symbols of the bread and cup the nature of what Jesus did for us. His body was wounded and bruised and His blood was shed so that our sins could be forgiven and our guilt removed so we can have a personal, intimate relationship with God.
The purpose of the Holy Communion, also called the Lord’s Supper is to unite all of us, to put us all on equal footing before God regardless of our social status, race, gender, or anything else that might tend to divide us. We are "One family in Christ" as we see in the Bible, "Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters". ((Hebrews 2:11 NIV)
A poor young man from Vietnam wrote, "I grew up very poor, the son of sharecroppers. One day, I heard about an upcoming birthday party for one of the neighborhood children that we played with. All week I was excited about getting to go to the party and play with the other kids, eat cake and ice cream, and share in all of the fun. But there was just one problem — I wasn’t invited. I was devastated. I had never been so hurt nor felt so rejected. It all had to do with social standing; my family was just too poor. Thankfully I never have to worry about being excluded from the body of Christ. In my church, all who love Christ, who earnestly repent of their sin and seek to live in peace with one another, are invited to the Communion table. Our Lord does not judge us according to wealth or social standing but invites everyone to be a part of his feast."
Nearly every society in the history of the world has developed its class or caste system. Circumstances of birth, wealth, privilege and education have divided men and women from one another. But in Christ there is no difference of any class.
In the old days stagecoaches were used for transportation. There used to be three different kinds of tickets first class 2nd class and 3rd class. A first class ticket meant you could sit down. No matter what happened you could remain seated. If the stagecoach gets stuck in the mud or had trouble of making up the hill or even if it is broken down, you remain seated because you had a first-class ticket. A second class ticket meant that you could sit down until there was a problem and then you had to get off the coach until the problem was solved. You got off to the side and watch somebody fix the problem and the situation was corrected you could get back on the coach and take your seat again. A third class ticket meant that you could sit down until there was a problem and then you had to get off and push. You had to roll up your sleeves and and help solve the problem. Some think that they have a first class ticket and then just sit there and expect to be catered. Some others think they have a second class ticket and sit down. When there is a problem they become detached spectators they get off stand to the side and watch somebody fix it. Others think they have a third class ticket and thank God for them. When something goes wrong, then they get off and push. They use their energy and time and get the job done. Jesus said again and again that those who act being entitled to being catered will be the last and those who serve will be first. There is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. - Colossians 3:11 (NIV)
There is no class or race or ethnic difference - no second or third class citizens. We would never want to exclude anyone from the Lord’s table. This is offered to us through God’s amazing grace After all, we are all sinners. Following Christ’s example, we can invite others into the joy of Christian community. God called Abraham and his descendants (the Jewish race) in order to entrusted him with a promise. He was Abram at the time. Abram’s name (“exalted father”) was changed to Abraham (“father of many”) because God had promised to make him a father of many nations (Gen. 17:5) through whom “all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (12:3). When Christ came, God's promise was fulfilled that in Abraham's seed all the families of the earth would be blessed. This includes all nations of every race, colour and language. We all needed redemption from our fallen nature. "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God". Just as sin is a common denominator, redemption became a common denominator, which God offers freely in Christ. When we accept that gift of salvation, we become co-heirs with Christ and brothers and sisters." For Christ is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups, Jews and Gentiles, into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us." (Ephesians 2:14).
Our position will be the same as Jesus in heaven. Jesus prayer before his suffering, in John 17 reads: "I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." 24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory." "Beloved, now are we the children of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is" (1 John 3:2).
A Sunday School Teacher had two new boys in her Sunday School class one day. In order to register them she had to ask their ages and birthdays. The bolder of the two said, ’We’re both seven. My birthday is April 8, 1976, and my brother’s is April 20, 1976.’ ’But that’s impossible!’ she said. ’No, it’s not,’ answered the quieter brother. ’One of us is adopted.’ ’Which one?’ asked the teacher. The boys looked at each other and smiled, and the bolder one said to the teacher, ’We asked Dad awhile ago, but he just said he loved us both, and he couldn’t remember any more which one was adopted.’ By our faith in Christ we become Jesus’ adopted brothers and sisters--adopted sons and daughters of God. As fully adopted and accepted children, we share the same blessings as His Son, Jesus.
We also testify that we will inherit the position along with Jesus to be Children of God. "Our citizenship is in heaven." (Phil 3:20). A world without anger and hate, without addiction and abuse, without greed and pride, without oppression or torture, without hunger and poverty, disease and death. We, Christians, all over the world dare to dream of that world. We long for the love and for that fullness of God, so that we might live in peace in our own relationships, with our own neighbors. We are tired of money having the greatest power. We don’t want to see the poor grow poorer. We are tired of reading about acts of violence in our own communities. We are tired of watching countries tear themselves apart internally. We are tired of disease and hunger, corruption in our public and social life. We long for more. We are angry at the situation of unemployed families losing their homes and moving to the streets. We are upset that the churches are not able to serve the needs of the community to the extent they used to.
Our story continues in this place today. A story of but one community of faith among many. Breaking bread. Receiving the cup. Partaking in the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Finding hope, peace, and forgiveness at this table of grace and new life. We join people around the world who, in their own situations, come to this table of hope and peace and healing. No matter what our story is, we all come to this table seeking to be filled with the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ’s love, so that we might know the fullness of God today and forevermore. And so we might live in peace.
We remember one another and celebrate the presence of the Holy Spirit at tables from every culture, every land, every people, and every global situation possible. We, Christians, dare to proclaim peace and the hope for peace around the world. On this day we dare to proclaim unity within the church of Jesus Christ and the hope that all people might have the power (as Paul hopes for the Ephesians) to comprehend what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that they might be filled with all the fullness of God. What a world might look like in which everyone found themselves filled with all the fullness of God. Finding hope, peace, and forgiveness at this table of grace and new life. We join people around the world who, in their own situations, come to this table of hope and peace and healing. No matter what our story is, we all come to this table seeking to be filled with the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ’s love, so that we might know the fullness of God today and forever. On this day, we join our brothers and sisters around the world in sharing this table of grace, we join our brothers and sisters who have been affected war, natural disasters, violence, financial struggles and persecution. We remember those who are grieving great losses of family and friends and home and community. We join our brothers and sisters in the war torn areas world, who will gather as those who are grieving great losses of family and friends and home and community. As they gather, they will take a piece of bread, will bless it and share it and say, “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again." All things are from Him …And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ. All things are through Him. —1 Corinthians 8:6. Let all honor and glory be yours now forever through Jesus Christ, your son and our savior. Amen.
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