1 Corinthians 1:10-17; John 17:20-21

World Communion Sunday

    One of the most frequently asked questions I've heard over the years is do we really believe in the catholic church? This comes up because of the Apostles Creed, an ancient statement of Christian faith which affirms belief in the" holy catholic church." And so many wonder. Does this mean the Roman Catholic Church?

    The short answer is NO. Catholic spelled with a small c simply means "universal." And so the "holy catholic church" does not refer to any one specific church, Roman or otherwise, but to all churches and Christians founded on faith Jesus Christ.

    Let me add some more background. In early versions of this creed the word 'catholic' doesn't even appear. The early versions affirm faith only in the 'holy church.' Not until roughly 700 A.D. does 'holy catholic Church' appear with catholic spelled with a small c and Church is capitalized.

    Now the Apostle's Creed came into existence largely under the influence of the Roman Church. And so it was probably assumed in those days that the 'universal' church was the Roman church. But as Protestant churches today we no longer take it that way. For us "catholic" means 'universal' and not the church of Rome.

    I lift this up because today is World Communion Sunday. This is a day conceived for the purpose of celebrating the unity of all churches and denominations in Christ through the celebration of Holy Communion. We emphasize what all Christians share in common despite many differences of worship, creed, polity and customs we have.

    The celebration of Christian unity is altogether appropriate, but often forgotten. The Corinthian church of long ago is a case in point. It was a fractured congregation with several internal groups seeking to dominant over one another. Various voices were heard saying: "I belong to Paul, or I belong to Apollos, or I belong to Cephas, or I belong to Christ." What is all this Paul responded? "Has Christ become divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in my name?"

    They argued fiercely over whether a Gentile Christian should first become a Jew before they could be a Christian. Others debated whether or not speaking in tongues was a requirement for being saved. These debates were very intense as if salvation itself depended on who won.

    These divisions were only the beginning. The unity for which Jesus prayed began to dissolve as soon as the first Apostles began to spread out into the world to preach the gospel. And since the Reformation the divisions have only accelerated. Today there is no one church universally recognized who speaks for Jesus alone and yet, all churches claim him as their Lord and Savior.

    Jesus prays for the unity of his followers so that the world will truly know that he was sent from God. If a local congregation like Sherman here then is to connect new people to God through Christ then we need to act in unity with others rather than basing our platform on the things we do differently. For this only leads into competition with other Christians. We become embattled over which church is the true church and locked into proclaiming that 'our way' is the only way.

    We need a higher standard than the theologies and traditions that differentiate us. I'm not saying everyone should give up their theologies or traditions. I'm not saying that our roots are not important. I'm simply saying that in order to reach the 'unchurched' world out there we need a higher standard than explaining to others why we are right and others wrong.

    That higher standard is a four letter word we call LOVE. "I give you a new commandment," Jesus says, "that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."(John 13)

    Often Christians strive and argue against one another over their differences to the point where Christian unity is hardly apparent and love is missing as well. Paul might say to us then, 'was John Wesley, or John Calvin, or Martin Luther crucified for you? What is this? Has Christ become divided?'

    World Communion is meant to show the inclusive nature of God's Love revealed through Jesus despite the differences that characterize Christianity. Today for a few moments at least we transcend our differences in order to embrace that higher Truth and Standard. For our salvation does not depend on how right we think we are and how wrong others are. It depends on the one who died for all.

    "For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly… God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God."(RO 5:6,8,8)

    Jesus accepted people without preconditions through his death on the cross. Justification is a free gift from God and not something we receive after we have completed all the requirements like for a graduate degree. Think of it this way. Justification is like gravity or the earth orbiting the sun. These are facts and we can't change them. All we can do is to adjust ourselves to live in harmony with them and if we don't, well that would be very foolish indeed.

    This is exactly what we are called to do in Christ to live in harmony with the fact of God's Love.

Jesus set the standard by crossing boundaries of old prejudices against Gentiles, the sick, and unclean in order to include these forgotten ones in the family of God. And for this he ended up being executed. But the fruit of this love was the creation of a new humanity.

    "Now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both [Jews and Gentiles] into one and broke down the dividing wall of hostility between us. He has abolished the law … so that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostitlity through it. So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those were near; for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father."(Ephesians 2)

    Obviously we still have a long way to go to become that "one new humanity" Paul envisioned. As we come to receive the sacrament today then we might think of this as a foretaste of the Kingdom to come when all the divisions that cause strife and hurt among people will be done away with. And God's Love will be incarnated for all. If we start from the "fact" of justification in Christ then as Paul said, 'much more surely will we be saved through him from the wrath of God.'

    World Communion is also a time to celebrate one of our traditions as United Methodists which is inclusive and that is our practice of "open communion." We believe the Eucharist invitation comes from Jesus and not us. Everyone is welcome here then to receive the sacrament regardless of the church in which you are a member and even if you have no church home.