As the World Turns
Rev. 21:22-27
10-7-07
In a number of denominations, including United Methodism, the first Sunday of October is observed as "World Wide Communion Sunday" or "World Communion Sunday." The day is a call for all Christians -- of whatever background -- and of whatever theological tradition -- to recollect that we are, in fact, one in Christ and that the table we receive from and communion at is God's table, not our own. I am captivated by the image of men, women and children of every language, color and nationality gathering in fields, straw huts, brick schools, wooden shacks and stone cathedrals, and praising God and entering into both a physical and spiritual communion with one another as the planet turns under the gaze of the sun and the stars that God has placed over us all.
On its Web site, the National Council of Churches USA states that World Communion Sunday (originally called World Wide Communion “Sunday) originated in the Presbyterian Church (USA). It goes on to say this: “In 1936, for the first time, the first Sunday in October was celebrated in Presbyterian churches in the United States and overseas. From the beginning, it was planned so that other denominations could make use of it and, after a few years, the idea spread beyond the Presbyterian Church.”
“The Department of Evangelism of the Federal Council of Churches (a predecessor body of the National Council of Churches) was first associated with World Wide Communion Sunday in 1940 when the department’s executive secretary, Jesse Bader, led in its extension to a number of churches throughout the world.”
“Today, efforts to promote World Communion Sunday are carried out by participating denominations, and several produce materials geared toward this observance.” In the United Methodist Church, we receive a special offering on World Communion Sunday for ethnic minority students.
Thinking about how the world turns and remembering our brothers and sisters on the other side of the world, I remember my time in Japan. In the small city where I lived, there would be a parade each year at the castle. People would dress in historical costumes with men riding horses, and woman and other men walking and representing the various lords of the castle over hundreds of years. It was a very colorful and enjoyable event. It was a picture of how things had been. The glory of the ages processed in front of us. In the book of Revelation, Christian hope is described in beautiful pictures. We learn how it is God’s intent to save the high points of humanity, that the riches and wonders from all nations will be gathered into the New Jerusalem.
One of these pictures in John’s vision reminds me of the castle parade. It’s told about the city of God, the New Jerusalem. A parade of all peoples of the earth will approach the city and walk through the gate. People will bring into the city the glory and the honor of the nations, the text says.
Earlier in my ministry, my rural congregation would have a the thanksgiving feast at the church during the fall. We went in a procession and brought potatoes, carrots, apples and cabbage into the sanctuary. Then we thanked God for everything that grows in the field. But it’s not only the harvest of the farmland that’s God’s gift to us. God has blessed us with the gift of imagination and creativity, which has been displayed in many great achievements.
Consider the Eiffel Tower, Monticello, the Bay Bridge and tunnel. I don’t say we should try to bring it into the church, but isn’t man God’s trusted and co-creator? Don’t we feel God’s finger when we listen to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony or look at Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa”? And what about the wonders of technology and the progress of medicine? Are not all the achievements of the human culture ultimately God’s gifts? People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.
Christian hope is not about the evacuation of the soul to a heavenly realm, far away from all things that are earthly, sinful and evil. No, the earth and all in it belongs to God. It’s not inferior, nor should it be despised. When God one day will make everything new, it doesn’t mean he will throw this world in the rubbish dump.
Just the opposite: God will renew and cleanse what he once created and make it perfect as it once was in his mind. In this, there is an enormous acknowledgement of what is created, the fruit of our labor. It is God’s recognizing smile at a culture that, in spite of all its weakness, has provided life and growth in this world. On these premises, Christianity is a remarkable earthly religion.
At an Olympic opening ceremony, history and mythology are sometimes featured. When people will bring into the city of God the glory and the honor of the nations, I envision that great human achievements will be displayed. Maybe Nelson Mandela’s fight for equal rights for the races in South Africa will be dramatized. The Jesus who praised the peacemakers will receive as an offering all the effort to create reconciliation and peace in this world. God will be honored by the fight for justice, by food and clothes brought to the needy ones, by comfort given to the grieving and sick ones.