Scripture Passage: Matthew 10:40-42
When Pastor Michael Cordle arrived at the St. Mark’s United Methodist church in downtown Atlanta he found a struggling inner city church. Despite its rich heritage and tradition the attendance had been in decline for years. A couple of Sundays after Pastor Michael arrived he stepped outside following a service and discovered a large group of marchers parading down the street right in front of the church. Michael was seeing Atlanta’s “Pride Parade” which marches against that discrimination and hate which is particularly leveled against the gay and lesbian community. As Pastor Michael watched the steady stream of marchers go past he recognized that some of the marchers lived in the neighborhoods around the church.
The next year when the Pride Parade marchers reached the front of the St. Mark’s church they were met with an unexpected surprise. On that hot Atlanta afternoon, the church set up a stand offering free cups of cold water. Many marchers took advantage of this gesture and Pastor Michael believed that something changed in that neighborhood that day. The church actually began to grow again. The church gave cups of cold water to human beings who appreciated the gesture.
A nearby church took a slightly different approach. Knowing that the parade was coming, this church erected barricades, strung up temporary fencing and even hired a policeman on horseback to patrol the grounds which was littered with "no trespassing" signs. Obviously, then, this church sought to be good stewards of it grounds. Right?! More likely, this church did not like the people in the Pride Parade. They did not agree with them and tried to make their way more difficult by barring their passage. This church would give out no free water, no comfort at all. The message was clear.
Here's another situation. A community has two food pantries. The first food pantry has an elaborate screening process to determine who exactly is the "worthy poor." Prospective recipients at this food shelter fill out forms. If their income is too high or they receive too many benefits then they get a reduced amount of help, if any. For this food pantry the idea of giving food to people who already have enough food is a sin. It is bad stewardship. This pantry doesn't want to be ripped off. They don't want to be foolish.
The second food pantry takes a slightly different approach. There are no forms with this food pantry. If asked they will say simply, “If people are willing to humble themselves and come to our pantry, then we will never let them leave empty-handed.” This food pantry views themselves as a distributor. Their job is to get the food (of which they claim no ownership) and then distribute it to the people who ask for it. They may give food to people who already have enough food. They may get “cheated,” or behave "foolishly." But, even without guarding their supplies carefully, they always seem to have enough food for everyone who comes.
I hope that you can figure out where I fall with both of these situations. My conviction is that our church needs to welcome people. All people. We all need water. We all need food. And I believe that we all need God. When I think of God's welcome, I think of our open communion table. This is not my table. This is not the church's table. This is the Lord’s table.
There are churches who feel that it is their responsibility to guard the table. to make sure only the worthy are allowed to eat here. At first this might make sense to us, particularly if we understand God as an angry God. If we see God as judgmental and critical, looking for a reason to punish us, then guarding the table is a reasonable move to make. We don't want to let the wrong people in and invite God's wrath upon all of us.
I personally do not hold to that view of God. Now misunderstand me, I believe that God gets angry. Perhaps when we put things into our body that hurt us, or when we treat others or ourselves with disrespect, God experiences sadness or anger. And, when God sees that our behavior needs correction, God will work to grab our attention. However, I believe that even when God is unhappy it is because God always wants the best for us, and wants us to help extend that wellbeing to others. For me taking communion each Sunday is like medicine. Every single one of us here is sick. We are all hungry and in need. Communion is God's answer to our need. I’ve known people who have chosen to refrain from taking communion for a time, thinking that they aren't worthy to receive it. I don't agree with this thought. It is when we feel most unworthy, most broken, that we need the medicine of compassion and love most of all.
Imagine a person in the middle of a sinful life. But somehow in that midst of that life that person hears a call to come to church, and responds by coming, having a hunch that God might meet him or her there. Do we honestly think that taking communion is going to make his or her situation worse? When we rub up against Jesus, when we take Jesus into our lives, we do not get our dirt on Jesus. When we get around Jesus only one thing happens. The Spirit of God rubs off on us. Christ does not need protecting. We do, however, need healing. We will never change communion; communion will always change us.
It is my belief and my experience that the Spirit of God is at work at our communion table. I cannot change a heart. I cannot even change my own heart. But the Spirit of God can. This table, this church to me represents hope and a source of strength. Why would we ever turn anyone away?
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Sermon for June 26, 2011
