Our Book of Discipline defines sacraments as an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace. In baptism we use water to cleanse and publicly mark a person as a child of God. In communion we take bread and juice to be the presence of God in Jesus Christ. This morning we celebrate World Wide Communion Sunday, a reminder of the whole body of Christ joined together in this sacrament. It is the one Sunday set apart in this way to have Christians throughout the world celebrating the sacrament on the same day. The celebration was started by the Presbyterian Church in 1936 as a way to lift up the unity of the church and a hope for peace in the world. The National Council of Churches picked up the celebration in 1940 and here we are this morning to continue the tradition. The first time I remember hearing about World Wide Communion Sunday an image came to mind that defines this day for me even now. It is an image of the Christian church gathering through the world to receive communion. As the sun rises and sets through the world the sacrament is being served somewhere in some fashion. In stone churches such as this one, in the wooden frame churches in rural areas, in tents, in grass huts, in foxholes, in open fields the elements are being lifted up in a continuous celebration on this day.
This morning as we lift the sacraments almost 70 years after the Presbyterian church lifted up their hopes for unity and peace we see in many places that dream unrealized. Indeed right after this day was instituted the world plunged into World War II and the holocaust was ensuing. Among and between denominations we are far from united. One of the most striking images of that for me is found in Jerusalem. There you find the church of the Holy Sepulchre built over the spot where the tomb of Jesus is thought to be. Maintained by 6 different religious groups this has become a monument to the disunity of Christendom. Because of such fighting, even the public restrooms are in disrepair because no one can agree whose job it is to clean them. The keys to the building can not be trusted to any one of the Christian groups, so they are kept by a Muslim family. Neither the unity of Christianity, nor the peace of the world has yet been realized.
But, that is not a call to throw out the dream or stop the celebration. For we are always called to be a hope-filled people working towards the Kingdom of God. We are called always to seek the things that make for peace; both within our community and then throughout the world. This morning we read from the Hebrew Scriptures what we know as the Ten Commandments. Without looking, how many of you can recite them in order? These ten commands have become for Christianity the summation of the Law. They are to the point, brief and almost simplistic. What is contained in them is a list of what pleases and displeases God. Last week we talked about rules-how they can help and how they can hinder. At their best, rules…The Law help us live together in such a way that we can fulfill the hopes and dreams embodied in our gathering this morning. Jesus said he came not to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it; he also said every bit of the Law had to be followed. He thought of the Law as a means of grace; a way of love. And at its best that is what the Law is. Even though it came to be used as a weapon against some, at its heart the Law is a call to life lived in grace and love. It was a gift given to order the life of God's people in safety, and health, and graciousness.
It is about good manners! There has been a recent interest in manners and etiquette. The downside of etiquette and manners are when they are used to make others feel excluded or not good enough to be in a certain situation. But at their best good manners are the ability to make another person feel at home. Hence the following story: At a very formal dinner there was someone not used to such fanciness. Towards the beginning of the meal the server put bowls of water with a lemon slice floating in them at each guest's plate. Not knowing exactly what to do, this particular guest assumed the bowl contained some fancy soup and began eating it. Other guests looked amused and condescending and began using their finger bowls in the proper way, while watching to see what the host would do. The host picked up his spoon and began eating his soup as well. Manners at their best.
God's manners are given to us. The Law-not a burden but a means of grace; a way of living together in a way that is pleasing to God. In them we find ways of extending hospitality to one another and to the world-in them we do our part in living out the dream embodied in our celebration this morning. A bit ago I asked how many of you could recite the Ten Commandments. If we see the Law as grace that request would be lived out in this way. We would not compete to see who could do the best. That would simply be a memory test. Law as grace would be for this gathered community to work together is seeing that we could first come up with the list of commandments, and then further it would be to see that we help each other live our lives within their framework.
Today as we gather together with Christians all over the world to celebrate the Lord's Supper, we do so in remembrance of Jesus who lived and embodied the Law, whose life was shaped by his understanding of Torah. Jesus knew the Law as grace. In his example let us go forth as those knowing the grace of God given for us, to be in the world the sign of God's presence. God's good manners have been extended to us, let us turn and extend them to the world.