When my daughter, Christa, was about four years old I served a two point charge. She often got up early enough to attend the first church which was about four miles from the parsonage. Her favorite part of worship was Communion. On one particular Sunday as I served her the bread, she didn't think I gave her enough and so she stood up and loudly proclaimed, "I want some more!" The congregation thought that was pretty funny, and I did give her a bit more bread. Christa's demand has stayed with me all these years and has shaped my sense of the sacrament of communion. It struck me that we should all be longing and wanting more of this bread which feeds our souls and the cup that is poured out for us so that we might go into the world. I was reminded of her actions in doing some of the preparation for this morning, as a similar story is told in the background study for the study on communion by the United Methodist Church called "This Holy Mystery." "I want some more," should be the longing of our souls … to be in constant communion with God. The sacraments are a means by which we find this connection. We begin our connection in our baptism – where we are connected to the family of God. Our journey continues as we worship and work together, and is perhaps most fully expressed when we gather to celebrate the sacrament of communion.

We continue our look at doctrines of faith by looking at the sacraments, particularly the sacrament of communion as we approach the celebration of World Wide Communion Sunday next week. It was also the one question almost everyone filling out the survey answered as something you believed was important. Our United Methodist Discipline defines a sacrament as an inward and outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace. For me that has always meant something that we participate in that is more than the sum of its parts. In sharing in the sacraments the ordinary becomes extraordinary. It is as The United Methodist study names it – "a holy mystery."

As we explore this mystery of Communion I thought it would be helpful to share a bit of history about the sacrament. First, as we read this morning from our scripture texts we share in this meal in part as a remembering of Jesus' saving actions for us. We celebrate this meal to remember that last night when the disciples were gathered together and sat at table for one last time with Jesus. It is the night when he named them as friends, showed them how to be in relationship with one another by washing their feet and gave them the commandment to love one another as he loved them. The early church continued this practice of a holy meal. The persecuted community gathered together for a full meal … sharing what they had so that all would be fed. Many in that community had lost their jobs due to their faith, had no family and would otherwise go hungry. Over time the sacrament became more ritualized. No longer do we get a full meal when we gather to celebrated communion … but even so, it is a remembering of so much more than a small piece of bread wet by some grape juice. Again, the whole is more than the sum of its parts. For there is mystery and holiness in this meal … in it there is grace … in this meal we are invited to dinner with Christ himself … and in sharing together we are sent to be the presence of Christ in the world.

For the John Wesley, the founder of our denomination, the celebration of Communion was crucial, and more than a memorial meal. Listen to some of his words:

"We have considered this Holy Sacrament as a memorial of the death of Christ, and a sign of those graces wherewith he sustains and nourishes believing souls. But this is not all: for both, the end of the Holy Communion, the wants and desires of those who receive it, and the strength of other places of scripture require that much more be contained therein than a mere memorial or representation … That it conveys grace and blessing to the true believer is evident from its conveying a curse to the profane. 'Whoever eats in an unworthy manner,' says St. Paul, 'eats damnation to himself.' … I come to God's altar with a full persuasion that these words, 'This is my body,' promise me more than a symbol; that this Holy Banquet is not a bare memorial only, but may actually convey as many blessings to me as it brings curses on the profane receiver. … Here then I wait at the Lord's table … Amen, my Lord and my God! Give me all which you show, and grant that I may faithfully keep all that you give. Bless your Ordinance and make it an effectual means of your grace. Then bless and sanctify my heart also. O, my Father, here I offer up to you my soul; and you offer to me your Son. What I offer is indeed an unclean habitation to receive the Holy One of Israel. Come in nevertheless, O Eternal Priest; but cleanse this house at your coming. I am a poor, sinful, lost creature; but such as I am, sinful and lost, I wait for your salvation. Come in, O Lord, with your salvation to a dying man and make me whole; to a sinner bound hand and foot, and release me. Come, as you did to the publican. O let this day salvation come to this house!" ("Concerning the Sacrament, As It Is a Means of Grace" is adapted from Wesley's 1745 hymnal, Hymns on the Lord's Supper, pages 12-16.)

Wesley advocated taking communion as often as possible.

Our Methodist history regarding the practice of receiving the sacrament took some peculiar twists in this country. Some of you come from United Methodist churches where communion took place only quarterly, others from churches where the practice was monthly, a few from churches where the sacrament was celebrated weekly. Why in so many places, when Wesley advocated receiving the sacrament often did we reach the place where sometimes people only received communion four times a year? And how did we reach a place where the sacrament was not a usual part of how we knew the presence of God? Some of you know this story: There was a family who gathered each year for a special dinner. They cooked a special roast. The problem was that their roast pan was too small for the roast beef they cooked, so an end of the meat was always sliced off so it would fit in the pan. Year after year this was their practice. Even after they finally got a bigger roast pan, they still sliced the end off the roast … because they had always done so. They lost sight of the fact that they had only cut the end off for practical necessity. So it is with our practice of communion in this country. When Wesley began sending lay preachers across The Pond, they were not credentialed to celebrate the sacraments. But, that was not a problem … the early Methodists received communion regularly at the Anglican churches. After the schism however, they were no longer welcome and Wesley began sending over ordained pastors. But there were not enough to go around, and so the circuit riders would make it to their assigned charges maybe four times a year. Hence the practice of quarterly communion was begun. After things became more settled and churches had their pastor available to them on a weekly basis, we became like the family with the roast pan. We forgot to adjust our practice to reflect current reality.

We bring our history to bear as we explore and celebrate the sacrament of communion. Next week we will explore further this mysterious meal that draws us together as we look at the doctrine of grace. For today know this – as we celebrate this meal, as we look towards World Wide Communion – know that we have the extraordinary gathered in these ordinary elements of bread and juice … the extraordinary is gathered together in us ordinary people. In sharing together we touch the holy. It is all here … the feast is spread for us.

Earlier this week I had a bit of time between meetings in the Ocean Grove area and decided to walk the beach for a bit. Walking along the water, my eyes automatically scanned for sea treasures in the piles left by the tides. What I almost missed, because it was on a flat expanse of wave washed sand and not where I expected it was a piece of deep blue sea glass. Collectors of sea glass will appreciate the find, for blue glass is rare these days. That find set me to thinking about all of the treasures that are, as book by a woman named Molly Wolf puts it "Hidden in Plain Sight." She opens her book with these words written by a friend of hers:

"Learn what you must learn,
Go where you must go;
When you stop running, stand still,
Listen, you will know
That you can find God where you are
Hiding in plain sight."

Deborah Griffin Bly (Hiding in Plain Sight, Sabbath Blessings. Molly Wolf, copyright 1998)

Indeed the holy is in our midst, hidden in plain sight.