Partners in Presence

Dr. David D. Young
October 7, 2007
Exodus 19: 1-9a
I Corinthians 10: 14-17
"Partners in Presence"
(The Together Look)

For the past month or so we have been exploring our Fall Sermon Series: "Opening Opportunities: Windows for Discovery" as we have viewed:
The upward look
The inward look
And the beyond look.
And today, on this World Communion Sunday, we will examine the together look. But first, I want to tell you about the husband who had been notably inattentive to his wife for many months and realized suddenly that he had not bought her a birthday present. Trying to make amends for not paying attention to her the man asked, "And what gift may I buy for the one I love most?" His wife, with rebuking sarcasm, replied, "How about a box of cigars?"

The issue, whenever we enter the doors of the church – or seriously tune into a service on the radio, is whether we will live a self-centered life or a life centered and attached to something greater than ourselves – namely God? Ultimately, each of us must answer that question individually – and respond in our relationship with God.

In our scripture lessons for this morning that Betsy Kreuter read – we are given two models in faith – Moses and Jesus. These two mentors in the faith – nurtured and developed their relationship with God continually growing in faithfulness. They recognized their individual responsibility in relating personally – not privatistically with God.

So too, is the individual, personal side of faith important for each of us. Only you, and you, and you and you and I can answer whether we will live a self-centered or a God- centered life. Fortunately, our New Testament text offers a clue consistent with the ten commandments of the Old Testament,
"Therefore, my beloved, shun the worship of idols."
And what is the bottom line of all idols? The desires of self as opposed to God. I mentioned that Moses and Jesus knew the importance of their individual faith – but the great thing about both of them was that they shared their faith with the whole community.

In our Exodus text – Moses kept going up to God on the mountain – alone. He was nurturing his individual relationship with God. But what finally happens? In verses 7 – 9 we read,
"So Moses came and called the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which the Lord had commanded him. And all the people answered together and said, ‘All that the Lord has spoken we will do.’ And Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord. And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Lo, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you."
Notice – the promise of presence comes to the community, not to an individual.
"Lo, I am coming to you, that the people may hear when I speak to you."
The together look of faith is certainly captured in our passage from I Corinthians,
"The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread."
You see, in communion we are invited to participate in the Christ-centered life – which means community – not isolation.
"For we who are many are one body."
Jesus, himself, put it straight forwardly,
"Where two or three (or more) are gathered in my name, I am there among them."
To share in communion is to literally be in union with one another and with Christ. That’s what the Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist, is all about. The term Eucharist comes from a Greek New Testament word which simply means: thankfulness and gratitude.

In the context of the Lord’s Supper it is gratitude for the gifts of bread and wine. And so we have gathered gratefully this morning in community to share in the sacrament of communion. In these moments we recognize and celebrate the presence of our Lord among us – in community – not isolation.

It was well observed once that we are each of us angels with only one wing. And we can only fly embracing each other. What a beautiful image that is! Could you imagine sitting down at home – preparing some bread and juice and trying to have communion – all by yourself? That would be a contradiction in terms.

Jesus sat down at a table with a group of his friends and communed with them. And after his crucifixion and resurrection – as they shared their experiences and talked with one another - together the disciples could see beyond the tomb to the new life which was emerging for them – because they had communed with him there in that upper room.

It is true that through the together look of faith – we too, can see more collectively – than any of us can on our own – individually. When we pool our resources, our visions, our energies, our talents and our lives together as a church – the opportunities for what we can do are incredible! And that’s the gift of the church – it receives us and nurtures our individual faiths and pulls us together in community.

Theologian Charles Swindall in his book, Dropping Your Guard: The Value of Open Relationships, provides a marvelous image when he writes,
"Every congregation…can choose to be a bag of marbles, single units that don’t affect each other except in collision. Or…a bag of grapes. The juices begin to mingle, and there is no way to extricate yourselves if you tried. Each is part of all. Part of the fragrance…{and} sometimes we ‘grapes’ really bleed and hurt."
That is what it means to participate in the blood of Christ – to share in each others' sufferings and celebrations.

As his body – we share in that kind of community. Community in the sense we are talking about comes from the Greek word Koinonia – the root of which means "common." As Christians we are partners who are not extraordinary but simply ordinary. Our participation in Christ’s presence is not exclusive but inclusive – seeking to share God’s love with all persons.

And so, it is most appropriate for us to share in Eucharist on this World Communion Sunday – offering our unity to the whole of Christ’s body – recognizing our brothers and sisters the world round.

That is a hard thing to do when so much of our life says, "Just stick to yourselves, keep your nose clean, worry about your own little corner of the world, don’t worry so much about anybody else, just keep to yourself and you will be safe and OK." But our faith affirms that we are to care, to reach out and risk for all of our brothers and sisters around this entire globe.

As individuals then, we must make a choice – to take the worldly view, on the one hand, of seeing life from a self-centered perspective – or to nurture our relationship with God through a Christ-centered choice – which definitely involves joining in the together look of faith as Partners in Presence!

In closing, these words of poet and theologian, Kenneth Patton,
"We arrive out of many singular rooms, walking the branching streets.
We come to be assured that our brothers and sisters surround us, to restore their images on our eyes.
We enlarge our voices in common speaking, and singing.
We try again for that solitude found in the midst of those who with us seek their hidden reckonings.
Our eyes reclaim the remembered faces; their voices stir the surrounding air.
The warmth of their hands assures us, and the gladness of our spoken names.
This is the reason of cities, or homes, or assemblies in the house of worship and fellowship.
It is good to be, once again, with one another."
"Partners in Presence"

Today we embrace our Lord and our future – together as his church. And today we embody the together look of faith as we celebrate communion in community!

Amen!