We are Each Other’s Bread and Wine
no. 6
by James M. Lapp
Salford Mennonite Church
Harleysville, Pennsylvania, May 4, 2008
Recently I participated in a peace witness in Washington DC. About 3000 of us met on a Friday evening at the National Cathedral for nearly two hours of worship together. We then went out into the cold wind and rain to walk together to the White House to give witness to the urgent concern we felt about the war in Iraq. We carried tiny lamps as signs of hope in the darkness of night. After walking perhaps two miles, we circled the White House singing, holding our small lights as a witness against the dark shroud of war that hangs over our nation. Likely the President was not at home the evening we encircled his house, but this did not deter the enthusiasm of those who walked in an orderly way to give voice to the depth of their convictions. It was one small witness for peace in a disordered and fragmented world.
I have occasionally participated in other gestures designed as a witness for peace, such as redirecting that part of my federal taxes devoted to past, present and future wars to ministries of compassion. I have joined with countless others in writing letters to congressional leaders to call for refocusing of national priorities toward peaceful activities and to give witness to my faith in Jesus the Prince of Peace. I realize these actions may seem strange and perhaps even reprehensible to some of you. Many Christians agree that war does not represent God’s intention for humankind, but too often we sit back in helplessness not knowing what to do about it.
Our scripture text this morning from John 17 calls us to another kind of witness, one in which all of us can participate. Perhaps you noticed the word “peace” is not found in this Scripture. But I see the theme of peace writ large in this fervent prayer of Jesus, set in the context of the Last Supper and the betrayal of our Lord. The prayer opens many themes for us to consider, but on this Communion Sunday, I will focus on one phrase Jesus repeats several times in the prayer: “…so that they may be one, as we are one” (v 11); “….that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given I have given them, so that they may be one as we are one.” (vv. 21-22)
Jesus’ clear mission in the world was to communicate God’s love and grace for the brokenness of humankind. How could people come to know and believe in him as the Savior sent from God? In this prayer Jesus prays that his followers might be one “so that the world may believe.” Here, sisters and brothers, is a profound peace witness – the unity of the body of Christ, the oneness of those who claim to be disciples. The capacity of others to believe in the message of Jesus is directly related to how we as God’s people relate to one another. And the communion table serves as a focal point for this witness in the world. You see, when we are able to gather at the table of the Lord, and hereby testify to our oneness in Christ with each other, this action becomes the foundation to a witness that extends beyond these walls and into the world around us. I wonder how many of us have considered that communion is at the core of our peace witness?
There is no disguising the disunity of humankind, and sadly too often the church represents the same discord as the society around us. Our son sent us the humorous story of a woman who walked into a post office to buy stamps for her Christmas greetings. When she asked the clerk for some stamps he responded, “What denomination of stamps do you want?” The woman was incredulous and could hardly believe what she heard. “Oh good heavens!” she exclaimed. “Have we come to this? Well, give me 50 Baptist and 50 Catholic and 10 Methodist.” The problem of division in the church is, of course, not only between the scores of denominations in our world, but within the denominations themselves. Just how many varieties of Pentecostals, Baptists, Episcopalians, and Mennonites are there? What kind of witness to peace do Christians give with such fragmentation?
Now the fact is that some of this same disunity was already present at the Last Supper. At the table Jesus spoke about one who would betray him, and at some point he dismissed Judas, likely to the confusion of the other disciples. Somewhere in that same setting Luke reports (22:24-27), “A dispute arose among them as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest.” Was it these very experiences at the Lord’s Supper that resulted in Jesus’ strong prayer for unity in John 17? He knew full well that unless they came together in oneness the likelihood of others believing in God’s offer of love and grace would lack credibility.
Unfortunately what Jesus experienced at the table also occurred in the emerging church after Jesus’ ascension. Paul describes one scene of such disunity in I Corinthians 11. Apparently their custom was to have a meal together prior to their observance of the Supper. Their gathering was anything but united – some ate too much and others went hungry. Some got drunk and created a ruckus. Paul soundly chastised them for violating the spirit of oneness with which God’s people are to come to the table. As a result Paul urged them to engage in self-examination before coming to the table so they might truly be ready to participate in this holy occasion. Otherwise, he warns, they will bring judgment on themselves.
For these reasons the church in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th centuries after Jesus developed a practice that at the Lord’s Supper the leaders called the members to be at peace with one another and to deal with any unresolved breach in the fellowship of the body. The final act before receiving the communion emblems was the “kiss of peace,” a gesture that signified they indeed were at peace and could with integrity share in the body and blood of Christ.
This seems reminiscent of Mennonite practice from my boyhood when, prior to communion, we were asked to testify to our peace with God and with one another. Now I confess that this introspective preparation at communion created a certain fear and guilt in my tender conscience. Apparently others felt similarly, and over time we often personalized communion without a formal ritual of expressing our peace with God and each another. Would it be helpful to recover some version of the “kiss of peace” as a witness to our deeper oneness and readiness to receive the sacred emblems of our Lord?
You see, if we truly wish to give a witness for peace in the world around us, our witness needs to be grounded in a genuine sense of peace with God and with each other as disciples of Jesus. Otherwise our language of peacemaking lacks integrity and substance. Our greatest witness to peace is rooted in the peace we embody in our life together as the body of Christ. I see the Scriptures making an inseparable connection between our relationships in the body of Christ, and our witness in the world.
So in Jesus’ prayer following the Supper, he prays that they will be one in order that the world might believe. And the ritual Jesus offers us for nourishing our oneness and fostering a deep sense of unity is to gather around the communion table. It is at the table that we stand on common ground with one another as recipients of God’s love and grace in Christ. It is at the table that we are reminded of the price by which this grace has been made available in the broken bread and in cup of suffering poured out in our behalf. It is at the table that we declare we want to walk in the footsteps of Jesus in a life of forgiveness and grace toward others. At the Lord’s Table we signify that we are choosing the example of Jesus in place of the violence and retribution so common in our world. And this witness for peace is grounded in a oneness demonstrated in our readiness to stand side by side at the table where none other than our Lord is the host.
What is the character of this oneness for which Jesus prayed and that we express at the communion table? Surely, it does not mean we all think alike or that we all have the same preferences. It does not mean we always agree and never have conflicts or differences among us. Communion does mean we will extend grace and forgiveness toward one another when things disappoint us, and we will seek to keep trust even if things don’t go our way. At some deep level we will embody the seven-fold oneness of which Paul wrote to the Ephesians: one body, one spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, “one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all” (4:4-6). Such oneness exceeds congeniality and cooperation and connects us to a real oneness in Christ that is foundational to being the body of Christ.
What we do at the table this morning ritually testifies to something far greater than a small morsel of bread and taste of juice. The reality comes in how we treat each other away from the table and the feelings we show to one another in our every day life. But it is at the Lord’s Table that we witness to our oneness in God’s grace and our desire to exhibit the Spirit of Jesus in our life in the church, in our homes and marriages, in our places of work, and in a life of service in the world. And it is this life of unity in the grace and love of Christ that makes it possible for others to believe and come to a similar faith.
The song popularized in the 1960’s says it well: “They’ll know we are Christians by our love, yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.” This love and grace of Christ sometimes shows up in the most unexpected settings – such as the shooting of ten Amish girls at the West Nickel Mines Amish School in Lancaster County on October 2, 2006. What an amazing story of God’s grace emerged from that tragic event, especially the attitude shown by the Amish toward the family of the shooter. What many found so surprising was that the Amish could so quickly express forgiveness in the face of such calculated and rampant violence. I understand that one Amish grandmother, when asked if their forgiveness was orchestrated, laughed and said, “You mean some people actually think we had a meeting to plan forgiveness?” In his recent small book, Forgiveness (Herald Press, 2007), John L. Ruth describes the spiritual roots for this uncalculated response, which is grounded in worship and a way of life practiced for hundreds of years.
Grace and forgiveness are indeed a decision – and at times a tough decision. Even the Amish would not say it was easy. But their response was rooted in a prior decision about how one lives and behaves, regardless of the circumstances that arise.
At the communion table today we will again be given the opportunity to nourish the spirit of forgiveness and grace so that when we leave the table we are prepared for whatever challenges we face in living out the grace and peace of Christ in the world. At this table we express our deep peace and oneness, and this witness to our peace with God and with one another will go with us into a multitude of opportunities to practice and live out this peace. As we make this peace witness at the table this morning, may we go forth this week to live this witness with integrity — wherever and with whomever God brings across our path. Amen.