Dr. John Tamilio III, Pastor

© 2019, Dr. Tamilio

In an article from Ministry Matters, Ian Heston Doescher states that today, “congregations around the globe will celebrate World Communion Sunday.  Most of us have heard about World Communion Sunday but may not know much about where the celebration originated.  According to the website of the National Council of Churches, World Communion Sunday began in 1936 in the Presbyterian Church and was adopted by the Federal Council of Churches…in 1940.  Since then, the celebration has grown into an international ecumenical celebration of Christian unity.”[1]  Ecumenical is a very specific term: it speaks of the spiritual unity that should exist between Christian denominations and churches across the world.

In our culture, people often use this term to refer to the relationship between Christians and people of other faiths.  That is not ecumenism.  Interfaith dialogue is the correct term to use to refer to the unity (or lack thereof) between Christians and other religions.  Ironically, many Christians find it easier to find common ground with people of other religions than with Christians who are very different from themselves.  I, for example, can talk about theology and applying faith to various social issues with Muslims, Hindus, and Jews much easier than I can talk to Fundamentalist Christians.

On this day, however, we are called to see all Christians — be they Protestant, Catholic, or Orthodox; be they liberal, conservative, or somewhere in between — today we are called to see all Christians as our sisters and brothers united in our common faith in Jesus.

I find it interesting that this call to unity is centered around the sacrament of Holy Communion.  It isn’t about baptism, which might make more sense, seeing as in his Letter to the Ephesians Paul tells us that, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”  It might also make sense for the call to be centered on service, since outreach is a fundamental tenet of Christianity.  All of us are called to serve God in the service of others.  Why isn’t it called World Mission Day?

This unity is found at the Lord’s table for many reasons: some theological, some rooted in common sense.  Let’s look at the theological first.

Communion means many things.  Various churches and denominations have theologies that they embrace over others when it comes to this sacrament.  At its core, though, it is a meal about unification.  Through this meal, we are united in and with Christ.  Every time we come to this table, we affirm our faith in Christ — the faith that unites us with all Christians: those who are just like us and believe as we do, and those who are radically different.  It is through Jesus’ broken body and shed blood that we are made one.  We lift up and celebrate such a theology on World Communion Sunday.

But there is a more common sense way of looking at the unity that occurs at this table.  Think of your home during the holidays.  It usually includes a meal.  That meal is shared at the dining room table.  You break out the good china, silverware, and linens — and you spend all day cooking as you prepare to entertain your family members and friends.  There is something about sharing a meal together that solidifies our relationships with one another.

When I grew up, this was a daily occurrence.  At 5:00 pm every day, we would gather around the kitchen table for a home-cooked meal.  We would talk about our day, what was happening in the news, and what people had planned for the following day.  We talked about all kinds of things.  Usually, we would laugh, and sometimes we would argue.  However, we would always eat together.  This is rarer these days with both parents having to work outside the home and kids being pulled in all sorts of directions for sports, band, scouts, dance class, and a host of extra-curricular activities to make their college applications more competitive.  In a 2014 article in The Atlantic, Cody C. Delistraty notes that “the average American eats one in every five meals in her car, one in four Americans eats at least one fast food meal every single day, and the majority of American families report eating a single meal together less than five days a week.”[2]  Delistraty argues that not eating together not only deprives us of some of the only meaningful time we can spend with our families during our busy days.  It “also has quantifiably negative effects both physically and psychologically.”[3]

And it is not just about eating with our families.  Have you ever wondered why most first dates are either a movie or dinner or both?  The movie part is easy: you don’t have to talk to each other.  Heck, you don’t even look at each other!  There’s a different motive behind eating dinner on your first romantic outing.  Eating fulfills one of our basic, human needs.  Eating is also pleasurable — so the idea is that if we are enjoying a sumptuous meal, we will associate it with the person sitting across from us.

Eating is a sacred act.  Alice Reinheimer claims that eating is “a sacred act connecting us to everything else in the Universe.”[4]  Our food comes from the earth.  It gives us energy and “it colors the energy we put out to the world.”[5]  Food is a gift from God, but human action is needed, for example, to turn wheat into bread and grapes into wine.  A meal is a result of our being co-creators with God.

Is it any wonder then that we affirm our unity with all Christians over a meal?  Granted, this isn’t a Thanksgiving feast.  Here, we receive a bit of bread and we dip it in a cup.  Not exactly what we would call a meal.  However, it is a meal just the same — and it is far more symbolic than anything else.

Like family members gathered around a dining room table, we gather at Christ’s table (his altar), as do Christians across the world.  When we receive the body and blood of Christ, especially on this day, our differences dissolve.  We are one church: sisters and brothers all.

Psalm 34:8 reads, “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.”  We have tasted, we have seen, and we are blessed.  May the love that we have found at this table form a bond of unity that makes us truly realize that there are no divisions in Christ Jesus.  May we form a chorus with Christians across the globe singing the everlasting song of praise before the throne of God — a chorus of many who are one.  Amen.

[1] Ian Heston Doescher, “World Communion Sunday: How We Do It and Why,” from Ministry Matters (online), September 17, 2012.

[2] Cody C. Delistraty, “The Importance of Eating Together,” from The Atlantic (online), July 18, 2014.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Alice Reinheimer, “Eating as a Sacred Act,” from Soil & Health Library (online), September 21, 2016.

[5] Ibid.