Bible Text: Mark 10:13-16 | Preacher: Rev. Jenn Geddes
The Reverend Stephen Farris, the past moderator of General Assembly shared a story at Canada Youth that has left an impression on me. He recalled a former professor ask in reference to Jesus’ words, “whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it”, “Why like a little child?” One student raised their hand and answered with confidence that it is because little children are naturally good and innocent. The professor replied, “You don’t have any children do you?” Someone else stated, “Because children are all so humble.” The professor asked, “Have you ever stood outside a schoolyard during recess and listened to the children? I’m the king of the castle and you’re the dirty rascal! Not very humble.” Other students hypothesized about the statement but each came up short. Then the professor reached into his pocket, pulled out his wallet and extracted a $20 bill. He walked over to a student who was the toughest, most hard-nosed guy in the class and gave the bill to this student. The student looked uncomfortable. The professor said, “You don’t like me giving this to you without any terms, do you? If I asked you to come over to my house to do some yard work and I paid you for your work, you wouldn’t mind at all. But when I just give it to you we are suspicious. But what happens if I gave this money to a child?” Stephen Farris then said that no other words were necessary- everyone could picture a child reaching out a hand to receive the unearned gift, a child would think it the most natural thing in the world to receive a gift.
Children accept gifts with joy, possibly with thanks and without any thought toward why they are receiving the gift. Somewhere along the line we grow sceptical of such unearned gifts. We know that there is always fine print, we know there is always a hidden agenda, we know there is always a catch. There is no such thing as free. Perhaps that is what Jesus meant when he said that “whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” Grace is a gift we can never earn but it is also a gift with no hidden agenda, no fine print. Grace is not based on how best you perform a task or whether you come out on top. Grace simply is there for us- let me rephrase that- Grace simply is given to us. Much like the meal we are about to receive- we don’t ask for it, it is just given.
In communion the bread and drink are simply given to us. We do not need to understand fully what they represent, we do not need to be perfect, we do not even need to ask. They are simply the gifts of God for the people of God- simple bread and simple juice- set apart to represent a great gift, which unifies us as one body. It is vital for us to celebrate this meal together as an expression of the grace received. I recently learned a few interesting points about communion.
Did you know that in ancient times, to break bread with someone was to enter into a covenant relationship with them. If you had a meal with someone it meant that you were entering a deep and trusting relationship. In fact, our English word, companion, is derived from two Latin words, “com” which means “with” and “panis”, which means bread. Therefore a companion was someone with whom you broke bread. There was a great social responsibility with regards to food within the Bible as well. To have dinner with someone meant you were friends forever. To eat together was viewed as such a big moment in a relationship that it also disqualified you from openly testifying against the friend in a court of law.
Today is World Communion Sunday- meaning that congregations around the world are participating in this meal. I can say with a fair amount of confidence other Presbyterian churches not only within this country but throughout the world are enjoying this meal together, with us, as companions in Christ. But I can also say that other Christian denominations are gathered together around this table, with us, as companions in Christ. While we may not, yet, be able to have communion as a unified faith, we are able to celebrate it together in our own ways, this day. Which tells me, if we are all celebrating this unearned gift, receiving this unearned food, joining together as companions in this meal, it means we can not or at least should not be testifying against each other but rather we are bound together in the body of Christ. It makes little difference what our doctrine is (this is a pretty big statement coming from someone who just returned from Church Doctrine Committee meetings!), it makes little difference how mature our faith is from that of our neighbours, it makes little difference whether we have been coming to this congregation for the full twenty years or are new this Sunday. As we eat together these simple gifts we recognize our vertical relationship with God and our relationship with one another (shape of the cross). Christ is found in our companions, throughout the world of Christian faith, and Christ comes to us with gifts- may we be like children and receive them with joy, excitement, and without reservation. Amen