In This Sign Is Fellowship And Union                                  10/3/48

 

Scripture:  John 17

 

Text:  John 17: 21;  “That they may all be one ... that the world may believe that Thou hast sent me.”

 

Countless Christian souls find a peace which passes ordinary mortal understanding in the communion service.  It isn’t that there is any magic about a tiny piece of bread or a sip from the cup.  These are no gruesome portions of human flesh and blood.  They are a reminder that flesh and blood once suffered together with spirit, in acute agony, for us all.  But they are symbols of love and devotion, of integrity and sacrifice, of faith and forgiveness.

 

In approaching this simple table we are acutely reminded of our shortcomings, our sins of omission and commission, our unfulfilled dedications.  We are reminded of the boundless, forgiving love of the Eternal God.  We consecrate our lives to new, and renewed Christian service in the spirit of joyful thanksgiving.  We remember our kinship with all others who similarly remember that they are children of the Universal Father, desiring to do His will.

 

Especially do we remember this last fact on World-Wide Communion Sunday.  Not that we all undertake to observe the ceremonial form in a standardized manner.  Children are not alike in all respects.  Brother differs from brother and sister from sister in the same family even though conscious of the relationship that makes them kindred.

 

But, each after the manner to which he is accustomed in his own church, approaches the table of the Lord on this day in renewal of faith, in consecration to God, in spiritual fellowship with all other Christian folk.  Not with weeping, except for our sins, but with deep rejoicing do we make ourselves present this day in a great family reunion about the table instituted on the Father’s behalf by our Lord and Elder Brother, Jesus Christ.

 

(1)  Here we remember Jesus’ vision and prophecy that his gospel would spread throughout the entire world.  He came to his own.  Some received him and many did not.  But he was concerned, not only with his own neighborhood, country or race, but with all mankind of every neighborhood, class and condition, and of all the ages of history.  His truth is the eternal truth, and he expected it to be proclaimed throughout all the world.  “I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me.”  [John 12: 32].  “Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” 

[Matthew 28: 19].

 

The message spread slowly at first, though surely.  For centuries, the Christian faith secured a foothold only on the continents of Europe and North and South America.  In Africa, Asia and Australia it made little impression.  But during the last century and a half, the great missionary awakening of the Christian churches has carried Christ’s name and message all over the world.  Now, though it is by no means equally strong all over the earth, the seeds of Jesus Christ’s gospel have been planted in every part of the world and are taking root.  They now need careful and consecrated continuing nurture.

 

Dr. Kenneth Scott Latourette says with truth, “Never before in the history of the race has any group of ideas; religious, social, economic or political, been propagated over so wide an area or among so many people by so many who have given their lives to the task.”  Merely to glance at the pictures on the second page of today’s church calendar is to be reminded of the vast fellowship, across barriers of race, nation, language, custom and creed, yet with no barrier in spirit, which is ours in this World-Wide communion observance.

 

(2)  Here we remember the essential unity we have in Christ as our common Lord.  Powerful and terrifying forces divide peoples today, often with evil determination.  But Christianity brings people together in a unity of understanding.  In 1938 at Madras, India, Japanese and Chinese Christians mingled in precious fellowship.  Their governments and armies were at deadly warfare with each other.  But there in Christian fellowship at Madras these Christians knew their kinship.

 

The first civilian delegation to Japan from the USA after cessation of hostilities at the close of World War II went out as a deputation from the Church in the United States to reestablish contact with the Church in Japan.  The official report of that delegation describes the first meeting of these two groups in these words:  “Our first experience with the Japanese Christians brought us emotions which will remain fresh in our memories as long as we live.  We did not know how we should be received by them for, regardless of the issues out of which the war had emerged, we were citizens of a conquering country whose military might had wrought unprecedented damage and havoc upon the cities of Japan.  It was on our first morning, even before our arrival in Tokyo had been announced, that we went to the YMCA building and there met Mr. Saito, the interpreter, and some of the officers of the Church of Christ in Japan who had come in from their headquarters across the street.  We shook hands and said little.  Feeling ran too deep for words, but in that moment we knew that our fellowship in Christ remained unbroken, and that the cleavage in our relations occasioned by the war could be repaired, and would be.”

 

(3)  We remember here, in this sanctuary, that Christians all over the world believe that in this observance we find unity in our common Lord.  And this unity is articulated and meaningful.  The sacrament is sometimes associated with quarrels and dissensions among Christian brethren.  Probably it is still ecclesiastically necessary in such world-wide conferences as that at Amsterdam last August, to have Communion celebrated in at least three forms; that is after the manner of the Eastern Orthodox churches, the Anglican churches, and the Evangelical Protestant groups.  But the very fact that it is observed, though in varying forms, at such gatherings, is evidence that there is unity of spirit in the expectation of Christ’s presence.

 

There, then, are essential meanings of this World-Wide Communion Sunday.  If we approach this table with these meanings in mind, our sense of fellowship and union with all other Christians will be deepened.  And our appreciation of the greatness and the victory of the Christian cause will be enriched.

 

So let it be for us today.

 

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Delivered in Wisconsin Rapids, October 3, 1948