A Sermon Delivered by The Rev. John D. Painter at Centenary United Methodist Church Metuchen, New Jersey October 4, 2009 (World Communion Sunday)

Texts: Mark 14:22-26, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. —Mark 14:22-26, NRSV

For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. —1 Corinthians 11:23-26, NRSV
Back in the late 1970s, while I was enrolled in the Doctor of Ministry degree program at Drew University Theological School, we were asked to write a lengthy theological reflection. I no longer have a copy of that paper…or, if I do, it is buried somewhere in a box in our attic or basement—one of those boxes that is going to need to be purged as we begin to divest ourselves of four-plus decades of accumulated “stuff” in preparation for moving into our retirement home. But I remember the general theme of the paper…it was “tables.”
I recall that specifically, because I remember well the story that initiated those theological reflections. You have heard me speak on a number of occasions about Henri Nouwen, the Ro-man Catholic priest who was among the greatest spiritual writers and speakers of the 20th Cen-tury. Father Nouwen put his stamp on Christian spirituality by conveying his understanding of the belovedness of God: that we are all the beloved sons and daughters of God.
Henri Nouwen had a distinguished career as a professor at several great schools, includ-ing Harvard University. But in 1986 he turned his back on academic life to serve for the rest of his life as resident chaplain at L’Arche Daybreak Community near Toronto, Canada. Those who lived at Daybreak were primarily persons with severe mental and physical developmental dis-abilities. And Henri Nouwen fully immersed himself in his life and ministry among these be-loved sons and daughters of God.
One thing concerned him almost from the beginning, and that was the shape and height of the Altar Table in the Chapel at the Daybreak Community. The Altar Table from which the Sac-rament of Holy Communion was served was very high, and most of the residents at the commu-nity who came to service were wheelchair bound. They were unable to see the paten and chalice; they could not fully appreciate or feel included in the Eucharistic experience.
Henri Nouwen turned to the director of the wood shop at Daybreak and asked him to cre-ate a new Table for the Chapel…one which would be large enough to hold a good-sized glass chalice, a generous paten for the bread, and some flowers…Father Nouwen always sought to bring the beauty of nature into the Sacrament. And he wanted the Table to be much lower, at a reasonable height for persons who were confined to wheelchairs. So the wood shop director, and the students who worked him learning the trade, began the early stages of the project.
Several months passed, and the wood shop director finally came to Father Nouwen and said that the Table had been completed. The director took Henri Nouwen back into the wood shop to show him the new Table and to seek his approval before moving it to the Chapel. It was perfect! Large and low, the top of the Table was made of a single piece of cherry wood polished to a brilliant sheen. It had something of an irregular pattern to it, not precisely rectangular, but with a number of different angles. Yet, with its rich grain and deep color, it was far more beauti-ful than Henri Nouwen had even imagined.
Father Nouwen asked the director of the wood shop where he had gotten such a large piece of cherry wood for the Table. And the wood shop director shared with Father Nouwen that he and his students had searched diligently for some time for just the right piece of wood, and when they found it, it was among a large pile of deformed or damaged pieces of wood that had been thrown into the back of the wood shed…it was a piece of discarded wood that was to be used for scrap and then thrown out at some point.
Henri Nouwen could scarce believe his ears, or the way in which the grace and provi-dence of God had been at work in the creation of this magnificent Table. Here he was, the Chap-lain in a community of persons whom society had, in effect, discarded because of their deformi-ties and disabilities. And here was this new Table which would be at the center of their worship and sacramental life together, a table that symbolized their brokenness, as well as their unique wholeness as beloved sons and daughters of God. That which had been discarded had been re-deemed and made new…just like each one of those children of God at Daybreak.
I remember being profoundly moved by this story, and the Table of Holy Communion as well as so many of the other tables in my life…the tables of meals and meeting, the tables of fel-lowship and mediation, the tables of writing and merchandizing…all took on new meaning for me. So I wrote my theological reflections around the theme of those tables. But most especially around the central Table of Eucharist.
It is to this Communion Table we come this morning, drawn by the grace of that same God who sees us as beloved sons and daughters. It may look different from other Communion Tables throughout this world today to which our sisters and brothers in Christ have been coming since early last night…and still will be coming for several hours after we leave this Sanctuary today. But whatever form or shape the Eucharistic Table, the blessings are the same.
As much as that newly-created Table at the center of the Daybreak Community’s Chapel symbolized the redemption and wholeness of those who received the gifts of bread and cup from it, so I pray that this Table here at the front of our Sanctuary will remind us that we share this Sacrament this morning with the people of the world. In every sense, the world is at our Table, even as we are present at a multitude of Tables throughout the world.
Here at this Table we all encounter Jesus Christ, a Savior who has come to seek and to save the lost and to heal the broken. Here at this Table we meet a God who loves us without lim-its—One who reaches out to, seeks for, and redeems those whom the world so often tends to dis-card and reject. Thanks be to God!
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PRAYER
Lord Jesus Christ: Around your table we celebrate our communion with fellow Christians everywhere, in all ages, and even beyond the present age.
We praise you for ministers, missionaries and dedicated Christians in other callings, thanks to whose commitment the Good News has by this time been preached in every corner of our globe; and we pray for the churches of the world, working to sustain those who believe and to continue the outreach to those who have not yet welcomed you into their lives.
We glorify you, gracious Lord, for the wonderful diversity within your ecumenical church: for denominations of millions of members and tiny cells of Christians meeting wherever they can, often under persecution; for enormous congregations in East Asia and Africa, where hymns we have grown up with are being sung, raptly, in languages impenetrable to us; and for English-speaking ecumenical congregations meeting in scores of faraway, foreign capitals. We thank you for all manner of denominations and congregations that “keep the story going.”
Risen Lord: We give you thanks “for all the saints who from their labors rest”: women and men who fought the good fight, bore their witness, and are now honored members of the church triumphant. And we pray that, by your grace, we, too, may be received into that church when our time comes. For being “the church’s one Foundation,” we magnify your holy name. Amen.
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