|

SERVED; BY THE SMALLEST JMB
< wih BSPC |
November 4, 1984 Cols, OH

Some gentle ribbing I received this week is a helpful

a

lead into the topic. \ I brought a small sack of herb bread

=e ee

to the church office one day, [ag@mweek. Now, herb bread

may be purchased at a small specialty shop in Bexley.\ For

95¢ you can get a sack full of small pieces of crisp, toasted

od

bread, heavily buttered, salted and given character by

Ce
—_— Nees at
a wonderful combination of spices. |It makes a marvelous
a ita eee ta eeenitiiiiesamemanaaeal

snack for, the car, although it is difficult not to get

the crumbs all over the seat, but worth the effort. \\ In

es

any event, I was sharing the herb bread with some of the

en EE

aS

people who work here and one of them said, good-naturedly,

| "TI suppose this is what you'll have us_using next for com-

munion."

——

cy Sus
’
& Welsj=umasshe . I assured her that Polynesian Sweet

———

ad

Bread was as far as I go, \ but the more I thought about
it the more I watned to say this _morning that what we're
= ee « ee —— Ao sre

trying to convey in some of these changes is that the sacra-

te

ment of communion is appropriately a _time of great joy

and Life,| that among other meanings, it is a family reunion

and there is a lot of laughter around the tables,\ and that

=e

it is appropriate, on occasion at least, to let that secret

out by

a

Ma claws su Yel occesim = teels Mare

t Mywnnde Un deun, Ancaa ~ we dur LAND Lae |
Mech Ar rhe lal vo ~ LO Aibs tad a rs he LAB Suby eee ee BY sivers the

A ieafl feck [Ea Feet Ltr ee

ts suds Wars > dv C vith aA Ladd

Presbyterian communion traditionally has been patterned

after the last supper. \"this is my body. \ This is my blood.

eel

Everytime you eat this bread and drink this wine, remember

me, "| said. \\ and Since he said that enm—thp—orighe=he=wes

inne a,

—Artteswed, at his last meal with his friends, on the evenign

arvet
before his execution, |we do remember all of that, profoundly,
Pox VGA
SS. deeply. \ Traditionally, our observation of

the sacrament has been careful, orderly, reverent, dignified.

It will always be so.

— =

pow’

There is evidencey that the early Christians, when

they gathered for their weekly meetings, and ate together, \ ‘
‘pass of °
last

and remembered their Lord, did not remember only the

—

i]
supper, betrayal, arrest, trial arsct crucifixion. || Of course
a — — = en nee

Sa

they remembered that sequence. \ How could they forget it.

But they also remembered breaking bread and drinking wine

with him on many other occasions: \ in modest cottages in

Galilee with good friends, and families, with children

eR nw: 6
playing and lots of eC the hillside when somehow
——=.. —_—

+
a young boy's lunch became the basis for an unforgetable

St ee

meal for thousands. | They remembered the dramatic last

— ————

supper, but they surely remembered the next meals: \\ that

Ss

supper in a road house in the town of Emmaus, on Easter

dud
evening, ‘when -#em of them invited a third traveler to eat

——o

with them - and their hearts burned within them, and when

oS

the man broke the bread for them j"their eyes were opened

and they recognized bim.”) And surely they remembered as
Se mes ce ——_

well that morning, on the beach, when his friends - exhausted
ennai —p coiaiaieaaaaaiiaiaii!

ed

from fishing all night<* were summoned to the shore by a

ee

man who had started a fire, a man who cooked them breakfast

and who, again in the communion of eating together, they

nn — ae
recognized as the Risen Christ.
Y ain. =<

SH fhe early church, when it gathered for the Sacrament

— —

of the Lord's Supper, remembered the night of his arrest

a

and also the morning of his resurrection. || nd so the church,

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early in its history, when it gathered at table, remembered

the Lordship of Jesus Christ over all of life, even death.

— —_———_.,

And as they ate the bread and drank the wine they were
——EoEEee ie

reminded of the goodness and bounty of a whole ae

———-. —

redeemed by their Christ and so called the occasion Eucharist

—

- Thanksgiving. \| And as they ate together, they were deeply

a

aware of the relationship they enjoyed with one another;

Hs

an

anothername—-_t

a tows ef Persecol~ at crmsrant Poteat- qftlan th.

outheccty, te \hrel \ife & death inpluehis of
AWA rela herp : Awd S6 AL OCCesimn yg Wr coe tL.

a

Aan — ad Fy caled it Comrimenion

FL Ceci Brae ¢
TVhawks vey

CA WMA

—

When we celebrate the Sacrament it can appropriately

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have any of those meanings, or all of them, or meanings

| namie ee

deeply personal and nearly indescribable. \\ tt is not possible
ee

Cn re

for me to commune without remembering the beloved people
ee ee ——

with whom I have broken bread and shared the cup and with
rer

whom I an Tam very much in relationship still, even though

some are gone, ears sone.

I invite

u to come to le, in

¥
yf,

that spirit, Spirit, rec ° Aa t.’su yeas
a ; / , buey
recalling his leviigy tainting, Aliyening presence ae

All are invited today: all ages \| Fanilies are invited

a

to come to table together:{ and those of us who do not

have family members here are invited to be a family with

i

one another.

Customarily, children - before their confirmation
and joining the church - were not included in Presbyterian
Ce —_——— ts

conmunion.|\ That has changed now. | Baptism makes a person
i, — — —

part of the ehurch. \ What happens in adolescence is confirma-

tion of that event and commissioning to adult service and
———

—_—

discipleship. \\ conmupion is for the whole family of the

Ci al
—

er

church and it is now the responsibility of parents to decide

when their children, may participate. \\Phey are welcome

nnn
to join us at the table whenever we celebrate communion.
They are particularly welcome today. ea EER.

en ay

Rie SPACE. Cerore cern

Welt \@r4 Pre

agerwVa

D eaas ree the lease apts Hoo
ont Ae ene & 5, Merk he

ee

— | dical—~or—revotutionary— passage
—than—this: “Hg who” is greatest among you shall be your

Git ww 5 on ah
servant; A exalté hate will be humbled, and wheever

—

humbles Sack will be exalted."

The contrast between those words and the people to

whom he said them could not be more sharply drawn. || For

some “ had, been under interogation by the religious
1a Wiles @coowst

—_ FN TOC, ate! PUAA. WAS sree
wf D> Aw deux SY get

L aFn hw “See wit YC Gourds .
— A, \omd of bus oe of Saris «bf.
is foo Win eu whr Ma, Ti au We wed

——oy Authorities — es the Scribes and Phar ee Th 4;
Ghat Sty aan — _—
Ca hasebaeen a a question thesask - often a trick question-—

hace, Ben brie , C
Br. “Pog his response, 1s ete ds avoiding the trap, “Is it

—
ard exposing their. hypocricy® The tension is mounting, Atte

(u>* Matthew wants us to understand, and at chaptef 2%, Jesus) 4 (ec.

\
(a \s takes the offensive. It's going to cost him his life.
U ont going
——. vor... ae
{ua "Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees") he ye elle seven times

ir

-=~each time exposing hypocricy. | [me passage | _we—are—aasaieing

ee Sens is the introduction to Bion B68: woes.

We * i here
ciate me

A

_

was much about the Scribes and Pharisees that was admirable»,

and—that_ Jesus was not opposed to institutional religion.

a

“s-

What he didn't like and exposed was hy pocr a9
—————— A

piaieiai

we hear him describe sarcastically | / some -Sewtbes

and_—Phertsees usel their ‘religiosity in order to gain pres-
=> fa —

tige.| The small leather pouches containing words of sscrip-

ture which good Jews were to wear around forehead and on

forearm - called Phyacteries, didn't need to be elaborate,
_With fancy feinge - unless their purpose was to attract
attention. /And the public recognition they received, | the

professional courtesies and clergy discounts and the seats
es a

of honor at banquets. . —<—_———————

Air uAduotandebl, Wowan adkeding to {hee
Te Xe pares th, (ada wad ui
ok_v uit < Nea burdew | pe 7 Sela “Ss
ort aul Watts + SE f pee wu Wye Usus

th ren Pe en qe 144. 77x- -

be like a child to enter God's kingdom," he said once.

and is - he turned upside down the

traditional way of thinking about things so that the attri-

ee

butes of childlikeness, innocence, weakness, wonder, humili-

ty, suddenly become the characteristics of God's in 4 _———»

Jesus never said it was wrong to want to be great.
a
He simply changed the definition of greatness - and forever
became a radical critic of the world's inevitable conclusions

ee
on the topic. \"‘who is greatest among you will be your
ee,

m
servant. — ——

a Thik briefly thauk- “Tex wa Mates

do de hauiore[ wade( fy AL Chrate Ch ~
thal EE eyctagts en

Vicwdule of Tramcctivs | fualys.
Si hidden 7

TT

Hue Missin ius pu < Deck

SN

We | You Lau Mod | You, Taper
Child LL ferk suqquils “Gb aay
f AL pean ov He Aeply
Puledded W Bor Colle,

Sel

Wes don ~ Qs leer ) teat flat

wml, WU {thats

fe \ that the twifr horrors of the physical abuse of children ,

—————_—

Sf in-tkteeewberre, and their use as objects of sexual stimula-

—_

tion and gratification in a very lucrative pornography

market, ought to be forcing eveeryone of us to translate

our discomfort and rage into some critical analysis of

the way we think. [1've_never forgotten. for instance,

a vignette I discovered reading some history once, that

there were native American tribes whose phrase to identify
the European settlers vas. (“chose who strike their chil-

dren." At least for those native Americans, it was an

appalling concept, that children would be physically hurt

by adults. L

Missildine
observes that "
t “our culture requires constant

moral judgment of child ‘
ren as m1 a rf * es ae
good" or ‘bad while other

( . 3 .

up in ae kin izd
d of moralizing attitude that is burdensome

to children." and that "

our traditional cultural view

belittles childhood and everything about it." (33-34)

—

Woader ; iwc = ~sewslaracity ~ BAW bal Velud -
Te Gs Yel = Guature rs defer by
( a

SUWAC Te wit \J icc UerSa .

th Neo — + es Werfed Way

Ln Grbs Vegan, th gefts oF uld hbews ~

4

The contrast is-stttT dramatic. The symbols of great-

=

ness for us are powerful; service is what others provide

subtle articula-
a

télevisién commer -

for the great. Ong of the most eloque

tion of what

cial for who’ can afford fatYlike that, a car so

y
fine and k that the owner drives the chauffer himself.
Hts There is a sense in which the teaching of Jesus will

always be proceeding in a direction opposite from teh world

on this issue. | There is also a sense in which humility,

when it becomes a behavioral goal, loses its greatness.

The service he was talking about, therefore, results when

a person has allowed Jesus Chrsit to convert - even one's
eS ena
value system - Service that is synonymous with greatness

is unselfconscious. | is simply done.
_ en eee aia.

Madeleine L'Engle wrote wisely: | the times I have

been most fully me are when I have been wholly involved

in someone or something else: [ wen I am listening rather

than talking; cooking a special, festive dinner; struggling

~— ——_

with a fugue at the piano;/ putting a baby to bed; \writing."

(The Cn — the Great- Grandmother, p- 53) “the l. bn

Gods, o. in PCA Wun Puple yh Wal
Sean! ig

It is - hue in rit — a a ee and innocence

of children. : i ‘- at. God's kingdom
‘ we
is in us when we can wonder with the capacity for astonish- ls
a cA) ee
ment and joy and laughter which we once had God's kingdom C*— : YU
7 —w- QMO? > ree”

is present when, intellectually, we define the meaning \
6
of our lives, no longer in the terms of the service others \+ L

render to us, but the service we are privileged to mean “Te

others. wel y* “ es

\w Mie

oy oe us - __ >not

pis we

So let us come to table - with children - served by
the smallest. Let us come at the invitation of him who
said - "the one who is greatest among you shall be your

servant.'' Amen.