By Charlie Fuller
When I was executive pastor at First Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., we had a set of flags representing the nations of the world. We would place them in hangers above our heads all the way around our sanctuary and leave them up from Pentecost until World Communion Sunday. The many colors and designs were stunning as a contrast to the massive expanse of the high stone walls of the church. They were a sign of welcome to people coming to our nation’s capital to visit as well as to our international neighbors who lived nearby and worked at the embassies that dotted the neighborhood.
Today is World Communion Sunday for us here in Texas as well, and as I ponder what that means, I think of those flags. While each one was distinctive, the flags also had much in common. They were made from similar, if not identical, fabric. They were all the same size. They were hung at the exact same angle. While each one was unique, they were more alike than they were different.
World Communion Day is an opportunity for us to view each other across the many ways of being Christian as more alike than different. Some celebrate Communion with plates passed down the row, some by intinction, some are served by a minister or priest. Some call it Communion, some the Lord’s Supper, some the Eucharist. We have different colors, designs and ways of living out the gospel, but the goal of gospel living is the same. We share the spiritual DNA of Jesus.
As the Apostle Paul said in his letter to the church in Ephesus, “I, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace: there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:1-6 NRSVue).
As Paul says, today we celebrate ONE communion. Christ’s table is not your normal table. As we eat at Christ’s table today, we share a table not only with those who surround us in this room, but with others who gather around this same table all around the world.