So Much In Common

The Rev. Dr. Skip Ferguson

Manassas Presbyterian Church

Manassas, Virginia

October 2, 2011

So Much in Common

Isaiah 5:1-7

How many men and women

are at this very moment,

standing before pulpits in churches,

preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ?

How many have already preached the gospel

in parts of the world where morning is past?

How many are still preparing to preach the gospel

in parts of the world where the sun has yet to rise?

                 

Ten thousand?

One hundred thousand?

A million?

Five million?

Men and women,

fair skinned or dark,

brunette hair, red, blond,

fresh faced youngsters just a few years out of seminary.

or those with wrinkles luminescent with wisdom.

In how many different languages

will a sermon be preached today?

In how many different languages

will the word of the Lord be read today?

Will the rooms where the faithful followers of Jesus Christ gather

be large and bright,

alive with lights and music?

Or will they be small, dim,

simple, contemplative settings?

Will the weather outside be tinged with autumn,

or will tropical rain and wind rattle both building and worshipers?

Will worshipers lift prayers of gratitude that

the calendar is finally turning from September to October

meaning that winter will finally give way to spring?

Will the people sing with joy,

or will they sing with self-consciousness?

Will the music, however elaborate, however simple,

stir the people to dance as the Spirit fills them?

Will worshipers look up, with hands lifted as they pray,

or will they have heads bowed?

Will they punctuate the sermon with shouts of

“Hallelujah” and “Amen”?

Or will they sit quietly, hands folded,

focused, content,

calmly, peacefully drinking in the words?

Surely, children will fidget in every setting, every nation,

every culture;

surely teens everywhere will find themselves easily distracted;

surely every adult will struggle to quiet his mind, her mind,

of all those things that filled the week past,

and that will fill the week ahead.

It doesn’t matter where,

or when,

or how,

or in what place,

or in what language,

or in what nation:

the faithful come, drawn by the same Spirit,

each and all seeking comfort, renewal,

hope,

peace,

each and all eager to hear those familiar,

reassuring words of our Lord,

“Come to me, all you that are weary

and are carrying heavy burdens,

and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me;

for I am gentle and humble in heart,

and you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy,

and my burden is light.”

(Matthew 11:29)

And then after hearing the word,

the faithful will respond joyfully to the invitation:

“This is the Lord’s Table,

our Savior invites all those who trust in him

to share in this meal that he has prepared.”

One by one, yet all together

each person will take a seat at the Table,

a seat at the Lord’s Table,

each responding to an invitation that comes

not from the preacher,

not from a church or denomination,

but from our Lord himself,

an invitation that transcends languages and culture,

borders and nationalities.

The faithful of every land will find no preferred seating at the Table,

for every seat is a seat of honor.

All sit; all share,

the loaf passed around on shiny silver tray,

or cracked ceramic plate,

the setting differing,

the language differing,

the ingredients of the loaves differing,

but the promise the same:

“This is my body, given for you;

do this in remembrance of me.”

And then the cup is passed around,

gold plated, leaded crystal, sanded wood,

wine, juice made from grapes,

juice made even from rice,

the differences unimportant because again

the promise is the same:

“the blood of Christ, the new covenant,

shed for us for the forgiveness of sins.

Do this in remembrance of me.”

We have so much in common,

we followers of Jesus Christ.

We share our faith;

we share our joys, our sorrows,

our hopes and our fears.

We also share our faults,

even as we share a desire to keep our faults hidden from view,

including our fault of weak faith,

a fault we have in common with every child of God,

a fault we’ve had in common with every child of God

since Adam and Eve,

a bit of the “wild grape” in every one of us

a reminder that there is no exceptionalism

among us, only commonality.

And so we gather on this World Communion Sunday,

the rich and the poor,

the strong and the weak,

the old and the young,

all of us having so much more in common

than we realize,

for each of us is child of God,

each of us a disciple of Christ,

all of us part of the Body of Christ.

And as we take our leave from the Lord’s Table,

to return to the uniqueness that is each of our lives,

we can share one last commonality,

one last bond before we go our separate ways,

remembering the words of the Psalmist who said,

“My cup runneth over,

Surely goodness and mercy

shall follow me all the days of my life

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord

forever and ever.”

Dwell in the house of the Lord

with all my brothers and sisters.

AMEN