Pilgrimage for World Communion Sunday...

NOTE:  Here are my worship notes for this coming Sunday, October 7th 2012 - World Communion Sunday.  We are going to share an experiential mini-pilgrimage this day where children and adults will both commune and then move throughout the Sanctuary to other "bread for the journey" stations.  Different breads from around the world will be offered as folk make a silent pilgrimage together.  Afterwards, we'll check in to see what was going on within and among us during this embodied prayer.

Introduction

Today is our celebration of World Communion Sunday – a Eucharistic feast for the whole family of God – even though most of God’s family in the Christian Church is prohibited from sharing Holy Communion with one another:  Romans can’t feast with Protestants, Eastern Orthodox can’t commune with Catholics, many Baptists won’t come to the table with those who haven’t been “born again” and a whole gaggle of self-proclaimed “spiritual but not religious” people don’t even think it is necessary to show up at worship with others – let alone come to the communion table – so they mostly eat by themselves.

·       It is a weird celebration that is simultaneously about being together and being nourished by God’s grace in community, as well as a reminder of all the different ways God’s people set up barriers to feasting with the Lord.

·       Jesus may have been clear when he told his disciples, “Don’t push these children away. Don’t ever get between them and me.  These children are at the very center of life in the kingdom. And mark this:  Unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in.”  But most of those who follow Jesus act like the Master got it wrong and we know better than God.

So today we’re going to try something designed to flip things back towards their upside-down nature in Christ’s kingdom:  in just a moment, when we come forward to receive Holy Communion, we’re going to add to it a symbolic pilgrimage.  So let me talk about that for just a moment – and then we’ll do it.

Insights

That is we’ll practice together going on a pilgrimage – and both words, practice and pilgrimage, need a little explanation.  Religion, at its best, is a collection of practices that have been time-tested over the centuries to help us stay connected to God.  Henri Nouwen said:  “Doctrines are not alien formulations which we must adhere to but the documentation of the most profound human experiences which, transcending time and place, are handed over from generation to generation as a light in our darkness.”

·       Did you get that?  Was his point clear? 

·       What brother Henri was trying to tell us is that we do certain things in church – and also in our homes - to help us stay awake to God’s amazing love.  We sing songs filled with bold sounds to remind us of God’s power.  We take a little time each Sunday for quiet or silent prayer to recall that God is tender and always present even when we don’t think anything is happening.

·       We light candles to symbolize the light God brings into our darkness.  We pray the Lord’s Prayer to stay connected with Jesus Christ our Lord. 

And all of these things are practices – actions designed to help us form habits that are loving and holy – virtues the guide us towards what is good and true and noble and pure inside and out.  Are you with me on that:  is that clear?  We practice becoming our best selves in worship – developing habits and virtues – based on the wisdom and experience of people who have gone before us.  I suspect that many of us do something like this already in our homes based upon the families we were born into, right?

·      Think about Thanksgiving dinner:  who do you celebrate it?  And where does your practice come from?  Family?  Friends?  Culture?

·       What about Christmas Eve in your house…?

Then you know what I mean about practicing traditions – nourishing habits and virtues for the good – that have their origin in those who have gone before us.  We do the same thing in the church:  every week, we practice doing certain things so that we grow stronger in the habits of God’s goodness.  We pass the Peace of Christ – we share gifts and offerings – we pray for others and ourselves – ok?

One of the ancient practices that Christians used to utilize all the time is found in the word: pilgrimage.  A pilgrimage is a journey or search for moral or spiritual significance.  And there are three parts to a holy pilgrimage:

·       First, you have to get ready – and you know something about getting ready, don’t you?  How many have to get ready for school?  What do you do to get ready? 

·       How many have to get ready for work?  And how do you get ready for Sunday morning worship at church?

A pilgrim – that is a person going on a pilgrimage – gets ready with prayer and quiet preparation.  She thinks of the journey as an adventure – not a burden – because somewhere along the way God is going to surprise her with a blessing.  The pilgrim doesn’t know when that will happen – or how it will happen – but they trust by faith that somehow it will happen.  So everything they do to get ready for the journey is done carefully and with great love.

·       Second, there eventually comes a time when you have to start the journey:  you have to go out your door, join with others and start the process of moving from one place to another.  That means, of course, that a pilgrimage involves movement – it isn’t trapped in a loop of preparation and fretting – it involves action. 

·       And how you move and act on a pilgrimage can tell you a lot about where you will meet and find God’s surprise blessings.  Some people get cranky – and rude – and demanding on a pilgrimage: where do you think God will surprise them on their trip?  Others are patient and always willing to be of help to somebody else:  where do you think God might meet them on their search? 

·       You never know where God is going to meet you on your walk – but almost always God does meet you in the most unexpected ways. 

So, a pilgrimage is a way of practicing not only getting ready to meet the Lord, but to be surprised by God’s presence, too. 

·       And then, after you’ve arrived at your destination, you have to come home:  you have to return to your starting place – and that’s the third step – going home.   

·       Have you ever gone to the movies?  When my daughters were small, I used to insist that after the movie was over we sit quietly together, watch the closing credits and listen to the music that was playing at the end of the movie.  Rather than get up and rush out without taking time to feel and think about the experience, we would sit and watch and wait.  And then we always took time to sit together and talk about what we experienced:  was it a well done movie?  Did it make us think or feel in new ways?  What did we like the most?  And to this day, we all still practice this act of sitting and waiting and then reflecting on what we have experienced. 

·      That’s what part three of a pilgrimage is all about:  taking time to reflect – think – listen for how you were touched before rushing on to the next experience.

In this morning’s lesson, it appears as if Jesus was on a pilgrimage – a journey he took to meet God’s loving people and share with them signs of hope – when some of the mothers in the village wanted to bring their children to him.  Scholars say that they probably wanted to receive a blessing from Jesus because in his time 60% of all children died of malnutrition before the age of 16.  So this wasn’t a pretty picture of a kindergarten; it was more like an outdoor emergency triage station.

·       And how did the religious leaders react to the women’s desire to bring their babies to Jesus for a blessing:  were they encouraging or angry? 

·       They did NOT want to let the children come forward – they pushed them away – and tried to send the little ones away.

And how did Jesus respond to their mean spirit?  He challenged them, right?  He said:  “Don’t push these children away.  Don’t ever get between them and me.  These children are at the very center of life in the kingdom.  And mark this:  Unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in.”

·       So he blessed and welcomed the little children – which was a total surprise to everyone – and he taught his disciples that they must live like little children before God’s love.  That is, they must never believe they’re entitled to God’s blessing.   They must always practice humility – living as if they have no authority over God – like small children in Palestine.

 

·       Do you get that?  Just because we’re adults – or Protestants or Catholics – or Jews or Gentiles or Muslims does NOT entitle us to God’s blessing.  No, the Lord shares grace and healing according to the surprising, upside-down nature of the kingdom.

And we can’t earn it – or purchase it – or negotiate for it – or demand it because we think we’re entitled:  we must become like a little child.

Conclusion

So, to help us all practice being like little children – to help the adults come to the table in humility and to help the children learn how to come to the table with respect – we’re going to practice.  We’re going to go on a small pilgrimage this morning to four different stations.

·       Everyone is invited to come forward to receive Holy Communion at the front and center of the Sanctuary.

·       Then, assuming the posture of a pilgrim, you will be asked to go to three other “bread for the journey” stations around the Sanctuary.  Helpers at each station will serve you a little bread from one of the cultures of the world they come from – and then you’ll return to the pilgrimage and move to the next station.

·       Eventually you will be served like a little child four times before returning to your seat which is your symbolic home for today.  Is that clear?  Come forward – assume the posture of a pilgrim – and move forward to be surprised and blessed by those who have come to you as “bread for the journey” of faith.

And after we’ve all moved through the stations, we’ll check in and reflect together a bit to see what blessing we discerned in the pilgrimage.  Here is our invitation to pilgrimage:

And the table will be wide. And the welcome will be wide.
And the arms will open wide to gather us in.
And our hearts will open wide to receive.

And we will come as children who trust there is enough.
And we will come unhindered and free.
And our aching will be met with bread.
And our sorrow will be met with wine.

And we will open our hands to the feast without shame.
And we will turn toward each other without fear.
And we will give up our appetite for despair.
And we will taste and know of delight.

And we will become bread for a hungering world.
And we will become drink for those who thirst.
And the blessed will become the blessing.
And everywhere will be the feast.

(Jan Richardson, The Painted Prayerbook)