Welcome!!! Welcome to our house or Welcome home is something we all say to our guests, family, and friends. No matter which tradition or culture you come from, whether it is the southern hospitality or Asian hospitality of Hindu culture in (Sanskrit: means अतिथिदेवो भव:as “Atithi Devo Bhava” which translates in English as: "Guest is God") OR in an ancient first-century village of Emmaus… hospitality is foundational to every tradition and culture. It is seen as a point of honor for families and villages to welcome guests and offer them the best the home has to offer.
On World Communion Sunday, all are welcomed at the table of grace.
● Christians across the globe come to the Lord’s table to celebrate Christian unity.
● It is an expression of our oneness, interconnectedness, and shared identity in Christ which unites us across cultures and continents.
● It means to open our heart, mind, and doors to welcome strangers in Christian love.
● To open our eyes to see the divine image of God in every person, to see the diverse gifts and graces in them so we can truly come together as the body of Christ.
Friends, our sharing in this common meal represents our uniqueness intricately woven into the fabric of Christ’s love.
And so, we are not bound to a physical table or a building.
Christ is the table of grace. The resurrected body of Christ is living and breathing in every corner of the street, the highways and byways.
You and I are part of the resurrected body of Christ- and we prepare and become Open Communion Tables- for others wherever we may find ourselves. Just as a table is not uniform – comes in different colors, shapes, and sizes. We all are Eucharist tables of different shapes and sizes coming from different cultures and traditions. And we offer ourselves to others in the strength of God’s spirit.
You see the main purpose of a table is to bring people together for conversations, connections, and create memories. Or else a table by itself is just a piece of furniture.
And so as open communion tables –
- Unless we invite people at the table…
- Unless we open our hearts and lives to strangers,
- To listen and include everyone & connect with their stories of transformation we will simply be a piece of furniture.
In our story from Luke’s gospel, we see the two disciples walking on the road to Emmaus. They are lost in their own deep grief for the death of their master. Talking about all the things that had happened UNTIL they are invited by a stranger to retell the story and deepen their connection through conversations. So much so that the disciples urged the stranger to stay with them and have a meal.
And in Vs.30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.
In that ritual of table blessing their eyes were opened to see the stranger in a new light. The true embodiment of Jesus himself.
Jesus is a stranger, a guest, a neighbor, an unknown person still waiting to be welcomed in our culture and in our churches.
So…What do we do when the concept of a “stranger” “neighbor” or “WE” is always challenged, and we struggle with the idea of “we” universally.
What constitutes “WE”?
Who is “WE”?
We think about “WE” as me, my people, my country and UNTIL we broaden our horizons to include all people in the “WE”. We cannot really understand the behaviors that constitute our oneness or Christian unity that apostle Paul is talking about in Ephesians 4:1-6.
Apostle Paul’s cry for Chirstian unity is directly related to our behaviors.
In other words, our Oneness is connected to how we treat each other.
Paul is not just talking about superficial behaviors of saying “hello” and shaking hands…but truly making an impactful change –
● Behaviors that speak truth in love.
● Behaviors that work towards making systemic changes in an unjust world.
● Behaviors that create policies and procedures for the flourishing of all people.
● Behaviors to make every effort to include all voices.
● Behaviors to create safe spaces where all people are valued and welcomed and this my friends will constitute the newly formed “WE”
How is this even possible in a world that is filled with so much hate, fear and discrimination towards a stranger?
I believe it is possible when we show our willingness and readiness to enter into each other’s worlds through the integration of our stories into each other’s hearts and beings. A mutual radical hospitality and openness to enter into each other’s world – not to be threatened by their world or to lose your own world, but rather to can enhance our world in a moral way as a constructive way of learning to relate to the contrasting worlds of others.
Spirituality writer Parker Palmer in his book “Company of Strangers: Christians & the Renewal of America” describes strangers as spiritual guide as those who can lead us into deeper truths about God and self. Palmer highlights the role of the stranger as one who can transform and enlarge our restricted worldview when we invite or welcome strangers into our personal or private space like our home.
When we see ourselves through the eyes of a stranger, we experience what they experience. It is a life changing experience.
Conclusion:
So, the invitation for us is to be Christ like open communion tables of Grace.
May our lives be transformed…
- to be a table of inclusion
- a table of compassion
- a table of openness
- a table of deeper understanding of welcoming a stranger
- and a table of generosity and abundance.
What are some new ways God is calling us to be Christ-like in our communities?
Friends, may we remember that in the breaking of the bread the disciple’s eyes were opened to see the true identity and presence of Jesus Christ. And so, as we gather on this World Communion Sunday, it is in the breaking of our human pride, differences, and fear of the human “other” may we see the fullness of God’s grace in a stranger. Amen.
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