Online Church Service for May 17th
Rev. Miriam’s Sermon
The reading from Acts this morning is one of my favourite descriptions of the early church community. They are gathering together as much as they can. They are learning as much as they can about Jesus from the apostles. They are praying all the time. They are breaking bread and eating together. There was no roadmap for these early followers of Jesus on how to be a Christian. So they are learning as they go. They’ve kept it simple. Learning. Eating. Praying. Fellowship.
And it’s not surprising that this is what they are doing. Look at Jesus’ ministry. It was teaching, healing, praying and gathering with people. And food. Have you ever noticed how much of the Gospel revolves around food? Jesus was criticized for eating with the wrong people – namely sinners, prostitutes and tax collectors. He never let the criticism stop him. Then are the food related miracles of the loaves and fishes – Jesus feeds a huge crowd with a few loaves of bread and some fishes. In John’s Gospel, Jesus says, “I am the bread of life.” During the last meal Jesus shared with his disciples before his crucifixion, he takes a simple loaf of bread and offers it to them saying, “this is my body, broken for you.” Then he blesses a cup of wine and offers it to the saying, “this is my blood, shed for you.” By eating and drinking bread and wine we remember him.
One of the key features of the early Christian church is the hospitality of the gathering over food. The first line of our reading says, “They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” (Acts 2:42) Not only did they eat together all the time, but it also says that they had all things in common. The offering in the early community was the food that people brought to share with one another. For those who had nothing, it was a miracle and for those who had much, it was an act of faith. And day by day they grew in faith and numbers.
This hospitality had a lasting impact on the church. How many times have you been at a church function that doesn’t involve food? There is something about gathering at a table with others that holy and special. It is sacred to share food with one another as we share the joys and sorrows of our daily living. Now here we are in a pandemic and sharing food around a table is limited to those in our bubble. The radical hospitality that Jesus shared is not an option. Right now, no large gatherings are permitted. No church on Sundays. No extended family gatherings. No funerals or weddings. And it’s hard.
And even though these gatherings are not possible, I love the way people are being creative about different ways to gather. Churches are gathering on Zoom, Facebook and YouTube. I love being able to worship with Cochrane Street and then join church services across this country. Families are being just as creative. In my family, we have a zoom family gathering every week with family in Nova Scotia. We have driveway visits with Scott’s family. Last weekend we shared the same meal – Scott cooked and then packaged up food for every household and we ate together apart.
There is no roadmap on how to be a church in this time of the pandemic. As a church, we are asking ourselves questions we never asked before. How can we gather in new ways? How can we keep our communities connected? Can we have communion online? Is it still communion if we are gathered in separate houses but still somehow through the wonder of technology sharing the same meal? In the United Church we’ve said yes, it is still communion. We can still gather with the everyday food of bread and wine, to remember, to give thanks, to share in the new life Jesus offers.
It is like our shared family meal last weekend. We are together apart. Jesus, who boldly proclaimed that he was the bread of life, also reminds us that we are one body in Christ. We are all connected today as we share in gifts of bread and wine. Like those who gathered in the early church, we can eat with "glad and generous hearts." (Acts 2:46) Just like the early church community, we do not know what twists and turns lay ahead for us. Together we are building a new roadmap. In the uncertainty, we remain a community of believers. We continue to pray and break bread and give thanks. We continue to be the church.
As we eat and drink together, we are strengthened for the road ahead – whatever it holds. We are together apart. And together we continue to be God’s people at work in the world. Thanks be to God. Amen.