Pass It On - Genesis 40: 1-8; Acts 1: 6-11-- March 6, 2011- Cicero United Methodist Church-
Everett J. Bassett

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            One of the running jokes we Methodists tell about ourselves is that whenever there is a church gathering of most any nature, there'll be food. That's how you know it's Methodist. There's an old joke about show-n-tell day at the elementary school, when each child was supposed to bring something that represented their religious background. The Catholic child brings a Rosary; the Jewish child brings a Menorah; the Methodist child brings - you guessed it - a casserole.

            But the fact is food isn't a terrible thing to be known for. Of course, in this society of much obesity, we have to pay attention to good food versus bad food. And of course, in this world where many go hungry, we have to pay attention to the just distribution of food. But those important and very practical matters aside, food is not an optional item in our lives. We all need it; it's the fuel that keeps these physical machines of ours going. It is a gift; and that's why many of us say a prayer of thanks before we eat it. It is a basic human need that is often miraculously and graciously filled, thank God.

            But there is something more to food than just physical nourishment. Food is a sacrament that connects people together. There is more than just physical nourishment going on at a United Methodist covered dish dinner - it's an experience of shared community. It's a family event. In the same way, there's a reason social commentators despair that so many families keep such busy schedules that they can't find a time every day to sit down and eat together; the family dinner is a moment of connection. Just as friendship connections are often signified with food and drink. Let's do lunch. Come on over for a cup of coffee. I'll bring the munchies. And so on.

            Jesus loved to share food and drink with his friends. He made it a symbol of the grace and salvation he represented with every fiber of his being. His enemies accused him of being a glutton and a drunkard - and he didn't exactly deny it. Food and drink were very important signs to him. He made wine; he multiplied fish and loaves; he called himself bread of life and living water; and called his message the new wine; he did lunch with sinners, and broke bread with strangers; after his resurrection, he demonstrated his physical presence with powerful meal experiences. And he appreciated the process of producing food - planting seeds: separating wheat; pressing olives; catching fish; pruning vines.

            But most important to us, the night before he died, he sat with his disciples for one last meal. And there he used bread and wine to signify the most sacred gifts he could give - his own body and blood for the forgiveness of the sins of the world, and a tangible way that we could remember him forever.

            So it's no accident that when we gather here in this church for worship, at the center of our worship area is a table. Because we are here for the family meal. The earliest Christians made sure they ate every time they came together. Of course, there are still churches who celebrate Holy Communion every service. It's our practice to share the meal once a month, but the table is here every time. The spirit of the meal is always present. It's perhaps the most significant symbol of who we are as a church - - we are the people that God has gathered around this table.

            It's easy sometimes to lose track of the value of that because what we do here is so simple and basic - we eat a little piece of bread, dipped into a cup of common juice. That's something we can do anywhere. Sometime later today - probably pretty soon, for most of us - we'll eat a fancier meal, with a much bigger menu, with heartier portions and more culinary preparation than this one. Yet this one still has precedence in the whole scheme of things because of two things -- the story we tell here, and the company we keep here.

            As many of you know, Jack and I have preached these last few weeks around the theme "Claiming Your Story." We started out by sharing how the story of our lives is a great gift, because it is God's story - God has been journeying beside us. Then we went on to say that it is also Christ's story, because Jesus came into this world to share our sorrow, and to deliver us from sin and death. Then we heard how the Holy Spirit empowers our story, and continues to guide our journey. We preached about the How of witnessing - in word and deed, and each in our own unique way. Jack talked about the Who of witnessing - and being mistaken for Jesus as we represent him in this world. We talked about the What of witnessing, and three simple statements we all could say to somebody who needs the Gospel in their lives. Last week I talked about the When of witnessing, and how following God's timing is essential. And today, as we conclude this series, it's about the Where question. Where do we claim our story, and where do we share it?

            One of the important answers to the first part of that question is Here, at the Lord's table, we claim our faith-story. We claim it, first of all, in the prayer of thanksgiving. Most of you know the drill: At the right moment, the pastors go behind the table. We ask you to search for the insert in the bulletin that has the prayer of thanksgiving. Some of you may have a roast in the oven, or a twelve o'clock tee time, or a stomach growling for more food than you are going to receive here. So you look at this paper and groan, "They're going to read all that? Can't we just get our piece of bread and get on with it?" And I'll be honest, sometimes I look at it and think, "I've got to read all of this?" But the reading of this prayer is essential to us because it is thanking God for the story of our faith. And the story of our faith is what makes this something more than just a little piece of bread and a little dab of juice.

            Thank you, God that you created the wheat that makes this bread, and the grape that makes this juice, and this beautiful world, and all the beautiful people who were made in your image. Thank you for inviting us into a loving covenant with you that assures us that you will watch over us always. We know we sin, and stray away from you, but that doesn't change your heart of love toward us, and you continue to love even us. And then, unbelievably, you sent your Son into this world, and he taught us and healed us and then he died for us. But he rose again, and he lives with you, and he promised that the day would come when the love represented here at this table would be like a great banquet where the whole world is welcome. Lord, hasten that day and make us ready. That's the story of our faith, and we need to hear it told again and again, because it's who we are, and what holds us together.

            Because of that story, we find the power of the other great factor that makes this table so special to us -and that is the company we keep here. As part of that prayer of thanksgiving before the Lord's Table, we pray that we will be "one with Christ, one with each other, and one with all the world." That puts us in great company. First of all, we are one with Christ. Jesus promises to be here in the sharing of these two symbols of Body and Blood. It's like Jesus knew that even though the essence of faith is a spiritual experience, sometimes we need something tangible - something we can feel and hold and taste to remind us that Jesus is real, and with us. The bread and the juice are simple and common symbols - but they point remind us tangibly of the reality of Christ.

            We are also one with each other. This table connects us in our common faith. And that is a special communion. This week, when we meet somewhere to discuss the business of the church, we are not just a collection of people. We are people who' have shared around this table, and that gives us a special bond. When we study the Bible together, when we fold bulletins, or travel on a mission trip, or rehearse music together, or bump into each other at the S.U. game - we are those whose lives have been intertwined together by the common loaf, the common cup, and the common Saviour. That gives us a one-ness like nothing else we can experience.

            We are also one with the world. We are connected with those who joyously accept the invitation of Christ in the farthest corners of the earth. We are also connected with those who do not accept the invitation, because Christ came for them as well, and longs that they be included. That's why the grace we receive here is not something we keep to ourselves. It is something we pass on to others - sometimes in words, sometimes in deeds. And that answers the Where question of sharing Christ -- Jesus told his disciples to be his witnesses in Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. In other words, start where you are, but let the circle grow wider and wider, until the whole world is at this table.

            The Old Testament reading about Joseph is a powerful illustration of that outreaching witness. You know the story - he was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, and taken away to Egypt. In the passage we read today, he is in prison in that &foreign place - but even there he is called upon and given the opportunity to pass on the grace of God, when he is equipped to interpret the dreams of the king's servants. The answer to the Where question of sharing the story of God's love is that it begins here around the table, but we never know where it might lead - in what strange land or strange situation we might be called to pass it on.

            I have been amazed at the way God can work in seemingly unrelated details to bring grace to someone's life - a chance encounter in a supermarket that turns into an introduction to someone you run into weeks later who happens to be related to someone else you know and that leads to a phone call from someone else who is having a problem you might help with that leads to that family coming to church with you one Sunday and eventually the third child in that family grows up to be a youth leader who touches dozens of lives with the love of God. You couldn't sit down and dream up that scenario; but with God those kinds of chains of events happen all the time. We just need to be ready, wherever we are, to represent Jesus - because we never know what chain of events God will initiate through one word we might speak, or one act of kindness we might do. I have seen that kind of plot play out dozens of times. It's truly amazing what God can do when we do our part.

            That's what Jack and I wanted to encourage in these sermons entitled Claiming Your Story. We've seen so many examples of ill-conceived evangelism - the annoying or infuriating kind where people carry offensive posters, or intrude at inopportune times, or try to grab headlines by threatening to burn other faith's religious symbols. But that's not what evangelism needs to look like. It can also look like loving people desiring to share the grace that has touched our lives, doing it naturally and lovingly, whether it is through acts of kindness, through the stories of what God has done for us, or through the words of faith that God puts on our hearts.

            I read about one family that received the news of the Emancipation Proclamation, and the
grandfather of the writer ran out into the streets shouting, "I'm free! I'm free!" Well, we have news that is at least as good, and while we may not burst from the house into the streets to shout it, surely we can find some way and some time and some place that's right for us to share the Good News that has set us free. That's what Jesus asked us to do - to pass it on. And if we do our part and plant a small seed, God will do the rest.