We’re going to take a trip today, far afield from our little church here in Ohio. But don’t worry, you won’t have to fly on a crowded airplane or risk getting seasick; and it won’t cost you a penny. We’re going to use our imagination as we travel across the ocean and join three other Christian churches in worship on this World Communion Sunday. Ready? Settle in and relax as we prepare for departure.
First, we’re going to Italy – to Rome
– to St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, that enormous cathedral that is the
sometimes called the mother church of Roman Catholicism. As we enter St. Peter’s,
the size of it is overwhelming! Why, you could put 10 churches the size of ours
into this space and still have room left over! We realize that we are
surrounded by priceless art. The Pieta by Michelangelo, for example, is right
over there, so close to us that we could reach out and touch it if it weren’t
protected by a glass panel. The interior is so magnificent that it takes us a
moment to realize that worship that is going on right in front of us. And when
we focus on that worship, it is as splendid as the surroundings. The priests
are clothed in beautiful vestments of red, gold, and white. The altar cover is
glorious with traditional Christian symbols embroidered with gold thread. The
chalice that holds the sacramental wine appears to be hammered gold itself, and
is encrusted with priceless jewels. The priests are chanting reverently, and
the worshippers are listening in rapt attention. Everything is worthy of
royalty! But, after all, God is the King who rules the universe, and Jesus is
seated at his right hand; and this worship is meant to remind us of that. We
drink in atmosphere for a few minutes, appreciating the splendor of the place
and the reverence of the Mass. But now it’s time to move on.
We are going next to Russia, to a
little Russian Orthodox church on the outskirts of St. Petersburg. This little church
managed to stay under the radar when Christianity was outlawed by the Communist
Party, and its parishioners have been quietly worshipping here for generations.
As we enter the small wooden building, it takes our eyes a while to get used to
the dimness. The room is heavy with the scent of incense; and the only light is
from candles, each one sending a wisp of smoke that mingles with the incense.
And there are a multitude of candles! On our left, a table is filled with
lighted candles, with worshippers praying silently in front of it. On our right
is a small chapel with more candles. More worshippers are over there kneeling
in prayer. And everywhere, the walls are covered with icons, images of the Holy
Family and of the saints. These images are used for prayer and meditation in
the Orthodox tradition. Each one of the icons has its own candle, too. There
are no pews in this church, and the worshippers are moving around from place to
place – first to the table of candles, then to an icon, then to the chapel.
Many of them are praying with knotted prayer ropes, each knot a reminder of a
specific prayer. Although the priest is chanting a liturgy in Russian at the
altar and a small choir sings the responses, no one seems to be listening to
them. But then we realize that what looks like chaos is actually just a
different style of worship, meant to transport the congregation into heaven
itself! The chant of the priest, the songs of the choir, and the icons of the
saints all remind the worshippers that they are in a sacred space where time as
we know it is meaningless and everyone encounters God in their own way. Now
that we understand that, this Russian Orthodox worship makes more sense. But we
have only a few moments to imagine ourselves with the saints in heaven, and
then we need to move on once more.
Our final stop is in Africa – in Nigeria,
to be exact, a country that has experienced explosive growth in the Christian
faith in the last few decades. When we arrive, we find ourselves on the
outskirts of a village. On a nearby dirt road, people are converging on a
small, thatched structure. Their faces are happy as they talk to their
traveling companions and call to friends who are still a distance away. In the
small hut, we can hear singing and the sound of native instruments. As we come
close enough to peer inside, we see a plain room with a floor of beaten earth.
The only ornamentation is a plain wooden cross sitting on a rough-hewn table.
But the hut is crowded with people singing together joyfully. In fact, they are
dancing with joy as they sing songs of praise to God in their native language.
And that singing continues for quite a long time! Finally, a tall man steps
apart from the crowd and begins to pray. All the worshippers throw their hands
in the air, lift their faces to heaven, and respond, “Amen! Amen!” After the
prayer, the joyful singing begins again. We turn to one of the worshippers and ask,
“How long will the singing last?” “How long?” the woman replies. “Why, as long
as it takes! What better way to spend our time than praising God!” We realize that
all this singing isn’t the introduction to their worship; the singing is their worship! After we join them in
singing for a few minutes, it’s time for us to return home to our little
Protestant church here in west central Ohio.
If the situation were reversed and
our newfound Christian friends from around the world visited us, what would they think? Our Roman
Catholic friends might wonder why our worship is so informal. We have no priest
chanting the liturgy – just a person in a plain white robe (and a woman, at
that)! And why is our sanctuary so plain? Shouldn’t worship of heaven’s King be
a little more elegant? Our Russian Orthodox friends would be astounded to find
that we sit in one place to worship! How can we respond to the moving of God’s
Spirit if we all do the same thing at the same time? And only three candles?
This wouldn’t seem like worship in heaven to them at all. Our African friends
might be the most surprised of all. “You mean that you just sit there?” they would say in surprise. “Where
is the joy in your worship? And you
mean to say that you stop after an hour? What if you’re not finished
worshipping yet?” Oh, yes, our own worship would seem very strange to them, at
least as strange as their worship seemed to us.
It’s good to remember that when Jesus
said, “I pray that they may all be one,” he wasn’t asking that everyone be the
same. “One” doesn’t mean “identical.” No, Jesus wants something else. He wants
a Church that is unified in its goal to love God and others, to follow Jesus
Christ, and to seek God’s will through the Spirit. We don’t all need to be
alike to do that. In fact, we can only witness to the variety of traditions and
cultures around the world if we aren’t
all alike! The Spirit speaks to some in one way and to others in another. But
that same Spirit binds all of us together in love.
The story is told of a group of
children who played together all the time. Summer heat or winter cold, they
could be found enjoying one another’s company. One day, a costume party was
announced, and all the children began to dream of what they would wear on that
great day. That is, all but one. This little fellow sat in his room and wept
because his family was poor and he had nothing to wear. When the other children
learned of their playmate’s sorrow, each one went home and found his own costume.
One was a lion, another a knight, a third an astronaut, a fourth a firefighter,
a fifth a butterfly. Each child cut a piece off that costume and took it to the
child who had none. That child’s mother sewed all the pieces together to make
the colorful suit of a jester. When the day of the party arrived, the prize for
the best costume was won by none other than the little fellow in the jester’s
suit. His costume was the most beautiful of all. Friends, the Body of Christ is
just like this colorful suit. We come in all colors, and we come from all
cultures and traditions. We worship in many different ways and in many different
kinds of places. Our missions are varied. But when we work together, we are
united in God’s kingdom of love. On this day when, all around the world, we
gather around this table to which the Lord invites us, my prayer is that we may
truly all be one.
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