Fifth Sunday of Easter
May 19, 2019
On the Occasion of First Communion for Holly and Mia
I, like Holly and Mia, received my Holy Communion at a First Communion Service at a church called Church of the Epiphany in Providence, Rhode Island. It was the tradition at my church that you waited to receive communion until you were prepared at the age of 7 or 8. Back then, some Episcopal churches made children wait until confirmation to receive communion, which may have been the experience that many of you cradle Episcopalians remember.
My memory of my First Communion is patchy at best. I remember borrowing my best friend Selina’s Holy Communion dress. She was a year older than I, so she had already had her first communion. I’m fairly certain I did not wear gloves or a veil, but I cannot be sure. I received this Our Lady of Walsingham Rosary – which is the Our Lady of the Anglican Church. You will notice that I repaired my rosary with cinnamon dental floss sometime in my childhood – it probably deserves a proper repair.
But more importantly – here is what I remember most about receiving my First Holy Communion:
I remember the nun, Sister Margaretta, who prepared our class, told us that the word Communion was related to the word community. And what that meant is that when we receive communion it means that we are in community with God – Father, Son and Holy Ghost. But we are also in community with one another. That’s why when we come up to the communion rail we more or less receive an equal size of bread and an equal amount of wine – just depending on whether you dip or sip. That equal size reminds us of how we are all equal members of the body of Christ.
Now there are many different communities – there are service organizations such as Lions, or soccer teams, or yoga classes, or your book group, or your school, or your drama club, or tennis club, or a support group, or the VFW. All those communities are important – bonded in a common purpose. But a church community is different. Here is the distinction: the important thing about a church community – is that its purpose is being united in love of God and love of each other. And the symbol for that is our Holy Communion.
In our gospel lesson for today Jesus tells his disciples – and remember – this is right after the last supper – the supper where Jesus told his friends that when they gathered in his name he would be present with them in the bread and the wine -at that meal he tells his disciples this really important commandment – ‘ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
And that is an extremely important thing – that people will know that we are followers of Christ – not because we wear a cross around our neck, or because we know lots of things about the Bible, or the church, or about theology, eschatology, Christology or any other -ology . People will know we are followers of Christ because we love each other.
I want to tell you about where I saw this kind of community at work. At my last church we had a youth group. And it was made of up of middle schoolers and high schoolers from all different towns, and they were all different ages, and they were from diverse socio-economic backgrounds. Some were sporty, some were into drama, others danced, others played instruments, some spent their free time mostly playing video and computer games, and some skied and some played hockey. Some were extroverts and couldn’t stop talking and others were introverts and hardly said a peep. There was no reason that these kids should like each other or like youth group because they did come with their friends, and the kids did not have a lot in common. But they loved youth group. And I was puzzled. Don’t get me wrong – I loved that they loved youth group. I just wanted to know why. So I asked a group of them why they liked youth group so much – and this is what they said. They loved youth group because it was the one place in their lives where they could be the people they really were. They did not have to pretend to be cool, to like certain things, to dislike certain things, or people. Essentially – youth group was a drama free zone – it was a come as you are weekly event.
This is, at its roots, what we mean by a beloved community. A beloved community is a place you belong which has no prerequisites, no tests, and no entrance fee.
What these teens were expressing is something that Professor Brene Brown discusses in her new program on Netflix. Professor Brene Brown is an author and an expert in the field of Shame and Vulnerability.
In her presentation on Netflix – The Call to Courage – she says this about belonging.
Belonging. We are wired for love. We are hard wired for belonging. It’s in our DNA. But let me tell you what belonging is…The opposite of belonging, from the research, is fitting in. That’s the opposite of belonging. Fitting in is assessing and acclimating. “Here is what I should say, be, here’s what shouldn’t say, here is what I should avoid talking about, Here’s what I should dress like, look like.” Belonging is belonging to yourself first. Speaking your truth, telling your story and never betraying yourself for other people. True belonging does not require you to change who you are. It requires you to be who you are.
In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus says to his disciples “you are the salt of the earth – you are the light of the world…let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and praise your father in heaven.” Jesus wants you, we want you, in all your saltiness, and with all your brilliant light, because the world needs you, all of you and it needs all of us.
Mia and Holly, you belong here. Your brothers and your sister, they belong here. Your parents belong here. We all belong here. And we belong here not for any other reason than we are all children of God –to love and to be loved in our entirety.
So if people ask you why you go to church – you can just let them know it’s because you belong, and we need you, just as you belong to God, and God needs you too – God needs you to be who you are in the world, unabashed and unashamed for all the gifts that God has given you to use in the service of a world so badly in need of your salt, and your light.
Amen
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