Like when you sit in front of a fire in winter — you are just there in front of the fire. You don’t have to be smart or anything. The fire warms you.
― Desmond Tutu

This year marks a very important World Communion Sunday

Unity is not on the menu around the world right now. We’re part of a real counter-cultural vision when we practice World Communion Sunday. We’re saying that Christ came for all, no matter what they look like or how they sound. Christ came for people with different languages, different currencies, and different values.

Ideas like this are not foreign to the United Church of Christ, whose motto is, in references to the churches, “That they may all be one.”

But the truth is, the UCC motto is a lie!

I should probably explain what I mean. We aren’t all one thing. We are many different things, as believers and churches and associations. Some of us are young, and some are old. Some worship with music from organs and pianos, while others can’t sing unless the drums are banging and the guitars are clanging. We have churches that focus on justice and marches and social actions, but we also have churches that quietly “keep the flame alive” in contemplative worship.

Just like the display of bread above, there are many flavors of worship around the world, and that diversity is a tremendous strength. Somewhere, somehow, there is something for someone in the wider community of Christ. World Communion Sunday reminds me that we’re supposed to treasure that diversity and the power it has to change people’s lives.

The beauty of Communion is that (unless you’re one of our beloved Deacons) you don’t need to do a thing to participate. Just show up and partake! The table is laid, the preparations have been made. The feast is ready. Desmond Tutu reminds us that communion is like sitting by a warm fire in winter. It warms you by your just being there.