October 2, 2011, "Universal Faith"

Genesis 14:13 - 15:6
Hebrews 4:14 - 15:14

Many years ago, recognizing that this is World Communion Sunday, the one time in all the year when every church of every denomination break bread and pour the cup of reconciliation and pray for peace, that we sent a postcard to everyone related to the Church inviting them to “The Feast of God's Blessings.” The Sanctuary was filled, the music spectacular, but after worship at the door, several families asked “And where do we go for the Dinner?”

Another year, we emphasized that on this day, Catholic and Lutheran, Episcopal, Baptist and Pentecostal, UCC and Presbyterian all would share communion. I am told, the following morning some of our parishioners greeted colleagues at work, describing “How wonderful that we could all celebrate communion on the same Sunday and maybe we were not so far apart after all.” To which they were told, by Catholic, Lutheran and Episcopal friends, “We celebrate Communion every week, where have you Presbyterians been?”

One year preaching at the Ecumenical Thanksgiving Worship; knowing that through the Lutherans there were now accords with the Roman Catholic Church, and the Episcopal and Presbyterian and Methodist; and knowing that the Latin word for Thanksgiving is Eucharist, I proposed that we all come together in this worship for the sharing of Communion, we set out the elements of Bread and the Cup on the Table, then realized that while there were accords for the future, in order for Presbyterians to participate we were required to have Elders serve, for Anglicans, the Cup needed to have fermented wine, for Methodists it had to be Non-Fermented Grape Juice preferable Welch's as Welch had been a Methodist, and for Catholics a priest needed to serve who could not serve Protestants.

We cannot simply declare that all shall be one, a universal faith, leapfrogging over the last 500 years of Church History, to resolve our differences. Instead what Genesis and Hebrews affirm is going back before the creation of separate religions, to our roots and core beliefs.

In Genesis, we follow the love of God for all Creation and after several failed attempts, God's Covenant commitment with one family for all the earth. Abram and Sarai take Abram's Nephew whose name was Lot, and follow where God leads. Not simply Nomads, but a people of Promise, who traverse through all of Canaan, for a new home. Abram and Sarai , as well as Lot, each grow in prosperity as they follow God's Promise. Yet the world can be a hostile place, and Lot and his neighbors in Sodom are kidnapped and taken prisoner as slaves. When Abram hears of Lot's captivity he leads his household and all the surrounding community as if a great army. Abram executes military strategy as he recognizes the strengths of each and divides their number to form companies, Not attacking from one side alone, but in the dark of night, attacking from every side. The Bible describes not only did they win, they “routed” their enemy, the opposing 5 kings and their armies running and falling down the hillsides.

Victorious Abram, Mamre, Aner and Eshcol, return home, with all the people and possessions that had been taken, as well as all the belongings of the 5 kings. And at the Valley of the Kings, 2 other Kings come out to greet them, the King of Sodom and the King of Salem. The King of Sodom is thankful for the victory against their enemy and wants to reward Abram with the booty of war. The King of Salem, brings out bread and wine, to bless Abram and to bless God for what has happened in these last hours. There is recorded evidence here in the 14th Chapter of Genesis, that long before the Sacrament of Jesus' Last Supper, before Moses and the Manna from Heaven, before the Passover while slaves in Egypt, even before the births of Isaac or Ishmael, there was a sacred meal of bread and wine, as we blessed one another and blessed God in thanksgiving for the events that happened.

We tend to overshadow this story with memory that Sodom and Gomorrah were places of sin and corruption. There was a time in which the Chosen People of God, lived as neighbors, acting in ways that benefitted both Israel and Sodom. While another neighbor, Salem was not Sodom. Salem is the ancient name for Jerusalem, “salem” having the same root as “Shalom” and in Arabic “Salem” meaning PEACE and RIGHTEOUSNESS. The King of Salem was also a Priest of God. We know the name of the King who also was a Priest, Melchizedek; but his faith in God had no name for God, only The God Most High, where Abram knew YHWH and spoke directly with God as trusted companion.

The Letter to the Hebrews, is a sermon to a Christian Community, a Church. This people have become Secular. They understand social behavior. They have all the right words and customs, but no longer remember the WHY of faith. Their prayers have become a shopping list of “O God, I Need and end to War, an end to Famine, give rain where there is drought, and dryness where there has been flooding, Also I need toothpaste, a loaf of bread, and why not a bottle of Grape Juice while we are at it.” For them, Prayer and Faith, had become rituals, meaningless routines. The Preacher here, reaches back into their faith history and affirms, before Christianity, our ancestors were the Jews of Ancient Israel, who under Solomon and King David had become a Great and powerful Nation, but long before even that, our ancestors of faith had wandered with Moses in the wilderness with the Tent of Meeting in which was the Ark of the Covenant containing the 10 Commandments. Once each year, on the holiest day of the year, the High Priest would take the Confessions and Prayers and Offerings of the People of God, entering into the Tent, passing through the Veil into the Inner Sanctum, the Holy of Holies, where the High Priest being a man, acknowledging his identification with the people, would offer his sacrifice and prayers, along with those of the people. The Preacher affirms, We Have A Great High Priest, able to fulfill all that those Priests of old did, but more because our Great High Priest is the Son of God Most High.

Can our High Priest identify with us, yes He was Fully Human, tempted as we all are, but he chose to be without sin! Could he enter the Holy Tent of Meeting God in the Wilderness, Passing through the Veil to the Holy of Holies? More than that he has passed through the veil between Life and Death, to sit at the Right hand of God! Can he carry our prayers and offerings, and make our sacrifice? More than that he can, he already has, with the personal sacrifice of his own life. Where other High Priests needed to repeat their sacrifice annually, his sacrifice is for all time and all people, for he is a Priest in the order of Melchizedek, he is both King and Priest.

So what is required of us? That our Confession be what we can HOLD FAST TO. Make your Confession of what you believe, what you believe! Jesus offered his sacrifice, with prayer and passion, blood, sweat and tears. May Our Faith not be something we recite like a Christmas list of wants, not weekly confessional making up what we could have done. But recognizing the moments in our lives that are holy and giving thanks to God with Tears and Laughter.

This week, the former Priest from our Village sent me a story from over 40 years ago. We all remember the 20th of July 1969. That was not the Summer of Love, which was the year before, it was the summer of landing on the Moon. We all remember watching and listening as Neil Armstrong stepped down the ladder from the Landing Module stating “One small step for Man, one Giant Leap for Mankind.” But do you remember the other guy? There were two in the Module, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, not Buzz Lightyear, but Buzz Aldrin. Aldrin in addition to being an Astronaut, was an Elder sitting on The Session of a Presbyterian Church in Texas. Weeks before the Mission, at their Session meeting he had asked, “So my job is going to allow me to do something that is a first for humanity. How shall we remember it?” And the Session celebrated Communion together, giving to him the Chalice, a vial of Wine and a Wafer of bread. After they set foot on the Moon, the words spoken by Buzz Aldrin were: “Wherever you are, whomever you are, I would like you to stop what you are doing and give thanks for the events of the last several hours.” Taking the wine, he poured it into the cup and at 1/6th the Gravity of Earth it floated out like balls of gelatinous mass, which entering the cup dissolved and washed up the sides. They held the Bread and the Wine blessing God and all Creation repeating the words of John “I am the Vine and You the Branches, all things are possible with God, cut off from me you can do nothing.”