IN THIS VERY ROOM”

July 22, 2012

Sacrament of Holy Communion

©Thomas B. Cundiff

Psalm 68:  32-35

Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth; 

sing praises to the Lord, ³³ O rider in the heavens,

the ancient heavens; listen, he sends out his voice,

his mighty voice.  ³⁴ Ascribe power to God,

whose majesty is over Israel;  and whose power

is in the skies.  ³⁵ Awesome is God in his^* sanctuary,
the God of Israel;  he gives power and strength

to his people.   Blessed be God!

Matthew 16: 13-20

Peter’s Declaration about Jesus

13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ ¹⁴And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ¹⁵He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ ¹⁶Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah,^* the Son of the living God.’ ¹⁷And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. ¹⁸And I tell you, you are Peter,^* and on this rock^* I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. ¹⁹I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’ ²⁰Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was^* the Messiah.^*

 [To begin with the singing of a short song, In this Very Room, words and music by Ro and Carol Harris]  Ed Cunningham once sang this in worship and I decided, at that time, we would use this song again.]

I.                   THIS MORNING:  A MEDITATION ON WHAT I EXPERIENCE FROM WHERE I SIT IN THIS SACRED PLACE, “IN THIS VERY ROOM”

It is always a pleasure for me to be here in this pulpit to worship with you.  It slipped by quietly for me this year, another anniversary – as of July 1^st, I have now entered my 28^th year as your pastor. 

For all these years, I have had the best seat in the house!  From where I sit, “In this Very Room”, I can gaze upon all of these beautiful stained glass windows.  I wish I knew more about the history of these windows….when they were made, who designed them, who as members of this church made the decisions to capture certain themes that became the timeless art that has infused us for over a century with a sense of the presence of the God. 

From where I sit, “In this Very Room”, I can gaze out the beautiful windows in the back…..always reminding me that what happens “In This Very Room” always – ALWAYS – takes us outside this sanctuary into the world beyond this church.

Each week, from where I sit, “In this Very Room”, I see the greeters come and go from the two side entrances welcoming you to worship God.  I also see a dedicated group of ushers working to seat you and hand you bulletins.  They do an attendance count and make sure the plates are ready for the Sunday collection.  Fans and thermostats are checked.  Katlyn and now Asher are prepared to carry the symbolic “Light of Christ” to the chancel as we begin our worship focusing on one and only one thing:  GOD.    

From where I sit, “In this very room”, I experience with you the love and joy and hope and power of God always found in this place.  I recognize you as baptized members in Christ….some of you whom I have had the personal honor to baptize and confirmed or marry.   Sadly, “In this Sacred Place”, I see those of you whose loved ones have gone to their eternal home.  There is a whole spectrum of history, joys and sorrows, “In this Very Room”.

“In this Very Room”, week after week and year after year – from decade to decade -- something exhilarating takes place with the blending of our lives and stories that come together as gifts from God – as we do one and only one thing, in the name of Jesus Christ – in worshipping Almighty God.   

II.  Sanctuary

The psalmist is right on target in saying, with some editing:  “Awesome is God in His^* sanctuary, the God of Israel  who gives power and strength and blessing to his people!” 

The term “Sanctuary” is an interesting word.  I suppose any place we go for some quiet time or solitude to meditate or contemplate our place in this world could be called a sanctuary. 

Outside the context of worship, there are wild bird & game sanctuaries – like the Price Nature Center or the Shiawassee Nature Center or the Green Point Nature Center….where birds and other animals / creatures of God find refuge – and strength in an environment where they can prosper and flourish without human intervention.   

There is another use of the term ‘sanctuary’ – not quite as comfortable as we are used to --  “Sanctuary” as we hear stories of illegal immigrants who try to secure safety from deportation – sometimes in church sanctuaries.  There was a Mexican immigrant woman and 7 year old son who recently took refuge in a Chicago church rather than face deportation.  The Chicago police declared, “we will apprehend her at a time and place of our choosing”[1] – and they did.  She was turned over the INS and along with her son, they were deported.      

I did some research on this because I was curious:  “Religious institutions in America don’t have special permission to harbor criminals or protect them from the government.”  This of course, hasn’t stopped pastors and churches from trying.  It is simply not true that churches are immune from prosecution in harboring criminals.  I can honestly say I have never had to personally experience this type of situation.   I am protected, however, with any kind of verbal confession I may hear in confidence.  I cannot be compelled to share what I have heard as a confession…..unless the confession relates to someone doing someone else personal or bodily harm.

In the context of sin and brokenness in our world:  Women and men – entire families have gone to churches and temples and mosques to flee from or find sanctuary from their sins!  The idea here is that some sinners believe they are safe with Christ.  Faith in Christ gives sinners – people who are broken or run-down – refuge and sanctuary.  This doesn’t mean a person who has found Christ doesn’t still have to live subject to civil laws and consequences for what has been done.   But even the person serving a life sentence in a SuperMax prison can find sanctuary in Christ. 

Spiritually, there are a lot of reasons we might search for a sanctuary.  We may be hiding from our own personal shortcomings or sins.  We may be avoiding or even denying the fear we have for failures in our lives, in our relationship with other family members – or trying to hide from failures of our past – discovering perhaps that  church is not a place to hide but rather BE FOUND BY GOD so together we can work through issues in our lives. 

In our lives, “In this very room”,  we often sing an Introit titled ” Sanctuary”   reminding us our lives exist in the context of this place, this sanctuary – not just a room but a place where God is involved in helping us lives our lives;  where God is engaged in helping us grow;  where God will HOLD and LOVE us – always – every time we enter this sacred place.

CHURCH IS NOT A PLACE TO HIDE….BUT TO BE FOUND AND NURTURED IN THE LOVE OF GOD! 

III.  Communion

One more place I would like to go with this message this morning:  “In this very room”, we have a table set before us.  It is from this table we receive an invitation from Jesus to dine together with him.  This table is set so we can enjoy, together, this sacramental meal in feeding our minds and souls learning what it means to be the living Christ doing Christ’s work in the world – work that God calls us to be doing beyond what we can see from the windows, beyond what we can do within the walls of this sacred place.

We bring to this table our lives in preparing to receive the bread and the cup. 

We approach this sacrament personally with all that is in our own personal relationship with God. 

As we sit and contemplate holding the bread and the cup, we can think of many different things.  We can think about ways God has blessed us.  We may be swimming in thoughts about our struggles….our shortcomings …..the struggles of members of our families.  We may be praying for a closer relationship with God.  We may be simply enjoying the moment – the time God has given us to be together with friends.  We all have our stories in what brings us into this sacred place.

This time in preparing to receive the elements of the bread and the cup is between you and God….and you can bring anything you want to the conversation you have with God.

Something else important happens when we receive communion.  We partake of the bread – together.  We drink from the little cups – together.  This is to remind us we are not alone.  God is with all of us.  Together we are the living Body of Christ.  There is nothing in life we have to go through alone.  We have each other.  We have God.  We are all that God gives us as Christ in the world today.

We say this often.  We are the body of Christ!  The bread of life and cup of salvation feed us spiritually.  We become the hands and feed and arms and legs of Christ…..we become, together, the mind of Christ discerning God’s will for us and this church in this time and this place.  We are the body of Christ. 

IV.  Conclusion

From where I sit, “In this Very Room” --  we gather and pray and sing and hear God’s Word from scripture and sermon.  We are reminded of the many ways we are blessed.  We break bread and drink from the cup that binds us tightly to Christ and to each other.  “In this Very Room”, we find sanctuary with God…..so we can become a people set apart through Christ to live our lives doing God’s work in the world.

May God bless all of us who enter this place – and partake of this sacrament – opening our lives and hearts experience all that God offers – In this Very room.    AMEN

[1]   www.slate.com, On the Tradition of Religious Sanctuary, 08/16/06, by Daniel Engber, example took place in Chicago, 2006, reported online story.