Father Gary’s Sermon

Inspired from John 17:20-26

May 23, 2004

Early in the nineteenth century the inhabitants of the Fiji Islands was predominately made of natives tribes that practiced cannibalism. This was to change, however, when in 1821 an eighteen-year-old boy named James Calvert, along with two companions, came to the island as missionaries. During their twenty-five year ministry many of the natives converted to Christianity and practiced a very vibrant faith.

Many years later an Earl from England visited the islands. He was quite disturbed by the energetic faith these people had in Christ. While speaking with one of the tribal chiefs he raised questions about their religious gullibility. He stated that back in England the gospel was essentially considered a threadbare story. To him these natives were merely fools for their beliefs and he said as much.

The chief very patiently heard out his distinguished guest. Then he calmly pointed to a huge rock in the midst of the village. “You see that rock?” he asked. “That is where we use to bash open the heads of our victims!” Then pointing to a nearby furnace he continued, “That is where we cooked our victims! Indeed, Sir, if we had not been converted to this Christ who you diminish, you would not be leaving this island. In fact, you would in all probability be served as our supper tonight!”

This is a very powerful story, but it also one which may raise in your minds the question as to what it might have to do with our Gospel reading this morning. In this reading Jesus is praying for his disciples, requesting, “That they may be one as we are one that the love with which you love me may be in them along with me.” The story of the Fiji Islands, however, has everything to do with the Gospel in that it answers the question as to how we might become one. We can do so by either devouring one another or we can come together and devour Christ in the Holy Eucharist.

So the real question for we who are Christians today is, “How are we doing?” The Handbook of Denominations for churches in the United States reveals that there are now over 280 distinct Christian denominations just in our nation alone! In essence, the Universal Church that Christ prayed for is a very fragmented reality. On some occasions we can come together and worship, such as during Holy Week or other occasions, but our ability to worship together breaks down when it comes to sharing the Holy Eucharist.

Let me give you a painful example. In 1988 my mother, who was then worshipping in a Baptist Church, visited me to participate in my first celebration of the Holy Eucharist as a newly ordained priest. When it came time for her to come forward to receive the Holy Elements, she remained seated in her pew. Though she had been converted to Christ under my ministry in another denomination, she could not share Holy Eucharist with me on this day because her pastor had told her she shouldn't. Though we were of one family in the flesh, it was evident that we were no longer of one family in the Spirit, though we both claimed to worship the same Christ.

Instead of all of our different denominations working together, we maintain an intense competition among us. This is revealed in some fairly obvious ways. For instance, the Baptists are often heard to brag that theirs is the largest Protestant denomination in the United States. The Roman Catholics proclaim that they have a corner on Christian legitimacy because they can trace their origins to the Apostle Peter. Presbyterians only smirk at such talk, proudly asserting that they are the wealthiest denomination. Oh, unless we get too proud ourselves, we as Episcopalians view our liturgy as the most beautiful and meaningful of them all. Not only that, but we can smoke, drink, dance, and still come to church without guilt. However, is this not just evidence of our propensity to devour each other, while making up excuses as to why we are unable to come together and devour the Christ?

There is a solution. Thomas Ryan alluded to this when he stated, “The way through the door of unity is on our knees.” However, I will take this a step further and state that the way to Christian unity comes when we eat the body and drink the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ together on our knees. In order to accomplish this we need to learn the same lessons as that Earl from England who visited the Fiji Islands back in the nineteenth century. First of all, we have to relearn how to take the Scriptures seriously again. Far to often we tend to view the writings within the Bible as merely outdated historical documents that have little relevance to our modern lives. As a result, like that Earl, the Scriptures have merely become threadbare stories to many of us. What we fail to see, however, is how threadbare many of our lives have become as a result. While we dare not make an idol out of the Scriptures, we need to rediscover the teaching of Martin Luther when he stated, “The Bible is the manger in which the Christ is laid.” Without the Word, as well as the Sacraments, we merely resort to cannibalizing one another.

The lesson of the Fiji Islands is also relevant in another powerful way. As the natives who were originally converted through the work of a few humble missionaries of the English Church later came back and confronted the bankrupt faith of the visiting Earl, so these same types of churches planted throughout the third world by western missionaries are now coming back to challenge the Western Church, especially in the Anglican Communion as we deliberate the thorny issues of human sexuality. Will we listen to them or choose not to be in unity with them?

Though these questions and the challenges they offer are very real to us today, we also need to celebrate some good news in our midst today. As the Church of England once sent James Calvert to the Fiji Islands as a missionary, so we are sending from among our number two persons to be missionaries in Togo, Africa. This week Salem and Diane Saloom will be leaving to serve as medical missionaries for the next month. They leave us well equipped. While Salem is a very well trained surgeon, and Diane has been trained to assist him, there is something even more significant which grounds them. Neither of them views the Scriptures as merely threadbare stories, but rather as the Divine source which sends them off into these mission fields. Furthermore, they have been richly and regularly nourished on the Sacraments of the Church. Indeed, Salem will have him a bottle of Holy Oil for anointing the ill that was consecrated by our Bishop.

Today, let us unify behind them with our prayers. Let us send them in the love that the Father has for the Christ. Let us unite together on our knees in prayer. Let us devour together the Body and Blood of Christ which they will assist this priest in ministering. Let their work be upheld by our love for Christ, our love for them, our love for each other, and the love we seek to share with those we do not know. For who knows, one day what we give to the people of Togo may come back and nourish us.