You might wonder why we decided to do this service in the Fellowship Hall, around tables, sharing the bread and the cup and then a meal afterwards? Why stuff ourselves in here?
So I am going to invite you to take a moment and 
look around you at your tablemates? Are you all the same? Do you have the same eyes, shape of hands and fingers, height and weight? Do you all think just alike as if you have robotic minds? And if you are online watching, imagine the last table you sat at with other people and ask the same questions?
Are you all the same? No – I didn’t think so.
Unity – being one in a divided world is a hard thing – in Jesus’ time, in Paul’s time, in our time. So first, let’s explore Jesus’ world and why it was so important for him to pray this prayer after speaking with his disciples about his impending death and what that would mean for them. We have already seen that the disciples tend to want to one-up one another or claim a special place by Jesus’ side.
They are human – but Jesus knows that the unity, the oneness he experiences with God is possible for all of us. This oneness between God and Jesus, and between them and the disciples and all who will follow, provides a witness that the Body of Christ – the Jesus followers – can be united through the Love that God has for Jesus, Jesus has for God and that we are instructed to have for them and for each other. They and we can have unity.
Why have humans resisted and fought that kind of love and unity throughout the centuries? Why do humans insist on claiming special status when it comes to God/Jesus/Holy Spirit – elevating one set of people over another? Why do we humans insist on division that leads to hate and fear and anger and cruelty and wars?
I think this might be what Paul was trying to address in his letter to the church in Corinth which had become divisive – elevating one group of people over another and losing the sense of oneness and egalitarianism that the early church practiced. And so we get this comparison of the Body of Christ to the actual human body.
The body is made up of many parts that need each other – even the parts that people believe are weak or less honorable aren’t. We need all the parts that God has gifted us with. Imagine if everyone wanted to be the treasurer of the church and no one wanted to be a deacon. Imagine if everyone decided that their role in service to the church was the most important so that they look down on other roles.
God has put this Body of Christ – this community of faith together – and gifted it with all the parts we need to be the Body of Christ extending to all and serving all with love, mercy, grace, compassion and justice. Knowing that God has not left us empty-handed but provided what we need helps us to partner with God to bring the kindom of heaven to earth. Imagine how pleasing it would be to God if all the clans and families of the world experienced unity – not conformity because we know we are not the same. Unity does not mean robotic conformity.
Now imagine if we experienced what Thomas Merton experienced standing on a Louisville corner – “Then it was as if I suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts, the depths of their hearts where neither sin nor desire nor self-knowledge can reach, the core of their reality, the person that each one is in God’s eyes. If only they could all see themselves as they really are. If only we could see each other that way all the time. There would be no more war, no more hatred, no more cruelty, no more greed. . .. But this cannot be seen, only believed and ‘understood’ by a peculiar gift.”
How can we be one in a divided world? Perhaps we start with embracing Jesus’ prayer, with understanding Paul’s desire for unity in a community of faith, and with Merton’s ability to see each person as God sees them. Maybe we start by praying for that kind of unity – again not conformity – but a unified sense of being a community of faith rooted and practiced in the love commandments: Love God, love neighbor, love self, love one another, love your enemies.
Ah, but what is a way to practice that. Well let’s go back to why we are around tables in the Fellowship Hall. Notice that in a circle you can see each other equally – you don’t have to strain or turn around; you can really see each other. Now I want you to imagine that another seat has been added to your table – who might you invite that would help you see as God sees? Who might you invite to share your stories, share food, share time that would help you see as God sees? How might we initiate a practice of widening our tables so that we can see as God sees?
I think Jan Richardson whose poem, And the Table Will be Wide, might hold some clues for us if we made table fellowship a regular part of our spiritual practice – however that might take place, however that might look. So I will close this sermon with that poem:
And the table will be wide.
And the welcome will be wide.
And the arms will open wide to gather us in.
And our hearts will open wide to receive.
And we will come as children who trust there is enough.
And we will come unhindered and free.
And our aching will be met with bread.
And our sorrow will be met with wine.
And we will open our hands to the feast without shame. And we will turn toward each other without fear. And we will give up our appetite for despair. And we will taste and know of delight.
And we will become bread for a hungering world. And we will become drink for those who thirst. And the blessed will become the blessing.
And everywhere will be the feast.
May we be the blessed that become the blessing bringing the feast everywhere we go and in every meal and table fellowship we share. May it be so. Amen.