Philippians 1:21-30

21 For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me, yet I cannot say which I will choose. 23 I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better, 24 but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you. 25 Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith, 26 so that, by my presence again with you, your boast might abound in Christ Jesus because of me.

27 Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel 28 and in no way frightened by those opposing you. For them, this is evidence of their destruction but of your salvation. And this is God’s doing. 29 For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ but of suffering for him as well, 30 since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

Matthew 20:1-16

The Laborers in the Vineyard

20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. 5 When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. 6 And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around, and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ 8 When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ 9 When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received a denarius. 10 Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. 11 And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’[a] 16 So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”[b]

Footnotes

• 20.15 Gk is your eye evil because I am good?
• 20.16 Other ancient authorities add for many are called, but few are chosen

This gospel lesson was really hard for me the first time I read it decades ago,…and, honestly, it still is on different levels.  I’m sure it’s probably difficult for most of us in this room.  It just doesn’t seem fair!  Folks show up, on time (not a problem I have at least!), and work a full day!  In this case, probably 12 hours.  Then others come later, even up to the very last hour, and get paid the same wage!!!

And, to add insult to injury, the landowner, the guy who owns the vineyard, gives a snark response to the workers who have been in the heat all day, “didn’t I promise you all the same wages?  I own this place and can be as generous as I want!”.

To many of us who have played by the rules that society has given us, this seems incredibly unfair.  

I can remember being in high school and coming to terms that some folks experienced a much deeper grace than I did.  I had always played by the rules of the church.  I was a good kid…my only rebellion was the long hair I had!  I found out early in life that I could  gain approval by being a church leader.  So, I was president of our Fellowship of Christian Athletes/Good News Club, was on the youth council of our church’s youth group, started Youth for Christ at my high school, I was even licensed as a preacher at age 17 in my Baptist church.  Yet, I was looking around at some of my friends who were not living as I was.  They seemed to do whatever they wanted and seemed pretty content.  

It came to a head when I was on a youth for christ ski trip.  On that trip, I got vulnerable with my adult group leaders and shared with them how I was doing all of this stuff, but still did not feel loved or close to God.  They responded by listening, and reminding me of God’s grace to all people and that I could not prove anything to God.  I could not work hard enough to earn God’s generosity.  I had it, as did my friends.  I simply needed to let go of my image and allow myself to be loved.  

In our gospel lesson, it’s obvious that God is the landowner and that God’s sense of fairness and equity is much different than the society that we have built.

When we read this, hear this, it is meant to make us question some of the deepest ways we have lived and to let those questions do their work of exposing our hearts.  As readers, listeners, to this parable, we are invited to not only feel the angst of the workers who have worked all day, but also the grace given to the workers who showed up later…and to ultimately move towards identifying with the generosity of the landowner.  This parable, along with so many of the parables, takes root within us and begins to carve away much of how we have lived…to strip us down to a place of questioning everything in order to lose our lives in order to find our lives in the generosity and grace of God.  A God who resides within us and all around us giving us grace after grace that we do not deserve but have been given.  

God’s economy is built on grace, that’s what God promises.  We live our lives in what has been called “first half of life” thinking.  Everything is built on what we do, what we accomplish, how hard we work.  The image we build.  That can be important and necessary for a season, but at some point, we move to a “second half of life”, and that can be at 18, 38, or 88, where we begin to see that life is not about what we do or what roles we have played, but about experiencing God’s life, God’s grace, within and mourned us.  

Our Philippians passage talks about dying to the flesh in order to have life.  This dying is not a physical death, it is a process of letting our ego, our small “s” self, die and become subservient to our big “S” self, to God who lives within us, at the ground of our very being.  This is, as Paul says, the working out of our salvation.  Often in life, we put God, our our true selves, our made in the image of God selves, subservient to our egos, the image that we’ve created, the systems that we live in and have created.  Yet, God is saying to us, let God’s generosity be the gift that it is and emerge within us, to be born anew or from above.

Richard Rohr says this:  “Everything is a gift—one hundred percent pure gift. The reason any of us woke up this morning had very little to do with us and everything to do with God. All twenty-four hours today are total gift. And so, the only real prayer is to say “Thank you!” and to keep saying it. When our prayer is constantly “Thank you,” and we know we deserve nothing, and that everything is a gift, we stop counting. Only when we stop counting and figuring out what we deserve, will we move from the world of merit into the wonderful world of grace. And in the world of grace, everything is free.”

This is God’s economy…may we live into it and out of it…from our very deepest selves.  Amen?

Matthew 18:21–35 (NRSV): 

21 Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times. 

23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; 25 and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. 26 So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. 31 When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. 32 Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. 35 So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

Forgiveness is our theme from the lectionary this week!  A good thing to come after last week where we talked about reconciliation.  Although, actually, I think forgiveness should come before reconciliation.  Or, maybe they go hand in hand.  

One of the things that I wanted to say last week is that there is also sorts of reconciliation going on in and around our congregation.  It’s actually pretty amazing.  And, it’s humbling.  I have to be able to not only encourage you to reconcile, but I have to practice it as well.  

Reconciliation is a constant practice that marks all of us.  It can be exhausting at times, as well as invigorating.  When Peter comes to Jesus and asks how many times must he forgive someone, Jesus has a precise number:  77!  That’s a lot!  Now, what Jesus is saying is a figure of speech.  We don’t go around keeping track of how many times we have to forgive someone in a day.  And, we don’t count to 77 and then at 78 say forget it!  You can’t be forgiven!  

No, it means that we have to constantly forgive.  That’s hard.  I know.  In a world with so much trauma, where we are having things done to us, even as we may do things to others, to say to forgive is easy, but to do it and to live lives in that posture is hard.

This has a lot to do with us becoming more of what we were created to be:  human beings living in communion with ourselves, God’s Presence, and with others.  We know we need forgiveness, and we know we want to give it.  We have to start with forgiving ourselves.

When you have someone that forgives you, that makes it easier to opening up forgiveness within ourselves and others.

The parable that Jesus gives makes this point. Now, I know we don’t related to the slave and master thing as much these days.  And, I’m glad that we recognized that this language and behavior is simply wrong.  Yet, when I read it, I thought of my PePa.  I think I’ve shared this story before, but its a powerful reminder to me and hopefully to you.

PePa was someone that really believed in me.  I always felt loved and respected by him.  No matter what I was going through, or when I was acting out or having major growing pains…even as a teenager, he always had the effect of seeing something worthwhile in me.  He was a huge encourager and forgiving person, I loved being around him.

When I graduated from UK, I wanted to change the world, so I went to work for a non-profit youth ministry.  I didn’t make hardly any money, but my PePa still supported me and was proud of me.  When I graduated from UK, I didn’t have any debt because of the generosity of my parents.and the fact that college tuition was not nearly as expensive as it is now, it was much more accessible back then.  After about 3-4 years or so of being on staff with this non-profit, I had accumulated quite a bit of debt.  I had made a decision at that point to move to Atlanta to work in partnership with the Presbyterian Church and Young Life, another non-profit.  My PePa had me over for dinner, and asked me to write down all of my debts.  I was so embarrassed giving him that sheet of paper.  But, when I did, he sat down, didn’t question anything, and wrote a check out to me for the full amount of my debts.  He then said, “you need to start in Atlanta a new page and not have any financial debt to worry about.  I believe in you and what you are about.  Your debt is forgiven.”

My debt was gone financially, but I also felt something more, a deeper healing knowing that my PePa believed in me.

That forgiveness and belief in me had a profound impact on me and how I wanted to be treated and how to treat others.

It would have been wrong for me to receive this gift from PePa and then go out to my best friend who maybe owed me $50 and tell him to give it to me right then or I’d have to do something drastic.  I was humbled and needed to allow that humility to work its way through and around me.  

We all need forgiveness don’t we?  I came across this quote on forgiveness last week:

“…did Jesus change his regular policy after his resurrection, and his love become exclusionary and conditional, as it never was during his lifetime? In fact, his breath, perfect Shalom, and divine forgiveness have all become the very same thing after the Resurrection John 20:22) and given freely to the crowd who had just totally let him down and are hiding behind locked doors. The community of saints is the community of sinners.” – Richard Rohr

Friends, we’ve been given grace after grace by a God who allows all things in this world…even our debts and grievances and sufferings.  And, yet, this God that is a part of us just as we are a part of God, has given us forgiveness.  May we live in that practice of love and forgive one another, even when its not reciprocated.

A couple of weeks ago, I received a call from a church member that humbled me.  He said he was wrong on something and apologized.  At that moment, I had a choice…actually, I didn’t know what to say.  But, I did manage to say thank you.  I accepted his apology and forgave him.  And, I know that I need to keep on doing that, just as I hope others do with me when I need forgiveness. 

Romans 13:8-14

Love for One Another

8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; you shall not murder; you shall not steal; you shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

An Urgent Appeal

11 Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is already the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; 12 the night is far gone; the day is near. Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; 13 let us walk decently as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in illicit sex and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Matthew 18:15-20

Reproving Another Who Sins

15 “If your brother or sister sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If you are listened to, you have regained that one. 16 But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If that person refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church, and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”

When thinking of this sermon, I thought a lot about the word “reconcile”.  It’s a great word.  It’s simply defined as this:

restore friendly relations between.

cause to coexist in harmony; make or show to be compatible.”a landscape in which inner and outer vision were reconciled”

As the week progressed, I began to see this sermon, this passage as having a possibility of a universal appeal to us today.  

What does it mean to be reconciled?  Our first lectionary lesson from Romans talks about the rule of love.  The entire law, the canon of scripture, has a trajectory towards love…that even the commandments are summed up in loving one another.  It even says that simply believing does not bring salvation to us, or to anyone.  The work and power of love has to be something that springs up within us and flows to those around us.

But, we have an issue, maybe lots of issues.  We live in systems that simply sap the life out of us, that tell us what to believe, what to buy, what political party to adhere to, what religion God favors, that some are in and some are out.  Yet, no room for love.

PP

In order to live into the systems that are all around us, we develop our own personal belief systems and biases that help us to understand what we see in the world, in our selves.  Oftentimes, this identity that we have lived into most of our lives, leads us to asking questions, if we are honest, about who we really are, what do we really believe, and what do we want out of our deepest sense of authenticity, not out of a sense of ego or what we’ve always been told or have lived.  We have so many layers in who we are, it is often hard to sort through them to get to the love that is at the center of all of our lives.  

And then we come to the scriptures, or even our tradition or experiences, and realize that what we have become is not rooted in the love that we were created in.  It often seems that we have lived such transactional lives that we can even begin to dream about what change or transformation that God offers may even look like.

Heck, we even made God in our own image…we said God must be transactional like us…that God would demand something from us in order to love us, that God would even kill God’s Son so that God can somehow by appeased or satisfied.

Not what God intended folks, at all.  God said from the bringing that we need to be reconciled to one another, and to ourselves.  That begins and ends with loving one’s self and others.

When we live in love, we find joy in the midst of suffering.  

My friend Jay in my twenties was (and still is) amazing.  He loved life, loved his friends, even though his dad died when he was 16 and his mom had an aggressive form of MS in his twenties and eventually died. 

Yet, beyond dogma and religious piety, Jay embraced life.  I never will forget on a road trip out west, driving for long hours for some adventure, Jay would turn on his favorite band, Pearl Jam.  When the song “Evenflow” would come on, Jay would turn into some time of animal, or a swirling dervish, and start dancing and jumping and singing in the car…it was contagious, we all did it!  The joy out of love for life, for himself, for others, even in the midst of his own suffering was beautiful.  He lived, at times, reconciled to himself.

And to others.  When folks were struggling, even with him, he was not afraid to admit fault or to listen.  

Friends, there are some practical things in the gospel lesson…are we willing to have brave conversation to work it out, listen, there is a process for reconciliation in this passage.  Go to someone who you have a disagreement with, talk it out with honor, and if that doesn’t work, then bring others in.  Yet we so often don’t want to take the time to reconcile.  It’s too hard or uncomfortable .  The real issue, do we love enough to take the time?  And, do we love ourselves enough.

A few years ago, I had the realization that reconciliation starts within me.  It starts with me loving myself, my true self, and letting my ego become subservient to my true self.  In others words, to let my flesh die so that my life can come alive.  To lose my life in order to gain it.

When my mom was dying, I read a poem from John O’Donohue.  It led me to reading the book Anam Cara that he wrote.  The title is Gaelic for “Soul Friend”.  We all want soul friends, but we have to start with being our own soul friend to ourselves.  Of knowing that deep within our very beings, God is calling us beloved.  Then we can be soul friends with other…living reconciled lives within ourselves, within our world, and with one another.

Let’s do the work of letting love emerge and reconcile, no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in.  Amen?

Exodus 3:1-15

Moses at the Burning Bush

3 Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness and came to Mount Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. 3 Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight and see why the bush is not burned up.” 4 When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 He said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

7 Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Now go, I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” 12 He said, “I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

The Divine Name Revealed

13 But Moses said to God, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ” 15 God also said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’:

This is my name forever,
and this my title for all generations.

Fascinating Old Testament lesson!  In antiquity, persons wanted to know someone’s name in order to have power over them…Moses is trying to find the identity of God and God responds with “I am”…he goes on to say that “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc”…basically a God of relationship.  In so doing, God’s turning Moses into the mystery of identity…the I am that is in all being, all creation.  What a statement…and, to think, that this voice of the burning bush, this “I AM” resides within us!!!  And all around us…

Let’s get on with the gospel lesson as it works out another power play over Jesus that Jesus would have none of…in fact, calling Peter out and calling him into his deeper “I AM” identity.  

Matthew 16:21-28

Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

21 From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

The Cross and Self-Denial

24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?

27 “For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. 28 Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

The Rally Day picnic last week with our congregation and the Nepali congregation was simply another good moment in our church’s history.  I love that we have  demonstrated what we’ve been preaching, that we engage others and show hospitality as well as receive it…and more than simply sharing our space, it’s building relationships that are transformative, not just transactional.  

Really, it’s great to think about this tradition of Rally Day, even with some creative and adaptive twists that we’ve done over the past few years.  Things evolve, as does our identity as a congregation.  Rally day is a part of our identity at Fleming Road UCC, a welcoming congregation to different cultures within our community.  

In our gospel lesson, we see Jesus not celebrating his identity, but giving a somber declaration, a prophetic word, that he must suffer, that he will be betrayed, and that he will be killed.  Peter would have none of this!  He had put his identity and expectations in and on Jesus instead of the Christ Presence that was in Jesus and emerging in Peter, his true identity.  Peter’s sense of self, his image, was wrapped up in a triumphant Jesus, a victorious Messiah.  Yet, Jesus says that tragedy must come first, that suffering is a key part of our identity with Christ…and oftentimes we need those kind of disruptions for our truest selves to emerge, or to be born again if you will.

Life is filled with suffering.  We do all that we can to avoid it, but it’s there.  Look at folks struggling with their health during the pandemic, mental heath as well, job insecurity and an unknown future, look at the millions of refugees fleeing corruption and wrecked countries, look at the effects of human trafficking all over the world, look at the violence against people of color and the racism and sexism being spewed upon us in so many directions.  

Look at our own lives.  We experience depression, anxiety, physical loss in our lives, emotional ups and downs, job losses, transitions we feel we aren’t ready for, death.  

Jesus knows this and addresses it head on.  Peter rebukes Jesus for saying this, yet Jesus gives a strong response as a Rabbi should and would do to one of his disciples, “get behind me Satan”.  Don’t deny what I’m saying or will experience.  And, he’s telling Peter, you have to go through suffering in order for something to emerge within you.  You have to move from a fixed mindset and heartset to an open mind and heart.  Jesus is frustrated, frustrated with the lack of awareness and desire for true growth in Peter…but Jesus loves Peter and wants Peter to understand that he cannot hide from suffering.  

Neither can we friends.  Jesus goes on to say in our text this morning that in order to be a follower of Jesus, we must deny ourselves and take up Jesus’ cross, the way of suffering.  We must be willing to enter into the darkness of our lives, the lives of others, and this world.  This is a hard word, but if we are to enter into life, true life where we grow and become all that God intended, if we want to experience true joy, we must be willing to suffer, to lean into the darkness of our lives and even embrace it.  We must enter into the tragedies in and around us and learn and grow from them…  

Richard Rohr says this:  “the genius of the biblical revelation is that it refuses to deny the dark side of things, but forgives failure and integrates falling to achieve its only promised wholeness, which much of the point of this whole book.  Jesus is never upset at sinners, he is only upset with people who do not think they are sinners!  Jesus was fully at home with this tragic sense of life.”

Jesus does go on to say that if we deny ourselves, if we take up our cross, if we are willing to look at our lives and become aware of who we are even in our suffering and darkness, then we will find Jesus with us.  Jesus will not give up on us.  

Jesus didn’t give up on Peter, and doesn’t give up us.  Peter is often called the rock.  Jesus said that he’d build his church on this same Peter that he rebuked.  He believed in Peter.

And, this same Jesus believes in Fleming Road UCC.  This church which is a part of the church universal that he anointed Peter to be a leader of.  Like Peter, we have to be vulnerable, and authentic, and also realize that we need healing and growth.  

We have to change, we have to think differently, we have to open the doors of our church to others, we have to move beyond the way we’ve done church and think differently in order to build community with those around us. 

Friends, yes, God’s story, and ours, is filled with suffering and tragedy, but the story doesn’t end there.  Yes, Jesus is betrayed, Jesus suffers, Jesus is killed.  We are betrayed, we suffer, and we die.  Yet, there is resurrection.  There is new life.  There is a Risen Christ.  WE will rise with the Christ, and, in fact, we are rising daily with this Christ, even as we experience suffering.  We are learning to trust as we here the story of Jesus and of life over and over again…developing faith in the midst of uncertainty, living through the tragic as well as the triumphant, while staying committed to the authenticity that God is birthing within us. The world around us is looking for that authenticity and a willingness to embrace the messy world we all live in, knowing that we aren’t alone in the messiness or the suffering.  God is with us, and Lord willing, a community of folks around us.  

This is good news!

It is also a good reminder that we are called to share in our suffering.  Communion reminds us of our connection to one another, to God, to Jesus through living in the Christ Presence, and to the whole world really.