Communion Reflection: God Works….Mysteriously
The First Congregational Church of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin
2nd Sunday after Pentecost – June 14, 2009
Rev. Steven A. Peay, Ph.D.
[texts: 1 Samuel 1: 34-16:13/2 Corinthians 5:6-17/Mark 4: 26-34]

Most of the time we hear the word ‘mystery’ and think detective story or a “who-done-it,” or we may think of something difficult to explain in nature. It’s important for us to also realize that one of the earliest descriptions of the church’s worship is “the Divine Mystery” (also sometimes the plural is used, as in “the Sacred Mysteries”). Mystery simply means “something hidden.” We come to worship a God whom none of us have ever laid eyes upon. We come because there have been those in history, including some of our immediate relatives, who have experienced the revelation of this Hidden God in one way or another. Many of us, perhaps even most of us, do believe that this mysterious Divine One is really present to us and among us in the here-and-now. One of the reasons we come to worship – to ascribe worth – to God is precisely because we trust that one of the ways God continues to reveal God’s self is in the act of worship.

As Christian believers, we hold that God opens to us and identifies with us in the Sacred Mysteries – to be precise in the celebration of Word and of Sacrament. The Scripture is filled with stories of memorials, of opportunities to recall, remember and celebrate God’s self-disclosure. Again and again, God acts in ways that are mysterious, hidden to us, perhaps even unexpected by us, but yet does so to remind us that God is God and that we – well, we are not.

The lessons we’ve shared today each shows God at work in mysterious, hidden ways which still bring forth some new and wonderful blessing for those who are willing to wait to receive what God wants to show. The story of David’s anointing by Samuel is classic in that regard. Samuel goes to Ramah and Jesse produces son-after-son and each time God tells the prophet, “No. I don’t care how tall, how strong or how good-looking the fellow is, he isn’t my choice.” Finally, David, the shepherd boy, the least of the brothers comes in and God says, “That one!” God picks David and through him not only makes Israel a world-power, but also uses him as the source of the line through which the Messiah will come. Look at the Bible and you’ll see that God tends to take the weak, the least and the unexpected to do great things. What that means, dear ones, is that there is certainly hope for us!

We get the same thing in Paul’s words to the Corinthian Church. He tells them flat-out, “From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” Again, this speaks hope to us. We are the “new creation” Paul is talking about. What this implies is that we will put aside old ways of thinking and acting because we are striving to follow Christ’s example of living in perfect – read complete or whole – obedience to the Father.

And then there are Jesus’ words about how plants grow without our always seeing or understanding and faith the size of a mustard seed. Are you catching the theme here? Can you see, hear that God works with the small, the unexpected – keep adding the descriptors – all so that we can be brought more and more into God’s life?

God works mysteriously and we worship through the Divine Mysteries. For Christians, the celebration of the Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper, Communion (pick your favorite name) is the act of worship par excellence. Here we break open the Word – which we’re doing right now – and then we head to the table and through the Sacrament we break the bread and share the cup, both actions doing the same thing: joining us with our Living Lord, making us what we are called to be, the Body of Christ in the world.

The mystery of this act of worship is that through simple ordinary things, human words and the stuff of ordinary nourishment, we are brought into oneness, union with the living God in the living Christ. These actions remind us that the words we speak make a difference in the world around us. They also remind us that we are called to be, as Saint Augustine said to his people long ago, what we see and receive from the table. Our lives are to be thanksgivings (Eucharists) to God and our lives are to nourish and build up people, just as we are nourished and built up by what we receive.

God acts mysteriously. The Kingdom of God is present mysteriously. You are I are part of the mysterious working and mustard-seed-planting of the Kingdom in the here-and-now. Understand the wonder of what we do here in these very simple acts of speaking, listening, taking, eating and drinking. Allow what we do to let those mustard-seeds grow, mature and make a difference in day-to-day living. We don’t need a Hercule Poirot, a Miss Marple, a Brother Cadfael, or any of our favorite detectives, to unravel this mystery. We simply must embrace it, live into it and grow through it. God works mysteriously and you and I, dear ones, we are the proof of it!