All are welcome

Today we celebrated communion. It’s what we do every first Sunday of the month here at Ankeny First United Methodist Church. But this Sunday I wasn’t at one of our three sites. Instead I, along with a team of seven other individuals, was at the Mzuzu United Methodist Church in Mzuzu, Malawi, Africa. We are here as your representatives in our Partnership of Hope with the United Methodist Church Malawi. We have seen a lot of different things in our first week of experiences in Malawi- many of which are hard to describe- the depth of poverty, the hardship, the unbelievable challenges they face each and everyday of their lives- and the surprising enthusiasm and hope and depth of faith in God they so freely and joyously share in all aspects of their lives, but most especially in their worship. How I wish you could experience the rhythmic vibrato of their songs and energetic excitement of their dance as they proclaim God is alive and active in their lives. God is so real to them and there is no question in their minds as they worship that God has indeed shown up in the midst of their living- and here in this moment of worship. I felt that too as we celebrated communion, and I was fortunate enough to serve the bread, “The body of Christ broken for you." Jesus Christ the bread of heaven- American/African, black/white kneeling together side by side claiming one and the same thing; that we all belong to a most loving and gracious God. And so we broke the bread and shared the cup claiming Jesus’ own words upon ourselves, free for all of us; “By this all people will know you are my disciples by how you love one another”(John 13:38). There are many different ways people live their lives today- African/American, black/white, rich/poor, fearful/hope filled, you name it. But here as we celebrated communion we were saying as one that we were choosing this one way to live together- as his disciples- that we all belong to Jesus and in an African church in Mzuzu, Malawi as well as an American church called First United Methodist church in Ankeny, Iowa- that makes all the difference for us, together, in Jesus. See you in church next Sunday! Pastor Scott