The culture had disintegrated around the people. The moorings of life no longer existed and no longer held life in place. The people were disillusioned, discouraged, distraught, and depressed. Life as everyone knew it was no more. The prevailing questions of the day were What to do? Where to turn?

The period described here may sound all too present, but it is not a description of the present. The period described is the early to mid 500’s B.C. The period from which our biblical texts for the day come. The poet of the Lamentations is seeking to give voice to the disintegration, discouragement, and depression that fills his life and pervades his world. More importantly, the poet wants to offer hope for himself and for the world in which he lives.

Disintegration, disillusionment, discouragement, and depression. This was the culture of the day into which the Rev. Dr. Hugh Thomson Kerr introduced World Communion Sunday. Seeking to answer the questions What to do? and Where to turn?  for his culture Kerr found hope in the body and blood of Jesus Christ.  Kerr offered the idea in 1933, a time some historians call the darkest year of the Great Depression, a time his son recalls as dominated by the clouds of Nazism and Fascism as well as economic difficulty. The idea the younger Kerr recalls spread slowly at first and really caught hold with World War II when we were trying to hold the world together. Worldwide communion symbolized the effort to hold things together in a spiritual sense; it emphasized our oneness in the Spirit and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The attempt was to bring churches together in communion for inspiration, information, and to remind them of their interconnection. Kerr sought to give voice to the disintegration, discouragement, and depression that filled his life and pervaded his world. He also sought to offer hope for himself and the world in which he lived.

Disintegration, disillusionment, discouragement, and depression. The truth is this is the culture of our day. This is the reality of the political and social anxiety we hear and experience every day. The task that falls to us is the same task that fell to the poet and Dr. Kerr. In some way we have to articulate a hope that moves people from their perception of a crushing present reality to a belief in the renewing mercies of God. What to do? Where to turn? These questions haunt us each day as we face life’s challenges. Unfortunately, there is no one answer to these challenges. In a perfect world, I would assemble the collective wisdom of all of our Tellico Village engineers and together we would find a solution to the problem and implement that solution, but I’ve lived long enough to know this will not work. So, What to do? Where to turn? What follows are some simple paths we can all begin to walk immediately:

-          Live Out The Inclusive Love Of God: Our ICCC motto says that as a group of churches this is who we are. What would the world look like if we indeed practiced such? How would this affect our world, especially those on the margins for whom Jesus came and to whom the gospel seeks to be good news? This inclusive love is at least part of the answer to those we walk with who know this day not just as World Communion Sunday, but as the beginning of Mental Health Awareness Week. Their experience of inclusive love may not cure their illness or eliminate their difficulty, but it would at least help them to know that someone shares the journey with them.

-          Gather At The Table Of Life With Different People: Human nature causes us to seek people with whom we agree and that is not all bad, but we do not learn much in those contexts. I cannot tell you how this might work for you, but let me tell you one of the things that I do. I participate in a small book group that meets once a month for review and discussion of a selected book. Over time, I’ve learned that some of the members of the group see the world pretty much as I do, and other members of the group see the world completely differently, however in a time of need I would not hesitate to call on any of these individuals for help, nor they me, I hope. We’ve spent enough time at the table together to know that despite our differences, we need each other.     

-          Do Not Give Up Your Seat At The Table of Life: No doubt the poet of the Lamentations and Rev. Dr. Kerr had times of temptation when they wondered if their efforts were of any value. No doubt we often feel that way and the easiest   path is to give up, to quit, but as with the poet and Kerr, our potential contribution is more important than our personal comfort. Pastor Rhonda often prays that we might be cured of our myopia, that God would allow us to see the world beyond our own microcosm. Staying at the table with others is one of the ways to accomplish Pastor Rhonda’s prayer. Looking for ways to convey hope in the midst of disintegration, discouragement, and depression. Finding ways to answer the questions What to do? Where to turn?

On this World Communion Sunday in a world filled with disintegration, discouragement, and depression, may God give us the grace to take a seat at the Table of Life with others and the courage to be willing to stay until the work is done! AMEN!