U2 eucharist sermon

Here is a rough copy of my sermon from the U2 Eucharist. I gave my sermon from the heart not have written anything out or having any notes. So I wrote this a week or so after from what I recalled saying.

Isn’t this fun? Where else, other that the Episcopal Church, can we combine the history and tradition of the Eucharist with the music of Irish rock band U2?

I could go on ad nauseam about the plethora of reasons for why we are all here tonight. But, when it comes down to it we are all here for one reason. One word can tell you why we are here tonight, and why billions of people around the world have joined in this cause. That one word is unity. Tonight I’d like to take a look at this idea of unity from three different points of view.

A few weeks ago we remembered the Lord’s baptism. In my opinion some of the most beautiful and poetic words come from the opening of the Baptismal service. The call and response between the celebrant and the congregation is the perfect verbiage to describe how we are all united as one. The celebrant begins the service by saying, “There is one Body and one Spirit” and we respond, “There is one hope in God’s call to us”. Again the celebrant says to the congregation, “ One Lord, one Faith, one Baptism” and we respond “one God and Father of all.” Those two lines, “one Lord, one faith, one baptism. One hope in God’s call to us.” Those two lines explain why we are all here. We all share in one Lord, one faith and one baptism, and through that we share in the one hope in God’s call to us. It is the hope of that call that draws us here tonight. It is that call that drives us to stand up for those who cannot stand for themselves, to give voice to those who have none, and to be Christ’s light in a seemingly dark world.

For the past two years I have been working with a grassroots organization in the Episcopal Church called Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation. To make it a little easier I will refer to this organization as EGR. At EGR we focus on working to end extreme poverty and hunger via the Millennium Development Goals or MDGs. For this work we have a slogan or catch phrase, and that’s catch phrase is, “The MDGs: the REAL instruments of Unity.” That is really in black and white. By working to ensure the achievement and progression of the MDGs we are uniting as one, acting as one to make the world a better and safer place for all. By making the world a safer place for all of God’s children we are answer his call to us.

Tonight we hear from John’s Gospel one of the most powerful versus in the bible. John 3:16 says in the more familiar version, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son so that all who believe in him may not perish, but have eternal life.” It’s all right there. We are all united through Christ’s death and the promise of eternal life. But, there is another part of that sentence that is the core of unity. It is nearly impossible to have unity without love. In the verse we are first told the reason why God gives up his one and only son, it is because God loves the world.

As you prepare to receive communion tonight, as you leave this place and go continue on with your life I pray and beg you to work to make the world a better place, to work for the achievement of the MDGs, to save millions of lives from dieing needlessly. Why should you do this? You should do this because we all share One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, and through that One hope in God’s call to us. We live out that call via the MDGs: the REAL instruments of unity. Why do we do all of this? We do this because God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that all who believe in him may not perish, but have life eternal. Amen.