World Communion Sunday: Crowded Table

This past Sunday was World Communion Sunday, on which churches throughout Christendom remember the Eucharist as a testament to Christian unity. While congregations in the Disciples of Christ partake in communion each Sunday, we may take for granted that the first Sunday in October is a meaningful in which we witness to an ever-expanding (crowded) table.

After finishing Sunday’s online editing, I went home and started cleaning the house so that I might assemble a new bed frame. I turned on a music streaming service for background noise, and the below linked song, Crowded Table, played as the last song just before midnight.

I wasn’t listening closely to the music that played, but the beat, vocals, and lyrics of the chorus of this song grabbed my attention:

“I want a house with a crowded table
And a place by the fire for everyone
Let us take on the world while we’re young and able
And bring us back together when the day is done”

As soon as the song ended, I went to YouTube to see if there was a video of the song. Furthermore, I was curious: Who are these “Highwomen?” Google revealed they are: Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby, Maren Morris, and Amanda Shires. After listening to the song in its entirety again and again, I said to myself, “This is the Word of the Lord… Thanks be to God.”

While World Communion Sunday is an annual event, we return to the table week after week. Imagine with me a Church that “want[s] a house with a crowded table and a place by the fire for everyone.” How could we “take on the world while we’re young and able” and trust that God will “bring us back together when the day is done?” What inspires you about this hopeful image? I’d love to hear from you.

Peace abundant,

Pastor Nathan