Today is World Communion Sunday. Every year, on the first Sunday of October, millions of Christians around the world come together to celebrate this special day, by sharing bread and wine or juice. 

Christians have celebrated Communion for 2,000 years, since the earliest Christian Church. The communion we share today is a sacred act, part of our worship. But communion is more than a religious act; It is a way of sharing food, rooted in the Last Meal that Jesus shared with his disciples. 

In Communion, we remember Jesus’ life, his passion and death, proclaim his resurrection, and participate in his vision of the kin-dom of God – a vision where everyone is included, respected, and valued. It reminds us that, just as the people of Israel were sustained in the wilderness and just as the five thousand were fed in a deserted place, today, we are invited to Jesus’ table to be nourished. We come together as one people, seeking sustenance and strength for our faith journey. 

The tradition of Worldwide Communion Sunday began in 1935 during the Great Depression. That year, a group of ministers gathered to discuss the spiritual needs of society and how the church could support the communities during the economic crisis.  

It was a time of great suffering, with the wounds of World War I still fresh. Yet, even in that difficult context, the church sought to lead the way in ending violence among nations and bringing peace to all people worldwide. Although we celebrate at different communion tables in different places, we share the same ‘table of Jesus,’ who is the host.

We break bread together, not as strangers divided by our nationality or ethnicity, but as sisters and brothers in Christ. Regardless of who we are or where we come from, we gather in communion with God and with one another, declaring that we are one in Christ. However, as we look at today’s gospel reading, we come across words about divorce and conflict, which might feel out of place with the unity we are celebrating today. How can we reconcile these two ideas?

I must confess that I struggle with today’s reading. Having experienced divorce myself, this Gospel passage is difficult to preach on, as Jesus is generally critical of divorce. Divorce is a very personal issue that affects the deepest parts of people’s lives. It brings pain, complexity, and even trauma. Who would like to talk about it? However, the Pharisees did not ask this question to truly understand; instead, they wanted to “test” Jesus and trap him in a religious argument.

The scripture begins with the Pharisees coming to Jesus and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” They asked this to test him. As he often did, Jesus changed their question to focus on God’s bigger plan. While Moses allowed a “certificate of dismissal” because of people’s weakness, Jesus shifts the conversation, saying, “From the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female’… Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.” Jesus was not focused on what was legally allowed but on what God intended from the very beginning in the kingdom of God.

So, what was God’s intention? In Jesus’ time, when a woman was given a “certificate of divorce,” she often lost her rights and protection. This could leave her poor, begging for food, or even forced into prostitution to survive. Jesus cared deeply about these women, who could be harmed by a simple legal document prepared by men. His message was about treating each other with respect and care, especially protecting the most vulnerable, like women and children.

When Jesus talked about divorce, he wasn’t just discussing legal rules. He was thinking about God’s kingdom as a community where people care for and respect each other, and where the most vulnerable are valued and protected. Some might think God’s kingdom is for the strong, rich, or powerful, but Jesus’ vision is different. Jesus sees it as a place for those who are broken, vulnerable, and at risk — people who experience God not as someone far away, but as someone close, who meets them in their pain and calls them to care for others who are hurting.   

On World Communion Sunday, we are invited to think about how we can imagine the kingdom of God in our connected world. How can we bring God’s reign here and now, by overcoming violence and misuse of power, and by building a peaceful world where vulnerable people, especially women and children, are safe and able to thrive? How can we bring peace and harmony to a world where war and violence are constant threats? 

We all hope for peace and harmony, and sharing food plays an important role in that. A great example is the Chinese character for peace and harmony (和), made up of two symbols: one on the left representing a rice plant (禾) and the other on the right representing a mouth (口). Together, they form the character for peace and harmony.

禾 (rice plant) +  口 (mouth) =  和 (peace, harmony)

This shows that peace and harmony come from sharing and meeting people’s basic needs. By combining the symbols for rice and mouth, the Chinese imply that living in peace and harmony means sharing what we have for the good of the entire community. 

In Deuteronomy 26, we see how the Hebrew people worship God. They make offerings and then eat together in God’s presence. This shows their faith – they believe they are not the ones producing their harvest, but God is the one providing it.  Because of this, they share the food God has given them with the poor, foreigners, orphans, and widows. For them, sharing food isn’t just charity – it is a way to understand the social, political, and economic injustices in the world. By sharing food, the Hebrew people experience peace and harmony.

Today, we are invited to Jesus’ table to be nourished and to continue our journey with him. This is not just a religious tradition, but also a social and political act, as we join in Jesus’ movement and his vision for God’s kin-dom, where food is shared, and the “little children” are included. 

When we understand what others need and share what we have, we share Jesus’ love and hope. In doing so, God comes to us and dwells in us. This is how we experience peace and harmony in God today. 

I’d like to close with a Korean poem that captures the heart of communion – sharing food together. The title is food.

Food is heaven.
Just as you cannot take heaven alone,
food is meant to be shared.

Food is heaven.
Just as we gaze at the stars together in the sky,
food is eaten together.

Food is heaven.
When we share it,
God comes to us.
God dwells in us.

Amen.