All Together Now! – October 4, 2026, World Communion Sunday

Isaiah 2:1-4, Ephesians 4:1-16
October 4, 2026

“Can’t We All Just Get Along?”  I thought about using that for the title of this sermon.  Maybe you remember way back to the Rodney King trial in California, and the riots that followed.  I remember that’s what Rodney said when he gave a news conference afterwards, and he said that.  “Can’t We All Just Get Along?”

Then I also thought about the old song by the “Young Bloods” from the 1970’s.  Remember them?  They had a famous song called “Get Together.”  Maybe you remember that.  “Come on people now, smile on your brother, everybody get together, try and love one another right now.”  That’s a great old song!

But I finally opted for the title I’m using today.  “All Together Now!”  And I like that because it’s an encouragement that someone shouts when a group of people have to do something together, like lift a weight, or push a car… or sing a song.  It’s a call for “unity of effort.”  “Ok, all together now!”

Well, I think “unity” is a good word for today.  Because today we’re celebrating World Communion Sunday.  Today we think about all of our brothers and sisters in Christ celebrating this sacrament for 24 hours, from east to west – from time zone to time zone.  This is a celebration that’s rolling all around the world!  And I love that image!  (Again, it first became real to me after watching the celebration of New Years Eve, 2000!)

So today we are thinking about the unity of all believers.  And I chose these two scriptures – both of which, I think, call for unity.  But I want us to see that there’s a distinction between the two.  In Ephesians, Paul is addressing the Church.  And he is making an appeal for Christian unity.  But Isaiah is bigger than that.  Isaiah is about the call for unity in all the nations.

Sometimes when people think of unity, they think in terms of being united with people who are like them.  “Birds of a feather do often flock together.”  And that’s a beautiful image, if you think about it. Sometimes you see a whole flock of birds wheeling around in a big swarm in the air.  I saw that just the other day!  (They’re heading south!)  And it’s beautiful!  And they never seem to crash into each other.  There are no “mid-air collisions!”  But!  They’re almost always the same species of bird.

A year or so ago, I saw something different, though.  I was sitting out by the lake near my friend’s house in Lawrence Kansas, and I was watching the black vultures circling in the updrafts off the surrounding hills.  It was very cool!  But then I was surprised when an eagle flew in and joined them.  They were all circling together!  But that’s not how it usually works.  Usually they’re all the same birds.  (As I was sitting on my patio writing this sermon three black vultures were circling overhead!)

I’d have to say that most people are like that.  Birds of a feather do flock together.  And even then, sometimes people who are alike can’t get along!  But as we think of World Communion, we have to consider that the people around the world, in this “rolling celebration,” are mostly not like us.  Think about all the many different cultures and ethnic groups.  Think about all the different languages being spoken!  There’s almost a Pentecostal feel to this.  Imagine if we heard them all speaking at the same time!  So, This is a day we recognize what we all have in common – despite our differences.

That’s what Paul does in this passage.  He’s asking these people to be “eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bonds of peace.”  And then he writes these beautiful, and powerful words, “There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call.”  That’s what we all have in common, with all those people, in all those different countries and cultures, all celebrating this sacrament around the world today.  “But there’s more!” Paul said.  There is also “one Lord, one Faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all, and through all, and in all.

No matter what our theology, no matter what our doctrine, it’s my hope that Christians around the world today can recognize that common ground in our faith.  In my last sermon it was about “solid ground.”  Now today it’s about “common ground.”  And I think (or I hope!) that the “common ground” for us, is that we seek that “common ground” with others in our faith.  That’s the kind of unity of the Spirit that Paul was calling for.  And there’s no better time to think about that, than World Communion Sunday!

But then there’s the other distinction that I want us to think about this morning.  And it’s found in our Isaiah passage.

As you know, the Israelites were God’s “Chosen People.”  But it’s my understanding that God chose them for a mission.  He chose them so that they would bring his light – the light of God – to the nations!  But, they had not done that!  They had turned their “chosen” status into an “exclusive club.”  They thought of themselves as being “in,” while everyone else was “out.”  I’ve often described it as though they were wearing T-shirts that said, “We’re the Chosen People” on the front, and on the back it said, “And You’re Not!”

But that’s not how it was supposed to be.  God’s choosing of Israel was connected to that calling.  They were called to be a blessing to the nations, and a light by which the nations could know God.  God never chose Israel so that the nations could be kept out.  He chose Israel so that the nations could be brought in.

Listen again to what Isaiah prophesied.  “It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills.  And all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways, and that we may walk in his paths.'”

Friends, that’s telling us about the unity of all people, not just the unity of God’s people.  Isaiah gives us a powerful image of “all nations” streaming toward the mountain of the Lord, learning God’s ways, and eventually beating their swords into plowshares.  And I think that we, as God’s people, need to think about that ourselves.

As you know, I’m all about space exploration.  And one of the most profound things in space exploration took place in December, 1968, when, for the first time, humans ventured outward into space.  Apollo 8 left earth orbit and headed for the moon – only 65 years, almost to the day, from the Wright Brothers first flight!  And one of the most profound things they did, as they headed towards the moon, was look back at the earth.  And they saw, for the first time, the whole earth, all at once, a blue oasis hanging in the blackness of space.  And they could see no borders or barriers.  (There were no names of countries or states written across the continents!)  Ad they got an overwhelming sense that we were indeed all in this together!

I put a picture of that out on our sign this week, with the words “World Communion Sunday!”  And it is amazing to see that whole disc of the world, the “Blue Marble” as it was later called!  And I hope that picture and those words will make people think!  We are all together here!

Paul called for unity in the Church, and I think we are also called to model that unity in the world.  We need to find the things we have in common with others, not emphasize the things that divide us.  We need to do that in the Church, but also in the world, and in this nation.

The world is in the mode of division.  And it’s getting worse all the time!  We as the Church need to be in the mode of bringing people together.  And not because we all look alike.  Not because we all come from the same place or speak the same language – or have the same politics!  But because we have discovered something bigger than all of those differences.  There is one body.  One Spirit.  One Lord, one faith, one baptism.  One God and Father of us all!

And Isaiah reminds us that God’s vision is even bigger than just the Church.  The nations are invited to the mountain of the Lord!  God is not building a smaller and smaller circle of people who “belong.”  God is drawing people together.

That’s what we celebrate on World Communion Sunday.  And that’s what the world needs to see from us, from all the people of the Church, all around the world.

So then, all together now!

Prayer

Eternal God, the world truly is your master creation!  And not just the majesty of this planet, but the diversity of its people – your children!  Help us to be instruments of your peace and your unity in this world.  Bless our World Communion today, and the unity of all believers every day.  May we be that shining light of your love for all people.  For we pray in your name, Amen.