Start:Stop-One Small Step

Good morning and welcome to Start Stop. This morning we will be reflecting on the first Lunar Communion, the link between St Stephen Walbrook and the space-faring adventurer Dan Dare and how for many Christians today the freedom to celebrate communion seems like a world away. We begin with a short bible reading which can be found on page 117 of the New Testament.

Bible Reading - John 15.1-5

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.”

Reflection

Fifty years ago today – or to be scientific about it, in about four hours time fifty years ago, three astronauts stood on a gantry one hundred metres above the ground, about to enter the Apollo 11 Command Module. As they looked out across the Florida beaches, half a billion people across the world looked back, anticipating the first manned space flight to the moon.

Three and a half hours later, the Saturn V rocket ignited and the crew were airborne. Three days later, they entered a lunar orbit and on 20th July at 20:17 the Lunar Module Eagle landed in the Sea of Tranquility. I wonder what our Rector at the time, Chad Varah, made of that moment? Astronomical and Scientific Consultant to The Eagle, which went out of print the same year, he had co-created the comic book-hero Dan Dare – who was originally conceived as a space-faring priest. 

Unknown to Chad Varah and most of the rest of the world below, Buzz Aldrin was about to become even more Dan Dare-like than anyone could imagine. In his autobiography “Magnificent Desolation” he describes how at the beginning of a seven hour rest period before his scheduled moonwalk and after silently reading the Bible passage we have just heard, he celebrated Holy Communion with a single wafer and a thimbleful of wine in a small chalice, which he had brought from Webster Presbyterian Church in Houston (where Lunar Communion Day has been celebrated every year since).

Aldrin had originally intended to describe exactly what he was doing, but was dissuaded in view of a law suit filed against NASA by an atheist campaigner after the astronauts of Apollo 8 had broadcast a reading from the Book of Genesis during their mission six months earlier. Instead he said: “I would like to request a few moments of silence......and to invite each person listening in, wherever and whomever they may be, to pause for a moment and give thanks in his or her own way.”

Reflecting on the experience later, he speculated whether he would choose to celebrate Communion if he had the chance again - but at the time he “could think of no better way to acknowledge the enormity of the Apollo 11 experience than by giving thanks to God.” without whom, as the gospel reading reminds us, “we can do nothing.”

Aldrin wrote; “It was my hope that people would keep the whole event in their minds and see, beyond minor details and technical achievements, a deeper meaning - a challenge, and the human need to explore whatever is above us, below us, or out there.”

That deeper meaning - our innate desire to explore - to grow – to continually bear fruit as our Gospel reading puts it - was a central theme of the writings of the Jesuit priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, who, at the time controversially, speculated that evolution was at the core of Christianity and that its spiralling trajectory was focussed towards and driven by God in Christ - the essence of all things.

Writing in 1955, Chardin is said to have anticipated the Internet, with his belief that through shared art, technology and music, humanity was already evolving a “noosphere” - a shared consciousness and converged spirituality, the ultimate destination of which was the Omega Point - the point at which humanity will be unified with the Cosmic Christ - the point at which everything that exists will become one with divinity.

Whether it is celebrated on the surface of the moon or somewhere more down to earth, it is through the sacrament of the Eucharist that we are sustained on this journey of exploration - through Holy Communion we celebrate the re-connection between humanity and the divine through the sacrifice of Christ.

But as we were reminded by the Bishop of Truro last week when he published his report on the plight of persecuted Christians around the world, for many, the freedom to celebrate communion seems like a world away. The Pew Research Center found that Christians are targeted in 144 countries, with 245 million Christians living in the top fifty most at risk states. In just one province in China over 2,000 churches were either partially or completely destroyed or had their crosses removed over the course of a year during which time 3,731 Christians were killed for their faith in Nigeria. 

It is not for man - even the powerful men who control the ultra-nationalist regimes of the world - to take the place of God the vinegrower- to determine which branches will be removed. It is man’s calling to grow - not just to blossom and flourish as individual branches, but to continually bear fruit; to share the love of Jesus in which we abide and which gives us life; to love one another as Jesus loved us. 

Charities such as Open Doors UK offer individuals the opportunity to share these fruits of the spirit with persecuted Christians around the world, not only through financial donations but through lobbying decision-makers and writing letters of encouragement in targeted letter-writing campaigns. Those who are more tech-savvy can record two minute messages or videos which are broadcast using a special app, sharing love and prayers with Christians in persecuted countries around the world. 

Collectively one letter, one video message, one small step for someone in a country where Christians are persecuted, will be a giant leap for mankind.

Card showing Bible Readings taken to the moon by Buzz Aldrin.

Before we pray together let us follow the advice of Buzz Aldrin, to pause for a moment and give thanks for the gift of the true vine - and consider what small steps we can take on our journey to grow ever more fruitful.
 

Meditation

Prayers

In our prayers the response to Lord of heaven and earth is; help us to grow in faith, hope and love.

Lord of heaven and earth;

Help us to grow in faith, hope and love.

Lord you are the true vine and we are the branches. You are our creator and our sustainer, without whom we can do nothing. 

Inspired by the example of Buzz Aldrin, let us remember to give thanks to you for all the blessings of this life; to receive and to freely share your love.

Lord of heaven and earth;

Help us to grow in faith, hope and love.

God is the vinegrower. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes to make it bear more.

Lord, help us to abide in your loving presence, so that the fruit of your Spirit within us may flourish in the light of Christ. 

Give us the courage each day to take one small step on our journey to grow ever more fruitful; sharing the Good News afresh with those we walk alongside.

Lord of heaven and earth;

Help us to grow in faith, hope and love.

God our Father, you are the focus of and power behind the trajectory of our lives.

We bring before you the needs of those known to us and remember especially those we love but see no longer. 

We hope for the day when we may be united with them - and you - in eternal love. 

Lord of heaven and earth;

Help us to grow in faith, hope and love.

We remember especially all those for whom freedom of religious belief and expression seems like a world away - for whom celebrating communion is impossible and gathering as a community of faith is dangerous.

We give thanks for those working to support persecuted Christians around the world. Give us the courage to support them and share the fruits of your love. 

Lord of heaven and earth;

Help us to grow in faith, hope and love.

Blessing

May God the Father tend you and make you fruitful;

May God the Son abide in you and give you life;

May God the Holy Spirit cast out all fear and fill you with love.

And may the blessing of God Almighty, Father Son and Holy Spirit be with you and remain with you this day and always.

Amen

Thank you for joining us for Start:Stop today. The next reflection will begin in a few minutes.