Give your TV a hug! Joel S. McCraw has suggested that if you are one of those who gets their religion by watching religious broadcasts on the TV, or listening to the gospel via radio, you might want to step up to the set after a service and "Give your TV a great big hug."
Foolish, isn't it.
In the Apostles' Creed, what do we confess? We say, "I believe ... a holy catholic church, the communion of saints." One of the reasons God has given us the church is so our need for communion can be met. Electronic religion, in comparison, creates or leaves us with an emptiness. I am sure we all realize that interpersonal relationships are needed to keep our faith glowing and growing. If you drop off your associations with other Christians and disassociate yourself from them in worship and service, you'll run out of spiritual fervor and dedication in a short time. There is no substitute for going to church and worshiping with others of your faith.
Today, then, we look at the communion of saints; today, we look at the fellowship of and among believers.
I want to remind you that in looking at the communion of saints we are continuing our study of the Apostles' Creed and the content of true faith. According to the Catechism and the Creed, true faith includes the belief that my worship and my Christian service is to be done in the company of fellow believers.
The communion of saints has both a God-ward and a man-ward direction. It speaks of our relation to Jesus Christ and it speaks of our relation to each other.
I Communion With Christ
A With the church of all ages we say "I believe ... the communion of saints." This confession first speaks of our relation to Jesus. According to the Catechism, "the communion of saints" means that we who believe "share in Christ and in all his treasures and gifts." Let me emphasize, it is only those who believe who have this great privilege.
"I believe ... the communion of saints." By this confession we say that we share "in Christ." Or to put it another way, it means we declare ourselves to be "members" of Christ (cf Eph 5:30). We are in Christ, of Christ, and with Christ. We are a part of His body just as a hand or a foot is a part of our body.
Imagine that! We are a part of the body of Christ. He is the head, and all believers together make up the body. This tells us, doesn't it, of how close, how intimate, how dear, is the relationship between us and the Lord. Christ and Christian, they are not two, but one, just like husband and wife are not two, but one. This tells us that somehow, in some way, Christ is incomplete without us and we are incomplete without Him. It tells us that every single facet, every segment, of our being is or should be affected by our union to and with Christ. Our body, soul, spirit, emotions, psychology, hopes, and even dreams are all bound up to and with Christ. There is no other relationship which is as close, as powerful, as dear, as the relationship between Christ and His church.
B To share in Christ, to have communion with Christ, means that we spend time with Him each and every single day. As I mention in today's Trinity Post, the elders and I are concerned about the decline in family devotions. And, we offer suggestions on what families can do to better their devotions. I hope that all of our homes and families and singles will take this with the utmost seriousness. We need to spend time with Christ each and every single day. We need to spend time reading His Word and coming to Him in prayer. For if we don't, then we really don't have communion with Him, do we? Communion implies and requires contact – not occasional contact, not brief contact, not "when I have time" contact. Communion with Christ requires the habit, the custom, of daily devotions.
C "The communion of saints" means that we who believe not only share in Christ but also "in all his treasures and gifts." And, those who aren't members of Christ, those who do not believe in Christ, have none of the privileges of Christ. As Paul puts it, they are
(Eph 2:12) separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.
When I was growing up my parents had farm workers boarding with us every summer. These boarders may have lived with us but they did not have any of the rights of family membership. For instance, they couldn't take the family car out for a spin; they didn't have keys to the house; they didn't have access to the check book; they couldn't participate in family vacations, birthdays, and anniversaries. These privileges were given only to family members.
Those who are members of Christ share in the "treasures and gifts" of Christ. And, those who aren't members of Christ have none of the privileges of Christ. How important it is, then, that we be members of Christ, a part of His body.
D What are these treasures, gifts, and blessings of Christ that are ours? Some of the blessings are described in various questions and answers of the Catechism. Let me list them for you:
-"I am and always will be a living member" of the holy catholic church (Q&A 54)
-I am gifted for service in the church and kingdom (Q&A 55)
-God "will never hold against me any of my sins nor my sinful nature" (Q&A 56) because Christ has "paid for all my sins with his precious blood" (Q&A 1)
-I am set free from the tyranny of the devil (Q&A 1)
-Christ "watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head" without His will (Q&A 1)
-"all things must work together for my salvation" (Q&A 1)
-I have the comfort of knowing that death is not the end for me (57) because Christ "assures me of eternal life" (Q&A 1, 58)
-if I die before the Lord comes again, I have the comfort of knowing that someday my body will be raised from the grave and reunited with my soul (Q&A 57)
We can also mention that Christ gives us His Father, His love, His name, His merits, His inheritance, and His glory. Faith, hope, and love are ours in Christ. In fact, the list of treasures, gifts, and blessings that are ours in Christ is endless; because of time constraints we can mention only these few.
"I believe ... the communion of saints." I believe that I "share in Christ and in all his treasures and gifts." That's the God-ward direction of the communion of saints.
II Communion With Each Other
A "I believe ... the communion of saints." This confession also has a man-ward direction. It concerns itself not only with our relationship to God and His Christ, but also with our relationship to our fellow believer. Notice, we are talking here not of our relationship to men in general; we are talking here only of the relationship of believer to believer.
"I believe ... the communion of saints." According to the Catechism this means
... that each member
should consider it his duty
to use his gifts
readily and cheerfully
for the service and enrichment
of the other members.
The "gifts" that we are to use include all that we have – temporal as well as spiritual. Temporal gifts include things like money, time, food, clothing, shelter. Spiritual gifts are of the sort listed in the first part of 1 Corinthians 12: wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, distinguishing spirits, tongues, interpreting tongues, apostles, helping, administration (1 Cor 12:8-10, 28-30; cf Rom 12:6-8; Eph 4:11-13).
B All these gifts we are to use "readily and cheerfully." We are not to use them "reluctantly or under compulsion" (2 Cor 9:7); nor are we to use them out of impure motives, as did the Pharisees who wanted the praise of men (cf Mt 6:3).
All these gifts we are to use readily and cheerfully "for the service and enrichment of the other members." Paul says the (spiritual) gifts are given "for the common good" (1 Cor 12:7),
(Eph 4:12b-13) ... so that the body of Christ may be built up (13) until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
In other words, within the communion of saints, members make it their business to serve and assist each other so that together we can better serve the Lord.
Topic: Fellowship
Subtopic:
Index: 1265-1272
Date: 2/1987.30
Title: Out of Tune
Ted Malone, whose radio show came on early in the morning, told of the Idaho shepherd who wrote: "Will you, on your broadcast, strike the note 'A'? I'm a sheepherder way out here on a ranch, far away from a piano. The only comfort I have is my old violin. It's all out of tune. Would you strike 'A' so that I might get in tune?"
Malone honored the request. Later he received a "thank you" note from the distant shepherd saying, "Now I'm in tune."
One of the purposes and responsibilities of the fellowship of the saints is to enable others to keep tuned to the Great Shepherd. One of the joys of the Christian life is to help others recapture the missing note!
C I need to emphasize that within the communion of saints every believer has a role to play for the common good, even those who seem insignificant and unimportant. In fact, those who by human standards do not seem significant or important quite often have the most crucial role or task. As Paul reminds us,
(1 Cor 12:21-22) The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" (22) On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable ...
Within the communion of saints, then, every person must help and serve each other. That's not optional, something to take or leave; it's a duty. God gives us gifts for this purpose, and God will punish those who use them merely for their own self-glory or pleasure. Within the communion of saints none of us are free to "mind our own business." Another's welfare is our concern, another's poverty is our challenge, another's laughter is our reason for joy, another's sin or waywardness is our burden, and another's sorrow costs us tears.
D Now, in what way are we to use our gifts for the service and enrichment of the other members? Let me list some specific ways.
When it comes to our temporal gifts I can never help but think of what our Lord says in Matthew 25:
(Mat 25:35-36) For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, (36) I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
When it comes to using spiritual gifts for the service and enrichment of the other members, the key word is involvement. Those who aren't involved cannot possibly benefit others. In fact, let me be so bold as to say that every church member ought to be involved in at least one form of service to and for Christ. When you go through our church directory, you will notice over 150 opportunities for service. I think of things like: church council, church school teachers and helpers, choir, committee membership, organists, pianists, library, custodian, nursery attendant, parking lot duty, usher, sound room, greeters, hospitality family, and so on. And then there are all the opportunities to serve one another in the Kingdom: CVC, Sierra Village, LOVE INC, Right to Life, and so on.
How else can the communion of saints come to expression? Think, for a moment, of the "one another" passages in the New Testament. There are over fifty of these passages. The New Testament makes it clear that we have to act a certain way towards one another and do certain things for one another. Let me highlight just some of the passages:
-Love one another (Jn 13:34-35, Gal 5:14)
-Encourage one another (Heb 3:13; 10:24-25)
-Be devoted to one another (Rom 12:10)
-Build up one another (Rom 14:19; 1 Thess 5:11)
-Be kind to one another (1 Thess 5:15)
-Accept one another (Rom 15:7)
-Serve one another (Gal 5:13)
-Have concern for one another (1 Cor 12:25)
-Confess your sins to one another (Jm 5:16)
-Forgive one another (Eph 4:32)
-Teach and admonish one another (Col 5:16)
-Pray for one another (Jm 5:16)
-Don't judge one another (Rom 14:13)
-Don't slander one another (Jm 4:11)
These are the sorts of things we are to do or not do as the "communion of saints."
The communion of saints also comes to expression when we go out of our way to make visitors feel welcome, when we make our after-the-service circle big enough to include visitors, when we invite them to our home for a meal, when we refuse to let any visitor ever stand alone. Whenever we engage in the ministry of hospitality we are giving expression to the communion of saints. Our monthly fellowship dinners, our church picnic, our planned church campout, and the wedding reception of Wout and Gerda also give expression to the communion of saints. When we reach out to the sick, the lonely, the mourning, the recovering, and the hurting with visits, cards, phone calls, and meals we are also giving expression to the communion of saints. Think of how lonely our life would be without the communion of saints. One poet put it this way:
Loneliness is like a piano without keys,
Like a violin without strings.
Like a sanctuary without a congregation
Or a choir where no one sings.
Loneliness is like a blade of grass
Growing through a crack of cement.
Loneliness is like a camp ground
Without a single tent.
Loneliness is like a mocking bird
That cannot sing a song.
Loneliness is a feeling
That one does not belong.
Like a pansy in a corn field
Hidden where no one can see.
I know all there is to know about loneliness
Because it lives inside of me.
In the area of worship the communion of saints comes to expression in our celebration of the Lord's Supper – where "we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf" (1 Cor 10:17). It also comes to expression by full congregational participation in the songs and prayers of worship. If there is the communion of saints in worship we will not tune out the prayers and remain silent during congregational singing.
Prayer is an important element of "the communion of saints" too. Within the communion of saints we pray for and with each other. A beautiful expression of this is the activation of our Prayer Chain whenever there is a need.
Finally, let me also mention small group fellowship. It is especially within small groups that Christians can get to know each other, serve and help each other, pray with and for each other, and experience the communion of saints in a way that can never be experienced in large groups. Do you want closer and better fellowship? If you do, I would urge you to be a part of a small group fellowship: like morning or evening Coffee Break, Men's Life, Twenty Something, Youth Group, Senior Fellowship, Women's Bible Circle, Men's Society.
E If we, as the Trinity congregation live up to this, if we put into practice "the communion of saints," can you imagine how sweet, how beautiful, how uplifting, and how inspiring our fellowship would be? If we all live up to this then, in the words of Paul in Philippians 2, we would be "like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose." We would do "nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit." Each of us would look not only to our "own interests, but also to the interest of others." All of us would have the "attitude" and mind of Christ – who took the "very nature of a servant" (cf Phil 2:1-11).
"I believe ... the communion of saints." I believe
... that each member
should consider it his duty
to use his gifts
readily and cheerfully
for the service and enrichment
of the other members.
This is the man-ward direction of the communion of saints.
Conclusion
With the church of all ages, what do we confess? We say, "I believe ... the communion of saints."
What it comes down to is this: people who have communion with the Lord Jesus also have communion with each other. Those who share in Christ and in all His treasures and gifts also share in each other. If, then, we are part of Christ's church, if we claim communion with Christ, then we also have communion with each other.