While I was completing my seminary internship, I discovered Mick Finns, and Irish pub, 3 blocks from my apartment. Almost every Friday, I would walk there about 5:30 for their Friday special, fish and chips.  I got to know the staff fairly well and there was one waitress in particular that would sit and chat when she wasn’t busy.  She asked me one day, “Why are you in Toledo?” I told her I was completing an internship, which was part of my studies for ministry in Lutheran church.

            “That’s wonderful!” she said. “I’m a very spiritual person, but I’m not religious.”

            “What do you mean?” I asked.

            “Oh”, she replied, “I don’t go to church. I don’t need community contact. I like to sit outside alone and fellowship with God.”

            More and more these days, I am encountering this approach to faith. People claim to be spiritual, just not religious. They say they have no need for organized religion or a church family. Before I go on, I should confess that I went through a similar phase during college. I didn’t think I needed church. I wasn’t interested in being in a community of believers. During that time, I would deceive myself. I would say things like, “I still pray. I occasionally dust off my Bible. I still believe.” However, I often, spent Sunday mornings fellowshipping, not with God, but with my pillow, sleeping the day away.

            What about you? Have you ever met someone who says they do not need community?  Have you ever felt this way yourself? Is it true? Do we not need community?

            The readings from today’s texts seem to indicate otherwise. (Acts 16:9-15; Revelation 12:10, 22-22:5; John 14:23-29). The thread linking them all together is the idea of community. In these texts, we hear reminders that God intentionally calls and gathers us into a community of faith. It is in that community that God forms and shapes us, forgives and renews us. It is from that community that God sends us together to proclaim God’s grace and love and invite others to share in community.

            Look at the reading from Acts. Paul is invited to come and help a community. He mentions he travels with companions, and these two things show that ministry is to and with a group. People are gathered for worship, reminding us that worship happens in community. Lydia invites Paul and the others to stay with her and we see that hospitality is offered by community.

            The theme carries on in the reading from Revelation. The writer speaks of people and nations coming together, which points to the communal nature of salvation. God promises healing for all nations, showing that community is inclusive. Again, communal worship is lifted up.

            It is this same emphasis on community we hear in the gospel text. Notice that Jesus repeatedly uses plural pronouns. It is a community that keeps God’s word. It is a community to which the Holy Spirit is sent. In community, the Holy Spirit will teach and remind people what Jesus said. Thus, Jesus gives the model of living and ministering in a community.  This is not to say that time alone is unimportant or time to talk quietly with God is unnecessary. However, these readings reveal to us that community is vital and a great gift from God.

            After all, it is in the community of believers that we hear God’s word proclaimed. Together, as a community, we confess our sins and hear God’s word of forgiveness. We come to the table to the receive body and blood, bound together as God’s people. It is even why we are intentional about practicing baptism within the church where the baptized will be raised, for it is the gathered community that receives the newly baptized and promises to support and help them grow in faith.

            The challenge is that we live in a world that stresses individuality instead of community. As individuals, we think we know best how to spend our time, how to worship God, and what the word of God really means. At times, we avoid community because community holds us accountable, and we don’t always enjoy being accountable to others for our words and deeds. Sometimes we are just plain shocked that God would call certain people into community, because we’ve decided, for whatever reason, that they aren’t worthy or don’t fit.

            Yet, we proclaim that hearing and interpreting God’s word is the task of the community. Further, we believe that it is God who gathers the community. Yet, in the midst of this, we face another challenge: the world teaches us to be consumers. We expect to have our needs met when we want them met. Sometimes, we demand that the church give us what we want, even if we have no intention of participating in community.

            When we look at scripture, we see that consumerism and individualism is counter to what God call us to. It is the opposite of what God intends for us. What, then, does this mean for us? Sometimes it means a shift in the questions we ask or the actions we take. Individuality asks, “What am I getting from worship?” Community asks, “How did we glorify God in this place?” Consumerism asks, “How will my needs be met?” Community struggles with the difficult question of “What is the common good?” When we focus on ourselves, we ask, “How do I help and take care of only me?” Community struggles with helping others. We have been lifting this up in the Children’s Sermons over the past few weeks as we have talked about helping all people in the world have access to food, clean water, and literacy. Indeed, community means hearing, struggling with, and responding to God’s call together.

            In community of Trinity, there are countless ways God calls us together. God calls us to be faithful, generous and cheerful givers in response to God who richly blesses us. God calls us to welcome others, as we do today and next Sunday when we receive new members. God calls us to show hospitality. God calls us to use our gifts and talents to help community thrive and grow. All of these things we do in response to all God first gives us.

            The Faith and Ministry Opportunities sheets lift up ways God calls us in community. So far, we’ve gotten 59 forms back. This is wonderful, but it also means there are still over 100 floating out there. What blessings this community will share as more of these are received! Because God gives everyone unique abilities, each of us has something to share. Each of us is important and vital to this community. It is why we miss people who are absent, because an important piece of the community is not here.

            So what then are we to do? How are we to live in community? I think it starts with a commitment to be here on Sunday and during week. I know, I’m preaching to the choir. Those of you here this morning are pretty regular. Perhaps, though, we might remind our absent sisters and brothers of the joys of community. Living as a community means sharing time, talents, and resources. It looks like constantly proclaiming that God does not break promises, as well as rejoicing in those promises. Take for example the promise in Revelation, where God promises to be our light and to lead us as we strive to work and worship in community. Look at the promise in the Gospel of John, where Jesus says he will send the Holy Spirit to guide us.

            God does lead and guide us, giving us what we need through Holy Word and Holy Sacraments. God does bestow on us the Holy Spirit, gifting us for ministry and guiding us to serve. Certainly, it is God who strengthens and empowers us to be inclusive and to open our doors and welcome new members, new disciples, like Norah, Lloyd, and Doug, who journey with us. It is God who gives us the courage to announce to others that community is vital to who we are as God’s children.

            In community, God reminds us of His faithful promises. May this same God knit us ever closer as a community, empower us to love and serve, and strengthen us through worship and communion; so that we can go forth, proclaiming that God is the light and that community is a great gift from God. Above all else, may God give us the strength to turn from the temptations of individualism, consumerism, and the belief that we can be spiritual but not religious; so that, together, we will faithfully live and work as God’s children, shaped and formed in community.

Amen.

© 2010 Rev. Todd A. Cutter. Please do not reproduce or distribute without permission.