This morning I want to talk about the church.  Today is World Communion Sunday, and I think it is very appropriate that we think about the church on World Communion Sunday.

          That’s because we who are gathered here this morning are only  one very teeny, tiny part of the church.  For two thousand years, men and women who are followers of Jesus have constituted the church.  Today, there are people in every part of the world who are part of the church—that is, they are followers of Jesus.  And that is what the church is—the gathering of people who follow Jesus Christ.

          It’s pretty easy for us to get so wrapped up in our little church right here that we forget just how many people make up the church around the world today.

          Sometimes when we look at the state of the church in our community, we feel somewhat disheartened.  We live in an area that is the least churched part of our nation.  Washington and Oregon go back and forth between them, seemingly vying for the title of the least churched state in the US.  I’m not sure which one is currently in the lead of this dubious honor.

          And within the state of Washington, probably Seattle is one of the least churched areas.  Let’s start praying that we might lose that reputation!

          It’s true that throughout America, the church is not thriving as we wish it would be.  The churches in America are facing some real challenges.  But it is good for us to be reminded that there are other parts of the world where the church is growing and thriving.  It’s also good to remember that throughout history, the church has had its ups and downs, but the church, by God’s grace, has survived.

          Do you know where the largest church in the world is?  It’s in Korea.  The Christian church is also growing mightily in parts of Africa, as well as Central and South America.  God is alive and well and working in the world today!  Praise God!

          So as we take communion this morning, we do not take it simply as individuals, or even as members and friends of only this church, but as part of that vast number of men and women around the world who claim Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

          The words we are reading from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians speak to that glorious faith that is still ours.  I am reading Ephesians 1:15-23.

¹⁵For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, ¹⁶I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. ¹⁷I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. ¹⁸I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, ²⁰which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. ²²And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, ²³which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

          In this passage, Paul expresses his gratitude for the faith of the Christians at Ephesus, and assures them that he continues to remember them in prayer.  He wants them to understand with their hearts the wonderful hope to which they have been called, the great inheritance they have in the faith, and the power of the gospel. 

          All of this is just as much for us today as it was for them.  We have a wonderful hope in Christ.  We have the witness of the saints who have gone before us.  We have a powerful gospel.

          Paul goes on to say that that power was demonstrated when God raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, both in this present age and in the one to come.  We worship a powerful, mighty God! 

          Then Paul brings his focus down to us, right here where we are as a part of the church.  He says “God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”

          Jesus Christ is the head of the church, and the church is the body of Christ.  That means we—you and me—us plain, ordinary folks—we are the body of Christ when we come together as his church.

          That, in a nutshell, is why the church is so important.  Sometimes we think of the importance of the church in terms of the church as a human institution.  But the truth is that as a human institution, the church is no more important than a PTA group or a Rotary club or a volleyball team.  These may all be good things that meet peoples’ needs, but the church is something entirely different.

          But if we take Christ out of the central place in the church—that is, if Jesus Christ is no longer the head of the church—then the church is quite simply no longer the church.  It has become just a human institution, and its power is gone.

          This is pretty easy to forget, unfortunately.  We get all wrapped up in whatever it is we do—the worship services, our building, our coffee hours, and even our giving to help others.  But the truth is that unless Jesus is the head of the church, we have no right to even call ourselves a church.

          Jesus is the head of the church, and we who believe in him, who put our faith and trust in him, are his body.  And the reason we gather together here on Sunday mornings and call ourselves a church is that hopefully we understand that this little group gathered here that calls itself Queen Anne Baptist Church is a part of the body of Jesus Christ. 

          We are a part of the church triumphant—that great multitude of believers from every nation, tribe, people and language who will one day stand before the throne of God and glorify the Lamb of God.  And on that day, it won’t matter what kind of music we sang or whether or not our building was in good condition or how many people we had in church on Sunday morning.

          What will matter is that we are part of that great multitude whose sins have been forgiven and who have been purified by the blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.

          And to be perfectly honest, God is not going to ask whether or not your name is written on the membership list of Queen Anne Baptist Church or any other church.  God will only ask whether or not your name is written in the Lamb’s book of life.

          Jesus says that if you confess your sins he is faithful and just and will forgive you and cleanse you from all your sins!  That’s a promise you can bet your life on.  If you trust in Jesus, you will never be disappointed, because he is absolutely faithful, and he has promised never, never, never to leave you or forsake you.

           Having said all of that, I do want to talk to you about this local church, and what it means to be a part of this church.  And even though it’s not a ticket to heaven, I do want to encourage you to consider becoming a member of this church.  And to you who are members, I want to remind you of your responsibilities as members.

          But let me make this perfectly clear:  membership in this or any other church does not make you a Christian.  Being a Christian is something that happens in your heart, so no human institution can make that happen.  The major reason for the Reformation, when Protestants broke away from the Roman Catholic Church was that the church had assumed an earthly power by claiming to hold the power over peoples’ salvation.  But as the Reformation asserted, salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ alone, and no human can give or take salvation.

          So before I encourage you to become a member of this or any other church, let me assure you that you don’t need to be a member of this or any other church in order to be a Christian.  However, I believe that if we are in Christ—that is if we profess to be Christians—we already are members of the Church of Jesus Christ.  So our joining one particular church is, in effect, symbolic of the reality that has already taken place in our hearts.

          Like most Protestant churches, we have two very simple requirements for membership.  First, we ask that if you want to be a member you profess that you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.  And second, we ask that you be baptized as a witness of what has already taken place in your heart.

          Some of you come here having already been baptized in other churches, and we can talk about that on an individual basis.  The important thing is that you profess to be a Christian.

          So maybe you are wondering, why does the local church even have membership?  It’s a good question.  I think the best way to answer it is that we are like a microcosm of the Church of Jesus Christ.  Membership helps to give us accountability to one another and to our faith in Christ. 

          The church has two main purposes:  one is to be a witness to those who do not know Christ, and the other is to nurture Christians in their faith.  Anything we do that does not in some way support those two purposes is probably not worth doing.

          The purpose of becoming a member of a church is not so that you can serve on a board or a committee.  But if you were to read the church constitution, you might think that was the purpose.  It is true that if you want to serve on the council, you do need to be a member.  And in order to vote in our membership meetings, you do need to be a member.

          I suppose from that standpoint, it’s a little like being part of a condo association.  You can’t have a vote or be on the condo association board unless you first buy a condo.  Just like a condo association, the institutional church needs certain formalities in order to function.

          As a church, we own property so that we will have a place to worship, we pay a pastor so that someone will preach the sermon on Sundays, and so on.  So like a condo association, we have certain practical needs that make it necessary for us to have a constitution and by-laws that guide our church business.

          When you join this church, we don’t have a formal pledge that we hold you to, but we do have certain expectations.  We expect our members to support the church by showing up most of the time, by supporting the church financially as they are able, and by serving in some way or another to support the good of the organization.  It’s really pretty simple.

          We do not ask you to tell us how much money you will give to the church.  In fact, as the pastor, I have absolutely no idea who gives how much, and that is exactly the way I want it.  We have a financial secretary and an assistant financial secretary and they are the only people in this church who know what people give.  Every Sunday, the financial secretary faithfully takes our offerings and counts them and deposits them in the bank, and gives a report to the assistant.  Then each quarter of the year, each person who has given either by check or in an envelope with their name on it is given a report of their individual giving.  No one else sees that report.

          The reason for this is that your giving is a trust between you and God.  I wholeheartedly encourage you to give as generously as you can, but I leave the decision to you.

          One more thing we do as a church is to participate in communion together, as we will do in a few minutes.  There are some churches that reserve communion only for their own members.  In this church, we welcome all who put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior to join us in taking communion.  All of us are the body of Christ.  In fact, if you are still not quite sure about inviting Jesus into your heart, I have no problem with you also receiving communion, because Jesus welcomed everyone to eat with him, so I think the church can follow his example.

          So today, as we take the bread, which signifies the body of Christ, and dip it into the cup, which signifies the blood of Jesus which was shed for our sins, I want to remind you that we do not take this just as individuals or just as members and friends of Queen Anne Baptist Church, or just as American Baptists, but as a part of that whole body of Jesus Christ.

          It is a sacred privilege to receive communion, and it reminds us not only of Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf, but of the fact that we are a part of that great body of believers who will one day worship at the throne of God together in heaven.

Prayer:

Gracious God, we stand in awe of what you have done for us through your Son, Jesus.  God, we thank you for every single one of our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world who claim the name of Jesus.  We ask your blessing on the church of Jesus Christ around the world today.  We lift up those who are suffering for their faith and pray for them.  We lift up those who are discouraged in their faith, and we pray for them.  Lord, remind us that none of our human differences make a bit of difference to you.  In your eyes, we are all your children.

God, we thank you for this particular church today where we are gathered together in your name.  We ask that in this church as well as in every church in the world, your will would be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Amen