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March 2 , 2008
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 12: 12-27
Title: "WELCOME - Community"

We continue our journey through our Mission Statement with the word: Community. As you look at our mission statement, you will see that this word is at the center of Welcome. Everything: Worship, Education, Love, Open Table, Mission and Evangelism are centered on the word, Community. I am not sure if this is what the Visioning Committee had this in mind when they put together our mission statement or if they were even thinking about what the center of our church really is.

The word community is at our center. It grounds our mission statement of welcome. It is our core. It is our point of reference.

And I would say that this is very true for this congregation. The fellowship hall was built in part as extra space for the congregation but the main reason it was built was to be a place where the community of Midway could come and gather. For many years, the community of Midway would vote in downstairs basement of the Fellowship Hall and then travel upstairs for pancakes by the Lions Club. For many years, the community of Midway would gather for City Hall meetings in our fellowship hall. For years, the place for community events for Midway was the fellowship hall of Midway Christian Church.

Time has moved and some things have changed. Voting now takes place at Northside. City Hall has space for Council meetings. And even as times have changed, things have stayed the same. We have a busy little church here during the week! On Monday nights, the Boy Scout troop meets in downstairs of the fellowship hall while and exercise class has found a home upstairs in our fellowship hall. Almost every night during the week, Cub Scouts of some sort is going on! And our fellowship hall continues to be a meeting place for community gatherings.

The word “community” is at our core. The word community centers our mission of Welcome. The word community is a part of Midway Christian Church.

And it is not a feeling of community that can be forced or made. It is a feeling that takes time and trust. It is a feeling that continues to develop through fellowship meals, through mission projects, through service, through laughter, through sorrow, and through a deep commitment to get to know everyone connected with our church.

The community that is at our center, that is at our core, that is the center point of our mission statement is the community that comes as being a part of the whole Body of Christ as people of faith.

And that is the community that Paul is talking about in our Scripture today. He is sharing that all the members of the Corinthian church are equal in the community if though they are different in race, in gifts, and in abilities. They are one body with many members. They have been baptized into the Body of Christ which transcends all the labels that our world insists we have as part of understanding and separating others. In the Body of Christ, there are no labels. In the Body of Christ, there are no barriers.

They are one: Jews or Greeks, slaves or free. All are one in the Body of Christ because we were baptized by the same Spirit.

As we talked about last week, Paul is writing to the Corinth church because reports have gotten back to him that they were destroying the sense of community among its members. The members were dividing based on arguments about their spiritual gifts and which gifts were best.

And in response to their behavior, Paul writes this letter and says: Stop! God created the body this way. God arranged the body this way. God designed the body of Christ this way. Each part of the body has a purpose and no part is better than any other part. You are all one through the Holy Spirit. You are all one in this community. You are all one in the Body of Christ with Christ. If one member suffers, all suffer. If one member rejoices, all rejoices. You are all connected and equal in this community.

In our text today, Paul is celebrating what God has made as the Body of Christ, where there are many members, where there are many gifts and abilities, where there are used to build up the community of God’s people, a community where no one functions independently and where all are equally significant and celebrated.

And Paul says Good news! That is the true reality that we are invited to partake in as Christians! Paul wants the Corinthians to understand that “The nature of the body is to have difference and possibility the tension that comes with it but that the underlying reality that we celebrate is that God has so equipped us so that there will be conflict.”

What Paul is saying is through Christ, we are all invited to participate in God’s reality: a reality where there is peace, a reality where there is justice, a reality where there is unity.

This is not a reality that we can create or even strive for. It doesn’t help if we say If only…

The good news that Paul shares is that this reality is happening right now and God has invited us to partake. The good news is that God is already living in community with us here on earth and we are welcomed into the Body of Christ that represents this reality.

How freeing is that thought!

For some reason, we as Christians have a distorted ideal that we must be a perfect community where we all get along, where there is no conflict, where we are always happy. We think that we have done something wrong if there is tension in the church. We think that we have done something wrong if there are broken relationships in the church. We wonder why good churches fight.

And the answer to that question is that we are human! And our churches are human institutions. We are not perfect. There will be tension. There will be conflict. It is in our nature as humans.

But hear the good news! God designed the Body of Christ so that we are equipped with the gifts and abilities so that there will not be a tearing of the community found as part of the Body. God arranged the Body so that there would not be dissension within the body, but that the members would give the same care for one another.

Paul is calling the Corinth church and us to something more. He is reminding us that we are a part of something that is so much more than you and me, that is so much more than Midway Christian Church, that is so much more that the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

We are a part of the Body of Christ: one body, many members.

When we were baptized, we became one with Christ, like all of our brothers and sisters in faith. When we were baptized into the Body of Christ, we shared the cup of the Spirit that connects us all. And we as part of the Body of Christ are called to live the reality that God has arranged for us as one body with many members, as one community with many members. We are called to be the community of believers of which Jesus Christ is Lord and in which the Holy Spirit continues to work.

God has formed an astonishingly different community here on earth and we are invited, we are welcomed to partake. It not a community that divides based on labels. It is not a community that divides, separates or excludes. And we as Christians are invited and welcomed to partake.

And here is the kicker: the strength and purpose of this community does not depend on you and me. The work of this community does not rely on you and me! This community does not rely on how many hours we put in at the church.

This community, God’s community, the Body of Christ that we are invited and welcomed to partake in relies on God’s actions, on God’s grace, and the work of the Holy Spirit. This community is God’s community. This community is God’s reality and we are invited to partake by opening our hearts and minds to God’s work in this world.

We partake by coming together as a congregation, as a community, as a church “through weekly prayer, through the Lord’s Supper, through common ministry opportunities, through a dedication in exploring our ever deepening relationship with God.” We partake as a community of faith: one body, with many members. We partake by sharing the invitation to God’s table, to God’s house, to God’s community with others.

It is God’s community, not ours! That is the Good news! And we are welcomed to partake.

Together we form the Church which is a community guided and built by God, living and worshipping in a broken world. Together we form the Body of Christ. Together we form God’s community: one body with many members.

May we always welcome all of God’s children through community. Amen.

Rev. Heather McColl
Midway Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

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