Being Church!
Stop.
Think of all the people who have partnered with you in faith: parents, friends, mentors, church members, pastors, Sunday School teachers, and more. Make a list. Spend time thanking God for their presence in your life.
Listen.
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. – Ephesians 2:19-20
Reflect.
This week, our devotions focus on our current sermon series “Being Church”. This series considers the things that defined the early church and what they mean for us as believers today. Today, this passage from Ephesians reminds us of one of the most powerful and mysterious things about being a faith community: our union not only with our local church, but with the universal church both on earth and in heaven.
It’s a truth that we affirm throughout scripture, our creeds, and our sacraments. The church isn’t just one local building. The church is the whole community of Christian believers. Certainly, “the church” could mean our local congregation or our own denomination – but it doesn’t mean just that. It means every church, every tradition, everywhere in the world. Even with all our different beliefs and arguments, we profess and share one faith. Being a faith community means being united with all Christians through the good news of Jesus Christ.
But it’s not just the church on earth now. We are also united with all believers throughout history. It’s a little hard to envision, but it’s true. As this passage from Ephesians affirms, we are “citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God”. Through faith, we are an enormous community built of those great prophets and teachers of the past, the mentors and supporters who helped build our faith, and all those who have declared their faith in Jesus.
This means that we have support not only from that immediate community of faith we find in our church, but also from the witness and example of believers throughout generations. We can learn from them, draw support from their lives, and trust that the same God who encouraged them works in our lives as well. While it’s certainly a complicated, mysterious, hard-to-understand thing, it’s no less true. Through faith, we are part of a vast union of believers. We are never alone.
When we declare that we are church, we mean both here and now and throughout history. It is a holy honor to be one community with all God’s saints.
Pray.
We praise you, God, for the great community of believers around us today and throughout history. Thank you for making us part of this church and its work. Strengthen us through their witness and call us to each other to support, challenge, encourage, and love each other as we worship you. Amen.
Carry On.
Take a minute to learn more about an important religious figure like Mother Teresa, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Charles Wesley, or St. Claire of Assisi. How does their life and faith inspire your own?