Sweet Communion
Phil. 4:8-23
“Whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever is just, whatever is commendable,
if there is any excellence and if there is anything
worthy of praise, think on these things.
You can just tell from Paul’s
words to the church at
That his desire is for the church at
And wonderful place where the communion
Of Christ is encountered in every way.
Paul desires that the church
at
With the integrity of the one who
described himself as
“The way,
the truth, and the life”
All the words that Paul uses in this first paragraph:
“truth, honor, justice, purity, pleasing,
commendable and
excellence”
all can be summarized as “integrity”.
Be who you are and who God has called you to be.
I imagine that every pastor
desires that for their church.
As we prepare to send Melissa off
to a new
adventure in ministry at Fuller Seminary
I am sure that Melissa desires that for us.
Even as she goes far away from us as Paul was away from
The church at
A sweet communion of integrity, truth
and love
I know that I desire it for us.
Every time a visitor comes to
our church we respond in two ways-
I send a note in which I says:
“My hope and prayer is that you heard a word of comfort
and
challenge and hope in the sermon and that you felt
the warmth of Christ in the congregation gathered for
worship.”
The
note invites people to check out our integrity.
Does what we say get reflected in what
we do?
The
second thing we do is to send Delbert and Virginia
With a loaf of bread baked by Vera.
In the
conclusion of Paul’s letter to the Philippians
Paul
commends the gifts that the church sent him as
“a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable
and
pleasing to God.”
What Paul is saying is talking about here is integrity
Between
the community he described as:
“true, honorable, just, pure, pleasing,
commendable,
and
excellent” to the world;
Is that
same community that is pleasing to God,
Has
a sweet aroma acceptable to God.
Our
hope is that when they warm up the bread
That
they will remember the sweet aroma
Of
the communion which is ours in Christ.
And
that the sweet aroma and taste of the bread
Will
be consistent with the warmth they
Encountered in the communion.
Now
I have an example where the vision and taste were not consistent
I was out eating with some folks in
our church,
It’s one of the professional
responsibilities I have to eat
With people and I
picked up this corn muffin.
It looked
great and I was all ready for a
Great sweet corn muffin.
I took a bite and discovered much to
my surprise that
It was actually a jalapeño
muffin, with a kick.
Now I like
jalapenos and I like muffins
But there
was an inconsistency from what
I
expected to what I tasted.
This is the opposite of what
Paul is talking about.
His hope and prayer for the Church at
And for the church at
Covenant is that
The sweet communion
they encounter
Will be consistent on every level.
And
the god news is that often it is.
When
people join our church and meet with session
They do talk about the sermons they
hear but most of all
They talk about the warm
feeling they feel in
The congregation
and the welcome they feel.
They talk
about the sweet communion
Now these are the ones who join.
Unfortunately we don’t get to
hear from the ones
Who don’t feel that
warmth and don’t join
So we are
still challenged to be a community
Like
the one that Paul describes in
The conclusion of Philippians.
And
our challenge comes not only from those who are beyond
But also from those who are within the
community-
The
children of this community.
Today we have the incredible privilege
of baptizing
Maggie
Vollen and confirming Craig Phillips.
In baptism we pledge a vow:
“Our Lord Jesus Christ ordered us to teach those who are
baptized. Do you the people of the church promise to
tell this
new disciple the
good news of the gospel, to help her know all
that Christ
commands, and by your fellowship, to strengthen her
family ties with
the household of God? “
And then in confirmation they have the opportunity
to affirm
that they will:
“Be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ…
be faithful members of the congregation, giving of
themselves in everyway,
and seeking the fellowship of the
church wherever
they may be.”
They
will promise to part of this sweet communion
Based in large part on the experience
of that community
That they share with us; that
they see in us.
That’s why Paul is
bold to say in verse 9:
“Keep on doing the things you have learned and
received and
heard and seen in
me, and the God of peace be with you.”
Paul
begins his letter to the Philippians with the grace of Christ:
“Grace
to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus
Christ.”
Paul
ends his letter with the Grace of Christ:
“The
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.”
Paul
traces everything back to the love of God revealed in
Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy
Spirit
God is definitely the primary
actor in Philippians
And yet Paul is
clear that we disciples,
Are active
partners in this body of Christ,
Christianity
is no spectator sport.
Like
Paul to the Philippians
We are examples to others in the
community
To the integrity, truth and
love of God
Revealed
in Jesus Christ.
We are called by God not only to
“guide
and nurture Maggie and every other child
with our words
but also with our deeds”
That’s what we
promise to do in our baptismal vows
And that’s
what Paul vows to do and be
For the church at
That’s
what makes us a sweet communion in Christ,
So that as a child grows to be Craig’s
age he can
Say those same word with
integrity because he
Has seen others who
we are and who
God has
called us to be,
Lived out in this communion.
And
it is not just a ritual that we act out in the lives of our youth.
It is a recognition
of the most important part of all
Of our
lives.
Today
as we baptize two people into our church
We are celebrating the 25th
birthday of Sara who
Was baptized 24 years ago and
confirmed 11 years ago
Into
this body of Christ.
Today we are also praying desperately
for her as she
Recovers
from 5 organ transplants in
It is a miracle
that she has survived this long.
We are
witnessing a miracle every day.
And yet we pray with hope and
expectation for that miracle
because we are part of this incredible body of Christ
that Paul writes about in
Paul
says that:
“in any and all circumstances…we can do all
things
Through him who strengthens us.”
That is so powerful today and every day
To know
that God is with us empowering us
for life and death and life eternal.
That’s
the Gospel.
What we are doing today is not play acting.
It is the
most important thing we do in life,
To
be baptized and confirmed into
The
very body of Christ;
To
celebrate a birthday even and
especially as we pray for
the miracle of healing;
And
saying good bye to Melissa who
Has
walked with us through
So many journeys of life.
We
are sharing the sweet aroma of offering to God,
And to live in the
truth, integrity and love of the Holy Spirit.
That’s the sweet communion of Christ. Amen