Communion Of Saints

THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS

TEXT: Hebrews 12:1-4

This week we will begin looking at some of the questions you asked to hear sermons

about. I received quite a few, so given the breaks we will take for special services and seasons, it

will probably be early next year before we finish with all of them. Since today is a communion

Sunday, I decided to begin with the first question that was submitted... "What is the Communion

of Saints?"

Communion of Saints is a phrase that you would be familiar with if you are used to

reciting the Apostle’s Creed. Along with a list of other things, we proclaim that we believe in the

"communion of saints," but the concept is never explained. It just sits there in a list and lets you

wonder what you have just professed. To head into this we need a couple of definitions. First,

"communion." The narrow sense of the word "communion" is as the technical term for the

sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.

What we want here, however, is the broader sense of the word in which a group of people

"commune" together. It’s a word that comes from the same root as the word "community," and

it implies being together...not just in body, but in heart. To be in communion with someone is to

be open to someone at a deep, heart level...which is why the sacrament of Holy Communion is

such a powerful agent for reconciliation and forgiveness. It is a time when God opens up to us

through Jesus’ broken body and shed blood and when we acknowledge that before God we are all

equal...one with each other because Jesus has allowed us to be one with Him.

The second word that needs understanding is "saints." If you come from a Roman

Catholic background, you are used to a whole list of people who have been formally named

"saints." That is not what we mean. "Saint," here, means the same thing that Paul meant when he

wrote his letters to the "saints" in this place and that. "Saint" in the Bible, simply means a

believer. Someone who is a professing Christian. The word "saint" means "holy one" in both

Greek and Hebrew, and to be "holy" merely means to be set apart. When we say, "Yes, I am a

Christian" we have set ourselves apart from the rest of the world. Not that we don’t interact or

take part in earthly activities, but that we do so in ways and with motivations that are different

from those who have not made such a profession.

So...the Communion of Saints...is talking about the way Christians commune with each

other...how we do and should interact with each other...how we should live out our unity in Jesus.

I think there are two great examples of what that looks like. Remember back a week or so ago to

the miners caught in the Pennsylvania coal mine. Probably they weren’t thinking, "Hey, if we tie

ourselves together, we’ll be a great illustration for the Communion of Saints," but it turned out

that way anyhow. Those nine men were determined that they would stick together no matter

what. Nobody who died would just float away into oblivion, and if one were found, all of them

would be found together.

That is exactly the kind of mutual support that we say we believe in when we say, "I

believe in the Communion of Saints." We who have set ourselves apart to live as Christians need

to be roped together, because what happens to one of us affects us all. We should be unwilling

that any one of us should just be able to float away into oblivion, and we all ought to be helping

each other travel along in the same direction. Think of what being tied together means. Nobody

really is on their own. Some might be stronger than others, some might need to be carried for a

bit...but you have to work it out so that everybody is at least trying to go in the same direction or

nobody is going to get anywhere.

That’s what Christian faith is supposed to be...no lone rangers. No competition.

Teamwork. Yes, it’s harder that way for the strong ones; but we are called to be shepherds for

the weak ones. Those miners felt emotionally stronger knowing that they were committed to each

other. Nobody was trying to survive at the expense of the othersûeach one was working for the

good of the whole. You don’t have to look very far these days to see what happens when people

never learn that lesson. Anyone of those coal miners could have taught WorldCom a lesson...or

Enron...or Tyco...or any of a host of others.

The Communion of Saints is an important concept because it is a way to keep the Body of