DESIGNED FOR COMMUNITY Exodus 18: 5-27

On the last Sunday of November, the 5th Sunday of St. Mark’s 145th anniversary celebration, families and friends, young and old – the St. Mark’s Faith Community – gathered for a vibrant service which included the participation of the Choralaires and the Celestial choirs. I was happy to see so many people whom I have not seen in such a long time. The 145th Anniversary theme “A Family Reunion: Faith, Family, Freedom, and Future” came alive. As I look back at the effusion of joy present in the church during these two hours of worship, and the following time of fellowship and breaking bread together, the idea of community became a reality, and my mind journeyed to the passage above from the book of Exodus. I am inviting you to meditate with me on our faith community; how can we grow and strengthen it.

Soon after the Israelites’ deliverance, Moses got a visit from his father-in-law Jethro. The gist of their conversation can be found in Exo. 18: 17-18. “What you are doing is not good” Jethro said to Moses. “You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone.” Moses was spending so much time and energy hearing the Hebrews’ complaints that he could not get to other important work. Jethro suggested that Moses delegates most of this work to wise men set as leaders over groups of people thus setting him free to oversee the more important cases that he alone could handle. Delegation relieved Moses’ stress and improved the quality of the people’s lives as well, physically and spiritually.

God designed us for community. In 1Thessalonians 5:11 we read “Encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” Jesus himself demonstrated the importance of community through the maintenance of a close group of disciples. We need God first and foremost, but we need others too – to lean on and to allow them to help lift us up. It can be uncomfortable and hard to accept that we need others, especially when we realize that our church is made of imperfect people. But when we downplay the collective nature of our faith, we do ourselves and our church a disservice.

Pastor Kay made a strong case for the power of community in her 11/30 sermon when she shared about the personal situation involving her family and her reliance on “others” to carry on with the needs of the church during her absence, including  the leadership of the 145th anniversary committee in coordinating the many events in a way that is nothing short of great, possibly because she could not be involved.

Wonderful things can happen when we rely on one another: our bonds of relationship are strengthened, and we give others the opportunity to show God’s love to us.   This, unfortunately, cannot take place when we become Christers, members who are present in church only for Christmas and Easter, or when we become members whose connection to the church is merely a listing on the membership roll, which guarantees us the availability of the church when there is a need for a baptism, a wedding, or more importantly a funeral.
COVID has ushered in the era of Worship on-line, and even though COVID is no more, church members have replaced the community that is the church family in worship with the convenience of on-line-worship. It is important to remember that as it is written in the United Methodist Church Hymnal, #558: “The church is not a building, the church is not a steeple, the church is not a resting place, the church is a people. I am the church, you are the church, we are the church together.”

In big and small moments, let’s commit to being together, loving those around us, and letting others love us in return in an organic community of faith as God had designed it to be from the very beginning. In so doing, we can be part of ushering God’s kingdom in a small or, in a major way, according to His will for us.    

Let us pray.  Gracious and Loving God, Omniscient, Omnipotent, and Omnipresent Creator of the universe, and all that is in it, we praise your Holy Name.  We thank you for the community of believers. Help us dear God, to lean on you as we not only lift others up but allow them to lift us up as well, to reach out to others who may need our love, and help us to accept love in return. May no one stand alone. May we stand side by side working together at whatever the task required for the  building your kingdom here on earth. Thank you for designing us for community. In Jesus name we pray. Amen and Amen.

By Rev. Franck Aguilh