Meditation for October 11, 2009
Glennon Heights Mennonite Church

Scripture passages: 1 Peter 4:7-11 and Ephesians 3:14-21

         Today's worship service is going to be a bit different. Lots of the elements will be familiar but we're going to approach them differently. We will have a Children's Time. We will offer our resources our time, our talents and our money to God. We will share our lives, our joys and concerns. We will pray together. And eventually we'll put on our coats, pick up our shovels and go outside to dig. (Now that's the really different part.) We do these things because we are a practicing body of believers. We do these things because we are a community.
As part of our adult Sunday School offerings this year, John Franz is leading us in a study of what it means to be Anabaptist. John has introduced us to the writings of theologian, Palmer Becker. Becker writes that Anabaptist Christians, which includes us Mennonites, have three core values, three key statements that, he says, ``profoundly affect our believing, belonging and behaving.'' According to Becker, these are three core values are:
1. Jesus is the center of our faith.
2. Community is the center of our lives.
3. Reconciliation is the center of our work.
This morning we're going to be highlighting some of the ways that we as Glennon Heights Mennonite Church flesh out and live into that second statement: Community is the center of our lives.
         The scripture passage from 1 Peter that I read this morning describes what a living community of believers is like. Those who make up the community are serious, Peter says, about what they believe. They discipline themselves they show up, they participate, they listen, they learn ``for the sake of their prayers.'' Faith and prayer undergird all that they do.
         What do they do in this community of believers? They love each other. They offer themselves and their resources to each other. They speak the truth to each other. And with the strength that God provides, they serve each other. Did you notice how many times I just said ``each other''? That's the point, of course. This is not a one-way type of deal. This community stuff is reciprocal. It's mutual. It must go back and forth. That is its strength. The community that loves each other is able to forgive one another more rapidly when minor issues arise. The community that builds each other up, is able to stand up and stay strong when adversity hits. The community that shares with and serves each other, learns from experience who God is and who God is calling us to be. Such a believing, acting, trusting, giving and forgiving community brings glory and honor to God. In the words of the Apostle Paul, such a community is rooted and grounded in God's love.
         This morning, as we move through this worship service, this celebration of community, take time to look around you. Notice the faces many familiar, some not of those who are there beside you in the pew or up front or in the rows behind you. As you notice these faces, say a prayer of thanks. Thank God for each person. Thank God for who they are and that they are here to be part, with you, of this community of believers. Thank God that you are not alone. We need each other in order to stay centered as we live out our faith. We need each other in order to understand who God is. We need each other in order to be whole.
         Amen.