Community

 Ephesians 5:15-20

This spring on the lake there was a strange thing which happened. All the Canada geese came back and one day as I was watching them swim there was an interloper all by itself across the lake. It was a white goose, all on its own. As the days went on I'd look at the lake to find the goose and it would be swimming with the Canada geese. It was still all on its own, probably blown off course, but the geese were adopting one another. They still swim together, its flipped now because three others have joined it and the Canada geese is the lone one swimming with them. The thing is even though they are different species, they have become community.

Ephesians today is all about community. We get this fragment today which seems to be telling us not to drink the thing is we have to look at the whole letter to understand the focus. Paul has been explaining how when we come to Christ we put off the old ways of being and become a new creation. The rest of the letter explains what this means and the last component of living in community is to be wise. 

It is what Solomon asks for today, for the community of Israel's benefit, not for his own. This is what Paul is referring to as well. When we come to Christ we come to a community of faith, we have to be wise for one another, for the benefit of each other. It is why Paul lists all the things which are usually done when we only think of ourselves. These include not lying, not being angry with one another, and no gossip about one another. These all lead to fractures in the community and into ways of thinking about how you might manipulate, or how hurt you are, or did you know about so and so, all harm other people in the community.

Egalitarian is a way archaeologists have spoken about the communities in which some of our Biblical communities lived for a time. Everyone is equal and things were distributed equally so none had lack. This is how the first Church started in Acts. They shared everything the passage says and no one had want. They cared above all for the communal aspect of the body of Christ. This is exactly what Paul is telling us, and it bleeds into how we treat one another and how we think about one another. 

Now this is an even higher standard for us to live into. Say you are mad at someone, the last thing you want to do is to go and resolve the issue with this person. Sometimes you just want to make them pay. Yet to put off the old self you must go and reconcile before the sun goes down. This is the wise way to live in community. It is not easy or self serving, it is sacrificing our own pride, our own way in order to wisely look at what is best for the whole. 

This is what is being asked of us once again with masking during worship. It is not about our belief, or our right, or what we want it is about protecting those who can't get vaccinated yet because we can spread the new variant even though we are vaccinated. We think of what is best for our neighbor. It is hard, it isn't easy and yet this time has called us to think communally more than ever. And today here is Paul telling us the exact same thing, be wise about the community of faith.

Think of the history of this community of faith. This community has been around since 1947 many of you were not members, some may have been children here, but this community has gone on and what we do influences how people look at this community. Being wise in our decisions means we have to look at our interactions with one another and make sure we are doing the best for the whole. It means we get into the dirt of reconciling, showing others what a neighbor is, and sometimes this brushes against the poplar opinion our beyond out doors. But it is a part of sacrifice and becoming the servant of all. It is the call of faith to be different than the world around us and to be the pearl of greatest price. A treasure for all to find rest in a world which needs this.

The geese knew it was not healthy for the one to wander the lake alone. They took it in despite the differences. They made it one of their own. We have seen it blossom in its family coming to the lake and adopting a few Canada geese to swim with it, particularly when one is alone. This is our call as well. What is healthy for the whole, to be beloved community.