Dear Cornerstone family,
In journeying through the Westminster Confession of Faith with our officer candidates, we recently reflected on Chapter 26, “The Communion of Saints.” Though one of the briefest chapters, I find the description of the church’s fellowship to be one of the most beautifully compelling portraits you’ll find anywhere.
WCF 26.1, All saints that are united to Jesus Christ their Head by His Spirit and by faith, have fellowship with Him in His graces, sufferings, death, resurrection, and glory: and in being united to one another in love, they have communion in each other’s gifts and graces, and are obliged to the performance of such duties, public and private, as do conduce to their mutual good, both in the inward and outward man.
Notice, our communion does not consist in our participation in holy things (i.e. The Eucharist), as the Roman Catholics taught. Rather, our communion is a personal one; that is, it consists in the person of Jesus Christ. The whole of Christ’s life, which is the testimony of his love––“His graces, sufferings, death, resurrection, and glory” – –is our life together. Our fellowship with one another is the fruit of our shared union and communion with Jesus Christ.
Truth is, we may share very little in common humanly speaking. Some of you may sense that’s the case when you look around the room this morning. But take heart, a Christian community is full of all kinds of difference. For what makes a Christian community distinctive is the fact that it’s “founded on and animated by Christ,” to quote Dietrich Bonhoeffer. It is only Christ’s presence among us that draws us together in the communion of the saints.
At this point, the applications are endless, but I’d like to note, briefly, the importance of this point for worship. At no point is the church more the church than when the church is worshipping. For right now, we have come together to meet with Christ by faith, and Christ, by the Spirit, has promised to meet with us. In worship, the church communes with Christ and together is made into a holy habitation for God (see 1 Peter 2:5; Heb. 12:22-24).
That means the power of today’s worship is not in the liturgy. It’s not in the hymns or prayers. It’s not even in the sermon or the Lord’s Supper. As good and as necessary as these various elements of worship are, it’s only ever the presence of Christ by the Spirit in worship that can turn our praise into His dwelling place (Psalm 22:3). Churches are often so concerned about attendance numbers at worship services. But thousands upon thousands can attend a worship service, but if Christ does not attend by the power of the Spirit, the worship is in vain.
Let us never forget––worship is a supernatural reality. Good musicianship cannot change a soul. A dynamic preacher cannot save anyone. A well scripted liturgy cannot make a disciple of Jesus Christ. God may use these things. Indeed, he does! But the power is not in the things, no matter how excellently they are performed. True worship always comes from above.
As we prepare to worship today, pray that we would truly worship. Pray that God would be merciful and send the Spirit of Christ to fill and form us through worship into a dwelling place for God.
