5/6/07 - Mission Festival - Philippians 1:3-6

WE HAVE FELLOWHSIP IN THE GOSPEL
- With others
- To share with others

Sometimes I don’t think we realize how fortunate we really are as a congregation. Look around you: there are about 40-45 people here every Sunday. And you know - you can be sure - that the person sitting next to you and in front of you and behind you believes exactly the same thing that you believe. We take that for granted, but that’s not the case in almost any other denomination. Because in those congregations differences of opinion and lax teachings and blatantly false beliefs are tolerated in any number of ways. They don’t know for sure what the person sitting next to them believes. And if they do know, it is often times very different from what they have come to know and rely on.
We know what the Bible teaches. We know that everyone in this congregation believes in exactly the same things. We have a bond, a communion, a fellowship with each other because of this gospel. And so, of course, our fellowship isn’t confined to these walls. There are 400,000 WELS members throughout this country. People whom you’ve never met. People whom you never will meet in this life. But people with whom you have a fellowship that will not be broken. A fellowship in the gospel with 400,000 plus souls! And that’s not even counting the dozen or so other church bodies throughout the world with whom we are in fellowship. Let alone the millions of Christians that have gone before us and are in heaven already! This fellowship we experience crosses state borders and oceans, countries and languages, races and ages, and even time. We have a fellowship in the gospel. A precious blessing we share with many others. A vital blessing we must share with many more. Our text for today is from the book of Philippians, 1:3-6:
“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Paul prays for joy specifically because of the “partnership in the gospel.” This partnership is really a fellowship in the gospel. Paul and the congregation at Philippi experienced a bond that was unbreakable even though he was not physically with them. As do we. We experience a fellowship not only with each other, not only the 400,000 WELS members, but with that congregation in Philippi and with Paul himself. The gospel is what brings us all together. And the gospel is what will bring us all together in eternity.
And we have a chance to see that gospel in all it’s glory today. Today, especially today in this particular worship service, we have a chance to experience the full range of ways God brings us into this fellowship through the gospel. At the beginning of the service we were witnesses to the Lord’s unfathomable grace and love through baptism. Baptism is such an amazing thing! God takes plain water, joins it with his Word, and through that combination he gives even the smallest child forgiveness for all his sins - past, present, and future - and brings him into God’s own family! And so Scripture says that “You are all sons [and daughters] of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (Gal. 3:26-27). I am honored to have been able to share that event with you today. The event at which a member of my physical family was brought into the Lord’s spiritual family - into fellowship with him - and so also into fellowship with you.
And we are not only witnesses to a baptism today, but later on in this service we will have a chance to partake in the Lord’s Supper. Also called Holy Communion. Because it is a communion of Christ’s body and blood with the bread and wine, a communion between you and the Lord, but also because it is a communion - a fellowship - of believers. Listen to what the Word says about this holy communion: “Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a fellowship in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a fellowship in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf” (1 Cor. 10:16-17). We are one body in this sacrament of the altar. We are joined together, we have fellowship through the gospel used with the bread and wine. Together we proclaim the Lord’s death. Together we express a common Christian faith. Together we receive the forgiveness of sins. And in our service today we will not only stand here together in front of the Lord’s altar, we will also join together with yet another believer added to our number.
Because after weeks of classes Maria Herrera will join us as a member of Living Word. She has professed her faith in the teachings of Scripture. You can be absolutely sure that she believes what you believe. She can be absolutely sure that you believe what she believes. And because of this love and confidence in the gospel, she wants to join in this specific fellowship of believers. And we, of course, welcome her gladly. Because there is no greater fellowship we can share than the fellowship in the gospel. The same gospel that you have been preached and taught. The same gospel Maria has been preached and taught. The same gospel all Christians have been preached and taught for all time.
“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy.” No wonder Paul always prayed for joy because of the Philippian congregation. He knew and cherished the fellowship he had with them in the gospel through baptism, through the Lord’s Supper, and through the preaching and teaching and joining together in the Word. Paul rejoiced in that fellowship with all of them. I wish I acted in the same way. I wish you would act in that same way: “In all my prayers for all of you I always pray for joy.” We don’t, do we? We aren’t always thrilled to be around each other. We get caught up in the differences instead of seeing the connections. We forget that we are all baptized into the same name. We ignore that we all receive the same body and blood. We look past the fact that we are joined in an irrevocable fellowship because of the gospel. And so instead of always praying for joy for the believers around us we see someone and think “He’s arrogant. She’s overbearing. That person is incompetent. That one is annoying. The leaders in our Synod don’t know how to lead. Our fellow Christians don’t know how to act like Christians... They’re mean, rude, boring, testy, unpleasant…” You even try to avoid talking to certain people here, don’t you? Don’t you? This is not an attitude of joy. This is not thankfulness for the fellowship we are honored to be a part of. How dare we think of God’s children in this way! How dare we treat our fellow baptized brothers and sisters like we are ashamed to be part of the same family! What an atrocity it is when we neglect to share that joy of fellowship with others that the Lord has so undeservedly shared with us.
We have all sinned in this way. And we all will again. But take comfort in this, my dear brothers and sisters: “God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ, is faithful” (1 Cor. 1:9). He will not rescind his promise to you because of your sins. He will not cut off the fellowship he has brought you into if you fall. God is faithful. He will forgive you. Just like he did at your baptism when he brought you into his fellowship. Just like he does in the Lord’s Supper when he renews that bond of fellowship between you, him, and all believers. He will forgive you just like he has through the promises of the gospel for as long as you can remember and for as long as you will live. This fellowship you enjoy with the Lord does not depend on the strength of your faith or the quality of your life, but on the one who it always has depended on: your Lord, your Savior, the one who made fellowship possible in the first place by dying on the cross, the one who will bring that fellowship to its ultimate completion one day in heaven.
It doesn’t get much better than that, does it? What could be better than the fellowship we share with Jesus, with each other, and with all the saints of all time? I’m hard pressed to think of anything better than that. And you are an intricate part of that fellowship with the Lord. And being a part of this wonderful fellowship in the gospel, I would think you would be motivated to share this fellowship with those who are not yet a part of it? Wouldn’t you like to spread this news to at least those you know and love so that as many people as possible can enjoy eternity with their Savior? It’s Mission Festival after all! Today is not only “Walking Together Sunday,” it’s also a co-emphasis on missions. Specifically, our joint mission as a Synod, our joint mission as Christians across the world, to share the true words of the gospel with every person on the face of the earth. This is an all important mission. This is an urgent mission. This is a mission that each and every one of us in this room is called on to carry out.
It’s a sin not to. But what a joy it is when we do. And I know you have. I know you have been trying to carry out that mission and I know you desperately want those you care for to join in that fellowship with their Savior. Keep on trying. Invite them to worship. Bring them to Bible study. Share with them the sermons, the devotions, the Bible classes, the books, the Word. Talk to them about what will happen when they die. Explain to them the very concept we’ve been talking about: that the Lord died and rose so that he could bring them into fellowship with him - free of charge, no strings attached, no obligations, no payment back! Share with them the gospel in as many avenues as you possibly can. And pray that the Lord gives you the nerve to do so.
“I thank my God every time I remember you.” I do. I thank God for you and this congregation “because of the fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now.” From the first day I was here we shared in that fellowship. And even before that - from the day we were baptized. From the day Jesus died on the cross. From the day the Lord first promised a Savior to Adam and Eve we shared in that fellowship. I thank God because of that. I thank God because of you and the Synod that we are a part of. And I pray that we will be able to enjoy many more years of fellowship together in this life - and an eternity of fellowship in the life to come.
Amen.

“May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.” 2 Cor. 13:14