Today concludes our readings from Bread and Wine and this part of the journey. We are left with the challenge to the communal nature of following Christ. Eberhard Arnold who founded Plough Publishing that published this book gives voice to the idea of Holy Spirit empowered community. He compares the modern church (1920s) with the first century church. The common bond for Arnold is the power of the Kingdom ushered in with the resurrection of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon not individuals but the church. Arnold took this idea to communal living in an effort to enact the Sermon on the Mount. That is not the direction for all believers but for us right now the following excerpt strikes directly.
Together they felt compelled to live the life of Jesus, and together, in complete community, they experienced the powers of the future. Only in this way could isolation and its ice-cold existence be overcome.
It should be paramount for us today, right now to know that the Spirit that raised Christ from the dead is the same Spirit that holds us together. Even many of us haven’t seen one another in awhile we are still a community not because we just know each other but because we know the Messiah, the risen Christ. The power of the Spirit, the presence of the Spirit bonds us together. We are compelled to bring others into this community through them knowing Jesus Christ. This message should be shared. Romans 10:14-17 is a call to share this message. This is a box to be checked, it is a community to be offered and a relationship to be extended.