Joni Mitchell asked that question back in 1970. When she sang of those who “pave paradise and put up a parking lot,” she was talking about the destruction of the natural world. But she also lamented the destruction of a relationship that happened when “a big yellow taxi took away her old man.”

Well it’s true. You often don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone. It might be paradise. It might be a special relationship. It might be a family that is at the core of your life.

For Carol and I, when we are on our sabbatical, the thing we suddenly discovered we deeply missed was ongoing Christian community. We had been so immersed in Christian community for years that we almost didn’t notice its impact on our lives - until it was suddenly taken away from our daily experience. We knew we were being prayed for by our church family at home - but we missed the ongoing fellowship.

How good it was to connect with groups of believers in places like Sarum College in Salisbury, St. Deniol’s Library in Wales and Iona off the Scottish Coast.

It was also fascinating to see how easily and quickly we connected with the believers we did meet. Our backgrounds were often very different. Our styles of worship diverse. But we knew we were family.

We’ve had the same experience with believers in Kenya. People might live in a hut made from cow dung. But they are brothers and sisters in Christ. What a great thing to celebrate on this World Wide Communion Sunday.

Today we are looking at that phrase in the Apostle’s Creed in which we affirm our belief in “the communion of saints”. The word “communion” refers to our “common union” with one another as the body of Christ. “Saints” is simply another way of saying that we are holy because we have been called by God into God’s service.

To declare that we believe in “the communion of saints” does not mean that we believe in a holy club. It means that we believe in a holy God who has called us as individuals into His community.

Look around you this morning. Look at the people behind and in front of you. Now, say to yourself, “This is the communion of saints.”

For Paul said that everyone who is committed to Christ is called to be a saint. Ordinary folks are called by God’s grace. They are chosen and empowered to be God’s people -- the body of Christ in the world.

You can also draw encouragement from the past. It can sometimes be helpful to draw up spiritual family tree -- to identify the people who were important in helping you come to faith.

Perhaps one person was of vital importance. Maybe several people helped you come to faith gradually, over a long period of time. But remember that each of them was also helped to faith by someone else!

Perhaps you could find out who they were. By doing this, you will discover a vast network of faithful believers, many of whom may already be dead, who have contributed in some way to bringing you to faith.

I thought of some of them this week. I remembered a Sunday school teacher who welcomed me to her first-grade Vacation Bible School class. I can still taste her Ritz crackers and cherry Kool-Aid. I can remember the way she stuck pictures of Jesus on a flannelgraph board. She let me know that the church was place where I was loved.

I remembered Pat and Joe Hare. They led a mid-week club for children called Jet Cadets. I even remember the theme song:

“Zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom,

We Are Jet Cadets for Jesus, we are pilots for our Lord.

We have heard to call to action and we’ll serve with one accord.

Come and join our happy crew as we sail into the sky.

We are on the beam for heaven, and we’ll fly, fly, fly.”

I know the song is major league dorky. But there was nothing dorky about Pat and Joe Hare’s love for us anc commitment to sharing God’s word.

I remember a car salesman who tried to teach a Sunday School class of seventh-grade boys, most of the time with minimal success! I don’t remember much of what he taught us, but I do remember that we were very difficult to teach. By God’s grace, I believe he forgave us. And by God’s grace, he was there every week.

I thought about a youth minister who came to my home church right after I graduated from college. Charlie was the one who got me started in what I am doing today.

I am who I am today because of the communion of saints. I am who I am because of ordinary folks through whom I experienced the love of God.

We are to draw comfort and support from others! That is one of the practical consequences of the doctrine of the “communion of saints.”

Within historic Christianity, there have been wide divergences of opinion and ritual. Unity, however, prevails wherever there is a deep and genuine experience of Christ.

This is because the fellowship of the new birth transcends all historical and denominational boundaries. Paul of Tarsus, Luther of Germany, Wesley of England, and Billy Graham of America were widely separated by time, by space, by nationality, by educational background, and by ecclesiastical connections. But they would find deep unity with each other.

I think they know that. Because the communion of saints does not only include the saints who are with us now. It also includes others, including our own loved-ones, who have gone before.

As you read Hebrews 11:1-12:3 you realize that you share in the faith of great figures of old. You belong to the same great family. They have all been through the trials, struggles and temptations of faith before you. And Hebrews 12:1 says that they are now “a great cloud of witnesses” cheering you on as you run the same race they have run.

Try to visualize the scene. You are in a great amphitheater. The racecourse is ahead of you. And crowds shout their support and encouragement as you aim to complete the race and gain your crown.

When was the last time you heard someone say, “The church is full of hypocrites”? I’m so tired of hearing this that I’m considering the response, “So, what else is new?”

I know there are persons in the church who don’t live up to their calling. Sometimes I’m one of them. I know there are persons who can be mean and nasty and downright impossible. But I also know that my life has been richly blessed by the fellowship of the saints.

I believe in the communion of saints because I have experienced it right here on earth. There is nothing theoretical about it.

I’ve experience it here, with you. Right here, right now, this is the communion of saints.

Think about this as you come to the Lord’s table.

God has called each of us to be here today -- no mistakes. He has called us to be with one another. In fact, your whole purpose this morning in God’s plan may be to help one other person feel good in Christ.

Ask Jesus to show you who that person is. And ask Him to help you welcome them, love them, forgive them, pray for them just as He did for you.

Find somebody to love. That’s what the communion of saints is all about.