It’s such a wonderful privilege to speak to you as a member of Holy Word Lutheran Church. My path to becoming a member has not been a normal one. Mike and I have been meeting and speaking quite intensely for several months. I did the maths and calculated we’ve spent at least 50 hours together. And I’ve written over 160,000 words that he’s patiently read and corrected.

That’s not the normal requirement for people to become members here, don’t worry! The reason it’s been so intense is because I spent the last 20 years of my life becoming and working as an ordained Presbyter in the Church of England, and then as a missionary Old Testament scholar teaching the Bible and leading churches in Ethiopia. And we’re joining Holy Word with the hope and prayer of now working in partnership to plant a new Lutheran church in Manchester.

Because of that background, the vision Katy and I have, and the amount of work and time Mike and I have put into our relationship, Mike asked me to say a few words about what membership in a Biblical Lutheran church is and what it means. And so I’d like to briefly share three things:

First, membership is biblical. Unlike many other churches, we are not united by having a common experience, or background, or culture, or way of doing things. We are united by having the same beliefs—because we believe what the Bible says, no ifs, no buts. Another word you could use to describe this is “Confessional”—being united around our common confession of what the Bible is saying.

Being biblical, being confessional, is radically different to any church I’ve been part of before. When I worked as an assistant minister in a very conservative Anglican church, I remember once observing to the senior minister that our church was “divided” in our beliefs. The senior minister rebuked me and said “We’re not divided, we’re united. We just have difference in what we believe.” That’s a very common view. Even in conservative evangelical churches, when someone talks about some aspect of theology or other you may hear them say something like “There will be differences of opinion amongst us on this—and that’s a good thing.”

That viewpoint about unity is very popular today: but it’s not biblical unity, because it’s not confessional unity. We don’t unite despite our different beliefs. We unite because of our common beliefs. As Paul the Apostle wrote to the church in Corinth in 1 Corinthians 1:10:

“I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.”

1 Corinthians 1:10

So, first, membership is biblical.

Secondly, membership is Lutheran. And being Lutheran means to be truly evangelical. It means being simultaneously forgiven, but also a sinner, united to other people who are also simultaneously forgiven, but also sinners. And so it means expressing that unity in an evangelical way by receiving together the sacrament of forgiveness, which is the Supper of our Lord Jesus Christ, where we eat his body and drink his blood, which was poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

When I was an Anglican priest, I was instructed and ordered to give this Supper to anyone and everyone. At the beginning of every communion service I would stand at the front and say “If anyone here trusts in Jesus Christ, then please come and share in the bread and wine.”

But, the Bible encourages us to treat the Supper with more care and caution than that. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:28-29:

“Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.”

1 Corinthians 11:28-29

Having lost this evangelical basis of our unity, many churches today define unity in other ways: by having lists of members, or by filling out membership cards, or having special meetings. But to be Lutheran means to be evangelical, and so our membership is defined by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Finally, membership is in the church, which is the people of God. And to be the people of God means to have a purpose. We are a kingdom of priests. All of us have the Holy Spirit. All of us have a command from the Lord to serve.

When we returned from Ethiopia we tried joining a different church, one that didn’t understand what it meant to be “church”—they assumed that all we wanted to do was come on a Sunday, receive the Sacrament, and go home, without doing anything. But, to be church means to have received the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 28:18-20:

“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””

Matthew 28:18-20

Today we become members in the church, which means we are joining with all of you in our common task of completing this mission Jesus has given us. I hope and pray that will mean planting a sister church in Manchester. But, whatever the Lord’s will, to be members of the church means to serve the kingdom and labour for the Gospel alongside all of you.

Thank you so much for receiving us and the others today as members. This is what membership of a Biblical Lutheran Church means, our membership and unity is:

Biblical: we are united by confessing the same things.

Lutheran: we have evangelical unity in the Gospel, expressed by sharing the Supper.

Church: we are united for a purpose, to fulfil a common call, placed on us all by Jesus Christ our Lord, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Amen.