Readings
- Jeremiah 28:5–9 Few Prophets speak of Peace
- Romans 6:12–23 Be Slaves to God not Sin
- Matthew 10:40–42 Whoever receives you receives Me
- Psalm 89:8–18 Mighty, Righteous, Faithful; our Shield
Introduction
Well, here it is, Trinity 3 and my last sermon amongst these churches. Last week I shared something of my personal testimony to the glorious reality that is God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This week I want to say something about that reality in the people that he calls to be his treasured possession amongst all his creation.
In doing so I am aware of the extraordinary times in which we now live and the challenge of being Church in them. As I retire others will take up the responsibility of leading these six churches across the south-east Lizard coast and it is an impossible task. I commend them to you with love. Pray for them.
But Church has never been about the people who lead. It is nothing less, or more, than the body of Christ, a gathering of Christians together in relationship to Christ and one another. What Church is, is what those Christians are, whatever institution or leadership they are involved with.
God is Serious about His Church
Whoever receives you receives Me
So, Jesus, as he sends his disciples out ahead of him can say, “Whoever receives you receives me”. When they knock on a door it is as if Jesus is knocking on the door. Some will receive him, and others will not, but either way it is Jesus, not the Disciples that they are responding to.
That is an extraordinary statement. Sometimes people have tried to distinguish Jesus from his church and say something like ‘come to Jesus, not church’, but that is not the way Jesus sees it.
There is a real downside to this, as scripture shows, when people get the wrong idea about God because of his people:
“For, as it is written, ‘The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.’” (Rom 2:24)
But the upside is that the church will display God’s name, not only to friends and neighbours, but also to the whole of creation:
“ … and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” (Eph 3:9-10)
That is why God will reward anyone who gives even a cup of cold water to one of his little ones, because they are Christ’s disciple/representative.
When we have an idea of church as something separate from us, something we can join, we may think that we can hide in what that ‘church’ is. We may act like supporters reflecting in is glory or accomplishments. But not before God. Church is not a club we can join or attend, it is a body we are born (again) into.
God is serious about this. God did not withhold his own Son; he held nothing back, as he pursued his plan to display his glory in human disciples – a church, body and bride – together in Christ. And he will hold nothing back in bringing that body to the perfection of Christ, formed in them.
Nor can we think that he will deal kindly with those who “destroy the one for who Christ died” (Rom 14:15) in the way that treat the members of his body.
Judgement Begins with the Household of God
God is serious about church. He is serious about church being Christ’s body. So, when as Christians we may look down on the world and think ourselves ok, we should remember the scripture:
“… it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (1 Pet 4:17)
God will not turn a Blind Eye
That, I think, is what underlies Jeremiah’s words to the false prophet Hananiah. Hananiah had been telling God’s people that they were ok. He said that the people who had been captured and sent into exile in Babylon would soon be returned. But God has exiled them for a reason, because he was serious about his church (his people). God was not going to let them go their own way and cause his name to be blasphemed.
So, Jeremiah sarcastically says “Amen”. But, he says, that is not what God usually has to say. If God warns “many countries and great kingdoms” to turn and repent, who would think that he is going to turn a blind eye to his own people’s rebelliousness?
God will Prune
And Jesus, himself, tells us that the Father prunes his vine, casting off the dead branches and pruning the fruitful ones (Jn 15). If we are being faithful and fruitful, the loving judgment of pruning will still come, so that we may bear more fruit – so that we may display more of Christ in us. Pruning is not comfortable, but it is an act of love – God’s love for his vine, his church.
But, especially with what is going on in the church at this time, we ought to be careful to ensure that it is God’s pruning, not ours. There is too much history of well-meaning Christians taking it into their own hands to prune away what they see as wrong with the church.
It is not that the church lacks things that need pruning. But when we do it in our own wisdom and strength, we are apt to miss the log in our own eyes and do as much or more damage than good. It is a much harder thing to build up in truth and love, than to tear down.
So, Present yourselves to God
We are called much more to build up than to tear down. And the work of building up the church always starts with ourselves. As our Romans reading reminds us, the one bit of the church we can make a real difference to, is ourselves. As we present ourselves to God, the fruit that he gives us “leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life”
As Ephesians tells us, building up the body (the church) comes from Christ, but it comes through us as we are joined together by him – with all the joints that he supplies – and as “each part is working properly” (Eph 4:15-16). Jesus promised to build his church, but he uses his people to do so. In Christ, his body builds itself up in love.
In that passage in Ephesians, Paul speaks of this building up as each one of us “speaking the truth in love”. But “each part working properly” is a greater thing that just what we say and the way we say it. So, he goes on to urge us all to be imitators of God, by walking (i.e. living) in love and righteousness. The way we live, each one of us, is either building the church up in Christ or stunting its growth and bringing it down.
As a mundane example, I remember my pastor advising me as a young man in search of a godly woman, to look to myself. ‘Be a godly man, and you will attract a godly woman’. The same is true in the church. The more each one of us pursues Christ in our own lives, the more we will encourage others to do so. It is a hard thing to live faithfully as Christ’s disciple in this world (as our Gospel last week reminded us), we ought to be making church an easier place to do so.
Each one of us has a part to play, as God calls us and equips us. It is not for us to compare ourselves to others, or to mistake public exposure for importance. God says, ‘present yourself’, and as we do so he will build his church.
Pilgrim Church
What all this means at this present time is a real challenge. As I am preparing to move on to God’s next thing in my life, it has never been harder to see what is the way forward for the churches that I have been part of here.
A Weak Church and a Hungry People.
The institutional church that many of us have known is weak and in danger of collapse. At the same time, the hunger for God among our communities seems greater than ever.
If people do not find that hunger satisfied in God, they will seek satisfaction elsewhere (even though it is no satisfaction). But God’s design is that they find him in the company of his people.
I am convinced that being church is at the heart of all this. God’s desire is for a church that is so full of the life of Christ that, even in its imperfections (of which there will always be many), the church is both salt and light in its community.
A Passionate God
I believe that God is passionate about this church and is moving heaven and earth to bring it into being. But I do not think that he is passionate about church buildings, or the Church of England, or any other institution, or any idea of our church that sets itself apart from other Christians
I do believe that God is passionate about you, each and every Christian whom he has purchased with the blood of Christ. And everyone in our communities whom he knew before he made the universe, whom he chose and has purchased with the blood of Christ, though they do not yet know him.
God is at work amongst us, in our churches and outside them. And he is at work in all the challenges that we face. He is working everything according to his wisdom and plan. And he is calling us out to journey with him as his Pilgrim People.
Pilgrim Church
We too easily forget that God has always called a Pilgrim People out to journey with him to the fulfilment of his promise. Because we use church buildings that have stood for generations organised by an institution that is just as old, we forget that we are a Pilgrim People. Our buildings, no matter how old, are just tents – temporary structures for the journey. So are our institutions.
Even the newer churches that have grown up in recent years are apt to become too fixed. The first generation sets out as pilgrims with nothing but a sense of calling, but traditions, buildings and institutions grow. Too often people can settle into maintenance mode and forget that we are pilgrims, we are called out. Like Abraham, we are “looking forward to a city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (Heb 11:10)
God know that we need tents, whether they are made of stone or canvass. He knows that we need organisation, the church is a body after all. Worshiping together needs liturgy, we need common hymn sheet. But when any of these things become more important than the call and the journey, God will shake them up. Just as he is doing.
So, What Now?
Though so much seems uncertain and unclear, God’s word and his promise still stand. The work of Christ for our salvation is eternal. The Holy Spirit is amongst us and working in our world. God’s call on your life and his promises to you, will not be taken back – they are guaranteed in Christ himself.
Each one of us must play our part in love and truth, bearing with and encouraging one another in Christ.
May God bless you all, as you pursue his upward call together in Christ.