Good Morning Friends,
Paul says that Jesus died for the church, but I doubt many get this, given that most are interested in spirituality not religion but nevertheless think in terms of the church being a building and not a people. Breaking News… Jesus did not die for a bunch of rocks. And it is all kind of crazy and stressed to the breaking point during the pandemic with around a half million people losing the battle with Covid-19 here in the United States last year. But the effect does not stop there. There are a lot of hungry mouths but even more hungry souls. So too I have been watching, and perhaps you too the battle of reformation and possible revolution being played out in society. We have come a long way and the institutions we attend for worship have a role now to slow things down. We need to process what has just happened. And I for one am contemplating a better understanding of what makes for a strong and healthy church institution that lasts beyond a zoom meeting and actually teaches the love of Jesus through the scriptures in response to what is happening in the lives of those called to a purpose in Christ. I am thinking about the universal called out assembly of believers that will live on but no longer serve in the same way when Jesus is here to rule on Earth. I am thinking about the church that Jesus died for, for you and for me and that prompts this straightforward question about what some think will be the greatest calamity in all of human history and others the fulfillment of the blessed hope of Christ in eternal worship. So, If Evil Is Defeated, The Earth Restored And God Wins What Will Be The Purpose Of The Church?
Scripture: Now as an elder myself and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as one who shares in the glory to be revealed, I exhort the elders among you to tend the flock of God that is in your charge, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion but willingly, as God would have you do it—not for sordid gain but eagerly. Do not lord it over those in your charge, but be examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will win the crown of glory that never fades away.
1 Peter 5:1-4 (NRSV)
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Matthew 16:13-19 (NRSV)
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
Ephesians 5:25 (NRSV)
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.
Psalm 23: 1-6 (NRSV)
Message: Today we look at the foundations of the church and our society’s interpretation of it. And we explore a passage about the authority given by Christ to Peter and his successors and suddenly realize that this is not just a passage for Catholics, but one that has its foundations in the Old Testament and an application for everyone. You see, the church Jesus had in mind is built out of flesh and blood…our flesh and blood. And sometimes we have good judges and sometimes we have bad judges…sometimes we have good kings and sometimes we have bad ones…and sometimes we have good teachers and sometimes bad…and sometimes good religious leaders and sometimes we have bad ones. And friends, sometimes we have good laws and sometimes we have bad ones. But thankfully the church is also built out of Christ’s flesh and blood, for Jesus loves the church…the body of believers. And friends, we have been saved to be part of the church and though the term has gone out of fashion, perhaps because of false teaching, the reality is that we need each other on this journey to help the next generation develop a relationship with Jesus too. Friends, the reality is that you might be a Christian without a church, however the next generation will not be Christian unless they get an introduction and as far as I am concerned, wherever and whenever the Gospel is affirmed and people are discipled in the faith and in love, that is the called-out assembly of God. For sometimes we need to do things collectively. So here is the thing, at points in Holy History the church has served like Noah’s ark. And for those of us on board, if it were not for the storm outside, we could not stand the smell inside. We need to see with new eyes, but we also need to get cleaned up. So, let us stop deriding the bride of Christ, for this is not going to go over too well with Jesus. Instead, we need to see that we have been given a purpose to help make things better in the church and in the world. So, let us clean up our stink so that the marriage not be broken. For the time being we have a purpose to fulfill and we cannot do it alone. For now, the church is not irrelevant. For there is a battle to fight and it is spiritual and in our hearts. Here truth without freedom is just another form of slavery…freedom without truth insanity. They must exist together destroying the illusions of life and substituting love. History, including that of the institutional church is full of dictators, legalists and controlling people that are afraid of the marriage of truth and love. And that is the ugly secret of the church that cries out for Jesus to be revealed. Friends, we move too fast, if we want what joy we have left to last, we need to slow down and process what has happened. We need compassion in action of the Spirit.
And So, friends, eventually evil will destroy itself. But until then the church as a purpose to fulfill. For now, “there is no reason to keep who Jesus is a secret. In fact, the exact opposite is true. We are not to dedicate our lives to the insanity of separation. But we are to find some value in the trouble we face. People are a poor substitute for Jesus for sure but let us not forget that we have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit. And the Spirit teaches that true spirituality is counterintuitive. The Man of Sorrows became incarnate among us to set us free in the full dynamic range of our troubles, not to help us deny them but to discover ourselves as we seek to find God. Here Truth and Freedom must exist together in a marriage of love that lives on. Sorrow can be the beginning of rebirth. But it is not to be forced. We cannot prompt the Spirit, but we can join collectively in the work God has set before us to make some sense of our existence.
Pray we do not grieve the Holy Spirit. Pray we are more defined by what we are for than for what we are against. Pray we enter the sorrows of others so that we understand their pain. Pray we believe that Jesus wants to show us something through the unspeakable sorrows of the souls of others when we are married to the Truth and are naked in our honesty with God. Pray we find an immortal identity with Christ that is preserved and fulfilled as we draw near to the love of God though missions. Pray that we realize that Christianity has died many times only to be resurrected again. Pray the Good Shepherd who gave his life for the sheep, helps us live in abundance with both joy and happiness…Truth and Consequences that encourage a healthy Freedom. Pray we have fellowship one with another. Pray we realize that Jesus loved the church so much that the relationship is described as a marriage that transforms. Pray when we look in the mirror, that we realize that God has chosen us and that the Holy Spirit changes us and that Jesus cleanses us to get things right. Pray when we think about church and society, we begin to see ourselves being transformed collectively into the Bride of Christ.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 
Well Brother John, I think you misrepresent (unintentionally I am sure) Paul’s teaching in your very first sentence. As it is written, it implies that the most important idea is that Jesus died for the Church. While the Church might like to think it has a unique place in the salvation “game,” it does not. Jesus died on the cross for the world… and the Church is just a very small part of this world. Some in the Church would like to claim that the Church is more important to Christ than the rest of the world, particularly those the Church proclaims to be evil, it is not.
The Greek word for Church is ecclesia… which means those who are called out. And those who understand Reformed theology know that to be “called out” doesn’t mean we are better than the rest of the world, but that we have a different mission. And that mission is to serve the world, to support and sustain those who would crucify us just as they (we as well?) did Jesus.
We are not called out because we are better, more righteous, or even more obedient. We are called out simply because God called us. When people claim that the Church is more loved by God than the rest of the world, they are wrong. And, no one can claim to be Christian without accepting that they are a part of the Church.
We may not participate in a gathering of Christians in any one place, but to be a Christian is to acknowledge (accept?) one’s calling. And this calling requires us, demands us, to be in community. We cannot be Christians without some kind interaction with others. Where we are is where the Spirit has led us. At that point we can only be who we are and hope that we allow Christ to shine through us. And I very much suspect, as being a called out people, we will reflect the love of Christ even if we would rather not.
hesed ve shalom my friend,
LikeLike