<!– /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:”"; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;} h1 {mso-style-next:Normal; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; page-break-after:avoid; mso-outline-level:1; mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Arial; mso-font-kerning:0pt;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –>

From Death to Life

1 Corinthians 15:54-57

Rev. Jerry Hoek

Introduction:

Today we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ! It’s a day of rejoicing and celebrating new life! However, maybe earlier this week was a time of confusion. Maybe life for you in general right now is confusing and things don’t seem to be in place or things don’t seem to make sense. Maybe your life is like the chairs were this morning: It just isn’t right! Today is a day to put things into perspective and put into place.

This passage gets us down to the very core, the center of our lives: the resurrection of Jesus. All the things we say, do and think, mean nothing without this event. Without the resurrection, all we do and believe is worthless and meaningless. That is what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:14. “And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” But it is true! Christ the Lord is risen today! Alleluia!

This morning we want to look at the specific benefits that are ours because of Jesus’ resurrection. We want to focus on two benefits: what Christ’s resurrection has to do with our sin and with our own death. Jesus’ resurrection dramatically changes us in these two areas. Let’s read 1 Corinthians 15:50-58.

I. The Sting of Death

II. Christ’s Victory

III. Our Victory Over Sin

IV. Our Victory Over Death

I. Let’s look first at The Sting of Death as Paul describes it in verse 55.

Now there is no doubt that we feel the sting of death. And Paul says that death feels very much like a sting! Death is very painful. Two days ago, a young mother her tiny baby were killed in tornadoes and that sting was very painful. We see our parents, grandparents, our friends die and sometimes we even see our children die. And that death, that sting, affects us tremendously.

Moreover, the older we get, the more we have to come to terms with our own death. Neal Plantinga writes that by our forties, “most have tried on their burial shroud.” This is the time that parents often die and when our own parents die, we move to the head of the line; we are next! And that is very true for as my father was dying, I remember lying in my bed picturing what it would look like with me lying in that casket. Trying on my burial shroud. After my brother-in-law died, 14 years ago, I felt very much that I was standing at the front of the line.

Death is a fact, an appointment that we must all keep sooner or later. In fact, Neal Plantinga says that every time a baby is born, we could stand over the crib and solemnly pronounce: “There is no doubt. She will certainly die!”

The New Testament clearly teaches that the root of death is sin. Verse 56 says that “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.” Death is the only logical result of sin. If there were never any sin, then there would never have been death.

But because Adam and Eve did sin in the beginning and the whole world was plunged into sin. Now the whole world faces death as its punishment for sin.

How do we know this? The law, Paul says in verse 56, is the power behind this. Man continually breaks the law; we can’t live up to the perfection the law demands. Moreover, the law continually points out our sin and tells us that we are all born to die eternally.

And so sin is what puts the sting in death. This sting is not just painful; this sting is fatal! Man dies when death stings and the death he dies is eternal death, eternal separation from God. But there is victory over all this because of Christ’s resurrection.

II. Christ’s Victory is described in verses 54-56.

First, in verses 50-54, Paul describes the resurrection of our bodies as believers. Paul says there is a need for us to change in order to inherit the kingdom of God and Paul also assures us that this will indeed happen.

The perishable will become imperishable. The dead will rise to have bodies that won’t decay and perish. Believers who have died will rise from the dead. And mortal will become immortal. Those who are alive now, but who are facing death, will become immortal. Paul says that we shall all be changed. Why? What is the basis for our believing this?

Verses 54-55 proclaim the victory of Christ. Death now has been swallowed up. This was a promise made to Isaiah some 800 years before in Isaiah 25:7-8. Look at this. This prophecy refers to the end of time when God establishes His rule forever. “On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Lord has spoken.” Paul says that this has now happened and death is finished, swallowed up, gone!

And then, Paul taunts death itself in verse 55. “Where, O death, is your victory?” Death used to rule man with an iron fist. Death controlled, but now the control is gone. “Where, O death, is your sting?” Death used to be fatal; it brought eternal death to every human being. But now the sting of death is gone.

M.R. De Haan told a story of walking with his two boys by some bee hives. Suddenly a bee attacked the older son and stung him above the eye. He quickly brushed it away and fell to the ground, kicking and screaming. Then the bee dove at the younger son and he too began kicking and screaming. De Haan picked him up and told him that he had nothing to fear. “The bee is harmless. It cannot hurt you. It has lost its stinger.”

When honey bees sting, they lose their stinger and cannot sting again. He then showed the tiny black stinger above his brother’s eye. “That bee may scare you, but your brother took the sting of that bee away.”

Paul says that the sting of death is now gone! How? Through our “older brother,” Jesus Christ! Someone by the name of Peter Joshua says, “When death stung Jesus Christ, it stung itself to death.”

That is why Paul shouts out in verse 57: “But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” We didn’t win the victory over death; it wasn’t our work. God gives it to us. The victory is ours through what our Lord Jesus Christ did when he rose from the dead!

Moreover, note the tense of the verb used here. Paul doesn’t say that someday God will give you the victory. Victory over sin and death is something we have now because God gives us the victory now!

This happened through Jesus Christ. Jesus’ death absorbed the stinger of death, sin, into Himself. Then He rose from the dead and removed sin altogether and so death no longer has any power. Now we can say, “Thanks be to God!”

III. Now how does that victory affect us? First, it means that we have Victory Over Sin.

Jesus’ resurrection means we are now righteous. In Romans 4:25, in speaking of Jesus, Paul writes, “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” When Jesus died on the cross, the punishment for our sins was taken away. But even more, we gained the righteousness of Christ; we gained His perfect obedience.

When Jesus died on the cross, sin was defeated. God demands that sin be punished with death. Jesus took that punishment for the whole world on him and now the punishment has been paid. The law that demanded death for sin has been satisfied; God’s justice has been satisfied.

As a result, we can stand before God as though we were completely innocent. We are forgiven, even those sins that we have trouble forgiving ourselves for, God forgives. We are free from the threat of death. We now share in Jesus’ righteousness; we are declared innocent and righteous before God.

And so now we should act like we are righteous. That is what Colossians 3:1-2 refers to. “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” We have now been raised with Christ and so get out of the gutter of earthly things.

We have to admit that we are often enthralled with earthly things. We lust after power and possessions and even after other people. We become angry and embittered when we think too much about ourselves. We can put others down or neglect them without any thought at all. There are many ways we are tempted to still crawl around in the gutter. However, we are righteous in Christ and we should act like it! How?

It is through the Holy Spirit in us. That is the second benefit of Jesus’ resurrection. The Heidelberg Catechism says that “by his power we too are already now resurrected to a new life.” First, the Holy Spirit makes us look to Christ alone as the way to have our sins forgiven. He moves us to believe in Jesus.

Then when we believe and accept Christ’s forgiveness, the Holy Spirit enables us to produce the fruit of the Spirit. Things like kindness and patience instead of anger and bitterness. Things like compassion and humility instead of neglecting or abusing others. But these things do not come automatically, nor quickly. But as we pray for these things and slowly, slowly they will come if we yield to God’s power.

David A. Seamands tells a man who accepted Christ as his Savior on the first night of a prison crusade in the South. He was one of the prison’s tough guys. A few days later he said, “You know, something’s happening to me. I don’t really understand it and I sure can’t explain it. I got up this morning and I didn’t scream and holler like I usually do. Even my cellmates commented about it. The only way I can describe it is it’s like someone took the old tape that had been playing in my mind since I was a kid and put a new tape in and it’s playing new talk and new music.”

Seamands writes, “This man was beginning to experience the renewing and reprogramming process. Sometime later he discovered another important factor and added, ‘But you know, I’ve got to keep working on it and see to it that the right tapes are playing.’”

It may seem impossible for us to change, but through the Spirit’s power, we are slowly being changed; all because of Jesus’ resurrection. The victory over sins that so easily entangle us can be ours because of Jesus’ death and resurrection. But we must sincerely desire it and we must earnestly pray for it.

IV. Finally, Our Victory Over Death is the final benefit.

Romans 8:11 says, “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.” Do we still get stung in death? There certainly still is much pain in death and it hurts us when loved ones die.

But while the pain is there, the sting is gone. When those who believe in Jesus Christ die, if they believe that Jesus’ death and resurrection was for them, then death no longer means eternal death. Death may still frighten us like a bee buzzing angrily around our head, but the sting is gone.

For the Christian, death now is a time of transition. Death puts an end to this life of sinning and struggling with temptation. Death ends a life that often suffers from the results of sin in the world around us. Death now becomes the entrance to eternal life.

The clearest example of that for me was my father. He often felt very inadequate and felt that he was a weak Christian. He knew that he could have done more and it bothered him that he did not. And he was plagued with the results of sin in this world. In his life he had tuberculosis, had his leg amputated, fought cancer, failing eyesight, struggled with Parkinson’s disease, and finally heart disease which finally took his life. My father knew the effects of sin in this world.

There is no doubt that for him, death was a transition from weakness and suffering to the glorious joy of being with Christ. His death was a glorious entrance to eternal life. Many of you have also had loved ones for whom similar things could be said.

There is pain in death, but for those who believe, there is a genuine hope because Jesus is alive! That is comforting as we think of loved ones who have died or who may be facing death.

And that is comforting as we consider our own death as well. We don’t talk about it, but we all realize that we will die. However, we can face our own death with joy and confidence for it is truly going home to be with our Lord. We will rise as Paul describes so beautifully in 1 Corinthians 15.

And that should radically change and shape our lives right now. J. Granger tells of time when his son called him with big news. Through years of drug abuse, Scott had stolen from the family, manipulated them and failed them. It had been a relief for his parents not to hear from him for two years. This time Scott told his father he’d been through another rehab program a year and a half ago that provided something no other had offered. He said, “Dad, I met Jesus Christ. I’ve been forgiven for my past. I want to ask you and Mom to forgive me, too.” He said he was now helping other addicts get straightened out. His father was torn between hope and cynicism. The well-groomed, bright-eyed young man who arrived at the airport looked like a stranger. In the days that followed, Scott told how, in the midst of drug withdrawal, he’d seen a vision of Jesus Christ on the cross and cried out to Him for help. That experience had led him to a church. “I asked Jesus to be my Lord,” he explained. “And my life hasn’t been the same since.”

For the believer, Christ’s resurrection comforts us, challenges us and empowers us. And that is the heart of the gospel message. Jesus died and rose again so we no longer have to cringe in fear in the face of death. Death is a homecoming, even though it is a painful one. Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory over death, even through our own death.

Can you confidently express that? If not, seek Jesus! If you can confidently express that hope, then express your love in daily obedience and service to God.

Maundy Thursday Service: Thursday, April 9, 7:00 p.m.
Please plan on joining us for this special way to remember Jesus’ dying for
us and to prepare for the celebration of His resurrection the following
Sunday.  We will remember the suffering and death of Jesus through Scripture
reading and song.  Please join us!

Easter Breakfast: Sunday, April 12, 9:15 a.m. – Fellowship Hall
Everyone is invited to our Easter Breakfast  at 9:15 as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord.

Easter Service: Sunday, April 12: 10:30 a.m.
This Sunday we will be celebrating the fact that Jesus not
only died for us but is risen as well!  Jesus takes us out of our sin and
confusion and brings us to new life both now and in eternity.  Join us as we
celebrate the fullness of new life this Sunday.

Matthew 27:57- 61

A Funeral That Won’t Be Needed

Rev. Jerry Hoek

 

 

Introduction:

45 years ago, President John Kennedy was assassinated.  I remember watching the funeral on T.V. as a boy and being impressed with all the elaborate ritual.  One can only imagine what kind of planning and preparation that had to done in order to have such a fitting farewell to a leader.  It was a funeral and burial fit for an important head of state as throngs of people lined the streets to pay their respects to their president.

This morning, we read of the funeral preparations of a king, King Jesus. The Son of God has now died and it is time for a funeral and burial. This, however, is no funeral and burial fit for a king.  There are no throngs of people, but only a handful of people there. Jesus’ body is quietly, quickly buried without any of the honor that should be due a king. However, as it turns out, this is a funeral that won’t be needed.  Even though Jesus is dead, something very great is about to happen and Matthew is carefully setting the stage for the great event of Jesus’ resurrection. Let’s read Matthew 27:57_66.

 

I. Jesus’ Burial

II. The Jewish Leader’s Fear

III. Futile Security          

IV. Awaiting the Resurrection

 

I. Jesus’ Burial itself is described in verses 57_61.

Jewish law required that the body of a person who had died on a cross couldn’t remain on the cross overnight.  Jesus had died at 3 o’clock Friday afternoon, the day before the Sabbath.  The Sabbath started at 6 o’clock Friday evening and no work could be done on the Sabbath, especially not moving a dead body.  There is little time if Jesus is going to receive a proper burial.  However, notice that Jesus’ friends and family are not the ones to step forward.

Matthew writes that now a man, Joseph from Arimathea, takes charge.  We know very little about Joseph for he is not mentioned elsewhere outside of Scripture.  Luke reports that he was a member of the Jewish ruling Council who didn’t go along with the decision to kill Jesus.  Matthew notes that Joseph was rich and also a disciple of Jesus.

He may have noted that he was rich because it brings to mind the passage in Isaiah 53:9 _“He was assigned a grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death.”  Once again, Matthew is pointing out that Jesus is indeed the God sent promised  Messiah.  John’s gospel notes that he was a secret disciple of Jesus.

At this point, this secret disciple does something very public and bold.  He asks Pilate for permission to have Jesus’ body.  It must have taken a great deal of courage to come forward like this and reveal his love and devotion to Jesus.

Indeed, Joseph stands in stark contrast to other disciples at this point.  The eleven public disciples were too afraid to come out of hiding.  This secret disciple now comes forward to show his love for Jesus.

After Pilate grants permission to Joseph, he takes the body down from the cross.  He wrapped Jesus’ body in clean linen, a cloth that had not been used before which shows his deep respect and love for Jesus.  Joseph then places Jesus’ body in his own new tomb which some scholars believe is in this photo.  This would be a very expensive gift to Jesus for tombs carved out of rocks were very expensive.  Moreover, once a condemned person was buried there, the tomb couldn’t be used for anyone else.  This is an act of great sacrifice on the part of Joseph.

Finally, Matthew notes that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there.   They were watching to see what had been done so that they could finish the job after the Sabbath.

Matthew here again is emphasizing what it means to be a follower of Christ.  Joseph took the risks that are often associated with being a disciple.  Joseph risked his social standing.  He would likely be booted off from the Council because of this.  The other leaders would not want to associate with this “Jesus lover.”

Joseph also took material risks to be a disciple.  He sacrificed financially by giving up his tomb.  He may have also have risked economic hardship if he were ostracized from the community, but he gave financially because he loved.  And so Joseph did what he felt was the right thing to do for Jesus and took the risks.

And again, Matthew points to the women as models of discipleship.  Matthew noted at the end of Jesus’ life, the women were there.  And again, he notes that the women were also there at his burial.  To be a follower of Jesus is to be there with Jesus no matter what.

To be a follower today isn’t just following guidelines issued in a manual.  To be there as a follower means that we are always there serving our Lord and ready to take a stand for Him regardless of who you are or where you are or what you do.

Many years ago, A.K. Chalmers told of two Christian men in China. One was a writer of great ability; the other was a working man whose devotion to the faith made him a trusted leader.  These two men were arrested by the government, tortured to make them tell their secrets.  Released, they were soon again under suspicion and were sought by the authorities.  They escaped and eventually reached the coast where a boat was waiting to carry them to safety.

There, the worker stopped, held out his hand to the writer and said, “Goodbye.” “Why goodbye?” asked the writer.  “Because,” said the other, “I’ve decided not to go with you. You must go to America and Europe to interpret to the world by your understanding mind and brilliant pen the meaning of our struggle.  But  I must go back to face whatever I must with the rest, so that you, dipping your pen into my blood, can make the world understand that we mean what we say^”

Following Jesus means that regardless of what you do or where you are, you stand with Jesus and you promote His cause and Kingdom completely in your work, your family and in every part of your life.

 

II. The preparation for the resurrection is further seen in Jewish Leader’s Fear.

Now Matthew moves from the actions of Jesus’ friends to those of His enemies.  He notes that this occurred on the day after Preparation Day which would be Saturday, the Sabbath day.  It is not clear why Matthew describes the Sabbath day in this rather obscure phrase.  He may have been trying to not taint the true Sabbath by describing what these leaders are doing.  The Pharisees, who were always so strict about Sabbath observance, now break the Sabbath to further their cause.

Instead of being described as meeting with God and his people on the Sabbath, they are described as meeting with Pilate, the pagan ruler.  They even address him as sir or more literally, “lord.”  They are willing to compromise their stands if it will further their own cause and completely finalize the defeat of Jesus.  The rejection of Jesus, the Messiah and Son of God is now complete.  They call Jesus a deceiver, an evil person, and call the Roman authority “lord.”  It is as if Matthew is saying, those who refuse Jesus to be Lord will find other secular lords.

They bring to Pilate a concern about Jesus that has come up.  On several occasions, Jesus had said that He would rise from the dead.  His disciples never seemed to have grasped what Jesus was saying in these prophecies nor had they remembered them at this time.  But Jesus’ enemies did remember them and they thought that the followers would remember them as well.  They were afraid that the disciples would steal Jesus’ body and stage a resurrection of Jesus by hiding the body.  They certainly didn’t expect a resurrection at all, but they wanted to prevent any possibility of even the appearance of a resurrection.

They are very complimentary to the disciples thinking that they may be plotting this elaborate scheme.  The disciples were too terrified to even think about this, much less carry it out.  They really didn’t need to worry about a staged resurrection.

But if that occurred, “the second deception would be worse than the first.”  The first deception was Jesus’ claim to be the Messiah.  What would be even worse than that would be if Jesus could be promoted as a risen Messiah.  If Jesus stays in the grave, Jesus will fade from memory.

And so they ask Pilate for some Roman soldiers to guard the tomb.  They had their own temple police, but they would not have any authority since Jesus had been given over to the Roman authority.  They felt confident that the disciples certainly would not dare challenge the Roman authority.

These leaders are confident by their actions that they will secure Jesus.  The word “secure” is used several times in these verses because they wanted to keep Jesus down!  The words of Psalm 2 come to mind,  “The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.”

A four-year-old son of an undertaker was puzzled one Easter morning when he heard about the Resurrection.  “Do you mean,” he asked, “that Jesus really rose up from the dead?”  “Oh, yes,” the teacher said.  The boy shook his head. “I know my daddy didn’t take care of Him after He died,” the boy said. He’d never get up again!” Such is the mindset of these rulers as they try to keep the Son of God down in the grave.  However, nothing can hold back the power of God and the will of God.

And that is a good reminder as well for us today.  We pray for things to happen but we tend to  limit what God can or should do.  We think certain things are simply impossible, out of the question.  That is what the leaders thought, but they would receive a very rude awakening the next morning.  Let’s remember that ALL things, financial, in our relationships and in our work, all things are possible with God.

 

III. Matthew begins to poke fun at their Futile Security in verses 65_66.

Pilate says, “Take a guard.  Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.”  You can about imagine that Pilate has about had his fill with this whole Jesus business.  His answer barely hides his disdain for these Jewish leaders and their silly obsession with Jesus.  If giving them a few soldiers for a couple of days will make them happy, go ahead and then he will be rid of the whole business.

And so the leaders leave very pleased and contented thinking they have Jesus’ death secured, but the biting irony in Pilate’s words helps us anticipate the futility of their efforts: “As secure as you know how.”   It’s as if Matthew is saying, “We’ll see how that works out for them in a bit.”

But now they think they have done it!  They have sealed in the Son of God.  Matthew takes note of all the efforts to highlight the futility.  There is a heavy stone placed in front of the tomb.  The elite Roman guards are watching to make sure nothing happens.  They have proof that the tomb was even sealed shut.  The problem for the Jewish leaders is that none of it worked!

Even better, the Jewish leaders contribute to the validity of the resurrection.  They arranged to have unbiased witnesses present in the soldiers.  The soldiers could verify that no one stole the body.  The soldiers could verify that the seal was not broken.

What is even better for Matthew is that the leaders will have to come up with some unbelievable story about Jesus’ body being stolen.  They will have to try to convince people to believe a story that they went to great lengths to make sure would not happen.  Instead of Jesus being the “deceiver,” they will be the deceivers by trying to convince others that Jesus’ body was actually stolen.  Jesus is dead and buried, but at this point, there is a joyful anticipation for Matthew because he knows that death will not hold Jesus down but He will rise again just as he said he would.

 

IV. How are we to be awaiting the resurrection today?

Today we celebrate Palm Sunday, when Jesus rode into Jerusalem and was hailed as king and Savior.  The people didn’t really understand Jesus’ Kingship on the first Palm Sunday, yet Jesus encouraged it because He is the victorious Savior and King.

So today we can celebrate the fact that Jesus did come as king and Savior.  We understand who Jesus really is and what he accomplished.  Let’s praise our Lord because he is King and as King he has saved us.  Jesus is our Lord and our King!

Let’s also prepare to celebrate the resurrection next Sunday.  We will remember Jesus’ suffering and death this Thursday at our Maundy Thursday service.  But as we remember Jesus’ death, let’s do so as Matthew did, with an eye to His resurrection.  Jesus died for us; no doubt about it, but Jesus rose again winning the victory over sin and death.

And then finally, let’s look again at how we respond as followers of Jesus.  The question again is, are we disciples there with Jesus?  It’s easy to be there with Jesus in the victory and the good times.  Are we willing to stand with Jesus, to endure ridicule, make sacrifices for His sake?

The great cost of discipleship is illustrated by Juan Carlos Ortiz, a pastor in Southern California.  He writes: “When man finds Jesus, it costs him everything. Jesus has happiness, joy, peace, healing, security, eternity. Man marvels at such a pearl and says, “I want this pearl. How much does it cost?”

The seller says, “It’s too dear, too costly.”

“But how much?”

“Well, it’s very expensive.”

“Do you think I could buy it?”

“Oh, of course. Anybody can.”

“But you say it’s too expensive. How much is it?” “It costs everything you have __ no more, no less.”

“I’ll buy it”

“What do you have? Let’s write ‘ it down.”

“I have $10,000 in the bank.”

“Good, $10,000. What else?”

“I have nothing more. That’s all I have.”

“Have you nothing more?”

“Well, I have some dollars here in my pocket.”

“How many?”

“I’ll see: 30, 50, 100, 120 dollars.”

“That’s fine. What else do you have?”

“I have nothing else. That’s all.”

“Where do you live?”

“I live in my house.”

“The house too.”

“Then you mean I must live in the garage?”

“Have you a garage, too? That too.  What else?”

“Do you mean that I must live in my car, then?”

“Have you a car?”

“I have two.”

“Both become mine. Both cars. What else?”

“I have nothing else.”

“Are you alone in the world?”

“No, I have a wife, two children….”

“Your wife and your children too. What else?”

“I have nothing else, I am left alone now.”

“Oh, you too.  Everything.  Everything becomes mine: wife, children, house, garage, cars, money, clothing, everything.  And you too.  Now you can use all those things here but don’t forget they are mine, as you are.  When I need any of the things you are using you must give them to me because now I am the owner.”

Will we show our Lord that we are there with Him as we follow him with everything we have and are?

 

###

Building Community

 

On a recent December afternoon, hundreds of people were gathered at one particular location.  They were unified to some extent in that everyone there had one purpose in mind.  Some were very happy to be there, others viewed it as a chore or an obligation that must be fulfilled and still others were downright grouchy at the thought of having to be in such a place. Some were providing services to others and others were the beneficiaries of such services.

 

Yet in spite of all these people being together and in spite of their common purpose, there was no community for this was a shopping mall.  The common purpose was that everyone was there looking for Christmas gifts to give others.  There was a wide variety of people, some happy, some grumpy but all were there because of the event of shopping.  However, there was no community at all. There may have been a general care for the well-being of others but it was rarely expressed and most entered and left the mall without being cared for other than being served by those who worked there.

 

A few days later there was another gathering of people.  They too were unified in that everyone there was unified by one common purpose.  In this location as well, some were happy to be there, some viewed their being there as a duty to be fulfilled and still others were not at all happy to be there.  In this location as well, some were serving and others were being served.   However, at this second place, there was clear evidence of community.

 

This second location was a local church.  There too, there was a wide variety of people, happy, some attending from a sense of duty and others rather grumpy.  The unified purpose was to praise God and to learn more from God’s Word and how to walk as followers of Jesus Christ.  However, here there was community.  People were not just served by those who worked there but served by each other.  People cared for each other and were involved in each other’s lives more than just on that one day of the week.  If someone in this community were to not be there, he or she would be missed and there would be concern.

 

Last month we saw that the first objective of the ministry of Faith Church is to grow followers of Jesus Christ.  We want those who are members and regular attenders to be growing in their walk with their Lord and in their lives as Christians.  However, it doesn’t stop there.

In the church, individual growth should bring about growth into the community of the church.  We are not just individuals who learn and absorb God’s Word and then each go our own way.  We learn and grow so that we can help each other learn and grow.  We grow so that together we can help each other go through life together.  We grow so that we can help each other and challenge each other to grow as a body of Jesus Christ.

 

The problem is that today too many Christians view going to church as they view going to a shopping mall.  They go to see what they can get for themselves or for their families and that is their sole purpose in going.  There is little sense of belonging because they don’t really want to belong.  There are a lot of people, who when looking for a church “home,” are really looking for a church show or even a church mall.   They want to be able to slip in and out without anyone knowing that they were there.  They want to worship God and hear a sermon but without really knowing anyone else around them.  As one of Claire’s acquaintances said, “I just want to go someplace and sit in the back.  I don’t want anyone to know my business.”   And so they go to a church that won’t notice if they are there or not.

 

When I read about the growth and development of the church in the New Testament, that is not the kind of church I see.  I don’t hear Luke, Paul, Peter and John talking about how to build big programs and elaborate worship services.  I read of individual believers joining together with other believers in order to form a body, THE body of Christ.  And it is this body that should be working together and growing together to be used by Christ in this world.

 

 

Pastor Jerry

April 2009