Celebrate the Church

June 14, 1998

Ephesians 4

Just about 70 years ago a young Lutheran evangelical pastor began a sermon with words something like this (translated, of course:)

"There is a word that, when a Catholic hears it, kindles all his feelings of love and bliss; that stirs all the depths of his religious sensibility, from dread and awe of the Last Judgment to the sweetness of God's presence; and that certainly awakens in him the feeling of home; the feeling that only a child has in relation to its mother, made up of gratitude, reverence, and devoted love . . .

"And there is a word that to Protestants has the sound of something infinitely commonplace, more or less indifferent and superfluous, that does not make their heart beat faster; something with which a sense of boredom is so often associated. . . .

"And yet our fate is sealed, if we are unable again to attach a new, or perhaps a very old meaning to it. Woe to us if that word does not become important to us soon again. . . . Yes, the word to which I am referring is church."[1]

What comes to your mind first of all when you hear that "c" word? Is it a warm fuzzy? Or is it boredom or something completely different? An honest answer here might give more insight into yourself than into your definition of "church"! The word "church" means different things, perhaps, to different people at different times. Often people come into this sanctuary and say, "What a beautiful church you have!" I always smile and say, "Yes. This building is beautiful, too." We all know that first of all somehow the church is people. The Bible tells us the church is composed of people to whom God has given eternal life and called his own.

This chapter (Ephesians 4) is a Golden Chapter of the Bible. It is a rich description of the church as the body of Christ on earth. It is also a practical prescription for being and becoming an integral part of that body. I commend it to your study and meditation at least for some portion of this summer's reading.

From this chapter are derived the basic doctrines of the church. Although there is great diversity in expression and interpretation, all orthodox Christendom, from Roman Catholic to Anabaptist, from Eastern Rite to Pentecostal, from Calvinist to Wesleyan-Arminian— all of Christendom agree that the marks of the church are four. (Learn them well!) The church is one, holy, catholic, apostolic.

Other working definitions help give insight. Luther said the church is 'where the gospel is preached and the sacraments duly administered.' Wesley would agree. My own humble thought is that the church is wherever God meets his assembled people who have come to worship Him. (Store fronts, cathedrals, house churches, underground meetings . . .) But at the risk of making the pulpit sound like a lecture podium, it might be profitable to think briefly on the four marks of the church.

• The church is ONE.

  There are many manifestations, many denominations. Many of them claim to be the one true church. But the scripture makes it clear that there is only one God, one Lord, and all who call Jesus Lord are members of the one church. No true reformer ever started a new church, nor intended to start a new church. No denomination is the true church. No human institution can make that holy claim. Timothy George speaks well when he says that all too often we evangelicals "have sinned against the body of Christ by confusing loyalty to the truth with party spirit, and kingdom advancement with self-promotion."

• The church is HOLY.

  Of course only God Himself is holy in an underived and absolute sense. And of course the church is made up of imperfect and even sinful human beings like you and me. But we are called to live holy lives, that is— lives dedicated to obedience of God's will. And one powerful definition of holy is "that which belongs to a holy God." The true church belongs to God, and it is HIS!

• The church is CATHOLIC.

  Many contemporary evangelical fellowships have abandoned the word "catholic" and have even altered the traditional wording of the creeds so they don't have to say the word. But that does not change the fact: if we belong to Christ's church we are catholic. The church is world-wide. It fits the cultures, it reaches humanity wherever it goes. We worry about being confused with Roman Catholics. But in a sense Roman modifies Catholic and is to that extent less than truly universal. Don't be afraid of the word. Christ's church is world-wide. It is catholic.

• The church is APOSTOLIC.

  "Built on the foundation of the apostles" (Eph 2:20) Some branches of denominations take this to mean an unbroken line of authority handed down from the apostles, particularly Peter, the first church leader. But there are serious problems with this definition. No one could be absolutely sure the line is pure and unbroken. And it is NOT this succession that gives the church its vitality. For apostolic refers to the same pure foundation of a gospel which was delivered by the Risen Lord to his disciples. By the power of the living Spirit we have the assurance that that same message is alive and well in the church today!

These marks of the church lift our perspective of what the church really IS from the partial and often imperfect impressions we may receive in our own spiritual journey. Wherever we begin our walk with God we have come by way of some expression of the church. We think "THIS is the church!" And it IS! But that expression may well be incomplete and even inconsistent. But it is the Spirit— Christ's Spirit— that validates our experience, and helps us build our understanding of how rich the church really is.

What was your experience of the church when you found Christ? Where did you begin? As a boy of six or seven, my parents landed in a city church not far from the factories of north Lansing, Michigan. It was a plain tabernacle of a building. The aisles had hard rubber runners instead of carpets. Most of the members were "blue collar", although there was a sprinkling of all kinds of people. But they were all fiercely serious about their faith. It had old theatre seats with arms that sometimes came off and when you turned them over they looked sort of like a boat and you could play with them while service was going on and on and on.

I know that often the sermons were extreme, and I often went home frightened that something terrible might happen, I wasn't sure just what. But I also know that the gospel was proclaimed, and I know that there were people in that fellowship that absolutely knew Jesus! They had His love radiating in their lives. They were the ones that helped reach me, not the fear, nor even the facts— but the love. Not the distinctive doctrines, now, either— but the Person of the Risen Lord.

I was eight years old when I joined that tabernacle church. I knew what I was doing— and yet I couldn't know ALL that it meant that day. I do recall many times thinking as a boy of ten or twelve when I would hear what had to be the finger of suspicion pointed at other Christian churches— how could it be that out of all this big world we Nazarenes have the very corner on truth! I knew my aunts and uncles knew Jesus, too. And some of them were Methodists and some were Baptists. I don't think I knew any Catholics. But the seeds were already there to believe that Christ's church is not some little sectarian group somewhere.

Our salvation is not based first of all on what we know, or even the purity of our understanding, but rather on Who we trust Before the doctrine comes the convicting, converting Spirit. After the doctrine, again, the Spirit! Keen observation by Rob Staples in latest Herald of Holiness.

"In Fundamentalism knowledge is the foundation, and salvation is the superstructure. In Wesleyanism, the opposite is the case- salvation is the foundation and knowledge is the superstructure." Once our hearts have been warmed by his assurance, then we can, as Peter says,

"Add to your faith— virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, and agape love or charity!"(2 Peter 1:5-8) This Golden Chapter closes, not with a doctrinal lesson of profound truth about the church, but with some absolutely essential steps to making our local fellowship a living, vital part of the one, holy, catholic apostolic church to which we already belong. You might say that Paul could paraphrase President Kennedy's famous Inaugural challenge by saying:

"Ask NOT what your church can be doing for you! Ask what YOU can be doing for Christ's church!"

NO UNWHOLESOME WORDS BE SENSITIVE TO THE HOLY SPIRIT (Don't grieve Him! By dividing the church!) KINDNESS! Ephesians 4:32 TRY TO BE LIKE FATHER GOD! We're his dear children! PUT ON CHARITY! Place the center outside yourself!

Conclusion

What comes to your mind first of all when you hear that "c" word? Is it a warm fuzzy? Or is it boredom or something completely different?

[Bishop Michael Baughan spoke here several years ago. He told of 300 churches in the See of Chester, England, which are under his care, that use the same form or liturgy. But Bishop Baughan said that as he went from one church to the next, on church would "worship" and another would simply go through a form. The difference was the evident Presence of the Living Word among those worshiping.]

Prayer - Lord Jesus Christ, whose very name has been given to us to make us your church, open our eyes and help us to see You, and help us to love You better, to the glory of God the Father, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God high and holy, world without end. Amen.

Hymn