Introduction
Today, we are starting a series of talks on
the church. I hope that excites you. If you’re thinking, “Mmm, the church; that’s
a bit of a letdown” then consider this:
Ephesians 5.26; “Christ loved the
church and gave himself up for her to make her holy… to present her to
himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but
holy and blameless.”
Jesus passionately and zealously loves his church
which isn’t them, it’s us. He laid down his beautiful, sinless
life for us. He suffered rejection and affliction for us. He was crushed for us.
He went through hell for us; that is the measure of his love for the church.
How can we be underwhelmed or indifferent by
what stirs and awakens the strong, intense affections of our Lord Jesus?
During June and July, we’ll look at Bible metaphors
for the church; the body of Christ, a house of prayer for all nations, a holy temple
of living stones, the bride of Christ and so on.
Almost everything we know from the Bible about
the church we know from the Acts of the Apostles (how it got started) and the
New Testament letters (how it took shape). But we’re starting today with the
only two occasions in the Gospels where Jesus himself mentions the church.
If we only had the Gospels, we would know from
these two passages that the church is both local and global. That is what I
want to speak about this morning.
Global
Firstly, Matthew 16.13-19. Which says this:
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea
Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist;
others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you
say I am?”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah,
the Son of the living God.”
Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of
Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in
heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church,
and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”
That is the first time
Jesus ever uttered the word “church.” He waited, and waited until the day when someone
said to him, “Ah, I know who you are, you’re the Messiah - the anointed one, the
chosen one!”
Now, at last, Jesus can go public. “That’s right
Peter! And now I can build my church.” Because Jesus only builds church with
people who truly understand who he is and have the courage to say it. Since
that day, Jesus has been busy working away on building a church that rises from
the foundations of public confession that he is the one, God’s Son.
The word for ‘church’
in Greek is ekklesia, which literally means “a gathering of people summoned
from their homes into some public place.” It never meant a physical building
for worship.
But Jesus cannot mean
here a local congregation like All Saints’ or TVCC or Trinity Methodist,
because that would exclude all the others. Could he mean a denomination like
the Church of England or the Pentecostal Church? No; he says, “I will build my
church”, not “I will build your churches.”
No, Jesus is talking
about the world-wide, all-encompassing community of all believers in all places
over all time. How many individual churches are there in the world? Millions?
Probably. But in this sense, there is only one church – and it’s the one Jesus
is building.
You can go to any
community of true believers anywhere on earth. They might speak another language,
they’ll worship differently, it might be a handful of outlaws in a basement, or
a packed auditorium livestreaming to satellite campuses. But those two
communities, and everything in between, is one church, and Jesus is head
over it.
Jesus has ambitious
plans for his church. Ephesians 3 says, His intent is that “through the church,
the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities
in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose.”
What a vision! What a
project! And Jesus will achieve his objective. The church, though ignored, embattled,
corrupted, outlawed, poisoned by false teaching, harassed, ridiculed and persecuted
will prevail. Because Jesus says the gates of Hades will not ultimately withstand
the relentless advance of this great movement he leads.
Jesus says, “I… will… build it.” It’s not finished yet - to
be honest, it’s a bit of a building site.
You know what it’s like with builders. It
takes longer than you thought. Things go wrong. Complications arise. It takes patience.
First the drawings, then the planning
application, then the NIMBY neighbours kicking off, then the appeal, then the
foundations, then the bricklayers, then the plumbers, then the electricians, then
the carpenters and joiners, then the roofers, then the decorators... and then
the bill. Which is higher that you budgeted for. The church Jesus is building
is a bit like that.
But I’ll tell you what; it’s going to get
built! Because, like in Mastermind, Jesus says, “I’ve started, so I’ll finish!”
And all the forces of evil and destruction will not succeed against what he… is…
building.”
1 Corinthians 3 says that we are God’s fellow
workers, so Jesus is hiring. He is looking for available, single-minded, men
and women, committed to delivering his objectives.
Can you hear God calling you into this vision
today? Are you passionate about pursuing it? Do you want to devote your life, invest
your time and plough your gifts into accomplishing it for God and for his
glory? I hope you do.
Local
So that’s the
universal church. But two chapters later, Jesus uses that same word, ekklesia,
again. Only this time he cannot mean what he meant in chapter 16. Here’s what Matthew
18.15-20 says:
If your brother or
sister sins against you, go and point out their fault, just between the two of
you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not
listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established
by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen,
tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church,
treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
This is about how to
settle disagreements among Christians. Did you know that Christians sometimes
disagree with each other? Well, it turns out that they can. Jesus gives some
guidelines for Christians in conflict so that we can live harmoniously.
Jesus says, if someone
sins against you, (so this is not about meddling in someone else’s business,
just you) first of all, go and see them, individually and personally. It’s
always better to talk eye to eye over a coffee than send emails or texts.
No one finds confrontation
easy, but 2 Timothy 2 helps us to pitch it right; it says to not “be
quarrelsome but kind to everyone… patiently enduring… correcting… with
gentleness.” Conflict always escalates when the tone is hostile or abrasive.
But it may be that,
even after a mature approach, the problem persists. Then Jesus says, (after
praying about it, if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for,
it will be done for them by my Father in heaven –v19) take one or two
others with you and try again.
But what if even that
fails? Then Jesus says, “tell the church.” This is painful, but in extreme
circumstances the church has to be informed.
I have seen this when
a church member was constantly borrowing from vulnerable members and not paying
them back. I have seen it when a vicar’s son ran off with a churchwarden’s wife.
I have seen it when a member kept being verbally aggressive to newcomers, to an
extent that they didn’t return. In each case, the earlier steps were taken but
were unsuccessful.
The point is, Jesus
is talking about a local congregation of believers here and he assumes
that his followers will belong to one. He tells us how, in a local church, rights
should be wronged lovingly and privately, but if necessary, solemnly and
publicly.
There are two
extremes when things go wrong in a local church; the first is to fail to take
action, letting toxic attitudes poison everything. The second is to go in heavily,
and cause hurt. Jesus’ says to deal with things in a way that is full of grace
and truth.
So, the church is
global; every Christian is part of what Jesus is building and building alongside
him. And the church is local; every Christian should be a member of a local congregation
- however imperfect it is. Jesus loves his church worldwide. And he loves this
local expression of it; All Saints’.
Ending
I need to finish. But
I want to end this, my final sermon here on my last day as vicar, sharing my
heart with you. I want to land on Matthew 18.20 where Jesus says this: “Where
two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
It’s a verse we
usually hear quoted at poorly attended prayer meetings to lift the gloom. And I
don’t doubt that the Lord is present every time a handful of souls meet
to pray, even though the context is getting together to resolve a conflict.
But my passion, my
longing, my life-long prayer for the church is that the presence and glory of
God in Christ are truly manifest there.
We
often sing about this; “Be still, for the presence of the Lord, the holy one is
here.” “Now Your presence fills this place. Be exalted in our praise.” “Your
presence like a cloud upon that ancient day; the priests were overwhelmed because
Your glory came.” “Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide.” “Holy Spirit, you
are welcome here, come flood this place and fill the atmosphere; Your glory, God,
is what our hearts long for, to be overcome by your presence, Lord.”
The presence and
glory of the Lord are often, in my experience, most vivid when a crescendo of
worship peaks at the Lord’s Table. It’s the river that makes glad the city of
God. I have often marvelled at the sense of God’s presence in our midst at All
Saints’. It’s so special.
Moses once said, “Lord,
if your presence does not go with us, don’t send us from here.” It was
inconceivable for him to go on any further unless God’s presence was with them.
Years later, King David brought the Ark of
the Covenant, a kind of emblem of God’s presence and power, back to Jerusalem
after it had been lost. He danced with all his strength in celebration that day.
David, like Moses, had an all-or-nothing
burning desire to see God’s glory among his people. It was unacceptable, intolerable
for him to just muddle on without God’s manifest presence with his people.
King Saul, David’s predecessor, never even
thought about the Ark. He didn’t worry about all that. He was just fine in his
royal palace without it. He didn’t mind that God’s presence was somewhere else.
He didn’t care. He made do.
But
David had to have God’s holy
presence and glory and power in the midst of his people. Is your ambition like
David’s, to see the church filled with God’s power and love, where people sense
heaven as soon as they come near, or is Saul’s worldly self-reliance good
enough?
This
is what distinguishes the local church from the local gym, and the knitting
circle, and the Rotary Club, and
the scouts, and the vintage car enthusiast’s society, and the Justin Bieber fan
club. They’re good – but they don’t carry the presence of God.
There is a river
whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place
where the Most High dwells.
God is within her,
she will not fall (Psalm 46.4).
We will miss you very much. We will never
forget you. We must go our separate ways now, but we will return to say goodbye
properly when it is safe to do so, possibly the first weekend of September.
As you look to discern who the next leader of
this wonderful church will be, may your love for what Jesus loves – and gave
himself for – grow and grow.
The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you and be
gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you and give
you his shalom.
Sermon preached by video link at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 7 June 2020
