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There is so much that can be said about the church! In our creedal statements we speak of one holy catholic and apostolic church. We can speak of the church militant, the church triumphant, the suffering church, the visible church, and the invisible church. Much has been said about the marks of the church and church governance. Integral to ninth tenet are three observations about the church that are essential to our understanding of it: the church is chosen, the church is distinctive and the church has a mission.
The church’s nature as a covenant community indicates that God has chosen it for a purpose. In his blog last week, James reminded us that we have been chosen, “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ … (1 Peter 1:2 ESV)” and further, “that we were predestined for “adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.” (Ephesians 1:5 ESV)” Since the beginning, when Adam and Eve rebelled against God, and so experienced separation from God, God has been seeking to be reconciled with his creation. God chose to do this not because we were inherently good or had done anything to deserve his gift of grace, but because God is by nature loving and gracious. God made a covenant with Abraham (Gen 12:1-3) where he promised that he would make him (Abraham) into a great nation and that through him, all the nations of the earth would be blessed. God kept his promise, and the nation of Israel came into being. Through Moses, as we read in the law codes of the Pentateuch, God affirms his covenant with Israel. In Deuteronomy 7 - 9 he reminds them that it is not on account of their goodness that they have been chosen, for they are a “stiff-necked people” (Deut 9:6), but because he is a faithful God. God goes on to tell them that they will be blessed if they keep the stipulations of the covenant, but if they reject them and follow foreign Gods, they will be driven from the land (Deut 28).
The people are unfaithful and God is true to his word and they are driven from the land. They are conquered by the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Greeks and finally the Romans. Throughout their long history of disobedience to God, God raises up judges and then prophets to call them to repentance. God is faithful to his people, even when they are not faithful to him. One of the prophets, Jeremiah speaks of a new covenant that God will make with his people (Jeremiah 31:30-33). Christians understand this to be the new covenant instituted in and through Jesus. Jesus, the one slain before the foundation of the earth (Rev 13:8) is the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham. Through him all peoples of the earth are blessed, because forgiveness and grace have been made available to us in the atoning work of Christ Jesus (Rom 3:23-25). The church refers to that covenant community of faith, built upon the foundation of the prophets and apostles; with Jesus Christ himself as the chief cornerstone, “…in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.” (Eph 2:21, ESV)
This covenant community is distinctive. Scripture tells us about some of the distinguishing characteristics of the church, “…they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. (Acts 2:42, ESV) One of the problems the broader church is wrestling with today is its identity. Even to the casual observer there are some very real tensions evident in the church. How are we going to respond to our cultures call to endorse gay marriage? Is Jesus Lord of just Christians or Lord of All? With all the discoveries of science, shouldn’t we let go of metaphysical / supernatural claims made in Scripture in favor of more reasonable claims? Opinion on issues like these is divided, which, in many ways is having the effect of dividing the church. The church in Acts 2, whilst not uniform was none the less united. One of the reasons that this was the case was because they united around the apostles teaching. The apostles’ teaching was understood to be authoritative for the faith and practice of the church. This is because they were the ones who had lived with Jesus every day for years, they had been immersed in his teaching, had witnessed his ministry, life, death and resurrection. There is a humanizing ideology which is colonizing the church today. It stands in the enlightenment tradition, which is not all bad – we have learnt a great deal from the scientific method, but its primary posture is one of skepticism rather than faith. It is one which elevates human reason, which is necessarily limited, over and above divine agency, intellect and capability. It is a perspective which, for example, doubts the physical resurrection of Jesus[1], one which I would argue is increasingly prevalent in the church today, although reluctantly admitted (in general) or spiritualized. In reducing what God is able to do to current human conceptions of what God should be able to do, we domesticate God, creating God in our own image. Some would claim we do this anyway; but that is precisely the point. Either God truly is God, able to invade our history and our lives as God did in Jesus the Christ; or he is simply a social construction. The call comes to us again and again, “Choose this day whom you shall serve” (Josh 24:15). The church in Acts served a fully resurrected Lord and Savior, whom the apostles attested to, as does our cannon of Scripture (John 20:27, Luke 24:3-7, Mark 16:6-7, Matt 28:6, 1 Cor 15:14). They were united because of it (Acts 2:44), which is something the church now could learn from.
As well as gaining its distinctiveness from the apostles teaching, the church is also distinguished in its devotion to a life of fellowship together, to prayer and the breaking of bread together. Fellowship was for them a persistent practice, something they were constantly given over to. It had their steadfast attention. It was intimate, it had depth, and it was meaningful. They shared one another’s joys, sorrows, burdens, and rejoicings. They knew each other, and they were known by each other. The challenge for the church today is can we be such a place? The answer to this question is “yes”, but it requires that we be devoted to fellowship. This requires the kind of love Jesus speaks of in John 15. It means a willingness to lay our lives down for each other; by this kind of love, all people truly will know that we are Christ’s disciples. It’s the kind of love that requires risk, the willingness to be vulnerable and to be hurt, which is almost inevitable in a world and in a church affected by sin and brokenness. But, as we increasingly lay our lives down and are devoted to this endeavor, then, in greater measure we will be a people, “built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”
They were also distinguished by their prayerfulness. Prayer is more than getting stuff from God. God is not a spiritual vending machine. He is the creator God, who set the sun and moon in their places, made summer and winter, and separated the oceans and the dry land. In prayer, we draw near to the One who welcomes us into his presence like a much loved child. Devoting ourselves to prayer guarantees that we will grow in love for the One Jesus spoke of as Abba Father. Prayer can be transformative. It is something that the church practiced persistently during its infancy and it is a spiritual discipline which we should be encouraging each other to be devoted to now, personally, but also as families, friends and in small groups.
The final distinguishing feature of the church was that it was devoted to the breaking of bread. The significance of the Lords supper is seen in the gospels and Paul’s description of it in 1st Corinthians 11 indicates that it was a very significant part of the life of the early church, as it is in our worshipping communities today. The words Jesus used “This is my body”, “This is my blood” have been understood in different ways, which sadly has become a point of contention and separation in the visible church.
C.S. Lewis writes this: “... the very last thing I want to do is to unsettle in the mind of any Christian, whatever his denomination, the concepts -- for him traditional -- by which he finds it profitable to represent to himself what is happening when he receives the bread and wine.” In our own tradition we understand that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Christ our Lord is truly present as we share in our Lord’s Supper. Calvin speaks of this a spiritual presence, where his grace is extended to us uniting us with all believers everywhere. The Lord’s Table is a place of humility, a place for acknowledging we cannot fully comprehend all God has done for us and the depth of the working of his grace, but with thanksgiving we come to receive from the abundance of his goodness.
Consequently, the distinctive church has a mission. Our mission is to join with God’s mission to the world. The members of the church, as recipients of God’s grace, are empowered by the Holy Spirit and sent out into the world to bear witness to the One who truly has given us all we need for life and godliness. As we have received God’s grace, we are called to be a people who proclaim the good news that God’s grace is extended to those who have not yet received it. Our proclamation is expressed in word and deed as we live into our identity as ambassadors for Christ, commissioned with the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:11-21). It is for his glory that we exist at all. Praise be to God. Amen.
[1] Spivey, Robert A., Smith D. Moody & Black C. Clifton, Anatomy of the New Testament, 6th Ed. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, (2007), pg 234-5. (New Testament 101 textbook at Princeton Theological Seminary)
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