As I think about a new church for the days ahead of us, I think it needs to be Christian –
that is, adhering to the priorities of God: mercy, forgiveness, hospitality, and compassion.
that is, adhering to the priorities of God: mercy, forgiveness, hospitality, and compassion.
Micah 6:6-8
I Corinthians
Attributes for A New Church: 1. Christ-ian
There is no church other than the people who gather at a specific place and time “to celebrate Emmanuel (God Being With Us).”
All of the organizations and structures and buildings that we call “church”
fade to the background to this fundamental principal.
There is no church other than the people who gather at a specific place and time “to celebrate Emmanuel (God Being With Us).”
Each one of us in this room value our faith –
and it is obvious that this expression of our faith is important to us.
More than likely, each one of us probably arrived at our ideas of how faith is important to us in different ways:
– some folks learn by observation
– some remember lessons being taught (and rewards promised
– some learn by trial and error –
and things seem to be better for us,
we feel better about ourselves and our world
and our life
when we go to church
– some were influenced by mentors –
a person (or persons) who lived their life in a way we want to emulate - as an example of a life well-lived.
Those of us who identify ourselves with the Christian faith, lift us the life, the teaching, the example of the Jesus that we know through the stories gathered in our Bible.
When we reflect on it, we know that Jesus knew himself and the world around him through the eyes of his Jewish faith.
At the risk of stating the obvious, there is no record of Jesus ever starting a church.
Jesus lived as and among the Jewish community.
Jesus was a Jew.
Jesus ministered and taught among Jews as a Jew.
About a year ago, a theologian and teacher,
Philip Gulley, published a book titled,
If The Church Were Christian.
Early on in the book Philip Gulley reminds the reader that Everything [Jesus] said and did grew out of his Jewish faith.
As in all religions, there were those in Judaism who’d forgotten and forsaken principles.
What first-century Judaism needed wasn’t a new revelation, but the reminder of a previous one.
The prophets preceding Jesus had described the priorities of God – mercy, forgiveness, hospitality, and compassion.
Jesus exemplified those virtues,
expanded their meaning for his generation,
and through the power of his good example,
urged others to not only imitate his works,
but to exceed them. (P. 25)
Jesus argued for humility, modesty, and putting others before self.
This was a man committed to faithfully living out the priorities of God’s reign and helping others do the same. (P. 25)
Mercy, forgiveness, hospitality, and compassion – the priorities of God .
This is what Jesus did.
This is what Jesus taught.
This is the way Jesus lived his life.
This is what Jesus proclaimed for folks in his day –
and this is what we hear for us in our day as well.
He was committed to faithfully living out the priorities of God’s reign
and helping others to do the same. [p. 25]
According to Philip Gulley, if the church were Christian, then Jesus would be a model for living rather than an object of worship.
If the church were Christian, then affirming our potential would be more important that condemning our brokenness.
If the church were Christian, then reconciliation would be valued over judgement.
If the church were Christian, then gracious behavior would be more important than right belief.
If the church were Christian, then inviting question would be valued more than supplying answers.
If the church were Christian, then encouraging personal exploration would me more important than communal uniformity.
If the church were Christian, then meeting needs would be more important than maintaining institutions.
If the church were Christian, then peace would be more important than power.
If the church were Christian, then it would care more about live and less about sex.
If the church were Christian, then this life would be more important than the afterlife.
Well, maybe you get the idea.
That’s his list.
But, if you thought about it, each of us could come up with our own list of attributes we might think of if the church were Christian . . .
So often our ideas of Church get hung up on definitions and explanations that were decided by committees –
the first being held over 300 years after Jesus lived and died –
a council of men appointed by the Emperor with the political charge to come up with an orthodoxy –
a system of faith –
that would unite all of the different Christian communities throughout the Empire.
Like today,
like those who gathered during the Constitutional Convention in 1787 in Philadelphia,
compromise was the name of the game.
Creative notions were explored to get most believers on board to support a new church.
Doctrines were developed.
A statement was written that spelled out the commonly accepted beliefs of the new church.
Invariably, there was some collateral damage –
some “Christian” communities could not,
would not, ascribe to the new orthodoxy.
And, they were disallowed to practice their faith with protection from the emperor.
Many of the “elements” of our belief that they came up with still exist today –
and we know them as “bed rocks” of our faith –
and in many ways have become to define what Christianity is today.
The outcomes of the council of Nicea stood unquestioned and defined the faith for over 1000 years.
In the 16th century, several factors came to bear that resulted in what is known today as the Protestant Reformation.
Faithful Christians questioned the old orthodoxy and came up new ways of being church,
new ways of being church,
new definitions of Christian faith.
Presbyterians were a direct outcome of that Reformation –
the motto became “a church that is reformed and always reforming.”
The Reformation, at its essence, was an effort to get the church to be more “Christian” –
more about the priorities of God
than the priorities of the political machinery.
But, alas, for many reasons I suppose, there are many who call themselves Christians today who focus more on defending the orthodoxy of our belief system,
than on striving toward faithful living out the priorities of God’s reign.
Today, it is not hard to find any number of examples of people calling themselves Christian and taking absurd actions that fly in the face of what Jesus understood and did.
Mercy, forgiveness, hospitality, and compassion – the priorities of God.
As I think about a new church for the days ahead of us, I think it needs to be Christian –
that is, adhering to the priorities of God: mercy, forgiveness, hospitality, and compassion.
You and I get something out of the faith that gets fleshed out here Sunday after Sunday after Sunday.
You and I (and people all over the country and all over the world) are part of something much larger than ourselves.
When we acknowledge Jesus as prefector of our faith, we realize that our call is the same as what Jesus thought his was.
It’s what he did:
Our good news is that we can find life in his example – accepting the excluded,
healing the sick,
strengthening the weak,
loving the despised,
and challenging the powerful to use their influence redemptively.
Jesus accomplished what he did because of his steadfast dedication to the priorities of God.
It’s what you and I are to do, isn’t it?
It’s what we do do, isn’t it?
As we live the days of our lives – with all the vicissitudes each day brings.
I am more sure today than ever before, as we dream of a new church for the days ahead,
the first attribute to be considered is that it is to be based on the values of Jesus.
What if a church were purposely organized around the priorities of God: mercy, forgiveness, hospitality, and compassion?
What if our new church reflected the example of the ministry of Jesus:
accepting the excluded
healing the sick,
strengthening the weak,
loving the despised,
and challenging the powerful to use their influence redemptively.
What if a new church for a new day were Christian?
Amen.
I Corinthians
Attributes for A New Church: 1. Christ-ian
There is no church other than the people who gather at a specific place and time “to celebrate Emmanuel (God Being With Us).”
All of the organizations and structures and buildings that we call “church”
fade to the background to this fundamental principal.
There is no church other than the people who gather at a specific place and time “to celebrate Emmanuel (God Being With Us).”
Each one of us in this room value our faith –
and it is obvious that this expression of our faith is important to us.
More than likely, each one of us probably arrived at our ideas of how faith is important to us in different ways:
– some folks learn by observation
– some remember lessons being taught (and rewards promised
– some learn by trial and error –
and things seem to be better for us,
we feel better about ourselves and our world
and our life
when we go to church
– some were influenced by mentors –
a person (or persons) who lived their life in a way we want to emulate - as an example of a life well-lived.
Those of us who identify ourselves with the Christian faith, lift us the life, the teaching, the example of the Jesus that we know through the stories gathered in our Bible.
When we reflect on it, we know that Jesus knew himself and the world around him through the eyes of his Jewish faith.
At the risk of stating the obvious, there is no record of Jesus ever starting a church.
Jesus lived as and among the Jewish community.
Jesus was a Jew.
Jesus ministered and taught among Jews as a Jew.
About a year ago, a theologian and teacher,
Philip Gulley, published a book titled,
If The Church Were Christian.
Early on in the book Philip Gulley reminds the reader that Everything [Jesus] said and did grew out of his Jewish faith.
As in all religions, there were those in Judaism who’d forgotten and forsaken principles.
What first-century Judaism needed wasn’t a new revelation, but the reminder of a previous one.
The prophets preceding Jesus had described the priorities of God – mercy, forgiveness, hospitality, and compassion.
Jesus exemplified those virtues,
expanded their meaning for his generation,
and through the power of his good example,
urged others to not only imitate his works,
but to exceed them. (P. 25)
Jesus argued for humility, modesty, and putting others before self.
This was a man committed to faithfully living out the priorities of God’s reign and helping others do the same. (P. 25)
Mercy, forgiveness, hospitality, and compassion – the priorities of God .
This is what Jesus did.
This is what Jesus taught.
This is the way Jesus lived his life.
This is what Jesus proclaimed for folks in his day –
and this is what we hear for us in our day as well.
He was committed to faithfully living out the priorities of God’s reign
and helping others to do the same. [p. 25]
According to Philip Gulley, if the church were Christian, then Jesus would be a model for living rather than an object of worship.
If the church were Christian, then affirming our potential would be more important that condemning our brokenness.
If the church were Christian, then reconciliation would be valued over judgement.
If the church were Christian, then gracious behavior would be more important than right belief.
If the church were Christian, then inviting question would be valued more than supplying answers.
If the church were Christian, then encouraging personal exploration would me more important than communal uniformity.
If the church were Christian, then meeting needs would be more important than maintaining institutions.
If the church were Christian, then peace would be more important than power.
If the church were Christian, then it would care more about live and less about sex.
If the church were Christian, then this life would be more important than the afterlife.
Well, maybe you get the idea.
That’s his list.
But, if you thought about it, each of us could come up with our own list of attributes we might think of if the church were Christian . . .
So often our ideas of Church get hung up on definitions and explanations that were decided by committees –
the first being held over 300 years after Jesus lived and died –
a council of men appointed by the Emperor with the political charge to come up with an orthodoxy –
a system of faith –
that would unite all of the different Christian communities throughout the Empire.
Like today,
like those who gathered during the Constitutional Convention in 1787 in Philadelphia,
compromise was the name of the game.
Creative notions were explored to get most believers on board to support a new church.
Doctrines were developed.
A statement was written that spelled out the commonly accepted beliefs of the new church.
Invariably, there was some collateral damage –
some “Christian” communities could not,
would not, ascribe to the new orthodoxy.
And, they were disallowed to practice their faith with protection from the emperor.
Many of the “elements” of our belief that they came up with still exist today –
and we know them as “bed rocks” of our faith –
and in many ways have become to define what Christianity is today.
The outcomes of the council of Nicea stood unquestioned and defined the faith for over 1000 years.
In the 16th century, several factors came to bear that resulted in what is known today as the Protestant Reformation.
Faithful Christians questioned the old orthodoxy and came up new ways of being church,
new ways of being church,
new definitions of Christian faith.
Presbyterians were a direct outcome of that Reformation –
the motto became “a church that is reformed and always reforming.”
The Reformation, at its essence, was an effort to get the church to be more “Christian” –
more about the priorities of God
than the priorities of the political machinery.
But, alas, for many reasons I suppose, there are many who call themselves Christians today who focus more on defending the orthodoxy of our belief system,
than on striving toward faithful living out the priorities of God’s reign.
Today, it is not hard to find any number of examples of people calling themselves Christian and taking absurd actions that fly in the face of what Jesus understood and did.
Mercy, forgiveness, hospitality, and compassion – the priorities of God.
As I think about a new church for the days ahead of us, I think it needs to be Christian –
that is, adhering to the priorities of God: mercy, forgiveness, hospitality, and compassion.
You and I get something out of the faith that gets fleshed out here Sunday after Sunday after Sunday.
You and I (and people all over the country and all over the world) are part of something much larger than ourselves.
When we acknowledge Jesus as prefector of our faith, we realize that our call is the same as what Jesus thought his was.
It’s what he did:
Our good news is that we can find life in his example – accepting the excluded,
healing the sick,
strengthening the weak,
loving the despised,
and challenging the powerful to use their influence redemptively.
Jesus accomplished what he did because of his steadfast dedication to the priorities of God.
It’s what you and I are to do, isn’t it?
It’s what we do do, isn’t it?
As we live the days of our lives – with all the vicissitudes each day brings.
I am more sure today than ever before, as we dream of a new church for the days ahead,
the first attribute to be considered is that it is to be based on the values of Jesus.
What if a church were purposely organized around the priorities of God: mercy, forgiveness, hospitality, and compassion?
What if our new church reflected the example of the ministry of Jesus:
accepting the excluded
healing the sick,
strengthening the weak,
loving the despised,
and challenging the powerful to use their influence redemptively.
What if a new church for a new day were Christian?
Amen.
The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, experienced this sermon during a worship service on Sunday, January 15, 2012.
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