Our family served in Great Yarmouth, England, for three years on loan to the Baptist Union of Great Britain. During those years we had the opportunity to take passenger trains to other towns on several occasions. Once I took a train trip from Great Yarmouth, on the east coast of England, all the way to Glasgow, which is on the west coast of Scotland. This was at least an eight-hour trip. This kind of travel is almost impossible in the USA, which is why it is so funny to me that the British people complain so often about how bad their trains are.
In the USA, we have very few passenger trains left, and we also have relatively few railroad companies left also. That sector of our economy has seen much consolidation in recent years, with many mergers between what once were large, powerful, and profitable railroad companies. A reason for this, according to one industry expert, is that the owners of the railroads did not realize what business they were in. Their vision of their business was in operating trains. In truth, they were in the transportation business. Therefore, they failed to adapt to the rise of air travel, and the growth of the Interstate Highway System. Their share of the transportation market shrunk, as did the profitability of their businesses. Instead of diversifying their business plan, they dug in and lost their shirts.
Before we can have a vision for the church, we must understand what it is, and what God intends it to be, and to become. Let’s begin this by looking at the nature of the church from 1 Peter 2:1-10.
So rid yourselves of all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander. Like newborn infants, desire the pure spiritual milk, so that you may grow by it for your salvation, since you have tasted that the Lord is good. Coming to Him, a living stone—rejected by men but chosen and valuable to God— you yourselves, as living stones, are being built into a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it is contained in Scripture: Look! I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and honored cornerstone, and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame! So honor will come to you who believe, but for the unbelieving, The stone that the builders rejected— this One has become the cornerstone, and A stone to stumble over, and a rock to trip over. They stumble because they disobey the message; they were destined for this. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
The Church has a Divine Origin:
A common question when you meet someone for the first time is, “Where are you from?” It is obvious that while all people are similar, we are not all alike, and where someone comes from has a bearing on their outlook on life. So, asking, “Where are you from?” helps us find a frame of reference and it helps us understand more about how a person thinks.
For example, I was on a mission trip to New York City when I had two starkly different experiences. One day, when our team was travelling by the subway at rush hour, a colleague and I got separated from our group and we were left on the platform when the car doors closed. We got on the next train going in the right direction, but we were uncertain of how many stops remained before we were supposed to get off and rejoin our team. As we were discussing this, a kind young lady spoke up and corrected us. She knew we were from out-of-town, and she was glad to help us rejoin our other colleagues.
On the other hand, on that same mission trip to NYC, we were walking back to our accommodations after supper one evening, when we overtook an older lady pushing a baby carriage. As we came up on her, I heard her talking, cooing, and saying, “You’re such a good little boy; you’re such a good little boy.” Thinking she was a grandmother taking her grandson out for a stroll, I looked down into the carriage as we walked by, in anticipation of saying, “What a beautiful baby,” but I had to choke back those words. In the carriage was not a baby, but a furry little dog! I think it was a Pekinese, but I was too stunned to be sure. In hindsight, what that lady was doing made some sense, because that dog’s legs were very short, but in the moment, I was speechless! I have learned since then that this may be something that some people from big cities do with their small dogs, but it was not something I had ever seen before!
Then there was the revival speaker who said in his sermon, “Know this: everyone from this town will die one day and face God’s judgment.” That’s when a guy at the back started giggling. Taking this as a challenge, the preacher confronted him, saying, “You don’t believe that everyone from this town will die one day and face God’s judgment?” The man said, “No, it’s just that I’m not from this town!”
Peter reminds us here that the church comes from God. He chose us and He sought us when we were nothing. We had no home, but He made us a nation. He gave us a name, a heritage, a fellowship, and an identity.
Some of the churches with the most powerful ministries are the so-called “international” churches. In most major cities around the world a large number of ex-patriots have moved there because of their businesses. These people are sometimes called “cut flowers” because they are not from where they are living and thus, they are rootless. These ex-patriots often find a common faith, and also a common bond in their church. They are not at home in the foreign city where they work, but they find a home in God’s church.
This should be true for us as well! We aren’t from here either! We are in the world, but we are not of the world! We are from God! Therefore, we should act, speak, love, work, and live, like we are from God!
The Church has a Divine Calling:
At various times in our lives, we find ourselves waiting to be called. This can be tedious, difficult, and discouraging. For example:
- Family members waiting to be called to find out the results of a loved one’s surgery
- Defendants waiting for their cases to be called in court
- Job applicants waiting to be called back and offered a job
- Patients waiting to be called back to see the dentist
- Customers of an auto repair shop waiting to be called to find out how expensive the repairs will be
In many ways, this is how we were before God called us. We were people in darkness, waiting for someone to call out to us and guide us. Praise God, however, because He has called us! Isaiah 9:2 says,
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; a light has dawned on those living in the land of darkness.
Blessedly for us, God called us out of darkness: The darkness of sin. The darkness of despair. The darkness of isolation. The darkness of aimless living. The darkness of hopelessness.
To me, darkness has an oppressive quality that can be overwhelming. For me, to be standing alone in the darkness is like having a blanket thrown over my head. Darkness presses in on every side, but instead of being a cocoon, it is a trap, it is a grave.
Blessedly for us, God called us into His marvelous light: The light of forgiveness. The light of encouragement. The light of relationship. The light of meaning and mission. The light of purpose.
This light in us starts small, but even the smallest of light defeats darkness.
Geri and I once toured Carlsbad Caverns, NM. We went down 1,604 feet underground, and one of the features of this tour was when the guide shut off all the lights. I have never been in such a dark place in all my life. The darkness had a physical quality, but then the guide lit a single match. It was like the burning of the Sun, it seemed so bright! After a short while, as the match started to die, the guide switched on the overhead lights again, and the light from the match was swallowed up by them. This is just like our faith in Christ.
God has called us from darkness, and our personal knowledge of Him begins like that match. It drives the darkness from us, but our faith is small and immature. As we grow in Christ, our faith grows, and so does His light in our life. It fills us until it shines out into our family, friends, co-workers, and community.
God calls us from sin and despair into a loving relationship with Him!
The Church has a Divine Relationship:
When God called us to Himself, He adopted us, and He made us a part of His family. Paul described us as being a branch grafted onto an olive tree. Either way, we have a new relationship in Christ.
Families tend to have characteristics all their own. Leo Tolstoy began his novel Anna Karenina by saying, “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” What is God’s family like?
First, God’s family has a royal relationship. We are the Bride of Christ, so we are betrothed to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. We are no longer commoners, but we are royalty, with all the rights, privileges and responsibilities there unto pertaining. This changes who we are and how we should see ourselves. We may not think we are very much ourselves, but we are in a royal family. Conversely, we might think a great deal of ourselves, but our family is so much more than what we are. In our royal family, we all serve the same King, and we all share His glory as well.
We also have a peculiar (unique) relationship. The church and God have an exclusive relationship, which is another reason why the church is the bride of Christ. As Genessis 2:24 says,
This is why a man leaves his father and mother and
bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh.
No one can replace God for the church. No one can replace the church for God. God is righteously jealous for His church, and His church should be righteously zealous for Him.
We also have a relationship based on mercy. This is not the kind of mercy that you might see when you play the game where you lock your hands and interlock your fingers with your opponent and twist and squeeze them until they cry, “Mercy!” No!
Once we are in a relationship with God, He is not trying to make us submit, but instead, He is trying to build us up. While we do not deserve our relationship with God, He has called us to Himself out of His love and mercy. This means we can rest in Him; we did nothing to earn His mercy, so we can do nothing to lose it either!
In God, we have a relationship that meets our needs while also honoring and glorifying God.
The Church has a Divine Purpose:
Many people are searching for purpose in life. They feel empty and meaningless. This has been true for millennia. In Ecclesiastes 1:2ff. King Solomon, whom God had given a special gift of wisdom, bemoaned,
“Absolute futility,” says the Teacher. “Absolute futility. Everything is futile.” What does a man gain for all his efforts that he labors at under the sun? A generation goes and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun sets; panting, it returns to its place where it rises. Gusting to the south, turning to the north, turning, turning, goes the wind, and the wind returns in its cycles. All the streams flow to the sea, yet the sea is never full. The streams are flowing to the place, and they flow there again. All things are wearisome; man is unable to speak. The eye is not satisfied by seeing or the ear filled with hearing. What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun. Can one say about anything, “Look, this is new”? It has already existed in the ages before us. There is no remembrance of those who came before; and of those who will come after there will also be no remembrance by those who follow them.
Many centuries later, the singer Tennessee Ernie Ford agreed with Solomon in his own, simpler way, lamenting, “You load sixteen tons, and what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt.”
In spiritual terms, the old saying, “it’s not what you know, but whom you know,” is true. Outside of a vital relationship with God, life is empty and meaningless. In a relationship with God, in His church, serving His cause, we have purpose and meaning. This is what Paul told us in Philippians 3:3-9.
For we are the circumcision, the ones who serve by the Spirit of God, boast in Christ Jesus, and do not put confidence in the flesh— although I once also had confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised the eighth day; of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; regarding the law, a Pharisee; regarding zeal, persecuting the church; regarding the righteousness that is in the law, blameless. But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of Him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them filth, so that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ—the righteousness from God based on faith.
So, what is our purpose? First, we are to proclaim God’s praises. We are to praise Him for His mercy towards us and for His grace to us. We are to praise Him for His blessing of us. This is why we sing in church, and it is also why we will sing around the throne in heaven as we see in Revelation 7:9-12.
After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were robed in white with palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb! All the angels stood around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures, and they fell facedown before the throne and worshiped God, saying: Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen.
We also find fulfillment in being God’s priests. We have a High Priest, Jesus, whom we saw last week sitting at the right hand of God, but we also have our own calling to be priests. Just as Jesus stands between us and God, interceding for us, we are called to stand between God and humanity, bridging the gap.
For each of us this looks different. We are not all Billy Graham, but as many people as he pointed towards God, he is no longer with us. We are priests in many different ways, but the one thing that we will have in common is that we point toward God.
In God, we have a purpose that turns everyday events into actions that point to Him.
Conclusion:
Many celebrities, as they are working themselves up the ladder of fame, are reminded, “Always remember from where you came.” This should be true for us as well. We must remember that God’s church has:
- A Divine Origin
- A Divine Calling
- A Divine Relationship
- A Divine Purpose
We are all human, and our churches are made up of
humans, but our Founder, and our Sustainer is God, and that makes all the
difference!
Every blessing,
Dr. Otis Corbitt
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.