Go out into the world...

And sometimes it will be in the acts of obedience which surprise even those who participated in the decision.

First Presbyterian Church was proud of its recent successes. They were confident that one of the reasons that most churches were not growing as they were was because other churches got themselves involved in too many social problems. First Presbyterian had distanced themselves from their denomination as much as possible and focused all of their resources on creating programs for their own members. The church had recently renovated their sanctuary and built a brand new family life center to better serve their own people.

Then someone firebombed a Black church in their city and somehow that struck a chord in the Session. “No one has a right to burn a church,” said one elder. “It’s the most despicable thing that you can do,” agreed another. Soon, to their own surprise, they had voted to work with the firebombed church and to help organize and pay for its rebuilding. “I don’t even know who to call,” said the surprised moderator. “It’s about time we found out,” said one elder. “After all,” he said with some wonder in his voice, “we are all members of the same church.”

Sometimes the Word of God will be revealed in a person or persons who demonstrate fruits of the Spirit in response to the disobedient behavior of the Body.

Alexander was mentally slow and though he was tolerated around the church, he was largely ignored. Rarely did anyone speak to him in other than patronizing ways. Then one evening while there were several meetings going on in the church, a fire broke out in the building. In an unfortunate decision by the church, the nursery had been placed on an upper floor in the church and several children were playing up there when the fire broke out. Despite the smoke and danger, people saw Alexander enter the building and head up to the nursery and lead the children to safety. It was perhaps the first time that most people had ever looked at Alexander as anything other than a simpleton to be tolerated. When asked why he had risked his life to save the children, he responded, “Because Jesus loved the little children.”

How do you look for the Word of God in the life of a congregation? I would propose that in the same way that we exegete Scripture for the word of God, so we should exegete a congregation. To exegete a congregation, one must lay its history alongside the story of Scripture. While one looks for signs of obedience and disobedience in the story of the congregation, even in disobedience one must seek to discern what God is saying. As was true with the disciples, so with the church as the Body of Christ, there always will be times of obedience and disobedience but in both times the Word of God can be revealed. Sometimes it will be revealed in the fruits of the flesh which become so obvious within a community that the people feel called to repentance.

Felicia, a new deacon in her church, was troubled by a series of recent incidents in her church. The board had recently cut in half the amount in the deacon’s fund to serve the needy while at the same time redecorating a beautiful parlor which was to be used only for official functions. Then, last Sunday a vagrant had approached one of the ushers asking for help in the middle of the worship service. The usher told him that the church only helped people on Tuesdays between nine and twelve and that he should come back then. She came to her board and asked what they thought Christ was saying through these and several other similar incidents that she could recount? There was a long embarrassed pause before one of the members hesitantly said, “I think Christ may be saying to us that we may have gotten too caught up in ourselves.”

Another example tomorrow.

Bonhoeffer knew of the betrayal of the church but he spoke of the church as follows:

The church is a piece of the world; forsaken, godless, beneath the curse: vain, evil world–and that to the highest degree because she misuses the name of God, because in her God is made into a plaything, an idol. Indeed, she is an eternally forsaken and anti-Christian piece of the world in that she proudly removes herself from her solidarity with the evil world and lauds her own self. And yet: the church is a piece of qualified world, qualified through God’s revealing, gracious Word, which she is obliged to deliver to the world which God has occupied and which he will never more set free. The church is the presence of God in the world. Really in the world, really the presence of God. (The Form of Chrsit in the World; p. 113)

The author of Ephesians states that Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her “that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind, yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:27) Yet we are confronted by the historical fact that the church often fails to reflect even the common decencies of humanity. It is natural for the skeptic to ask whether God made a mistake in first choosing Israel and then the church to be the bearers of God’s revelation to the world. Does Scripture testify to a continued series of failed attempts by God to save the world or are we, in human arrogance, blind to the way of God? Can we learn to exegete the church in a way that allows us to be addressed by Christ?

I am not suggesting that we should “sin boldly so that grace might abound” but that God is not only not defeated by our sinfulness, even betrayal, but can use it redemptively. How might this look in a contemporary church setting.

Calvary Church felt betrayed. Many members were so dispirited that they considered leaving the church altogether. Their pastor of two years turned out to be an embezzler and had run off with their fifty thousand dollar building fund. The official board was in a vindictive mood as it met to consider what they could do to recover their losses. Talk was fast and furious of hiring private investigators to trace down their vanished pastor and lawyers to sue for recovery and to protect themselves.

But then something happened. Someone said that he now knew how Jesus felt when Judas betrayed him. Another responded in puzzelment, “You know, that betrayal led to the cross by which I am saved. Do you suppose God could redeem this betrayal as well?” They began to ask themselves what Christ might say to them through this experience. “What if,” asked one, “Christ is speaking to us about the power of greed in our own lives and in the life of this church?”

“I was going to say,” responded another, “that I have never stolen fifty thousand dollars from anyone but now that you speak of the power of greed, I have to admit that I have never tithed either. I guess if that ten percent belongs to God, you might say that I have stolen from God.” “Maybe we feel so betrayed,” said another, “because we depend too much on pastors to live our faith for us.” “Right,”said another. “He was wrong but maybe because of his error, Christ might wake us up to being more responsible ourselves.” “What about our decision to hire a private investigator,” asked one. “I think we can find better things to do with God’s money,” said another. And they all agreed.

None of this is to suggest that the sins of the church or individuals within it are acceptable. What I am trying to suggest is that we may need a new perspective on how God works through a community which is sinful. If God can reveal how God works a saving grace through the church, then we have a powerful message to proclaim to the world which is filled with sin and betrayal.

Perhaps a place to begin may be with the “new covenant” passage in Jeremiah 31:31 where Jeremiah looks on a failed community and proclaims that God is about to create something new. Is it possible that God can forgive a community into truth? Just as an artist can look at an ugly piece of wood and see within it a beautiful work of art which she can reveal, so God looks on the ugliness of humanity which is reflected in the church and sees within it the Kingdom of Heaven which God chooses to bring about through the Artist’s tool of forgiveness. “He is head of the body, the church “for in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things … by making peace through the blood of his cross.” (Colossians 1:18-19) What a delightful transformation if a church or a denomination did not approach the world trumpeting its accomplishments but rather confessing its sins. What an amazing example this could be for corporations and nations to follow to reach the fullness of their potential.