an apostolic adventure

7. The Church is God's creation

The Church is God’s creation.  It is a living organism which receives vision from God and adapts to each cultural context.

THE CHURCH IS GOD'S IDEA!!!  I thought it was my parents' idea.  I don't quite remember, but I was taken to church when I was two weeks old.  When I grew a bit older, I was told to get dressed in my "Sunday Best", shine my shoes, and wait on my sisters to join the rest of us in the car for the half hour trip to church.  I really didn't have a choice.  And I really didn't like putting on a tie and tight shoes.  But I quickly learned that this was what church was all about.

It took me years and years to realize the creation of the Church being God's idea!  My pastor didn't think it up.  My denomination didn't think it up.    Not even my parents!  But God, HE, thought it up and today wants to see his church be the church.  He desires to be known to your neighbors through extending himself through the church.  It is HIS plan to see and provide all the necessary tools to see those who are captives to sin, to bondage, to hopelessness, to worry . . . be set free in and through the living Church!

God created the framework of His first human out of the dust of the earth.  He began an idea of relating to others, his creation.  Then, He breathed "Ruwach," the Spirit, the breath of God into the framework and it came to life!  Adam lives with the Spirit, the breath of God.  God and Adam in perfect relationship.

It follows that THE CHURCH IS A SPIRITUAL ENTITY.  It took decades for me to come to the grips with the fact that the church is not the building on Westerville Road.  But when Jesus says, "I will build my church" in Matthew 16:18, he is not talking about a building or an organization.  He's talking about HIS PEOPLE!  The Bride of Christ!  The Body!  That's the Church.  And it is a result of God, himself, thinking it up and initiating it through Jesus Christ.

The Pharisees and Sadducees were looking for a political kingdom to be established through Jesus.  But no!  It's a SPIRITUAL kingdom.  It takes spiritual eyes to see it and spiritual faith to be citizens/members of it!  "Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household," writes Paul in Ephesians 2:19!  The church is here and now!  It is a reality today!  We can live in this spiritual entity as Jesus established the church and even teaches us to pray, "Your kingdom come . . . on earth as it is in heaven."

For thirty some years, Jesus prepared the framework for the church.  After his death on the cross and bodily resurrection, Jesus' last command was to "Wait for the Spirit."  He knew that only through the Spirit of God could the church come to life.  While the 120 waited, God breathed the "Ruwach", THE SPIRIT upon them!  The Church lives!

And so, Jesus NOW offers you, me, all of us, SPIRITUAL LIFE IN HIS CHURCH!  "But now in Christ Jesus you who were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ!" Ephesians 2:13.  NOW!  WE!  BROUGHT NEAR!  And not just near but fellow citizens!

While growing up and out of my Sunday Best and going to the group of people on Westerville Road, I wanted to be close to God.  Finally at age 13 in a large meeting for youth at some school auditorium, I could sense God calling my name.  I, too, could be forgiven my sins and be in right relationship with God through Jesus Christ!  What a joy!  What a moment!  I not only knew about God, about Church, about the people, about Jesus.  But I personally began to know God the Father through Jesus and the Holy Spirit!  I began citizenship in the family of God!  I became part of the SPIRITUAL BODY.  "And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit" Ephesians 2:22.

God wills that no one perish but have everlasting life in His eternal, already established kingdom.  Offer it!  Tell it!  The opportunity is for today!  The people around you are dying to hear it!  Don't believe their disinterested facade.  Go for the heart, the spiritual center.  (See Romans 10:13-17.)

Let's be the CHURCH!  "His (God's) intent was that now, though 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 which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord" Ephesians 3:10‑11.  MAKE IT KNOWN!  MAKE JESUS KNOWN!  May God breathe His "Ruwach" on us!

The Church is God’s creation.  It is a living organism which receives vision from God and adapts to each cultural context.

·        The church is the Bride of Christ!  Is the bride ready to meet her groom?

·        What would God really want for His Church in Europe?

·        In what ways do you seek vision from God?

·        Do you see and live in a dynamic, living, multiplying church?

CONCLUSION

My son and I love ice hockey.  We set up places in the house, in the garage, anywhere to shoot a puck or a ball.  One day we showed my little four year old nephew our garage with hockey sticks, balls and net.  He was fascinated!  He enjoyed shooting on net and trying to get the ball away from my son.  But soon, he got frustrated and bored.  He decided to make up new rules and control the game.  At one point, when my son missed the net, the rule was to shut him in the car in the garage.  So there he sat, and after awhile forgotten about as the rest of us played on.  But my four year old nephew had control of the game!  Until my son honked the horn and made all of us jump out of our skin.

It seems like we’ve locked the Master in the car.  We have written new rules.  Church leaders have been in control but where is the dynamic, Spirit led church?  I hope that these seven Biblical principles will help guide us to be part of God’s church rather than making up new rules and having control.

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6. The Gospel must be presented to the poor

The poor?  The poor!?  Who are the poor?  I just had two children in college.  I feel pretty poor!  The poor are those who have just about not enough.  Like me.  My bank account just about runs out of money.  My funds just about don’t last long enough.  My credit cards just about can’t keep up with my spending desires.

So, I am the poor.  Right?  Well, pretty much.  I guess we all have basic levels of poverty.  And the good news is that “The Good News is preached to the poor!” Matthew 11.5.

While I may be thinking about my bank account, I know that every day on our street, there will be around a dozen people who will systematically pick through around 30 bins of trash.  These “neighbors” are looking for something to eat – like some stale bread or meat; something to use – like a warmer coat or shoes; or something to sell – like some glass wine bottles.

What do I do about those who have been evicted from their homes, separated from their loved ones and have lost their jobs?  What do I do about the woman who has been repeatedly abused, the nine year old child who never attended school and the retired pensioner who doesn’t have enough money to heat her flat in the winter?  What do I do about the teenage girl who has been lured away from her east European home to “a better life” in the west – only to find herself a slave to forced prostitution?

Yes, what do I do?!  What can I do?

Jesus came “To seek and to save what was lost” Luke 19.10.  I don’t know about you, but I kinda want to avoid the lost, the poor, the sick.  I want to avoid seeking lost!  Don’t you?  How can one person change poverty anyway?!

I remember one day I was running.  It was a great day.  A great run.  And just about to finish my run when I saw a traffic light still green!  At the same moment, I saw a homeless man near the corner and the thought IMMEDIATELY came into my mind, “Invite him over to take a shower!”  Was this the voice of God or just my inner voice thinking this up?

Oh, I hope it was just a crazy thought.  I don’t think my wife would appreciate, “Hey, Hun, I’m home!  And I brought a homeless man with me to take a shower!”  Plus we had a young two year old at home.  Nope, just a thought.

But it kept coming back to my mind over those few seconds.  As I ran those last few strides toward the traffic light, I kept staring at this man and then at the light.  What do I do?!

Then a brilliant bargain with God came to my mind.  “OK, Lord, if this light stays green, I’ll run on home.  This was just a thought in my head.  If it turns red, I will stop and invite this man to have a shower in our home.  Yes, then I’ll know it was Your voice.”  It sounded like a fair bargain to me.

So I started sprinting toward the light.

But it turned red.

So, while out of breath, I turned to the man with dirty clothes and down cast eyes, “I’m just running home.  Would you like to come and take a shower?”

He looked at me in disbelief.  “What?”

“Would you like to come to my home and shower?”

“Why, sure!  Are you sure?  I don’t want to be a bother.”

“Yes, I’m sure.  Come on.”  I didn’t tell him about my bargain with God and the traffic light.

The light turned green and we walked across on to our home.  On the way he told me that he just came from Alaska where he lost his job.  He’s out of work and has no permanent place to stay.

All this was interesting and sad.  But I wasn’t fully engaged.  The thoughts kept coming to my mind about what my wife will say as I introduce my guest.

I walked in the door with my new friend and to my relief; my wife smiled and welcomed this homeless man into our home.  She not only gave him a fresh towel, but she stole some of my clothes to give to him and invited him to our table for a home cooked meal.

Our offer quite simple:  a shower and a meal.  He ate with our two year old on his lap.  He ate with new found energy, bright face and cheerful heart.  The change in him dramatic.  The change in that traffic light affected all of us!

The most noticeable form of poverty is the physically poor:  without home, food, family.  But we also need to dig a bit deeper to find the emotionally and spiritually poor.

Sometimes those people who have little physically have full, rich spirits.

Sometimes those people, who have so many physical riches, have poor, impoverished spirits.

Regardless, there is a home for each one.  Jesus invites them home.  You and I are His extended family making space for the poor in a new home. 

Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”

Matthew 9:12-13 “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.”

The gospel must be presented to the poor.

·        Who are the poor in your neighborhood?

·        Where do we find them?

·        What do we do for them?

·        What could the Church do for them?

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Coming Alive!

I was reading last night in John Eldredge's book, Wild at Heart.  On page 200 he quoted Gil Bailie:

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs.  Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive."

Good stuff!  What makes YOU come alive?