I appreciate
very much receiving answers to that statement and I will share as many as
possible in the course of the series.
Some of them might be adapted a bit in order to make sure the
individuals won’t be identified in any way. I will begin this morning with one of them – I know our world is in bad shape and many
people can only see negativity in everything. I get so overwhelmed when I
watch the news that often I feel hopeless. But when I come to church I
feel renewed. I feel the love of God and the congregation
surround(s) me and that gives me hope for tomorrow. I know that what
comes next is in God's hands. It is easy to forget that when I see so
much pain in the world. But from the minute you walk in the door of FCC I
feel…connected to something greater that myself. I feel so blessed to be
part of that love. I think
that is so well expressed, and I think it speaks for all of us as well.
Our
Scripture text for this morning is, I think, the obvious place to start,
because it is, interestingly, one of the few places where Jesus used the word church – Matthew 16:13-18.
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his
disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still
others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not
revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.
18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church,
and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
I thought I would begin this morning by taking just a moment to tell
you a bit about my home church. I
was raised in the Wellsburg Christian Church, in Wellsburg, West Virginia, just
a few miles from Bethany, where Alexander Campbell lived and where he founded
Bethany College, one of our very fine Disciples schools. Wellsburg Christian Church was founded
by Alexander Campbell and his father, Thomas, both of whom served as the first ministers
of the church. The Campbells were
two of the four most important figures in the movement that led to the founding
of the Disciples of Christ churches.
Walter Scott, a third member of that group of four (the fourth being
Barton W. Stone), was also one of the first ministers of the church, so I grew
up in one of the central locations in the history of the Disciples churches.
In many ways, there is nothing special or outstanding about that
church. It was, in my younger years, a typical small town church. We weren’t very large (there weren’t
any large church where I grew up, as it wasn’t a very churched area in
comparison to this area and most of the south); we didn’t have a lot of
impressive programs; we never had a youth minister, a children’s minister, or a
music minister, only a minister; we didn’t have an impressive building; we
didn’t have a big budget; we didn’t have a lot of the things that we often
associate with churches today. In
recent years, the church has struggled and has declined, reflecting the slow,
painful decline of the town and larger area. Wellsburg has lost quite a bit of population since I
graduated from high school in 1975 and the county – Brooke County – is,
according to an article I read in the New
York Times, is literally the dyingest county in the entire country. Brooke County, and Wellsburg, have been
hit hard by the economic downturn that accompanied the closing of almost all of
the steel mills in the northern Ohio Valley. The towns, the businesses, and even the churches, all reflect
the decline of the area.
Having said all that, and though I have a great deal of sadness
about what has happened to my home area over the years, it still remains very
much a part of who I am, and it would be impossible for me to adequately communicate
what the Wellsburg Christian Church has meant to my life. The people of that church taught me in
Sunday School, contributed the money that helped to send me to church camp, the
adults of the church who served as role models, and one minister, in particular,
shaped and molded my life in a way that has been so very profound, and I can’t
imagine what my life would be like without those experiences and those
people. When I return home to
visit my family it is a rare occasion that I am able to worship in my home
church, but I do like to drive or walk by it and, when I can, stop in and step
into the sanctuary in order to be transported back in time. When I walk in the building, climb the
steps to the second floor to enter the sanctuary, and sit in a pew, I see that
almost nothing has changed, at least in the appearance of the building. I can sit in a pew and remember where
people sat all those years ago. I
can see them in my mind, getting up to receive the offering or to serve
communion, or to open the windows on a warm summer day. Many of those people are long gone, but
they remain very much in my heart and mind and the faith has now become part of
my faith. I am so very grateful to
that church and to those people who nurtured my faith, who cared for me, and
will never be forgotten.
I imagine my experience is true for many, if not all of you, as
well. Whether you grew up in this
church or in a different one, your experience was probably very similar to
mine, certainly in respect to the people who influenced your life, because here
is an important truth – when we look back on the churches that shaped and
molded our lives, we rarely if ever speak of a fancy building or impressive
technology. We rarely if ever
speak of the style of worship. We
rarely if ever speak of the amazing committee meetings. We almost always talk about the people
and the ways in which those people helped to connect us to God, how they helped
to deepen and enrich our faith, and how they shaped and molded our lives.
So, I decided to offer this series of messages for several
reasons. One is because I am, frankly, tired of hearing so many bad
things about churches. I am a member of a number of email lists that send
out church news and information about the world of faith and ministry.
More often than not these days I delete the messages without reading any of the
articles. The reason? I’m tired of the gloom and doom drumbeat of
bad news. I know that there are churches struggling in this day and age,
but I also know that the news is not always as bad as it is made out to
be. The church is very much in transition these days (and that is not a
bad thing, in my opinion. We were very much in need of some of the
transitions that are taking place) but it is certainly not in danger of dying,
as some would claim. The oft-heard narrative about the decline of the
church is, in all honesty, about as far from the truth as one can get. Yes,
there is decline in some places, but even the measurements of those areas do
not tell the entire story. Indeed,
on a worldwide scale the church is booming, and it is booming in parts of the
world that were once – and in some cases continues to be – hostile to both the
church and the Gospel. China will soon be home to more Christians than
all of Europe and by the middle of this century may have more Christians than
any other country. Imagine
that! A country that is officially
atheistic is now witnessing some of the greatest in the history of the church!
Throughout Asia the church is growing exponentially. The countries that
comprised the former Soviet Union are seeing much church growth, as is
sub-Saharan Africa and South America. The
church is alive and well, of that there is no doubt about.
I am also presenting this series of messages as a rebuttal to those
who claim the church is irrelevant in our modern age. Once again, nothing
could be further from the truth! I’m not sure who first equated ancient
with irrelevant, but those two words are not connected. In fact, there is
much ancient wisdom in our world that remains incredibly beneficial to us, and
that is because the human condition never changes. Technology brings
about great change to the way we live, conduct business, and other matters of
life, but the basics of human existence do not change. The literature of
the ancient Greeks is every bit as powerful today as it was millennia
ago. The engineering skills of the ancient Egyptians is as impressive
today as it was in their day. And is there a modern writer the equivalent
of Shakespeare? And where are the modern day versions of Beethoven and
Chopin? And we certainly continue to value the words of an old document
we call the Constitution, as much as we sometimes argue about it. No,
ancient is neither equivalent to being irrelevant or out of date. We
still have much to learn from the recent and distant ancients.
But the primary reason why I decided to do a series of messages
titled I Love the Church is because I
love the church! I was a “pew
baby.” I have attended church all
of my life, even in my younger adult years when I was doing what I will simply
refer to as some “wandering.” I
love the church! And I find it
amusing that I am often asked a question, a question that is always prefaced by
an interesting statement. Many
times over the course of my ministry I have been approached by someone who
begins with the following statement – I
want to ask you a question and I want you to tell me the truth (do they
think I need to be reminded to tell the truth?). That statement is almost always followed by the question, when you are on vacation, do you go to
church or do you sleep in?
Yes, I go to church! I love
to attend church when I am on vacation.
It’s nice to listen to someone other than myself for a change! I like to slip into the back of a
sanctuary and observe what is going on, experience a different style of
worship, and enjoy church without all of the things that would normally occupy
my mind and attention on most Sunday mornings. I know every criticism of
churches. I have heard them all. I have also experienced many of the
shortcomings of churches, and I have experienced many of the hurts as
well. Some of those experiences
are why I ended up here instead of continuing on my previous path (and I am
very, very grateful to be here).
I’ve been a minister for over 35 years, so I have seen, heard, and
experienced almost everything possible in churches, both good and bad, and I
still love the church, and nothing will ever change the fact that I love the
church.
That is a rather long introduction, so let’s turn now to this
morning’s Scripture texts, which is one of the most famous in all of the
Gospels. Jesus takes his disciples to Caesarea Philippi, which was home
to many competing truth claims. It is in that context of various religious
and political ideas that he draws from Peter the great confession of faith, a
confession that continues to serve, after all these centuries, as our great
uniting point – You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.
The response of Jesus is so inspiring, as he proclaims that upon that
confession he will build his church and the gates of Hades will not overcome
it.
So allow me to offer a few words about the indestructibility of the
church.
The Church is Indestructible in Spite of Itself.
I had originally planned to write a message for this series titled I Love the Church In Spite of…, but I
thought that sounded far too negative, and I don’t want to be negative in this
series, especially since one of the reasons I decided to offer this series was to
counter the negativity that is often attached to church.
We all are well aware, however, of the sometimes problematic history
of the church, and that history and the failures of churches are very painful
to witness and to experience. There
are, for instance, many Catholics who have given up on the church because of
the terribly tragic abuse scandal that continues to unfold in very painful
ways. That is certainly one of the
most painful and terrible stains on the church in its entire history. On the Protestant side of the faith we
must remember that the struggle of any church, or denomination, becomes in some
way our struggle as well. We are
all part of The Church, and what affects one part of the body of Christ affects
us all.
I understand, I want to emphasize, that I understand how the depth
of hurt does cause some people to turn away from the church. We all know people who have joined what
one person describes as “the church alumni society.” The amount of hurt and pain out there has added far too many
members to that “alumni society,” and I would never minimize the pain and
suffering of anyone, but personally, I would never turn away from the church because
of its failures, any more than I would consider turning away from my
citizenship as an American because of the failures of our nation, which are also
numerous and painful. I might
change congregations – and I have done so – because of hurts and struggles that
take place, but I will never give up on the church. It is my responsibility, I believe, to remain a part of the
church and work to make it better, stronger, and as Christ-like as possible.
The church needs, I believe, to acknowledge and speak against its
own struggles and failures, as well as those outside of the church. There are failures and hurts all around
us, and any institution – the church included – have perpetuated some measure
of hurt, but that is all the more reason why we must speak up and speak
out. I think it is, for instance,
commendable that members of the Catholic Church have forced it to confront the
terrible scandal of abuse that has hurt so many people. I think it is commendable that some of
confronted the church with its role in the history of racism in this country. The recent events in Charlottesville
remind us that racism is still a powerful force in our society, unfortunately,
and the church has not always set the best example in how to confront the
scourge of racism.
This is why we must remember that while the Church is
indestructible, not all individual congregations do survive, or will survive. One of the reasons why I chose the
picture that stands at the top of this message is because it serves as a
reminder that some churches do not survive. Sometimes, the closing of a church is due to sociological
factors such as population shifts or the decline of a particular
community. Other times, however,
churches close because they cease to be relevant to their communities, and one
of the ways in which they become irrelevant is by ignoring the needs that exist
outside of their walls. If a local
congregation cannot – or will not – speak against the ills that surround it or
work to ease and eradicate those ills, then perhaps it is not only inevitable
that the church will close, but perhaps it should close.
The Church is Indestructible Because of Its Anchor.
Listen again to the exchange between Jesus and Peter –
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not
revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.
18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my
church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
One of the great beauties of the church is that
in these times of uncertainty, the church provides a sense of certainty. That is true, I believe, of all the
centuries of the church, because all times in history have about them a sense
of uncertainty. For over two
millennia now, the church has served as an anchor of certainty in a sea of
uncertainty. When Jesus stood with
his disciples at Caesarea Philippi, I imagine there was a great deal of anxiety
and uncertainty among them. They
were surrounded by many competing ideaologies and philosophies and it would
have been very difficult for them to enjoy a sense of certainty and
security. Some of those
ideaologies and philosophies would have been very demanding of them, such as
Rome and its demand for ultimate allegiance. Today is not much different from the context in which the
disciples found themselves. We too
have many competing ideaologies and philosophies competing for our hearts and
souls – and some of them are very demanding – but the church provides an anchor
of certainty that reminds us God will be for us and with us whatever kingdom
claims control. We need that sense
of the eternal and unchanging now more than ever. In the midst of competing truth claims, Peter was able to
make his great confession of faith, and in the midst of today’s competing truth
claims and sometimes overwhelming uncertainty, let us also make our confession
of faith and trust in Jesus.
The church has survived for 2,000 years because
it is founded upon the eternal, and it will survive – and thrive – until God
decides to bring a conclusion to creation.
The Church Will Continue to Change Lives.
My life was changed by a church. Your life was changed by a church. How many lives have been changed by
this church, or any church, we can never know for certain. There is no way for us to know in this
life, but we can be assured it is a great many. Some day, in eternity, we will have the privilege to know
who they are.
At its heart, the church is about
relationships, and it is through relationships that lives are changed. I will close this morning with a very
powerful testimony sent to me. It
is a beautiful testimony to a life changed be a church –
What
does the church mean to me…Salvation, in the spiritual sense, but also from an
earthly perspective. I grew up in
extreme poverty, without a named father and with a mother who put men and drugs
ahead of her children and disappeared for weeks at a time. Although my family
situation has sadly become commonplace nowadays, it was foreign to my small
town [at the time].
Yes, I was blessed with grandparents who cared for me as their own and
made sure my needs were met, but to the outside world, I was an outcast, an
untouchable. And then, one day in
3rd grade, a neighbor offered to pick me up on her way to church. I don’t think I missed a Sunday for the
next 3 years! Partly out of pity
and partly out of love, the congregation adopted me as their own. They saw potential in me that I
couldn’t yet see. The Music
Minister gave me free piano lessons and one of the older ladies from church
picked me up every day from school and took me to her house to practice. The next thing I knew, the church
delivered a piano to my doorstep.
The congregation paid my way to church camp. Even my high school jobs were working for church
members. When I was serving in [another state], they sent me letters and love offerings. They supported me, guided me, prayed for me. To them, I wasn’t “just that poor kid”. I WAS SOMEBODY WHO WAS CREATED IN GOD’S
IMAGE. The church helped me rise
above the circumstances that I couldn’t control and become the person that I
was created to be. They could have
easily turned away, but they didn’t.
Their love and compassion saved me.
Isn’t that an amazing, beautiful
testimony? Our story may be
different in the details, but we were changed by a church as well, and that is
one of the reasons why I love the church.
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