Transforming Church

Jeremiah, this morning, was talking about THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LIVING BY GOD’S WORD AND KNOWING GOD. Israel lived by God's law as they understood it, but what they also accepted was that God is like a distant angry Judge who they could never approach and would probably never get to know.

We will always owe the Jewish people a debt for giving us God's Law and the rest of the Old Testament. With the O.T. we are not left with a truncated Bible. The New Testament, however, is most valuable to us because it tells us the good news of how God has saved us. We value the Old Testament, the Bible of the Jews. The books of Genesis and Exodus give us our whole basic understanding about who God is and who we are in our predicament of sin and imperfection as we live in a broken and imperfect world.

The rest of the Old Testament, while still important, is pretty much a reverberating echo of the same things over and over again. What we receive, however, from Genesis and Exodus cannot be replaced in helping us both to understand and appreciate how much we need Jesus. There is no other document on earth that compares with the Bible including both Old and New Testaments.

But even if you become solid with the rules, regulations and guidance of scripture, that does not in any way mean that you know God. There are many people who live within the letter of the law, some very repentant and some with hearts laden with bitterness and hatred, who find they cannot completely share themselves with anyone else. No, living by the law does not mean you know God.

NEITHER DOES BEING AN ACTIVE MEMBER OF THE CHURCH MEAN THAT YOU KNOW GOD. Jesus calls us to the church, but as disciples, not members. There is a huge group of people out there who say, “I don’t have to belong to a church to be a Christian,” I would say to them, “If you really know God, if you are a disciple of Jesus Christ, you would belong to His Church.” He started it for the expressed purpose of supporting us in our relationship with Him.

Driving people away from the church today, though, are those who think the church belongs to them. It belongs to no person or group. It belongs to Christ, serving His mission and supporting the grace relationship He extends to everyone. People mess it up when they try to make it their own or the object of their own preferences. Just as anyone who knows Jesus would not stay away from His Word and Sacraments, so also those who try to make the church their own don’t know Jesus.

Worship is the most public conduit through which He ministers to us with His grace. There are six faith practices in addition to worship, and equal arguments for importance can be made for such as prayer and study of God’s Word, but beautiful things happen in worship if you choose to attend as a disciple instead of as a member.

And then look at the Gospel this morning. The Jews took comfort in the fact they were descendants of Abraham, much the same as Christians take comfort in the fact they are members of the church. What Jesus is saying is that neither being a descendent of Abraham nor being a member of the church is enough. Pride in membership has to pale against discipleship, even if you, your parents or grand-parents helped to start this congregation.

But a clear sign that some think being a member of the church is enough for their relationship with God is when they assume through their vote the right to determine what the church should do. Voting people, almost without exception, vote their preference. If it’s obvious what Christ wants or needs in order to reach more with His grace there shouldn’t even be a vote. Disciples give their proxy to Christ. The church belongs to Him and we should always be seeking guidance exclusively from the Holy Spirit, not each other. If it doesn’t fit inside the mission we received from Christ and the vision the Holy Spirit provides our congregation, we should not do it.

And finally, in the Romans text this morning Paul was answering people who thought they would be justified by their good deeds and how they adhered to the Law. It’s the same message; Paul said that’s not enough.

Jeremiah reminds us that God writes His covenant on our hearts. If you experience that, when you experience that, you will finally know it’s enough to act on. And I can tell you the more we get to know the living God He will outfit us with a vibrant and compelling faith that will attract other disciples as well. If we don’t have that kind of passion and excitement no one will buy into what we offer.

So what we have left is how do we let down the defenses of our human nature to let God do all this? It can only happen if we first give ourselves totally, completely to Jesus. This is the key to becoming a disciple. A disciple is a servant and not a volunteer. Volunteers are part-time. Churches should give up all of their volunteer language, every bit of it; it works in the wrong direction.

A member who is not a disciple keeps Jesus in a part-time relationship. A member chooses what to identify with and what to support, all the time keeping everything else in life for themselves. And since they were willing to invest in it, by-dad-gum they are going to defend it.

The more we talk about this I hope the clearer it becomes there is really no connection between being a member and being a disciple. Even though I hope you become both, may being a disciple always trump being a member. AMEN

(Optional opening illustration)
One summer night in Scotland a young man decided to take a shortcut across the moors on his way to town. That part of the country was noted for its limestone quarries, and while he knew he would be passing near one of them, he was sure he would miss it. The night was starless and inky-black as he set out. As he walked along straining to try to see in the darkness, he suddenly heard a voice call out with urgency, "Peter!" A bit unnerved, he stopped and called back in the dark, "Who is it? What do you want?" He heard nothing, only the wind over the moors. Thinking he imagined it, he walked on a few more steps and heard the voice again, even more urgent, "Peter!" He stopped short in his tracks and as he leaned trying to see he stumbled onto his knees. Reaching his hand to the ground in front of him there was nothing but air. The quarry! Sure enough. As he felt carefully further and further to the side, he discovered he was on the edge of the abandoned limestone quarry. He has been only a short step from plunging to his death.

Some of you will recognize his name; it was Peter Marshall. He went on to become one of America's better known pastors. I mention him this morning because his faith was not a passive faith inherited from his parents. If you knew Peter it was vibrant, real, and very compelling. The reason was he knew God.