“Why Church?”
5-23-10 Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; Matthew 18:15020
Maybe you have known someone who
has given up on love. I know many
who have been hurt, wounded, hassled, even abused, and they say they will never
love again. Some get so busy with
their work or earning money they have no time for anyone else. They isolate
themselves- they say (with Paul Simon) “I am a rock, I am an island- and a rock
feels no pain and an island never cries.”
I have felt that way myself a few times in life.
But it is so sad to give up on love.
People can go through life hurt and angry and isolated- or they can seek
to forgive and try to love again. I
have always believed- better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at
all. I am someone who believes God
gives us a second chance, and Christians are the people of the second chance.
I feel the same way about people who give up on church.
Some have been hurt by differing opinions, or someone who was rude, or a
minister or church person who did not care as much as we thought they should.
The church is a place where we believe- but it is more than belief.
The church is a place where we grow- but it is more than growth.
The church is a place where we love- but it is more than the sum of
faith, hope, and love. The Church,
just like the home- is a place where we learn to love other people- especially
when we disagree.
I was listening to a call in program on the radio the other day and a
lady said she believed in God, but then she said something that astonished me.
She said, going to church was “useless.”
I would have liked to hear her explain why, but the talk radio guy
obviously moved on.
There is a great thing called SYNERGY.
Synergy is the idea that more is accomplished together than is
accomplished apart, or that is even accomplished if we add the energy of others
working separately. Part of it is
easy to understand. If you have
more than one person pulling on the rope, one is able to pull when the other is
giving up; momentum is more likely to occur with several than with one person
alone. Yesterday we had workday
trying to clean up our church property a bit.
I know when I see some of these very faithful retired guys working so
hard, it keeps me from sitting down so much. Ecclesiastes
4:9-12 has a lot to say about this.
It says two together can stay warm- but one person gets cold quicker.
It says if one falls the other can help them up.
It speaks of two people making a natural defense fighting back to back,
while one person is easily overpowered.
I am reminded of this whole idea of synergy.
The person who says the church is useless, must not be a believer in
synergy. The church is more than the sum
of its parts. The old image is that
3 logs together burn bright, but 3 logs separated die out.
MISSIONS- is certainly an illustration of this.
Many people say the church is all about missions.
John Rice- the moderator of the Presbyterian Church years ago rightfully
said, “The Church is a mission society.
Where the church ceases to do missions, it ceases to be the church.”
It is all about making the world a better place. The church may seem
useless if we do not take part in missions, or do not think it is important to
our lives. Maybe we can find
secular organizations who will do similar things.
But secular organizations do not seek
to do the main thing- that is to glorify God.
The church has a responsibility to tell people around it about her Lord.
We are that church. No one
else will do it for us. We can’t
leave it to the Baptists or the missionaries and ministers.
We are all called to be fishers of people- ambassadors for Christ.
We are all called to be his witnesses and to go into all the world.
When the Church ceases to listen to what God says to do- and we sit on
our hands, we forget who our Lord is- and what the term “Lord” means.
If God- our Lord- our boss says go- we need to get going and ask the
questions how and where.
THE SPIRIT is in the church.
In the end, this is all that matters.
If there is no Spirit, the church is indeed useless.
The church is just a bunch of dry rules, and dry hymns, and dry people.
If you do not have the Holy Spirit in you, then this is definitely what
it will seem like. It is a bit like
if you do not have an ear for music, you can’t appreciate it.
But if the music is in you, then you not only can hear, but you want to
hear and join in the song. Someone said
they were looking for a church- they asked what kind of church are you looking
for? One in which if you took the
Holy Spirit out- everyone would notice.
Without the Holy Spirit we are just playing church.
But with the Holy Spirit- lives are changed, people are strengthened,
prayers are answered, and the church begins to breathe.
The Holy Spirit is like the breath, the wind, the soul (the word “breath”
“soul” and “spirit” are the same in Hebrew- Nephesh).
The difference between a body that breathes and a body that is dead is
the breath- the soul being inside.
The difference between a dead body of Christ and a live body of Christ is
the Holy Spirit. People get all
into the signs that the Holy Spirit is there.
The greatest signs are not handling snakes, speaking in tongues, hopping
on pews, falling down in the aisles- as much as obedience to God, and coming to
listen for God’s Word. In fact, the
greatest sign of the Spirit according to Jesus is just gathering together in His
name. Not just for fun or
fellowship but to focus and honor Him and His name.
He said, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name- there am I
in the midst of them.” Where
is God guaranteed? When we come to
worship- He guarantees to meet us there.
WORSHIP IS MEANT TO BE BETTER TOGETHER- It is awfully hard to have
communion by yourself. I guess the person who believes in God sees no benefit to
communion. Many people say they
want to “get” something out of church.
Well the thing is that you only get something out of church- deeply- and
not on the surface- if you put something into it.
The church is NOT- and I want to say this very forcefully- It is not one
more vehicle to be entertained. You
will find better entertainment in sports- music, tv, video games.
That is our competition in terms of time- but not our competition in
terms of ministering to the soul.
Entertainment will not save your soul, it just helps you be numb and cope.
No, entertainment is not our
competition. The church goes much
deeper than that. The church
provides the vehicle to pray and worship and having to do with the living God.
GIVING- The church is useless- if we are thinking about glorifying
ourselves- or just trying to fulfill ourselves.
I would say that is almost the same as marriage.
We live in such a self-centered generation.
Many people think marriage is all about what I can get out of it.
No marriage will last like that.
So it is with church.
If we are trying to be entertained we will not be so pleased.
But if we are trying to give ourselves as Christ gave Himself- we will
find we do not just worship him- but we are his disciples- his followers.
Today is the birthday of the church- Pentecost.
The real question is should the church stay alive or not.
We have the opportunity to kill it, just maintain it, or build it up.
The confirmation class is joining the church.
But statistically- one fourth will not be regular participants in church
this time next year-despite our best efforts.
CS Lewis says this,
“When I became a Christian, years ago, I thought I could do it on my own, by
retiring to my rooms and reading theology and I wouldn’t go to churches…I
disliked very much their hymns which I considered to be fifth rate poems to
sixth rate music. But as I went on
I saw the great merit of it. I came
up against different people of quite different outlooks and different education,
and then gradually my conceit just began peeling off.
I realized the hymns were, nevertheless, being sung with devotion and
benefit by an old saint in elastic-side boots in the opposite pew, and then you
realize that you aren’t fit to clean those boots.
It gets you out of your solitary conceit.