Tim Hall is an elder on session at Community Church and one of the featured blog writers for Peak Reflections. Tim will be posting messages that help us think theologically about our faith.
When I was in graduate school, Sheree and I belonged to a rapidly growing church in the Chicago suburb of Evanston. The church’s commitment to excellence in worship, its reputation for grace-filled biblical preaching, and its lively children’s programs attracted well over 2,000 suburbanites. The church also attracted many lost sheep – street people whose presence contrasted sharply with the stained glass surroundings, rich traditional worship, and well-dressed attendees. One homeless man made a weekly habit of walking down the center aisle after the service had begun to take a seat directly in front of the pulpit. He often left early as well. Once, he stood up during the middle of the sermon, faced the pulpit, bowed conspicuously, then turned and strode out.
That incident exemplified for me the spirit of that church. Neither our pastor nor others in the congregation betrayed any reaction that would have made our homeless visitors feel unwelcome. On the contrary, many members went out of their way to extend greetings to such visitors, and the church invited a steady influx of street people by hosting a well-attended soup kitchen every Saturday. The open-hearted love of that congregation also extended beyond the visibly needy; Sheree and I received much needed rest and healing during some very tough years. I’m pleased that we encountered much the same spirit when we came to MPCC.
Jesus once compared the kingdom of God to a man who sent his servant into the “highways and along the hedges,” to bring in everyone he found to a great feast after the invited guests failed to show (Luke 14:23). In Acts 2 that parable became a reality when the first Christians responded to Peter’s preaching at Pentecost. Acts 2:42 tells us that those who received Peter’s words and were baptized that day “continually devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” They also shared freely with each other, even “selling their property and possessions” to meet the needs of their brothers and sisters, and they encouraged and held each other accountable to live as God desired.
The Westminster Confession, our statement of faith, calls these practices “the marks of a true church.” The Bible tells us that as the early Church lived out these marks of authenticity, it looked like a party – going from “house to house,” sharing meals together “with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God, and having favor with all the people.” Life in this New Community was attractive and contagious, drawing more and more people to Jesus every day (read Acts 2:42-45; 5:1-16).
Christ’s Church is a community of lost people who have been found.
Jesus said that there is “joy in the presence of the angels of God” over every sinner who repents (Luke 15:10). The Bible teaches that our faith in Jesus unites us “to Jesus Christ [our] head,” as the Westminster Confession summarizes it, as well as uniting us “to one another in love” (see Ephesians 4:4-16). This living unity gives us a share in “each others’ gifts and graces” and obliges us to exercise those gifts in ways that will contribute to “our mutual good, both in the inward and the outward person.”
We need each other’s help to grow in our Christian life. Yet Acts 2 reminds us that this New Community of the found was never designed to be an exclusive retreat where we focus only inwardly on one another.
A church behaving as God intended becomes Christ’s search party in the world, going persistently wherever lost people can be found, inviting them to share the “gladness and sincerity of heart” we have received, and celebrating with the angels whenever they do so.
Life together in such a radically open community stretches us all beyond our comfort zones. We may have to rub elbows with people we find difficult. We may encounter habits or beliefs that require an extra measure of patience, understanding, wisdom, and love. Yet as we remain faithful and open to God’s full purpose for the Church, we can take even greater comfort in this fact: a community that parties with the angels when lost people are found will also extend healing and grace to poor needy people like you and me.
As we enter this period of transition at MPCC, may we each remember that “we once were lost, but now are found, were blind, but now we see.” May we become even more the kind of place where others find that same grace and love.
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