Jesus is Lord!

 Jesus Is Lord!

Revelation 1:4-18[1]

If anyone happened to pay attention to the bulletin or the PowerPoint and noticed that today is designated “Christ the King” Sunday, I’m not sure that would mean much. The only “royalty” we pay much attention to these days is the British royal family. But they’re really not much more than “cultural icons” as Wikipedia calls them. They’re known for their wealth and celebrity. They function as figureheads with no real authority or power to do much of anything. The best of them use their position to advocate for good causes; the others are infamous for their family drama. If that’s our image of what it means to be a “King,” it’s no wonder observing this day as “Christ the King” Sunday gets passed over without much notice.

Nevertheless, the image of God reigning over all things as “King” is one that is central to the Bible, as our Psalm lesson for today reminds us. It is an affirmation that, regardless of who may hold power in this world, God is the one who ultimately determines the outcomes in the end. That, too, may be a problem for us. We see a lot of outcomes in this world that seem to be contrary to God’s ways. It may be all too easy to assume that God’s power isn’t what it’s cracked up to be, or perhaps God may not be paying attention, or maybe he’s just taking a long nap. Meanwhile, the world continues to go on as it always has. The rich get richer and might makes right.

Our lesson from the book of Revelation for today addresses this question. In the first-century world, Christians had to face this challenge in a similar way that we do. The ultimate power in their day was the Roman Empire, and any time anyone questioned that power, they were met with brutal violence. The presence of vast and powerful Roman armies throughout the world of that day constantly reminded people where “true” power was. And Roman Governors like Pontius Pilate didn’t hesitate to unleash the soldiers on unarmed crowds of men, women, and children to keep a firm grip on their power. The problem for believers in that day was that they confessed their faith that “Jesus is Lord” in their worship! And yet, all around them were images that contradicted that faith. 

I believe the book of Revelation was written to remind those Christians that at the heart of their faith was a very different vision of what life is about. It’s a vision of the one who sits on the throne, who bends everything that happens, both evil and good, toward his purposes. To convey this image, our lesson speaks of God as “the Alpha and the Omega,” the one “who is and who always was and who is still to come,” and “the Almighty” (Rev. 1:8). This description of God is full of implications, but essentially, it’s a reminder that God is the one who sits on the throne of the universe, and it is his rule that will ultimately define all things and everyone in the end. It’s a reminder that “Our God is an awesome God; he reigns from heaven above; with wisdom, power, and love; our God is an awesome God.”[2] That remains true regardless of what we see or who claims to hold power here and now.

The Book of Revelation also speaks of the one who stands at God’s right hand: “Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead” (Rev. 1:5). Again, there’s a whole theology about Jesus packed into that phrase, and it takes the rest of Revelation to explain. One of the most important images of Jesus in the Book of Revelation is that he is the lamb who was slain and who has triumphed through his death. As in our day, so also in that day, “triumphing through death” didn’t make much sense. And it still doesn’t. Sacrificing one’s life the way Jesus did would seem to be weakness, not power. But the Scripture contradicts that point of view by proclaiming that, because of his death and resurrection, Jesus is “the ruler of the kings of the earth” (Rev. 1:5). All the kings of the earth! Because of his death and resurrection, he alone has the right to rule over all the so-called “powers” of this world. And he rules over the “kingdom of this world,” and the promise is that “he shall reign forever and ever” (Rev. 11:15) as we know from the familiar oratorio “The Messiah”!

At the heart of the Christian faith is a vision of a reality that directly opposes the visions of power in our present world. God reigns over all things by the power of his love. And Jesus demonstrates that power by working in each of our lives to transform this world into “the kingdom of our Lord” (Rev. 11:15). At the heart of our faith is the conviction that this ultimate reality, God’s reign in and through our lives through Jesus our Lord, is the true reality that defines all of life. This reality, the reign of Jesus Christ as Lord, exposes the falsehood of all the boastful claims of the rich and powerful in our day. And the promise is that one day the reign of Jesus Christ as Lord will overthrow all the false powers in our world and bring true peace, justice, and freedom to everyone!

I guess the question we have to answer is whether this vision is more convincing than what pretends to be true in our world. Things haven’t changed much since the First Century. But the real question we have to address here is where we place our faith. As a recent lesson from the Psalms reminds us, if we place our faith in “mortals,” no matter how powerful they may seem, we find that in them “there is no help” (Ps. 146:3). The Scriptures call us to place our faith in the God who is working right now to establish his kingdom and his justice, peace, and freedom for all peoples everywhere. The Scriptures call us to place our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord, the one who by his death and resurrection exposed the lie of those who abuse their power in this world. The Scriptures call us to place our faith in our Savior who lives and reigns for all time and unto all eternity. And the Scriptures tell us that one day all creation will worship him as Lord of all.

I think we need that kind of “bigger picture” perspective for our faith in these days.[3] It’s all too easy for us, especially when we go through hard times, to think nobody’s paying any attention, nobody really knows or cares. If God did, why would this happen? But as a good friend reminded me once when I was going through a hard time, nothing that we have to go through in this life escapes God’s notice. God always pays careful attention to each one of our lives, because that’s the nature of who God is. That’s the nature of his love for us. When all we see reinforces the appearance that power in this world comes from force, or intimidation, or wealth, it can be discouraging to those of us trying to live out our Christian faith, hope, and love.

But the Bible gives us a different image of power: it’s the image of the all-powerful God who created all things in the beginning. It’s the image of the God who entered this world in the person of Jesus to redeem us all with the power of love on the cross. It’s the image of the power of new life defeating the power of death on Easter Sunday. It’s the image of Jesus reigning as Lord even now over all the “powers” in our world. It’s the image of that reign fulfilled one day “on earth as it is in heaven.” What that means for us is that one day all the wrongs of this world will be set right, and all that we have to suffer in this world will be turned to good. That’s the nature of Jesus’ reign as Lord. And the promise is that Jesus shall reign as Lord like this “forever and ever”! Amen!

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[1] © 2024 Alan Brehm.  A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm PhD on 11/24/2024 for Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman NE.

[2] Rich Mullins, “Our God is an Awesome God,” 1988, BMG Songs, Inc.

[3] Cf. Richard Bauckham, Theology of the Book of Revelation, 31, where he says that the “vision of God’s sovereignty in heaven” is what “makes it possible for John to enlarge his readers’ perspective on their own situation by setting it within the broader context of God’s universal purpose of overcoming all opposition to his rule and establishing his kingdom in the world.” This reign of God is “the true reality which must in the end also prevail on earth.”

All Authority

 All Authority

Matthew 28:16-20[1]

Many of us grew up in a time when authority was either being questioned or flat out rejected. The scandals that broke open during the 1960’s and 1970’s rocked our confidence in all authority figures, from top to bottom. The “Pentagon Papers” demonstrated that the US government had secretly provided funding for the Vietnam war going back to the time of President Truman. And they proved that President Johnson had lied to Congress and to the American people about the level of US military involvement. Of course, all of this led up to the Watergate scandal, where President Nixon conspired with those who organized the burglary of the Democratic National headquarters. Needless to say, in the wake of all that, people’s confidence in authority figures—all authority figures—was shaken.

Fast forward to the present time, and the pace of change, along with a fear of unknown “threats” in our world is driving people in this country to seek safety at the hands of authoritarian figures. This is a global trend, as people all over the world are putting their faith, their hopes, and their longing for security in the hands of leaders like Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Recep Erdogan, Viktor Orban, and Narendra Modi.[1] Having lived through both eras—the time of questioning authority, and this time of turning to human authoritarian figures for security—has been more than ironic to me. I have to wonder at people’s ability to so quickly forget their own recent past.

That might seem like a strange way to introduce a sermon on Trinity Sunday. The reason is that I want to call attention to the way that our lesson from Matthew’s Gospel concentrates God’s authority in the person of the risen and living Jesus. When he appeared to his disciples on a mountain in Galilee, he said to them something that would have been startling for them. And it should still catch our attention today: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Mt 28:18). We’re used to hearing that language because it’s part of the “Great Commission.” But in that day, “all authority” belonged to God. Any human being claiming “all authority in heaven and on earth” would have been viewed as directly contradicting God’s authority.

I think what made the difference is that it was the risen and living Jesus who made this startling claim. They had seen him die, and they had seen him alive more than once after he rose from the dead. It was the resurrection that confirmed that it was God who had given him this authority. I think Matthew means for us to remember the “tempter” had taken Jesus up on a “very high mountain” and offered him “all the kingdoms of the world and their glory” (Mt 4:8). As I mentioned earlier when we looked at that passage, I don’t believe they were the “tempter’s” to give. But here, in response to the fact that Jesus had “fulfilled all righteousness” as Matthew’s Gospel puts it, in other words he had carried out God’s plan to “set right” all things and all people by his death and resurrection, God himself had given all authority to Jesus. And there is no contradiction whatsoever between the biblical affirmation that all authority belongs to God, and that God has given that authority to Jesus Christ.

One reason for that is because Jesus uses that authority to carry out God’s purpose in the world. Of course, that goes against the norm in our day. In our world, “power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”[3] But Jesus used the authority given to him by God not for his own ends, but to promote the peace, justice, and freedom of God’s kingdom. And he continues to use the authority given by God to “unite all things” (Eph 1:10, RSV), to “make peace with all things” (Col 1:20), and to fulfill God’s work of “making all things new” (Rev 21:5). And at the end of it all, Paul said that Jesus would surrender all authority back to God, so that God “will be utterly supreme over everything everywhere” (1 Cor 15:28, NLT), bringing the new life of God’s kingdom to everyone and everything!

All of that may seem overwhelming to us “normal folks.” But I think that Matthew wanted those who would read and hear his Gospel to come away from the story of Jesus with complete confidence that they had entrusted their lives into the hands of one who would not only be “God-who-is-with” them, but also one who had God’s own authority to empower them to carry out the task of making disciples of all nations. You may remember that in my sermon last week I said that it is the Spirit who empowers us. But we should note something about the way the New Testament speaks about God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Here, all of God’s authority is concentrated in Jesus; elsewhere we see it concentrated in the Father, or in the Spirit. And again, the first Christians could affirm all three without any contradiction. As John Calvin says it, (but not quite this succinctly), Trinity is how God operates in the world![4]

I think the point of all this was to inspire confidence in those who would follow Jesus in a world that remains set against the peace, justice, and freedom of God’s kingdom. And part of the assurance lies in the promise that “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Mt 28:20). We can be confident because Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord is the one to whom God has entrusted “authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world” (Dan 7:13, NLT) as well as over “everything in heaven and on earth, everything seen and unseen, including all forces and powers, and all rulers and authorities” (Col 1:16, NLT). And the promise is that “His rule is eternal—it will never end” (Dan 7:14, NLT).

In this world where we see so many people looking to authoritarian figures to provide them with safety, hope, and confidence about the future, I think we would do well to remember what the Psalmist said, “Don’t put your confidence in powerful people; … . When they breathe their last, … all their plans die with them.” (Ps 146:3-4, NLT). Rather, we look to Jesus, to whom God has entrusted “all authority.” We look to him for our confidence, because the one with “all authority in heaven and on earth” will empower us to carry out the work of God’s kingdom. We look to him for our ultimate safety, because his rule is eternal, and his kingdom will have no end. His rule is God’s rule, and he works to accomplish no other kingdom than God’s kingdom. In this world full of people who would claim our hearts and minds with their empty promises, their selfish use of power to benefit themselves, and their inevitable personal corruption, we can look to the one who rules with true authority, all the authority of God.

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[1] © 2023 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm PhD on 6/4/2023 for Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.

[2] Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries, “Why the World Is Attracted to Neo-Authoritarian Leaders,” INSEAD, 26 Sep 2022; accessed at https://knowledge.insead.edu/leadership-organisations/why-world-attracted-neo-authoritarian-leaders

[3] Famously penned by Lord John Dalberg-Acton, Letter to Mandell Creighton (5 April 1887), referring to the declaration by Pope Pius IX of the Roman Catholic dogma of papal infallibility. He said, “I cannot accept your canon that we are to judge Pope and King unlike other men, with a favorable presumption that they did no wrong. If there is any presumption it is the other way against holders of power, increasing as the power increases. … Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. … There is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder of it. That is the point at which … the end learns to justify the means.” Cf. Historical Essays and Studies, by John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton (1907), edited by John Neville Figgis and Reginald Vere Laurence, Appendix, p. 504. Accessed at http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lord_Acton.

[4] Cf. especially John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, I.13.17, where he quotes Gregory of Nazianzus (4^th Century), “I cannot think on the one without quickly being encircled by the splendor of the three; nor can I discern the three without being straightway carried back to the one.”

Honoring Jesus

Honoring Jesus

Acts 3:12-19[1]

It seems to me that “honor” is one of those words that has lost some ground in our society. To be sure, there are places where honor still plays a role, like the military. And Scouts pledge on a weekly basis “on their honor” to do their best. But the scandals that have rocked our society in recent history have diminished the honor we attribute to our leaders and those who serve our country. After Watergate, Iran-Contra, Whitewater, Tailhook, and others, the honor with which we esteem leaders even at the highest levels in our society has seriously eroded. The fact that many of our leaders are to be addressed as “honorable” may stick in our throats when we try to say it.

On the other hand, there are aspects of our life where honor still plays a role. We seek to honor our parents, especially when they get older and need help. We honor those who retire from positions after many years of faithful service. Around here, we honor those who have served our church faithfully for many decades. We also have a tradition of honoring those who work behind the scenes with little public recognition with our annual “Church Mouse” award. Of course, there are also other community leaders that we respect and honor for their integrity, their devotion, and their passion for their work. It’s a joy to be able to hold those who serve and lead in our communities in honor.

I find it interesting that the story of the early church in Acts is recounted in a way that essentially honors Jesus as the source, the inspiration, and the driving force behind everything they did. Many of the amazing things that they did they attributed to the power of Jesus’ name. In our lesson for today, Peter says it this way: “by faith in [Jesus’] name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you” (Acts 3:16). When the people tried to honor the Apostles for their astounding deeds of mercy, they consistently pointed the crowds to Jesus.

It may be difficult to understand this theme, but I think essentially they were talking about the fact that, as our lesson for today puts it, “the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus” (Acts 3:13). Again, the idea of “glorifying” someone is not all that common in our world today. If we use the concept at all, it has a negative connotation, as in someone who is only interested in glorifying themselves. In my mind, however, what was going on in our lesson is that through the early Church God was publicly honoring Jesus, whom the Jewish leaders had subjected to a humiliating death.

This is but one way in which the Church saw themselves bearing witness to Jesus as our Savior and Lord. When you read the book of Acts closely, I think it becomes clear that their witness was a combination of words and deeds that promoted the new life in Christ as well as a lifestyle that publicly demonstrated the reality of that new life. The gospel they proclaimed was that through Jesus Christ God was in the process of bringing new life to all people.^[2] And those first believers saw themselves as a community that was already experiencing the new life of the resurrected Jesus. What made their witness so effective at honoring Jesus was the combination of their message with their life.

Our lesson for today recounts a story in which that new life took a very tangible form.  It is a story of the Apostles Peter and John healing a man who was crippled from birth, so that he “jumped up” and began “walking and leaping and praising God” (Acts 3:8)! Obviously that kind of thing would make a great stir.  But what we should not overlook is the fact that everything about the first Christians’ life together demonstrated this gift of new life. When they devoted themselves to their fellowship with one another, it enhanced their experience of the new life in Christ.  When they shared their possessions with one another help the needy, it made God’s promise to renew all things a reality. When they lived and worked in the harmony of “one heart and mind,” it demonstrated the new life the Spirit had given them.

Many will debate the truth of a miracle story like this. But I think to do so is to miss the greater truth: everything about the early Church’s life together bore witness that in Jesus the Christ God was fulfilling all the great promises of restoration and renewal and new life. The quality of their life and work served as evidence that the “wonderful times of refreshment” were already coming “from the presence of the Lord” and that “the final restoration of all things” that “God promised long ago through his prophets” was already in the process of being fulfilled (Acts 3:20-21, NLT). And all of this was intended to honor Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

I think one of the most important ways we can demonstrate honor in our personal lives is by seeking to line up our lives with our faith. It’s a matter of doing what St. Paul said when he urged us to “lead lives worthy of the Lord” (Col. 1:10). He put it a little differently when he said, “whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Col. 3:17). As I tell the confirmation class every year, if we truly seek to live out the question “What would Jesus do?” I don’t think we’ll go too far astray. Again, the idea here is that by our words as well as our actions we are to bring honor to Jesus. We are called to show forth by our whole lives the new life we have received. And as we do so, hopefully we do it in such a way as to bring honor to our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ.

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[1] ©2018 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm on 4/15/2018 at Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.

[2] Cf. Diana Butler Bass, Christianity for the Rest of Us, 110-111, where she speaks of shalom as “God’s dynamic wholeness” that is the “central vision” of the Bible.

Ruler of All

Ruler of All

Revelation 1:4-8, 12-13, 17-18[1]

Like people of all times and place, our notions of power are defined by our experiences in life. Our culture is a pragmatic one: we tend to believe in what “works,” regardless of whether it’s “right” or “true.” Even before President Teddy Roosevelt said that we should “speak softly, and carry a big stick,”[2] we were already caught up in the quest for bigger and better weapons. These days, it would seem that an equally important part of our notion of power is that “money talks.” I think that’s something of an understatement. I think what we really mean is that money backs people into a corner so that they have no choice but to give in. I can’t say I find too much to admire about the “power brokers” of our world.

But I think that even though we have a tendency to be dazzled by big sticks and lots of money, many of us know where power really lies. It’s not found in boardrooms of corporations, but rather in households around the country, where people share the most powerful means of change there is: love. True power is found in what St. Paul calls the “weapons of righteousness” (2 Cor. 6:6-7): kindness, truth, sacrifice, and the power of God. Despite our fascination with what masquerades as power in our world, God’s ways always have been and always will be the true power in this world.

Our lesson from the Book of Revelation for today touches upon that idea. In the first place, it speaks of our God as “the Alpha and the Omega,” the one “who is and who was and who is to come,” and “the Almighty” (Rev. 1:8). This description of God is full of implications, but essentially, it is a reminder that God is the one who sits on the throne of the universe and it is his rule that will ultimately define all things and everyone.[3] It’s a reminder that “Our God is an awesome God; he reigns from heaven above; with wisdom, power, and love; our God is an awesome God.”[4]  

Alongside that image is another one that is equally important. Revelation also speaks of the one who stands at God’s right hand: “Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead” (Rev. 1:5). Again, there is a whole theology about Jesus packed into that phrase, and it takes the rest of Revelation to explain. One of the most important images of Jesus in the Book of Revelation is that his is the lamb who was slain and who has triumphed through his death. As in our day, so also in that time, sacrificing one’s life was seen as weakness, not power. But the Scripture contradicts that point of view by proclaiming that, as a result of his death and resurrection, Jesus is “the ruler of the kings of the earth” (Rev. 1:5).[5]

In the first-century world, Christians had to face alternative visions of what life is all about just like we do.  The ideal in their day was defined by Rome, and it was a dream of power through conquest, exploitation, and domination.[6]  The presence of Roman legions throughout the Mediterranean world constantly reinforced that vision. That posed a significant temptation for the Christians of the day.[7]  Some of them had been excluded from families who could not fathom why anyone would turn their backs on the culture of power and glory, prosperity and success, and its “family values”. In their worship, the central affirmation was: “Jesus is Lord”! And yet, all around them were images that contradicted their faith. 

So the book of Revelation was written to remind those Christians that at the heart of their faith was a very different vision of what life is all about.[8] It is a vision of the one who sits on the throne, who bends everything that happens, both evil and good, toward his purposes.[9] It is also a vision of the lamb who overcame all the so-called “powers” of the world by dying.  And because of his death and resurrection, he alone has the right to rule over all the earth.  And he is the one who will one day make the “kingdom of the world” into the kingdom of our Lord, and “he shall reign forever and ever” (Rev. 11:15)!

At the heart of the Christian faith is a vision of a reality that is more true than our present world defined by power that takes the form of violence and greed.  What’s more, at the heart of the Christian faith is the conviction that this ultimate reality is already present and working in our lives—it already undermines all the boastful claims of the rich and powerful.[10]   And the promise is that one day this ultimate reality, the reign of Christ, will overthrow all the false powers in our world and all people will beat their swords into ploughshares and the wolf and the lamb will lie down together (Isaiah 2:4; 11:6)!

I guess the question we have to answer is whether this vision is more convincing than what pretends to be power in our world. Things haven’t changed much—we can be just as deceived by grandiose displays as the people of that day. But the real question we have to address here is where we place our faith. If we place our faith in “chariots,” the Scripture reminds us that they will “collapse and fall” (Ps. 20:7-8). If we place our faith in “mortals,” no matter how powerful they may seem, we find that in them “there is no help” (Ps. 146:3). The Scriptures call us to place our faith in the God who is working right now to establish his kingdom and his justice, peace, and freedom for all peoples everywhere.[11] They call us to place our faith in Christ as our Lord, the one who exposed the sham of those who pretend to have power in this world by his death and resurrection. They call us to place our faith in our Savior who lives and reigns for all time. And one day he will be acknowledged by all creation as the “ruler of all."

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[1] © 2015 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm on 11/22/2015 at Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.

[2] Theodore Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography, 522

[3] Cf. Richard Bauckham, The Theology of the Book of Revelation, 27, regarding the designations “First and Last” and “Alpha and Omega,” says, “God precedes all things, as their Creator, and he will bring all things to eschatological fulfillment. He is the origin and goal of all history. He has the first word, in creation, and the last word, in new creation.” Cf. Eugene M. Boring, Revelation, 75: “God is named as the one whose being and whose acts embrace all time.”

[4] Rich Mullins, “Our God is an Awesome God,” 1988, BMG Songs, Inc. Even though I take issue with the theology expressed in the verses of this popular song, I think the refrain is a sound expression of what the book of Revelation was seeking to convey.

[5] Cf. Bauckham, Theology of the Book of Revelation, 73, “Fundamental to Revelation’s whole understanding of the way in which Christ establishes God’s kingdom on earth is the conviction that in his death and resurrection Christ has already won his decisive victory over evil.”  Cf. also Boring, Revelation, 76, where he says that this phrase “attributes to Jesus the title claimed by the Roman Caesars, whose claim to sovereignty John wants his readers to see as a false caricature of the real lordship of Christ.”

[6] Cf. Bauckham, Theology of the Book of Revelation, 34, “The Roman Empire, like most political powers in the ancient world, represented and propagated its power in religious terms. … In this way it absolutized its power, claiming for itself the ultimate, divine sovereignty over the world.” I would say that all empires throughout history, even those in the present day, engage in this propaganda to some extent.

[7] Cf. Boring, Revelation, 8-23, where he summarizes the challenges faced by Christian communities in the Roman Empire, including being caught up in Roman wars, social and economic discrimination, and the pressure to take part in the worship of the Emperor as a test of loyalty.

[8] Cf. Bauckham, Theology of the Book of Revelation, 7: “The effect of John’s visions, one might say, is to expand his readers’ world, both spatially (into heaven) and temporally (into the eschatological future), or, to put it another way, to open their world to divine transcendence. The bounds which Roman power and ideology set to the readers’ world are broken open and that world is seen as open to the greater purpose of its transcendent Creator and Lord.” Contrast Christopher C. Rowland, “The Book Of Revelation,” New Interpreters Bible XII: “Apocalypse demands a break from our present way of looking at things. It offers an alternative perspective—though not the authoritative, definitive statement for which we crave—that requires the recipient who understands to bear witness.”

[9] Cf. Bauckham, Theology of the Book of Revelation, 31, where he says that the “vision of God’s sovereignty in heaven” is what “makes it possible for John to enlarge his readers’ perspective on their own situation by setting it within the broader context of God’s universal purpose of overcoming all opposition to his rule and establishing his kingdom in the world.” This reign of God is “the true reality which must in the end also prevail on earth.” Thus Bauckham can also say, (ibid., 40), “The whole of Revelation could be regarded as a vision of the fulfilment of the first three petitions of the Lord’s prayer: ‘Your name be hallowed, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matt. 6:9-10).”

[10] Jürgen Moltmann, The Church in the Power of the Spirit, 99: “with Jesus’ resurrection from the dead the power of death and all the domination built up on the threat of death have already been overthrown and their end is already in sight.” Cf. also ibid., 190-91.

[11] Cf. Shirley C. Guthrie, Always Being Reformed, 69-70, where he insists that confessing Jesus as “the way, the truth, and the life,” means that “he is the expression of God’s love not just for Christian believers but for all humanity, on one in whom God was at work to reconcile the whole world to himself. He came not to give his followers everything they wanted to be happy, successful, and secure now and forever, but to announce and usher in the worldwide reign of God’s justice and compassion for everyone.”

(Not) Building the Church

(Not) Building the Church

Matthew 16:13-20; Romans 12:1-8[1]  

When most people think of “church” these days, I would venture to say that many of them have some not so positive thoughts. Some people have been burned by a church, and will never return. Others have simply lost interest, and have decided to spend their time doing something more “useful.” Those who are still active in church tend to look church in one of two ways. Some see the way things are done these days and bemoan the loss of the “good old days.” Others see the church as a community that is losing its influence in our culture, and want to change things to stave off the threat of becoming a “relic” of bygone days.

It seems that there are a lot of people out there who have the “answer” about what the church needs to survive and to thrive in the 21^st Century world. Some think it depends on having the right kind of music in worship. Others think it’s a matter of keeping up with the latest technology. Others insist that we need to implement the right evangelism program. Others find the answer in a thriving education program. And a whole lot of people think that if they can just find the right pastor who can wave his magic wand things will turn around. All of these ideas are good--well all except the last one. There is no magic wand that I or any other pastor can use to revitalize a church. But many of the ideas people are promoting in order to help build up the church these days are helpful. And yet at the end of the day they leave out what I think are the most important dimensions of what it takes to help churches thrive in our day.

I think we find one of them in our Gospel lesson. The centuries-long debate between the Catholic and Protestant branches of the church about whether Peter is the foundation of the church has missed the point. Regardless of whether you define the “rock” upon which the church is built as Peter, or Peter’s confession of faith, or something else altogether, it seems more important to me that Jesus said “I will build my church” (Matt. 16:18).[2] The bottom line here is that Jesus is the one who builds the church, not me, or you, or anybody else. If that is the case, then “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain” (Ps. 127:1).

That reminds me of something St. Paul said about his ministry. The church at Corinth had become divided by their loyalties to different teachers. But Paul says that all those teachers were just workers in God’s field. One plants, another waters, and another one reaps the harvest. But the vital perspective on whether or not there is a harvest at all is that God is the one who “gives the growth” (1 Cor. 3:7). We can discuss strategies and programs all day long until we’re blue in the face, but unless we look to God to give the growth, I daresay we’re just spinning our wheels.

So how do we do that? How do we promote the well-being and growth of this congregation by looking to Jesus to build his church? I think this introduces the second important dimension to what it takes to help churches thrive in our day and time. At its core, this kind of work is spiritual work. It’s not organizational, it’s not programmatic, it’s not marketing. It’s spiritual work. It’s true that organizational health, robust programming, and even good marketing are important. But at the end of the day, building the church requires that we do everything we do in the recognition that God is the one who gives the growth, and so we have to seek to align our hearts and minds and lives with God.

I think that’s something of what St. Paul was talking about in our New Testament lesson for today. He urged the church at Rome to “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” (Rom. 12:1). He called them to be “transformed” in their minds and hearts so that their lives might reflect “the will of God--what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12:2).[3] This is at heart a spiritual endeavor, one that we can undertake only by spiritual means.[4] When we incorporate prayer, worship, scripture, service, and witness into our daily lives, then we will experience the transforming work of God that can renew our congregation.[5]

This work is not the calling of just one person--the pastor--or even a few--the elders and deacons. This is the work of the whole body. And so St. Paul urges the congregation at Rome to exercise their unique and varied gifts “according to the measure of faith that God has assigned” (Rom. 12:3) and “according to the grace given to us” (12:6). Building the church in our day and time is something that takes all the talents and abilities that each of us has to offer. That’s what it takes for us to be the body of Christ, to be a community defined by faith, hope, love, and witness.[6]

In a very real sense, building the church isn’t something we do at all, it’s something that God does through us. But I don’t think God builds congregations regardless of whether they take their role as the body of Christ seriously. Our practice of spiritual disciplines is empowered by our faith, our hope, and most importantly, the mutual love which transforms our hearts and minds so that God can create growth through us. The Gospels tell us that Jesus recognized his need for a spiritual practice in his life in order to carry out his mission. How much more do we need to look to God to transform our lives and empower our work. How much more do we need to look to God to give the growth. How much more do we need to seek the presence of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ to build his church.

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[1] ©2014 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm on 8/24/2014 at Hickman Presbyterian Church in Hickman, NE.

[2] Cf. M. Jack Suggs, “Matthew 16:13-20,” Interpretation 39 (July 1985):294, “In spite of weaknesses and failures of faith, Peter is the Rock—heroic, but flawed. Perhaps it is only with blemishes that he can be the prototypical disciple, the reminder that there is recovery beyond failure, even the reminder that the final guarantee of the church's life is not the foundation at all but the One who says, ‘I will build my church.’” Cf. similarly, M. Eugene Boring, “The Gospel of Matthew,” New Interpreters Bible VIII:345.

 [3] Cf. Paul J. Achtemeier, Romans, 194: “Grace brings with itself specific structures. It brings with itself the power to reshape and restructure our lives in a way appropriate for life under the lordship of God.”

[4] Cf. The Book of Order 2011-2013, F-1.304, p. 5, which summarizes the calling of the church in “The Great Ends of the Church,” which was adopted by the United Presbyterian Church of North America in 1910: the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind; the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God; the maintenance of divine worship; the preservation of the truth; the promotion of social righteousness; and the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world

[5] Cf. Jürgen Moltmann, The Church in the Power of the Spirit, 306-7, where identifies the “essentials” as kerygma [proclaiming the gospel], koinonia [fellowship], and diakonia [service].

[6] Cf. The Book of Order 2011-2013, F-1.030, p. 2: “The Church is the body of Christ. Christ gives to the Church all the gifts necessary to be his body. The Church strives to demonstrate these gifts in its life as a community in the world (1 Cor. 12:27–28):
The Church is to be a community of faith, entrusting itself to God alone, even at the risk of losing its life.
The Church is to be a community of hope, rejoicing in the sure and certain knowledge that, in Christ, God is making a new creation. This new creation is a new beginning for human life and for all things. The Church lives in the present on the strength of that promised new creation.
The Church is to be a community of love, where sin is forgiven, reconciliation is accomplished, and the dividing walls of hostility are torn down.
The Church is to be a community of witness, pointing beyond itself through word and work to the good news of God’s transforming grace in Christ Jesus its Lord.”