4/17/66

Scripture: Matthew 16: 13-19.

The scripture lesson which was read this morning has had varying interpretations. In it is recorded a conversation that Jesus had with his close disciples. Evidently he felt that the time had come for them to make up their mind as to just who he was. He began by asking them what they had heard from others ---- “who do other people say that I am?” They replied that some seemed to think he was John the Baptist; others thought he was Elijah or Jeremiah or one of the other prophets come to life. “But who do you say that I am?” It was a direct and pointed question. Big, impulsive Simon was the one who spoke up. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” said he. Jesus accepted the answer and the tribute. He called the big fisherman once more by his given name: “Blessed are you, Simon, Son of Jona.” Then he changed his disciple’s name: “I tell you, you are Peter.” With that declaration, the big disciple had a new name, Peter, which means “Rock.” Then Jesus went on: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church -- the powers of death shall not prevail against it.” and “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” And so he went on as if to assign specially important powers to Peter.

There are many people in the Roman Catholic tradition who believe earnestly that this is warrant for their belief that Peter was the first pope. Was he not appointed Christ’s vicar by the Lord Himself, when Christ re-named him and gave him the keys of the kingdom, so to speak?

It is said that Saint Peter’s church, in the Vatican City at Rome, is the largest church edifice in Christendom. In the dome of that church is a huge circle of Latin words, done in capital letters. Translated into English, this is what is written: “Thou art Peter and upon this rock will I build my church.”

We who stand within the Protestant tradition do not relate this saying of Jesus to the papacy. We are among those who think that was farthest from our Lord’s mind. Through much of history, the papal church has been seen as “a proud organization of power, seeking political ends by way of spiritual guidance of souls.” We strongly dissent from the belief that Jesus had any such thing in mind. Our understanding of Jesus’ statement to Peter is that his church is built, in the hearts of believers, upon the rock-like spirit which was seen in Peter.

We live, now, in a time when almost everything is being re-examined by thoughtful people. This is true of the church. Members and non-members alike are looking at it again with an inquiry as to what it means. Ours is a covenant church in which members enter into agreement (covenant) with each other, and with God, to walk together in His holy ways, known to us or yet to be made known. We respect the creeds of the church as great statements of their faith by Christians at certain points in history, but we do not, in the United Church of Christ, require assent, according to any given interpretation, to the creeds. This has been particularly true of the Congregational wing of the UCC. In much of Christendom, however, church members regularly recite, as a statement central to their belief, the Apostle’s Creed. In that creed is the statement: “I believe in the Holy Catholic Church;” that is to say, “in the Holy Universal Christian Church.”

There are many, especially in our nation, who belong to the church. In fact, church membership at something like 60% or more of the population of the United States is at an all-time high. We say, quite naturally, “I belong to the church.” But not everyone will say so firmly, “I believe in the church.”

And so any re-examination of the church, and its meaning for our time, involves asking at least these two questions (and seeking answers): first, “What do we mean by the term church?” and second, “Who needs it?”

I. What is meant by the word church? I suspect that when one hears the name “First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, in Wisconsin Rapids” one thinks of that new building complex overlooking the Wisconsin River at the corner of Second Street South and Birch Street. Perhaps some may think of a particular kind of organization in church government or polity. To some, it may mean the entire body of Christendom -- Protestant, Roman, Orthodox. The word church, in the public mind, is a very flexible word. To some, it is a kind of club or lodge where one finds fellowship with like-minded folk. To some, it may appear to be an effective social agency, existing basically to serve the needs of the poor and the unfortunate --- a sort of “religious arm of the United Fund or Community Chest ---- a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Human Beings.”

Others may think of the church as a religious clinic; a place where people go to get their problems solved. Still others may conceive of the church as a religious gymnasium, where moral and spiritual exercises are available to increase the individual’s moral health. Perhaps some think of the church as a society to perpetuate the memory of Jesus of Nazareth, as the Daughters of the American Revolution perpetuate the memory of the American Revolution. None of these concepts, though they are suggestive, is by itself, adequate when we look at the church through the New Testament.

Our word church comes from Greek words meaning “that which belongs to the Lord” or “the people who belong to the Lord.” One of those Greek words, “ecclesia,” originally meant a gathering of citizens, summoned, or “called out” by a herald to meet in a public place. The word came to be used for any public assembly of people. But the Bible gives a special meaning to the word. In a Greek translation of the Old Testament, there appears the expression, “the ecclesia of God” or “the ecclesia of the Lord.” The idea of the church was familiar to Jesus’ disciples because the Hebrews were already accustomed to “church” --- it was part of their experience. And so there is a definite connection between the modern church and the Old Testament “people of God.” The new church came into being by all that God had done in and through Jesus. Therefore, we may say that the meaning of the word “church,” for us, is “the people or the fellowship of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

One theologian, Emil Brunner, has put it this way: the church consists of the people “who, with him, form a living community as a body with its head, as a vine with its many different branches, the people who because they are united with him, their heavenly Lord, also belong to one another and are dependent upon one another just as the members of a body, and as the vital parts of a vine, are.”

This company of persons, knit together or joined through the person of Christ, may have buildings, organizations, forms of government, officers. But all that is not the church. It is only what the church has. Of course the church can exist without buildings, but only with difficulty. There has to be an external, physical environment. Music is conceived in the mind of the musician. But a symphony orchestra can produce a better interpretation, or performance, of the music in a good building than out on a vacant lot.

The church lives when God opens the eyes of a person to the identity of Jesus of Nazareth. Peter was the first declared believer in Jesus as the Christ. “You are the Christ -- the Messiah” -- he said, “the son of the living God.” The church exists where two or three, or more, recognize Jesus of Nazareth as Lord and Redeemer. Upon the rock of this confession, the church is built. “Thou art Peter, the rock, and upon this rock I will build my church.”

What is the church? The church is the community of those who belong to Christ’s spirit through trust and loyalty. The church is the “body of Christ,” the spiritual body through whom the mind of Christ, the spirit of Christ, the will and heart of Christ, function. It is holy not because it is flawless, for it is not. It is holy because of its origin and purpose; because it is “called out” to be God’s people, Christ’s servants. It is universal, world-embracing. A cynical statement is made that “I believe in the church universal and regret that it does not exist.” But it does exist as a potent reality. It is constantly realizing its unity of purpose and its world-wide nature and mission. Everywhere in the inhabited earth, the church operates, and, increasingly, realizes here unity and mission. This, then, is some of the answer to the question, “What is the church?”

II. The second question to which we address ourselves just now is: “Who needs it?” This could be asked in a flippant tone or in frivolity. Perhaps you know people who are outside organized religion who ask the question seriously: “The church -- who needs it?” Some of these persons are aware of functions that the church once performed that are now cared for by other activities and agencies. There was a time in the early history of our nation when education was a function promoted chiefly by the church. Churches are still interested, vitally, in education. but most formal education is not now church sponsored.

People point to another fact in their questioning. Many communities seem over-organized. There is a club, a fraternal organization, a society, a league, an association, for just about every imaginable interest. There are book clubs, record clubs, gun clubs; fraternal lodges of many varieties; associations for almost every promotable project; youth organization, parent organization, golden age organization; countless societies of like-minded or common-interest people. Somewhere there was published a cartoon showing a lady speaking to a friend on the telephone, and saying: “We’re going to have a New Year’s Eve party for people who hate New Year’s Eve parties.”

So to some people, the church appears to be just another thing to do, another organization to join -- like joining the PTA, the lodge, the community music association, the Red Cross, the Women’s clubs, the political party, the League of Women Voters, the Country Club, the gun club, the conservation club, the Scouts, the bridge club, the reading associates, the engineers society, the dental or medical association, or the ministerial association, the United Nations supporters, the Temperance Union, the Society for the preservation, promotion and improvement of crossword puzzle solving; and so on “ad impossible infinitum!” And the church! Who needs the church? We’ve got enough organizations already! Well, those who need it in some way and are not too greatly involved in other good organizations. In the face of this inquiry, we may still ask the question, seriously, “Who needs the church?” and answer just as seriously, “Every man and woman, every boy and girl needs the church.” Why? Because the church is the gift of God to his people in need.

The church is not just another organization of idealistic people; not just a collection of sincere, or insincere, “do-gooders.” It was not created by a cult of people. In spirit and in truth, the church is created by God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The people in the church, and the men and women who stand outside it, need the church in order to have the new life -- the eternal life which is open to all who receive it by their trusting faith. Soldiers in battle need the church. In a measure, its influence is carried to them by their chaplains and by assurances from their home churches. Veterans of conflict need the church. People in comfort need the church. Lonely folk need the church. Children need it; grandparents need it. Statesmen need it; the jobless and the desperate souls need it. You need it, and I need the church.

And we need to be a regular part of its worship and work. A little girl’s comment was relevant. Her family was on the way to an amusement park on Sunday, for a family outing. On their way to the park beach, they passed by a church building which attracted the little girl’s attention. She was curious about what went on in there, where she could hear the music of an organ, the voices of people singing, and the speaking voice of someone who was, presumably, the pastor. There was quite a family discussion, which the father tried to end by saying, “Oh come on; we can sing hymns and pray and worship God just as well at the beach as we can in church.” “But Daddy,” protested the youngster, “We won’t, will we?” No matter what splendid things a person may do alone, he doesn’t do most of them alone.

Why do men and women, boys and girls, need the church? Because God has made us for Himself -- His ways and His purposes; and we find Him, or are found by Him, best when we consciously respond to His call, and come with others to praise Him, to pray to Him, to listen to His spirit speaking guidance for us through scripture, through sermon, through silence, through the beauty of song. We live fragmented, divided, sometimes torn lives. We need the wholeness which the Gospel offers.

One of the imperfections of the church is that we church people do not always let the Good News get through clearly. There are silences in its transmission. And sometimes, it must be confessed, our expression of the great church is marred by pettiness, cynicism, snobbishness, and what someone has called “unbaptized egotism.” But we depend on the grace of self-criticism to bring us penitent before God, that He may purify His church for His uses.

The naturalist, John Burroughs, said of a sanctuary: “I come here to find myself; it is so easy to get lost in the world.” We come into this sanctuary that we who are so easily lost may be found; that we who so often sin may find forgiveness; that we who are so sore bruised may be healed.

Who needs the church? The community; local, nation-wide, world-wide, needs the church. It is a layman, a businessman, a banker, who was the first lay person to be elected President of the National Council of Churches, Mr. J. Irwin Miller, who had some pointed things to say about the significance of the church in four thousand years of history. He affirms that church people, those who have become aware of God’s requirements and dealings, and have become proclaimers, prophets, of His will, have been speaking to men, and groups of men, about their conduct and behavior, in private life, in public life, group life, national life. Often the speaking is unpleasant to hear, and unwelcome to the hearers. The church, he says, is still speaking today, in this ancient, responsible, parental tradition. No one of us can deny that words of effective warning and reproof are needed. Who is to give the word if not the church?

When one can observe some men of the business world conspiring to violate the law; some leaders of labor gone corrupt, enriched, unchecked; some universities proclaiming high ethical values while illegally recruiting athletes; some scholars perjuring themselves on television programs; can one deny that someone should speak out? Who, if not the church? asks Miller.

These evils are violations of our conditions of employment. They will become our destruction if unchecked. And who is concerned with out lives and our happy survival, if not the church? We can not safely say that the church should keep its nose out of our daily lives, our businesses, our politics. (That is where life goes on!). Throughout its history, Mr. Miller reminds us, the church has been concerned with the whole of man, everything he is, everything he does.

The true community in our nation is in a Christian kind of fellowship. The ruin of the church becomes the ruin of the nation. It is not civilization and culture, not natural resources, not technical brilliance; but only loving concern, selfless sacrificing, that can unite us and keep us strong. This love, Jesus gives us. We receive it, and are nourished by it, in his community.

Who needs the church? Our community --- every community --- needs it if we are to continue knowing justice, brotherliness and true health. It is impressive to note that so many people of deserved prominence -- from astronauts to nominees for community awards -- set a high value on their church membership. From the doors of our churches go people who have found their vision clarified by encounter with God; their sense of Christian citizenship deepened; their ideals fed and watered and made productive. Years ago, William Penn remarked: “Men will ultimately be ruled either by tyrants or by God.”

Who needs the church? The Christian needs the church. The Christian can not be Christian enough without the church, any more than a hand can be a good hand without the other members of the body and its head. Every Christian needs what he can only find with other Christians. We need Christian worship, Christian effort, Christian service, the comfort of the church’s ministry --- the kind of comfort that means “shared strength.” It is a true church that is a “band of brothers” in Christ.

Who needs the church? Reverently, let us say that God needs it. He created it for his creatures. He chose to be known through its members and spokesmen. The “old Israel” and the “new Israel of Christ” are his chosen instruments. He loves it; Christ has loved it. We all need it.

You are William; you are Mary; and, upon the rock of your trust in Christ, he will build his church.

Let us pray: Eternal God, whose Son established the Christian Church in spirit and in truth, even though upon our imperfect lives; let Him win mankind in spite of our shortcomings; and because of our loyalty and love. We pray in His name;

Amen.

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Delivered in Wisconsin Rapids, April 17, 1966.

Also at Waioli Church, April 20, 1975.