The Church

The first Hymn that we sung talks about "One Church", but how do we define this? Nearly every ordination that I have attended has incorporated this Hymn as part of the service. Is this to say that the newly ordained are now part of the Church's foundation, where they were not before? When they talk of Church, is it in the sense of "The Church" or a church or in other words, that particular Denomination. I feel that I have been very fortunate in the fact that my University & Seminary education has always been within an ecumenical setting, giving me the opportunity to see things from someone else's perspective, while at the same time not compromising my own position.
When I first began working here at Plymouth Village, I found out that there was a total of sixty-eight separate churches in Redlands, by January of this year it had reached seventy one and now that has become seventy three! Recently the Pope declared that there is only one true church and that is the Roman Catholic church, stating that every other Denomination are in fact communities. Those of you that live here in Plymouth Village, live in a community, and although many of the things that are available here, are similar of what takes place in a church; in no way have any of you been deluded of the fact of regarding Plymouth Village as a church, and yet it is a reflection of the whole church in the vast diversity of Denominations that you represent.
In the scripture reading that I read earlier(Ephesians 4:1-6), it describes to us, the need for the unity in the Body of Christ. As Christians members of different Denominations, we are all members of "The Church"; therefore we are one with Jesus Christ, and within this context we share in our fellowship through unity, but sadly in the 21st Century, rather than being in unity, it is disunity and fragmentation! While we suppose to adhere to the basic fundamentals of our Christian faith we still manage to focus upon our differences, and so creating divisions within the Body of Christ.
We have hope: the hope that exists in Christ Jesus. While we continue to come together with all our idiosyncrasies, we attempt to maintain "the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace". But even though we come together in the breaking of the bread, our brokenness is ever present in the sinful nature that encapsulates us, as Christ was broken upon the cross, so we are broken, while Christ has paid the price for our sins, yet in perfect as we are, we seek the perfection of Jesus Christ, and continuing to fall short of God's glory. While we all try to live out the call of God we have each received as children of the Promise, the ever lasting embrace of the love of Christ, yet we need to mature in our unification with each other and "speak the truth in love", otherwise we will ensue on a road of destruction.
While as humans there is a false sense of expectation that we can eventually come to total agreement; but the real truth is, we need to work on coming to a position of acceptance, where our understanding is developed and unity truly takes place.But as history has shown us, the human side of us to be unaccepting to what is different to our own position, forces us all into that narrow denominational box, and so already we begin to represent the Body of Christ as a broken body, and this seeps into the same Denomination, even the same fellowship of believers; where we dare to call ourselves a Church, one that represents Christ. But for us to be a representative of the Body of Christ; there is an expectation of responsibility; that of not just "taking" in our wiliness to accept, but in our "giving" in the way we attempt to ourselves within the Body of Christ, fulfilling the responsibility to each and for each other. We have not been called into Isolation, but into fellowship. On this very basis, the life of any particular church becomes recognizably and distinctively Christian when it is marked by this undertaking of responsibility for each other. Only Jesus Christ can stand for the whole human race, exercising that representative role which changes what is possible. What remains for Christ's church is the work of nourishment and mutual dependence. One of our responsibilities is to show the convictions of our Christian faith.
The vision continues to be a struggle in our 21st Century contemporary world. The idea of mutual tolerance is regarded as one of the highest virtues, yet it rests upon the decision to co-exist together, then I feel we have missed the understanding of truly what the Body of Christ is about, which leads us to live in a world of plurality, which is always accompanied by consumerist mentality of offering Cafe' Christianity.
Being in the Body of Christ is an ethical matter, as well as an ecclesial theme. If we fail to be the former, we fail to have credibility as the latter. As we take on the responsibility, we need to focus upon the means of Grace which allows us to see more of the truth to show capability to respond with greater freedom and transforming love, a love that comes from Christ himself and therefore through this, we are able to find unity of hope in him.
In John 13:35, Jesus said: "that the world would know that we are his disciples by the love that we have for one another".While it is perfectly okay to have differences of opinion, we must continue to work together for the glorify God and expand his kingdom. As The Church, we need to look at ourselves, we need to look at our churches, and we also need to look at each other and decide. Those of us who are united in Christ, are not enemies with one another regardless of our Denominational affiliation, but regardless of how proud we may be to represent the church from that perspective, we must remind ourselves that when we get to heaven, there is going to be no Catholic section, Anglican section, Presbyterian section or Baptist section; but simply the throne of God.
I will conclude this point with a poem which underlines this:
Around the table gathered, we
Are one in sweet community,
For Christ has ransomed one and all
Who answer to his loving call.
We worship God in many ways;
We celebrate on different days;
But Jesus is the guiding star
For Christians near and Christians far.
God's plan for us is seldom clear;
We may a different drummer hear;
Yet, if we study and we pray,
The kingdom will be ours some day.
So let us vow to never fight
About who's wrong and who is right
Concerning truths we cannot know
That turn our Christian friend to foe.
And let our worship fit our needs;
Let us unite in Christian deeds;
May we God's love and mercy show
To those who don't the Savior know.
(Preached by myself at Vespers Service,Plymouth Village,Redlands,California.Friday July 27th).