What does it mean to be God’s Church? That is, God’s people, literally ’called out’ of the world. Why should we meet regularly with other believers in this place? What do we think we’re doing when we gather here Sunday after Sunday?
Perhaps you’ve never really stopped to think about those sorts of questions. Your answer might be that we’ve always done it: ’as it was in the beginning so now and ever shall be.’ You might want to say we meet together as God’s church because that’s what we are and that’s what God’s church does. Some of our younger members might say they only come because their parents make them!
Others who, perhaps, think more theologically might say they come here to worship. After all, that’s what many of our songs say isn’t it? "Here I am to Worship;" "Be still for the presence of the Lord is here;" Blessed be your name;" "Glory and Honour to God." And of course they’d be right. One of the things we do when we gather together is to worship God. But then if that were all we were doing then some people would suggest, in fact have suggested, that they can do that just as well by themselves down at the beach or out in the bush, or working in the garden. And they might be right because every part of life should be bringing worship to God.
But I want to suggest to you today that there’s a lot more to our meeting together than just our worship of God, although what I’m going to suggest to you will in fact enhance that worship. I want to concentrate mainly on the passage we just read from Hebrews 10, but I will also jump to other parts of the New Testament as we go through the passage.
The first thing we need to notice from Heb 10 is that the temple is no longer relevant as the focus of worship. We’re told Jesus has done away with the need to come week after week to offer sacrifices for sins. He’s offered a single offering, once for all, making us perfect in God’s sight. Jesus has opened the way for each of us into God’s heavenly sanctuary. Now we can worship God wherever we are. So the physical building isn’t the issue. Do you remember what Jesus said to the woman of Samaria? "The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. 24God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:23-24) So worship may be central to all we do, but it isn’t a sufficient reason to gather as a body each Sunday morning. There’s nothing special about this particular building. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that worship isn’t the greatest thing we can do together. It’s just that worship is something we can and should do wherever we are. You can do it in your small group. The youth can do it on a Friday night as they’re hanging out together. You can do it over a meal. You can do it while you’re working, It sounds a bit like the Melbourne Bitter ad. "As a matter of fact you can do it now." But we don’t need a special place or time in order to worship.
What’s more, we no longer need someone else to remind us of God’s laws. The Spirit has been given to us to imprint those laws on our hearts, on our minds. In that sense the need for a special priesthood is done away with. We all now belong to the priesthood of all believers.
But having said that there is still a need for us to be challenged by the reading of God’s word. Paul in Romans 12 says: "I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God..."
In order to bring us to true worship of God, we need our minds to be renewed, to be shaped to the will of God. And how does that happen? What process does the Spirit use to transform us? He uses the teaching of the Scriptures. In various places we find the exhortation to listen to those God has gifted in teaching. The gifts that are listed in 1 Cor 12 and Eph 4 are heavily weighted to the proclamation and teaching gifts: apostles, prophets, teachers, evangelists. In 1 Cor 14:19 where Paul is addressing the issue, in the public gathering, of speaking in tongues, an activity that it seems was primarily focused on worship of God, he says "in church I would rather speak five words with my mind, in order to instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue." His point was that the public gathering is a place for the gospel to be proclaimed, for people to be called to repent and to be encouraged to grow in their faith, not a place for people to indulge in their private devotions to God.
In his second letter to Timothy, Paul instructs Timothy to "proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. 3For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, 4and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths." (2 Tim 4:2-4 NRSV) Clearly that time has now come and we need more than ever to be taught, rebuked, convinced and to encourage one another when we meet together.
Well that brings us to the other motivations that will bring us together week after week.
One reason we meet together is to remember what Jesus has done for us. To remind one another of his once for all sacrifice on our behalf. We meet together as the body of Christ to be reminded of the assurance and hope God has provided for those who believe in Jesus.
1 Cor 11:25-29 gives us a picture of what this means for us: "In the same way [Jesus] took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." 26For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 27Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord. 28Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup." Then he adds: 29For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves." (1 Cor 11:25-29 NRSV) The body in this context is the body of Christ gathered together. It’s the body of Christ gathered that forms the context and the content of what we do together.
We meet together to be reminded of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. We meet together to proclaim that death and resurrection to the world around us. And as we meet, we do so as Christ’s body present in the world. Paul goes on in the next chapter of 1 Corinthians to remind them, and us, that the body of Christ is made up of many and various members and that every member of the body matters. If one part of the body’s missing, the body can’t function properly. In other words, each one of us has a part to play if the body is to function well. If you’re only here every second week then the other weeks the body is partially disabled. It becomes a bit like a car engine where one of the spark plugs stops working. It might keep going but it’s lost its power.
The next reason and I think by far the most important reason for meeting together, is found in v24 of Heb 10.
There the writer says: "24Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, 25not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching." One of the major reasons we meet together is to encourage one another. This is related to the idea of us being part of a body with many and varied functions. When we meet together we’re encouraged by the others present to persevere in our faithfulness to Christ.
I don’t know about you but I think most people find it hard to be faithful all the time. There are so many pressures on us to turn away from following Christ, aren’t there? If the writer of Hebrews thought it was getting harder as the last day was approaching, it’s getting even harder now. Our world is so opposed to anything close to Christian values. We have a massive media machine intent on pushing beyond a Christian world view, lowering our community standards of behaviour. So it’s hard to maintain Christian ethical standards in business. If you’re a student at Uni you’ll find it hard to stand up to the barrage of ideas that are thrown at you from every side, most of which will be opposed to Christian faith. If you’re a school student you’ll be surrounded by people whose world view is totally opposed to Christian standards of morality and ethical behaviour. Few of your teachers will have any understanding of the Christian faith and even fewer of your fellow students. As we saw last week you’ll hear the humanist mantra said over and over again, "Everyone’s doing it so it must be all right;" or, "Don’t let anyone put limitations on your freedom;" or this one: "You’ve got to look after yourself first." Have you heard one of those lately?
So how are we going to remain firm? It’ll take some effort won’t it? It’ll take lots of encouragement. And where are we going to get that encouragement? Well, we’re going to get it here as we meet together to hear from God’s word, as we share our lives with one another over morning tea or maybe even over lunch after the service; and as we sing hymns together.
You see, even the purpose for singing hymns is sometimes misunderstood. We think they’re just for praising God, don’t we? But listen to what Paul says in Col 3: "Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom [how?] through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts." What are the psalms, hymns and spiritual songs doing for us? They’re teaching and admonishing us. They’re allowing the message of Christ to live among us. They’re leading us to gratitude to God for all he’s done for us.
Now there’s a danger when we begin to think about what might motivate us to come to church week after week. That’s the danger that we begin to ask "What will I get out of it?" That of course is the motivation that the rest of the world thinks about when it comes to choosing how to spend their time. But notice the way the writer to the Hebrews puts it. The question isn’t how will I be encouraged, but how can I encourage others.
So let me ask you, have you thought about the part you play in the lives of those you meet with on a Sunday morning? Have you thought about the fact that you might be a great encouragement to others just by the fact that you turn up week after week? I can tell you, I’m greatly encouraged by the group down the front here [the youth group] in Bay 13 [a reference to the Melbourne Cricket Ground - Bay 13 is where the noisiest spectators congregate], even if they can’t always get the Mexican wave right.
I’m greatly encouraged knowing that there are some people who will always be there, unless they’re off on their annual holidays. And the opposite is true. I get discouraged when I see people who don’t come regularly, or who used to but don’t any more.
But it isn’t just about being excited because the church is full this week. Notice that what it is that we’re to encourage one another in: "24let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds." Part of our mission, if you like, is to encourage one another to love and good deeds. This is what Yvonne does when she gets up and promotes the work of TEAR, or talks about the Micah Challenge. She’s trying to provoke us to good deeds. But equally when you’re talking to someone over morning tea about the things that have happened to them this week, your mission is to encourage them to live out their faith in the midst of all the difficulties or joys of life.
Can I just throw in at that point a reminder to us, that we have a special duty of care when we have visitors among us, to ensure that they’re encouraged by our willingness to engage them in conversation. It was pointed out to me a few weeks ago when the youth ran our morning service that there were a couple of visitors there who were standing around at morning tea with no-one talking to them. Now that’s a total failure of our hospitality isn’t it? Our encouragement of others is especially important when we have someone who comes as our guest. And if they come again that special encouragement may need to continue for some time until they form connections for themselves. I know our self-image is of a loving caring community, but if that doesn’t show itself in our behaviour to strangers who come into our midst then it’s a false perception isn’t it? So keep an eye out for people who need your encouragement.
One of the ways we’ll proclaim Christ is in the way we love one another; through the way we encourage one another to love and good works; through the way we demonstrate in our meeting together that God’s plan for the world is coming together in our life as a church as we demonstrate the unity of the Spirit in practical ways.
Well, that’s where we need to stop. Why should we gather together each week? To worship God as his people. To remember Jesus’ death on the cross on our behalf. To build one another up. To stir one another up to love and good works; and to encourage one another to persevere to the end.
For more sermons from this source go to http://home.vicnet.net.au/~sttheos/
