Recently there was a study put out that claimed that Americans say yes to Christianity but no to Church-anity. And it stated how many baby boomers are leaving the church today. The reasons given were that they thought the church was a) boring b) irrelevant but most striking was c) not necessary. One couple was quoted as saying, “We work so hard all week and the weekends are our only sense of family time. Our God is flexible and understands our priorities.” I’m sure He does.
Did Jesus really intend for His followers to be organized into a church? The answer in the bible says with a resounding yes! Jesus said in Matt 16:18, “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”
Now Jesus obviously meant to establish a permanent church. Now some people piously suggest that they follow Christ but they don’t want anything to do with organized religion. (Quote from Jesse Ventura). Don Williams had a song many years ago that had a phrase in it that said, “I don’t believe that Heaven waits, for only those who congregate.”
Now this is true in the sense that just by attending church you will not gain entrance into Heaven, and also there are those who are unable to gather with a body of believers who will still be in glory. But Jesus said, “I will build my church and it will stand forever.” And now 2,000 years later that church still stands today and provides a wonderful testimony to the power of Jesus Christ.
But who exactly is the church? Is the church limited to those of a certain denomination or sect? Is the church supposed to meet in large buildings and gatherings or is the church supposed to be the intimate church in the wildwood? And can God use that little church in the wildwood?
A pastor in a drought-stricken part of the south implored his people to begin praying for rain. In fact he asked each member of the church to join in a prayer vigil that would continue day and night until God granted their request. Never had there been a greater sense of urgency in that church than was revealed over the next few days. At any hour one might pass that small rural church and find the lights on and someone at the altar praying.
Finally late Wednesday evening some dark clouds began to roll in. Soon rain began falling in sheets. Four straight days and nights it rained without ceasing. The creeks began overflowing their banks. It became necessary to evacuate persons from their homes. Still the water kept rising. The entire community was now under water.
As rescue workers made their way in a boat through the perilous floodwater evacuating the last reluctant stragglers one of the boats passed that little country church now almost completely submerged.
There sat the pastor on the roof of the church with a look of grand satisfaction on his face. As he surveyed the floodwaters he said to himself, “Not bad for a church our size. Not bad at all!”
God can work wonders through His church no matter whether it’s the mega church in a large city or the tiny church in the wildwood. And the church provides so many needs, but who exactly should we expect to find in the church? What kind of people make up the nucleus of the church.
This morning I want us to take a look at the early make up of the church and by doing so be inspired to do great things for God just as the early disciples did. To do this I want us to go way back to the last commands that Jesus gave to His disciples right before He ascended into Heaven. It’s found in Matthew 28 and it’s known as the Great Commission. Mt 28:16, “Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.”
These 11 men serve as kind of a microcosm of the people who comprise the church today. Now the first thing about them I want you to see is that they were Ordinary people. Jesus’ closest disciples were not very impressive. The group was made up of fishermen, tax collectors and mainly blue collar workers from Galilee, an unimpressive territory. Much like we may think of Alabama today. Just not that impressive. Now none of them were rich or influential. There were no “movers and Shakers” among them. In fact, on the day of Pentecost when these men first started to preach about Christ, the people were amazed at their verbal skills since they were “all Galileans.”
Now these would not be the type of people that I would have wanted to start a organization with that was going to change the world. I would have chosen proven leaders, great speakers, wealthy influential persons, but God chose to build His church with ordinary people. Ted Turner once said that Christianity is a religion for losers, and in a way he‘s right. And that is what makes it so great. My brother and I like to argue about things, and the other day we were arguing about who was the better basket ball coach, Rick Pitino or Tubby Smith. Now both of them took Kentucky to national championship, Pitino in ‘96 and Tubby in ‘98, but I argued that Tubby was the better coach because on Pitino‘s ‘96 championship team, over half of the squad went to play in the pro‘s. Where as Tubby had only 3 get to go from the entire team. Tubby looked like the better coach because he didn‘t have star players, just ordinary 6‘6 men.
And one of the things that makes the church so remarkable is that it is composed of normal ordinary men and women. 1 Cor 1:26-27 says, “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.”
Now the second thing I want you to see about the these guys were that they were imperfect people. They were sinners who made mistakes. They had begun w/ 12 , but Judas Iscariot had defected and now they were left with only eleven. Every church can sadly recall names of members who were once involved but are no longer an active part of the body. A little boy asked his dad what do you call a person who leaves our church to join another? His dad said he was an apostate! Well, what about a person who leaves their church t to join ours. Well, that’s someone who has seen the light!” Even Jesus had some who left. One of His closest associates, the treasurer of the group, defected.
But the 11 who remained were imperfect too. Matt 28:17 says, “When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.” Even with the evidence of the risen Jesus right there some still doubted.” The bible makes no attempt to cover up the flaws of it‘s people. Thomas was a skeptic, Simon was a red neck, Peter was inconsistent. Those imperfections continued into their ministries. Gal 2:11 says, “When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong.” Paul had to correct Peter because of his hypocrisy. Peter who had originally admitted the gentiles now pushed them away because of peer pressure from other Jewish Christians.
The church today is made of defective people with imperfect leaders. Yet these are the ones that God chose to build His church on. Right now take a look at the person on your left now take a look at the person on your right now look up at me… would you choose these people to build this church? Someone has said that God has to use imperfect people because that is al He has got. The fact that He builds His church through sinful followers makes God’s power even more apparent.
Last night as I was putting the finishing
touches on this message, Clarissa decided to perform a song and dance routine right next to my desk…and she chose to do it as loud as she could. Now one of my weakest points is that I tend to be impatient at times and I tend to have at times a temper. So I told Clarissa to go dance in her room and when she didn’t I just lost it. I started screaming and when I sat back down I heard her tell Denise… “Daddy yelled at me and I didn’t do anything wrong.” There went my Father of the year award.
In her mind she wasn’t doing anything wrong, but because I was so focused on myself and my work, I made no attempt to understand her level of understanding and I failed to control my temper…and you know what that is called…it’s called sin. And I got to confess that that’s not the first time I’ve lost my temper nor is it the worst sin I’ve ever committed. You see preachers are just like you, imperfect. A woman told her pastor once, “Preacher, we’ve always heard pastors tell us that they were sinners just like us but you’re the first one we ever truly believed.”
The church is mad up of imperfect people. Now, maybe you have been a Christian longer than I have, or you have grown faster and you don’t struggle with the temptations that I do. That’s good. Or maybe you struggle in entirely different areas. You don’t understand my impatience and I don’t understand you’re greed. But we are all imperfect people trusting in a perfect Savior to forgive and help us to mature.
James said James 5:16, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” In other words, don’t pretend to be perfect. Admit you’re faults so you can pray for each other and be strengthened by it.
The disciples were ordinary, imperfect followers, but the next thing I want you to see is that they were obedient. Mt 28:16 says, “Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.” They did what the Lord had instructed them to do. They worshiped Him. You see God can use ordinary, imperfect people if the dominant thrust of their lives is one of obedience. And that is truly the only response we can have when it comes to Jesus. When we realize that we are imperfect and we have sinned, and that Christ has forgiven us, the only proper response is one of obedience.
Jeff Wahling compared our need for God’s mercy to a thoughtless husband. Imagine, especially you husbands, that you are at the ball park hanging out with your buddies. Suddenly you say, “Oh, No!” and rush to a phone to call the beauty parlor. “Is Catherine There?” I was supposed to pick her up …No, she’s not? How long ago did she leave? Oh, boy….Okay.”
“What’s wrong?” asks your buds and you say, “I was supposed to pick my wife up two and a half hours ago! But I forgot! My in-laws are supposed to come over tonight and she was fixing her hair up real nice and it was going to be a special evening. Now I forgot to pick her up and I’m afraid she walked home.”
So you go back to the phone and call home and your son answers. “Son, is your mother there?” “Dad, is that you…oh you are in trouble. Dad wherever you are just keep going. She’s home but, dad, she walked the whole way! Have you looked outside, dad? It’s raining! It started raining about 5 minutes after she left.”
“What does she look like?” “Well, you’ve seen Shelby the dog when she comes in from the rain? She looks something like that. Dad Goodbye and I love you and it sure was nice knowing you.” So you are in a world of trouble. You drop your buds off and you’re thinking, “Okay, a golf ball hit me in the head, it gave me temporary amnesia so ….no that won’t work. I’ll just tell her the truth. I forgot, I messed up and I’m an idiot and I’m sorry.”
You pull down the street toward your house and it looks like something out of the Exorcist. It’s saying, “Don‘t come in here! Just as you pull in you see your in-laws turning onto the end of the street. “I’ve got to beet them inside if this thing is going to work you think. Then you remember that you were supposed to clean the house and vacuum to get the place ready. You know you’re history. You know you’re in for it when you walk in that door. So you open the door with all the humility you can muster. You droop your shoulders, but there stands your wife, with a shaggy dog hair style and a soup spoon in one hand and a large kitchen knife in the other! She has homicide in her eyes and she snarls, “You promised---2:20! I walked over a mile in high heels to get home and it rained the whole way! WHERE WERE YOU!
All you can say, “Honey, I’m sorry. I forgot!” And then she says, “Okay, it’s no big deal. (You think “Drugs! Is she on drugs!” But she insists, “Let’s not make a big deal out of it. I knew you forgot; it’s okay. Just give me a kiss and let’s forget about it.”
Now guys…what kind of kiss are you going to give your wife? Would you give her a condescending peck on the cheek? Would you say, “Before I kiss you, I want to talk to you a little bit about your spending of the money.” Or “I’ve noticed some plants around the house that need watering, why aren’t they watered.” or “I want to talk to you about your weight!” No way! You wouldn’t do that! Even if your mother-in law was coming through the door you would plant the biggest smoocharooni on your wife and say, “Honey, you’re the greatest wife in the world! I love you! Thank you, Thanks for being so forgiving and so understanding. I love you!”
Now when we come to worship the lord Jesus, our worship shouldn’t be just a condescending peck on the check, just going through the motions. We should see ourselves as guilty standing before a powerful Jesus with a sword in His hand and the power to destroy us. But He says, “Let’s just call you saved. Let’s just say that you’re forgiven.” If we could understand that, we wouldn’t always be always questioning His authority in our lives, we would do what He says, when He says it.
So who is the church? The nucleus of the church can be defined like this. It’s A body of believers who worship Jesus Christ as the Savior from their sins and seek to be obedient to His commands as Lord of their lives. The church isn’t perfect, just forgiven. But we do seek to be obedient in all that we do. This morning, I want you to know that if you are an ordinary person…and if you are imperfect…than God can use you in a mighty way, if you will only surrender your life to Him and seek to obey His will. If that sounds like you, then you should fit in perfectly here. And we welcome you to do that this morning.
