We’ve spent almost two months worth of Sundays looking at what our church believes. What we believe determines how we behave. There was a time when people believed the earth was flat. They didn’t dare to travel too far for fear that they will fall off the edge of the earth.
What you believe about the Bible, about God and about yourself determines the limitations you place on the Bible, on God and on yourself. If your beliefs are wrong, you will live in the prison of your false belief, now and throughout eternity. If your beliefs are right, you will experience power for living, friendship with God and peace with yourself.
We continue in our study of "What We Believe" by looking as what we believe about the church. If we believe that church is one hour each week at a location within driving distance from your home, you will live one way. If you believe what Jesus says about the church, you will live an entirely different life.
Sometime ago Time Magazine ran an article that reported on the benefits of religion and the church, and some of the observations included:
1. Heart-surgery patients who draw comfort from their religious faith have a significantly higher survival rate than those who do not.
2. The blood pressure of people who attend church is 5 mm lower than that of those who do not.
3. People with religious faith who attend church regularly experience less depression than nonreligious people.
4. Suicide is four times higher among non-churchgoers than churchgoers.
What might be the reason behind these correlations? What is it about the church that offers such healing? God? Purpose and meaning in life? Psychological support? Support from a loving church family?
This morning, we’ll look at the origin of the Christian Church with an emphasis on the make-up of the church, the miracle of the church and the mission of the church. Next week and the week after, we’ll look at the motivations, the ministries and the mechanics of the church.
The text for this morning is Matthew 16:13-20. The Mandarin Fellowship studied this portion of the Bible a little more than a week ago. I was taking notes in that study, so some of this will sound familiar to you. But don’t go to sleep. You’re going to be tested on this after the worship service.
What I read for us is the first mention of the Christian Church by the Founder, Jesus Christ. What we have today, in terms of components, governance, methodology and architecture of the church have developed over the last 2000 years, some in response to God’s further guidance and some in response to the influences of the culture. Unless we understand the basics of church, we can confuse the essentials with the non-essentials because of the many variations of church.
The first essential of the church is the make-up of the church. Verses 13-16.
What makes up the church? Is church a group of people who come to a church building to sit, sing and listen to a Pastor teach the Bible on Sundays? If we don’t have a church building to meet in, is it still church? If we don’t have a pastor to teach the Bible, is it still church? If we meet on Monday instead of Sunday, is it still church?
When Jesus asks about His identity, He was laying the foundation for the church. For many, being a part of a synagogue or church meant listening to the teachings of the prophets, but Jesus wants us to know that the Christian Church is built on the foundation of trust in Jesus as the Son of God, who came to save mankind from the consequences of sin.
At the Mandarin Fellowship, Joseph asked us the questions, "Who do you say that Jesus is?" One person answered that Jesus must be God. This person pointed out that unlike Buddha or Mohammed, Jesus did not have the schooling or life experience to give him the amazing wisdom and authority in his teaching. Therefore, He must be God.
Jesus would say, "That’s not good enough to be a part of My Church. Even demons believe that I am God."
When Peter said that Jesus was the Christ, he was saying, "Jesus, You are the One that God sent to deliver us." What Peter didn’t know, and what most of us don’t know, is that we do not so much need to be delivered from external forces, but we need to be delivered from our sin, the condition in us that causes us to distrust God and to live life without regard for God and His ways.
The word, "church" simply means "called out ones." God calls us out of our sin and into His salvation. Jesus’ church does not divide between race, gender, earning capacity or education. The church unites all who are saved by God through Jesus Christ.
The reason why we are an English speaking Asian Church is not because we exclude others but that we are intentional on reaching an unreached people group in Marin County. Each church has a unique calling and a mission to reach and serve certain people to which God has entrusted us.
The second essential of the church is the miracle of the church. Verses 17-18.
Someone tells about a man with a psychological problem. This man walks around all day believing that he is dead. His family is tired and frustrated by his delusion, because dead people don’t contribute to the living. To solve the problem, the wife of this man set an appointment with a psychologist.
After reasoning with the man unsuccessfully for 45 minutes, the psychologist came onto an idea. The psychologist asked the man, "Do dead people bleed?"
To which the man replied, "Of course dead people don’t bleed."
The psychologist then took a needle out of his drawer and stuck the man in the thumb. A red drop of blood began to form on the man’s thumb. With eyes wide open, the man exclaim, "Well what do you know, dead men do bleed!"
The miracle of the church is not that Christians don’t bleed. Christians are still human, and when you stick us with a needle, we will bleed. When we lose someone we love, we will cry and experience confusion. When someone wrongs us, we will get angry. When we get old, we will die
The miracle of the church is that we will not stay dead. Again, Jesus’ Church is not a building, not an organization or a weekly activity. A building can be sold. An organization can disband. A weekly activity can terminate. But Jesus’ Church is the group of people who trust Jesus as God’s Son and Savior, and even the gates of Hades or death will not overcome us.
The way you know if you are a member of Jesus’ Church is not that you are baptized. It’s not that you take communion. It’s not that you get all the answers correct in the church membership class. It’s not because you never cuss, lust or fuss. The way you know that you are a member of Jesus’ Church is by showing up on the other side of Heaven after you die.
This is not to say that you cannot be sure until you die. This is to say that the miracle of the Church is not fully revealed in this life. We are not what we were, but we are not what we will be, either. The journey starts by personally believing that Jesus is God’s Son and our personal Savior. And the journey does not stop with death, but continues with eternal life.
The third essential of the church is the mission of the church. Verses 19-20.
Someone tells about a pastor who was late for church. He flagged down a taxicab and instructed the cabdriver to do everything within his power to get him to church on time. So the cab sped off and weaved through traffic for about ten blocks. The dangerous driving ended in a fatal accident. Both the cabdriver and the pastor died.
When their spirits arrived at the entrance of Heaven, they met Saint Peter. The Pastor, confident of his entrance into Heaven, allowed the cabdriver to go ahead of him. After chatting with the cabdriver, Saint Peter allowed the cabdriver into Heaven.
Then Saint Peter turned to the Pastor and said, "Pastor, I’m afraid I have bad news for you. You aren’t going into Heaven."
The Pastor, shocked at what he heard, asked, "Why would you let a cabdriver into Heaven and not let one of God’s servant into Heaven?"
To which Peter replied, "Well, whenever the cabdriver drove, people prayed. Whenever you preached, people slept."
This is one of more than a dozen Saint Peter jokes that come from a false understanding of verses 19-20. The reason why Jesus gave Peter the keys of Heaven and then told His disciples not to tell anyone that He is the Christ is because if others knew Jesus was the Savior, they wouldn’t allow Him to die on the cross. We read in verse 22 that even Peter was tempted to prevent Jesus’ death on the cross.
The Bible tells us that Jesus needed to die on the cross, so that the consequence of our sin would be paid for. Sin’s penalty is death, and Jesus paid our penalty for us. Knowledge and trust in Jesus’ as the Son of God and Savior of mankind are keys that enable people to enter Heaven. Those who accept these keys while living on earth will be permitted into Heaven. And those who do not accept these keys while living on earth are not permitted into Heaven.
Before Jesus ascended into Heaven in Matthew 28:18-20, He commissioned His disciples to make more disciples. So, the mission of the church is to make these keys available to as many people as possible. William Temple noted, "The church is the only cooperative society in the world that exists for the benefit of its non-members."
William Barclay wrote about the church, "Suppose a great doctor discovers a cure for cancer. Once that cure is found, it is there. But before it can become available for everyone, it must be taken out to the world. Doctors and surgeons must know about it and be trained to use it. The cure is there, but one person cannot take it out to all the world; a [company] of doctors must be the agents whereby it arrives at all the world’s sufferers."
Jesus’ Church is not to be the exclusive possessor of the keys of Heaven. We are to be the distributor of the keys of Heaven. If you don’t use them or distribute them, you are a barrier to Heaven for yourself and for others. If you use them and distribute them, you open up the way to Heaven for yourself and for others.
In closing, I want to pass out some key chains. They have the letters, WWJD, meaning, What Would Jesus Do? The metal key chains do not come with metal keys. You’ve been given the keys of Heaven this morning. The empty key chain reminds us that we are not keepers of the keys but distributors of the keys to the kingdom of Heaven.
