If you were to ask the average person, out on the street, what he thinks of the church, what answers might you get? What do people think about churches? I’m sure I don’t know the half of it. But I know some of the things they say:
They say that church is all talk. Ceaseless talk. Noisy gongs and clanging cymbals. Yakety-yakety-yak. Talk, most of it negative, most of it loveless. What is the feel you get when someone says, "Don’t preach to me!"? Preaching is supposed to be heavy-duty negative rap. Church is too much talk, and the language is unfriendly. That’s what some folks think about church.
Of course, I will not mention the fact that some of you, when I get past twenty minutes, begin to think the same thing. I’ll just leave that alone. But if you think an hour and a half of worship is too long now, what are you going to do when you get to heaven and the worship never stops? Well ...
Some think that church is all talk. Others think that the talk is all nonsense. All pious gibberish. Soul-saving, washed in the blood, something better by and by, pie in the sky, when you die. Some folks think that all we do in the church is look toward the great beyond and do nothing about the great here and now.
You look at the way church folks are portrayed in the movies, and you will see what I mean. Christians are pious, prissy prudes who are shocked by everything and who live in an unreal world of Bible-thumping, ignorant country bumpkins. Yassuh, yassuh, Lord helps those who help themselves. Cleanliness is next to godliness, I reckon. They think we are utterly unreal.
Still others think of churches as self-serving. They believe that churches are turned in on themselves, concerned only to maintain the status quo. That church people hide in their buildings, worship their pastors, stuff themselves with fried chicken, shower money on sumptuous frivolities, and shut their doors against anybody who would challenge their thinking or anything that would make them feel uncomfortable. Now this is the crowd that worries me most, because they do have a case. There is too much self-centeredness in churches. There are too many of us who lack vision. There are Christians who have not yet understood what we are about. We are uncomfortable with challenge. There is a large measure of truth in the charges.
But it is precisely because of this that I want to deliver a message on what God expects of the church. It is because of who we are and where we are in our life together that I feel compelled to speak this morning on what God wants to give to our church. My theme is taken from the phrase in the 20th verse of Ephesians 3: "Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly..." Able to accomplish abundantly. Don’t you like that song, "What a mighty God we serve!" "What a mighty God we serve!" For He is able to accomplish abundantly. I am persuaded that this is the word you and I need in this hour.
I
Let us establish this first: that God intends for the church to be the channel through which His rich grace is made known. God intends for the church a prominent place in His plan. The church is not an afterthought. It is not a makeshift contrivance. It is not optional at extra cost. It is not just a human convenience. It is not a warm and fuzzy country club. It is not a status symbol. It is not a badge of respectability. The church is the instrument of God’s redemptive love. It is central to the plan of God.
Here’s how Paul says it in Ephesians:
"... through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,"
Through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might be made known. "Rich variety" That means full of life and vitality, with many facets, like a diamond. It means that God has intended His church to be involved in the whole range of redemptive actions. Not just a narrow focus. Not just a little plan. But a grand plan. A vast undertaking.
Several years ago, just after we had spent about seven years trying to rebuild several facets of our church’s life, something was said about our vision as a church. One member said to me, "I don’t think I really know what the vision of our church is. I’m not sure I could tell you what we are really about." And so that sent me to the Scriptures. We did some Bible studies on the life and functions of the church, we listened to one another, and, in the end, we crafted a new vision statement, and based it on this very third chapter of Ephesians. It speaks of how we see the five historic functions of the church in our particular setting: worship, education, evangelism, fellowship, and ministry or missions. You can find this vision statement pasted into our hymnals. It is really something like a church covenant for us.
And it’s rich. It is not simple It is not something that you can just take and run with and get it done in one month or one year or even one lifetime. We have written for ourselves a vision statement that reflects what the Bible says about the "rich variety of the wisdom of God".
It’s important to be wide and diverse. Without a rich and diverse vision a church will shrivel up. Without a rich and diverse vision, a church will lose its way and fall into a maintenance mode. A maintenance mode. It may keep on keeping on -- you can hardly kill a church completely -- I know of several little shrunken knots of people who just keep on meeting, with no apparent change. They may keep on keeping on, but no church will thrive unless and until it knows that God has given them a large mission. God has asked us to share with the world the rich variety of His redemptive wisdom.
I could show you today examples of churches around this very city who are mere shadows of their former selves, largely because they lost most of their vision, and they retreated into maintenance mode. One thought worship was everything, so they built up their music program and they cultivated the arts, but that’s all they did, and now no one is around to hear the lovely music or to see the glorious art. Another thought that evangelism was everything, and they went out and brought in flocks of people through the front door, only to have them dribble out the back door, untrained and undeveloped, unused. No. That’s not enough. God wants His church to be comprehensive. God wants His church to reflect His rich variety. God wants His church to worship and evangelism and education and fellowship and ministry or missions. And if you say, that’s too much, we cannot do it, I have one simple reply, what Paul said: God is "able to accomplish abundantly" what He wants to do through His church. God is able.
II
Now did you notice that there is a very personal dimension to all of this? God is calling the church to be the instrument of redemption, but the church is made up of persons, individuals, and each one of us has a special and unique role to play. Every one of us is important, and if someone does not do his or part, well, that just doesn’t get done.
It’s interesting to see how Paul puts himself, as an individual, into the life of the church. Now remember, this is the great apostle, this is the great theologian of early Christianity, this is the premier missionary to the nations. We would say, a very important person. But listen to how he describes himself:
"Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ."
The very least of all the saints... actually, the Greek word is stronger than that. Literally it means "less than the least of all the saints." It means that Paul, who in another place called himself the chief of sinners, unworthy to be an apostle, that Paul knew his limitations, he recognized his faults, he understood his failings. And still he knew that he had an indispensable role to play in God’s plan. And he knew he could do it, unqualified though he might be, because, God is able to accomplish abundantly. God is able to use even less than the least.
Two hundred years ago, a humble cobbler sat working at his bench, repairing shoes and staring at a map of the world. William Carey had very few assets. No money, not much education, somewhat fragile health, no support for his idea. About all he had, really, was that map and that idea. Carey’s idea was that the good news needed to be taken around the world and shared with other nations. William Carey proposed the concept of foreign missions to the local Baptist association in England, where he lived. They did not even listen politely to what he had to say. They shouted him down, they pooh- poohed the whole business, and one of the preachers said to him, "Mr. Carey, sit down! When God wants to save the heathen, He will do it without your help or mine." Wow! Mr. Carey sat down, but only for a little while, because within his heart and soul this idea, this calling, burned brightly. He worked; he prayed; he studied; he preached and persuaded. He waited. Finally he sailed to India. Less than the least, they said back home. Ignorant fool. What use was this?
William Carey began his work at Serampore. He began to meet the people and see the depth of their needs. He put together a small clinic where some of their basic health needs could be met, for, after all, remember, God calls His church to attend to the wide variety of human needs. And then He began to study Indian languages, and to translate the Bible into Hindi. It took him more than seven years of hard work, but at the end of that time he had translated the Bible into the language of the people. All right. That’s fine. But what else did he have to show for his efforts? Converts? Churches? A following? No. Not at all. One Indian convert. One. Seven years with the books and the clinic and one measly convert to show for it. Most of us would have given up and gone home long before then. But not Carey. William Carey simply trusted and knew that God was able to accomplish abundantly in him. And it finally happened. It happened! For in the years that followed, hundreds upon hundreds of the Indian people followed Christ, the clinic became a hospital, and the one-on-one teaching became a college. Just because God was able to accomplish abundantly through one little, poor, English shoemaker.
Do not write yourself off! Do not tell me that you are too old or too young, too tired or too busy. God is able to accomplish abundantly if you are yielded to Him. Do not tell me that you do not know enough, do not have enough money, do not understand enough. I don’t understand the "not enough" idea. I do not accept the "not enough" excuse in myself. Because God is able to accomplish abundantly, and if Paul is less than the least of all saints, we are not far off that mark, so God can use us. He can and He will.
I’m right out there with Jesse Jackson, "I am somebody, I am somebody." The only thing I would add is, "I am somebody because of Christ. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
I know something about limitations and lack of ability. There are a whole lot of things I wish I could do better. But what gets me up and winds me up each morning and cranks me through the day is one great reality: though I am the very least of all the saints ... God is able to accomplish abundantly. Praise His name!
III
I want to conclude by challenging you to think broader thoughts and dream greater dreams than ever before. I want to ask you to let your imaginations run rampant and your hearts open up. I want to ask you, in a prayerful mood, just to envision what God may yet have in store for us. To go back to William Carey for a moment; he preached, "Attempt great things for God- expect great things from God."
For the reason that I want you to think so broadly and to dream so widely is really very simple. It is stated quite directly in the doxology with which Paul ends this section of Ephesians. I’ve alluded to it, but I haven’t given you the whole phrase;
"Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations."
God is able to accomplish abundantly? Look here! We haven’t said enough! God is better than that! It says that God is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine! God is able to do vastly more than we can dream, more than we can envision, more than we allow ourselves to hope for, more than we even dare to ask for! Able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine.
Oh, the sin of Takoma Park Baptist Church -- do you know what it is? The besetting sin of our church? Now you’re awake! Oh, I see you sitting forward on your seats! No, it’s not that sin! This is not the National Enquirer! The besetting sin of Takoma Park Baptist Church is that we do not let our imaginations run loose. We do not let our minds fantasize about what could be. We start thinking about why we cannot do something instead of praying to discover how God will empower us to do it. We start worrying about how much it will cost instead of turning to the one of whom it is said that the cattle on a thousand hills are His. Our sin is a lack of imagination.
A friend of mine used to say that his church had filing cabinet religion. Filing cabinet religion. That meant that whenever it was time to do something, they would just reach in the filing cabinet and find out what they did last year, and do it all over again. Where is the imagination?
So imagine with me, just a little while. Dream with me. Dream about dynamic involvement with people who have special needs; the physically and emotionally challenged. More than Wednesday Club, as good as that is; but there are others out there.
Dream with me about serving children; not just the children of our Sunday School or our Darling Angels choir, but most of the children of this community. And think not just of a couple dozen up here for Children’s Worship and another eighteen or twenty in the After-School Program, but think larger. Think of a range of ministries, touching children, scores of children, emotionally, academically, spiritually. How? At what cost? I do not know. But God is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine.
One of you suggested to me this week we might do something for the children of the community during those three weeks of limbo created by the delayed opening of the D. C. Public Schools. That would be a big job. I don’t know. We are talking. We are praying. We are watching. Can we do it? I don’t know. But God is able.
Dream about the youth of the neighborhood. We’ve talked in the TASK organization about building a coalition of churches who could address the needs of teenagers comprehensively. God forgive me, I told the group that the toughest part will be getting the pastors to cooperate with each other, because, well, you know pastors!! But look at this Scripture: God is able to accomplish ... to him be glory in the church!" Are we going to be church?
The families of this community. We are looking at ways to offer education in the art of family life, based on the Bible and leading people to a walk with Christ. Hard work? Yes. Difficult to sell? Sure. Are we able? No, not on our own. But I know who is able. I know who is able to accomplish abundantly far more than we can ask or imagine.
How about a presence in the institutions of this community? Two colleges, two hospitals, nursing homes, schools, people with special needs gather in these places. We could be there with a witness and a ministry. We could! Because God is able.
Our properties. Somebody had the foresight to accumulate five houses out here. Right now those five houses are doing only one thing, and that is to make a little money for us. I’ll take that back, they are doing two things. They are making a little money, not enough considering what the properties are worth; and they are making headaches for the people on our Committee, who have to try to maintain the houses in halfway livable condition. I know that God wants us to use that property in some kind of redemptive way. We need to pray ourselves right through the zoning board and the historic district board and the architects and the money and all the rest and get something done. No, I correct that. We need to stand back and let God get something done. Because God is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine.
Well, every time I start down this kind of path I just plain run out of time and breath. Because there are a dozen more ideas about doing evangelism with outreach Bible studies and about doing a missions trip overseas; about establishing a counseling center and about starting a new worship service; about building a training program and establishing services for seniors; about continuing to renew and equip this facility so that it will work well for another generation. On and on and on.
One of you knelt here at this altar last Sunday and told the Lord she thought He ought to quit listening to us talk and make us do some things. I don’t know whether He will. But I do know He can. Why? Because God is able to accomplish abundantly.
Let no one tell you that the church talks too much, without love. Tell them this church will be doing compassion, because God is able to empower compassion.
Let no one accuse the church of nonsense. Tell them your church will make sense of life, because God is able to accomplish.
Let no one be anywhere near correct in complaining that the church is self-serving and just wants to maintain its own standing. Tell them you know of a church that will give itself away, because her God is able to accomplish abundantly.
