I don’t know how many times in my years of ministry that I have heard someone say, “Well not in my church,” or “We just don’t do things that way here,” or “Those people can find their own church.” We have a tendency at times to look at our church family as a rather exclusive group – one in which we find comfort, familiarity, and security. And all of those are valid desires, and things we should seek in a church. But if taken too far, they become an instance of the congregation defining the church rather than our faith defining the congregation. And that in itself begs the question, “Whose church is it, anyway?
As we move through the Easter season toward Pentecost, the lectionary once again has us turning to the book of Acts as we recount the development of the early Church in the wake of Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. As I look through the stories this year, I am once again struck by the continuing work of the Holy Spirit as it moves the Church forward to the message of universal salvation in Jesus Christ, in spite of the desire of the apostles and the early disciples to keep it safe, comfortable, and familiar. While the Church is the primary subject of the Acts stories, it is not the Church that is making the decisions. Rather, it is God at work through the Holy Spirit who is shaping, defining, pushing, pulling, and in some cases shoving the Church in directions in which it sometimes does not wish to go. Whether it is Peter initially resisting the call to the Gentiles, or the disciples in Jerusalem who criticize him for associating with “those people,” or Ananias questioning God’s call to Saul/Paul, or Paul continually trying to go to Asia even though the Spirit directs him to Macedonia; the Acts stories are full of instances in which the followers of Christ think they know how to fulfill the great commission better than he does. Yet the end result is always the same: the Church accepts the Spirit’s direction, and continues moving and growing and thriving. Our presence here today is testimony to the success of that calling.
Yet even today, we have a tendency to resist the call of God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit toward an expanding and inclusive ministry. We do that every time we try to define who a proper Christian is, or determine what valid worship should look like, or restrict our mission efforts to those who are acceptable or worthy recipients of our God-given gifts. We do it every time we see the Church as ours to do with what we please rather than as a gift from God which comes with certain strings attached – including being the earthly extension of the Body and Ministry of Jesus Christ.
Yours in Christ, Pastor Dave
