Readings for today: 2 Chronicles 11-13, Romans 8:26-39, Psalms 18:37-50, Proverbs 19:27-29
I can’t tell you how many times I have heard this question. Usually from people who’ve been burned or frustrated or wounded by an experience. Sometimes from others who find church boring or old-fashioned or useless. And the answers I hear so many give are unsatisfying. Church is for inspiration. Church teaches you how to be a good person. Church is where I get my needs met. Notice the common theme? Church is about me? Sometimes I hear better answers. Church is where I find my community. Church is where I worship God. Church is where I am challenged to grow in my faith. Yes, those are deeper realities but still too self-centered for my taste.
Listen to the words of Jesus. “You are the light of the world. You are the salt of the earth.” He is speaking to His disciples. The nascent group that will become the beating heart of the church after His death, resurrection, and ascension. Notice the church is not designed to meet their needs. Not designed to fulfill their longings. It’s not about them at all. It’s about the world. It’s about bringing light to world darkened by sin and despair. It’s about preserving (the role of salt in the ancient world) a world from complete and total corruption.
Jesus’ words came to mind as we read through 2 Chronicles this morning. “And those who had set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel came after them from all the tribes of Israel to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord, the God of their fathers. They strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they made Rehoboam the son of Solomon secure, for they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon.” (2 Chronicles 11:16-17) You may remember from our readings in 1 and 2 Kings the decisions of the kings of Israel to depart from the true worship of God. They set up their own temples. They established their own priesthood. They developed their own rituals. In short, they disobeyed the Lord and refused to worship Him in the way He deserves and demands. As a result, the priests and Levites left the nation of Israel and came to Judah. They sacrificed homes and lands and community in order to stay true to God. The impact they made on the southern Kingdom was enormous as was the void they left in the northern Kingdom. Their departure hastened the northern kingdom’s plunge into ruin while their arrival in the southern kingdom strengthened it significantly. Such is the nature of salt and light.
Now consider our own situation. Consider what is taking place in our own country. Consider the anger and hate and bitterness and rage of our cultural moment. Sin and corruption are on the rise. More and more people seeking to throw off any biblical restraint as they pursue their own desires. Each person doing what is right in their own eyes. The gospel is now considered a threat. The church is being accused of fostering hatred and intolerance. Christians are beginning to be marginalized. They are losing jobs. Businesses are being discriminated against. Suggestions are being made that holding to a biblical faith disqualifies one for public service. And too many churches are confirming the worst fears of the world by sacrificing deeply held convictions for political power
So what’s the Biblical response? How should the Church respond? She must recover her God-given vocation. Listen to how Lesslie Newbigin describes it, “In the Old Testament story, God chooses Abraham and a nation that will come from him to bear the blessing for all nations. Israel is called to be a sign and instrument of God’s redemptive purpose for all humanity, but they fail in their calling. And so God judges Israel, and “from the beginning there is a process of elimination. . . . There is a covenant between God and Israel, and those who flout the terms of the covenant are no part of the chosen people.” There is a narrowing until, at the cross, “He alone on that day is Israel.” Jesus fulfills the purpose of election, faithfully doing what Israel did not do—disclosing and effecting God’s renewal for the whole world. “But this is not the end of the story of Israel. It is the beginning of the story of the true Israel.” For Newbigin, “Jesus does not found a new people of God, a new society,” but restores Israel to their calling. His mission is to Israel, and he appoints twelve as a representative number to make known the beginnings of the true Israel. Following the cross and resurrection and the mighty event of Pentecost, the way is clear for all nations: “Now at last the ancient promise that Israel shall be a light to the Gentiles and salvation to the ends of the earth is to be fulfilled.” The “Church is the Israel of God, not a newly founded society.” Gentiles are incorporated into the true Israel that is gathered, renewed, and sent by Christ. They are like branches engrafted into an olive tree. “There is only one Israel of God, one olive tree of God’s planting.” What our world needs now more than ever is a restored and renewed Church. A Church with a deep sense of calling and a fundamental conviction to be who God has declared her to be. Salt and Light. Will we do this perfectly? Of course not. Can we do this faithfully? Absolutely. What will it require? A radical re-orientation away from Self and towards God and the world He loves so much.
Consider your relationship to the Church. To the Body and Bride of Christ. What role are you playing in building up the Body? In presenting the Bride spotless and blameless before her Lord? How are you sacrificially giving of your time, talent, and treasure to help the Church fulfill her high calling?
Readings for tomorrow: 2 Chronicles 14-16, Romans 9, Psalms 19, Proverbs 20:1