The Purpose of the Church

This morning, I am going to shift gears a little bit. Many of my sermons recently have been geared to invite people who are outside of the faith to consider having Jesus as the Lord and Savior of their lives. I have tried to show how and why He is worthy of such a position and how the Gospel offers insight and answers to a lot of the problems we all face in this world. I have done very little recently to talk about the role of the people of God in living out our calling to be children of God. Today’s text from the Gospel of Mark leads us directly there, so if you are not a part of the church or if you are considering Christianity, please know that this sermon is not directly intended for you. Hopefully, however, you will appreciate the information included within.

Let me begin by asking you: what is the church’s main purpose? What is the reason for the church on earth? At first, this might seem like the answer is obvious, at least to each and every one of us individually. But as you dig into this question and reflect upon it deeply, I think you will see that it is actually a very complicated question. I mean, if you really want to see just how complicated it is, those of you with computers, go home and Google the question, "What is the purpose of the church?" You will get a whole lot of responses. Some of them similar. Quite a few of them different. And as each author of each article begins to delve into the question, you will see a whole lot of non-negotiables:

The purpose of the church is to worship.
The purpose of the church is to care for those in need.
The purpose of the church is to make and train disciples.
The purpose of the church is to be the earthly representation of Jesus.
The purpose of the church is to be a place of prayer.
The purpose of the church it to provide a place where all are welcome.
The purpose of the church is to enact the kingdom of God on earth.

All of these are good, solid answers. They are theologically and biblically based. One can easily provide all kinds of support for these answers, and I certainly don’t want to demean any of them. They are all correct, but there is a danger that lurks behind all of them. There is a danger that creeps in and lures us away from the true purpose of the church on earth. That danger is our own selfish nature–a nature that emphasizes survival and security over everything else. What am I talking about?

For the last several weeks, we have traveled through the book of Mark, and every lesson that we have had before us has either been in or been about the temple. Jesus triumphally entered into the city of Jerusalem and then entered the temple. Because it was late, He went camping. The next day, Jesus cleansed the temple with a parallel encounter with a fig tree that was rotten from the inside out. The next day, the chief priests, the scribes and the elders asked Jesus by what authority He was doing these things. They asked Jesus that question while Jesus was teaching–in the temple. In each of these circumstances, lurking in the background was the Sanhedrin’s decision to turn the courtyard of the Gentiles into a marketplace thereby excluding the vast majority of the world’s population from worshiping the One, True, God. Jesus exposure of this travesty angered the Sanhedrin, and they wanted to put Jesus to death, and instead of trying to soothe hurt and damaged feelings, Jesus doubles down. He tells everyone a parable. A parable that riles the chief priests, scribes, and the elders even more.

Jesus begins, " ‘A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the wine press, and built a watch-tower; then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. 2When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce of the vineyard. 3But they seized him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. 4And again he sent another slave to them; this one they beat over the head and insulted. 5Then he sent another, and that one they killed. And so it was with many others; some they beat, and others they killed."

Now, this situation was not uncommon in the ancient world. We have discovered a great stash of legal papers in which landlords leased their lands to tenants and agreed upon receiving parts of the harvest as payment. We have also discovered many instances where tenants refused to pay their landlord, and they indeed mistreated the servants that landlords sent to retrieve their payments. Jesus is using real world situations to illustrate His point.

And the point has to do with the nature of the landlord–which we are pretty sure is a reference to God the Father; and the nature of the tenants–which are the Sanhedrin and other Jewish leaders. Mind you, this is not a parable directed at all the Jewish people. It is directed squarely at the Jewish religious authorities who have abandoned the purpose of the temple.

So, what does this parable say first about the nature of the landlord? Think about this for a moment: what would you do if you had leased a property to some renters and they refused to pay the rent? What would you do if you knew that they were reaping the benefits of living on your property without just repayment? What would you do if you sent someone on your behalf to collect the payment and your renters drove them off? How long would you wait before getting the authorities involved? How long would you wait before calling the police? How long would you wait before evicting your tenants? If you are like most people, you would have almost zero tolerance for such behavior. You would act quickly to prevent such abuse, but does this landlord do that? No. Not in the least. In fact, the landlord’s actions almost bespeak of major weakness. He is literally letting the tenants get away with murder. He does nothing except send more representatives. One might come to the conclusion that this landlord is daft.

And the tenants take advantage of this. The tenants are selfish and not only want all the proceeds of the vineyard. They want ownership of the vineyard themselves. According to the New Interpreter’s Bible commentary, "Villagers could take over land from an absentee landlord, if the villagers felt the landlord was too weak to enforce the claims." Think about that for a moment as you think about the fact that Jesus is comparing God the Father to this landlord. Think about that as you compare the actions of these tenants to the actions of the Sanhedrin in the temple. Think about the injustice being perpetrated by these tenants and the Sanhedrin. It should begin to make you angry.

We return now to the landlord. Again, we might think this landlord to be absolutely daft because even after all of His servants were beaten and killed, the landlord decides to send His only, beloved son. What Father in His right mind would do such a thing?!! I mean, if you were that landlord, would this thought ever cross your mind? Of course it wouldn’t. People would think you crazy. You would send a swat team, not your only, beloved child. But that is the difference between you and this landlord. The true Landlord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The True Landlord will go to great lengths to give the tenants a chance to pay–to honor their agreement. The True Landlord will take the chance that His only Son might meet with death because He is a Landlord unlike any other Landlord.

And the unthinkable happens. The tenants reject the Son; kill him; leave his body unburied and disgraced thinking they will now inherit the vineyard. Their thoughts aren’t totally unfounded. It is highly likely they thought the landlord dead when they recognized the son coming. They believed that, according to the laws of the land, if they killed the son and retained possession of the land, they would indeed inherit. Their plan was perfect.

But the Landlord was still around, and Jesus makes no bones about what will happen next. The tenants will be driven out and the vineyard given to others. It’s not a surprising outcome. Again, according to the New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, "Since the Law permits the son to act on behalf of his father, the legal definition of agency implies that dishonor and insult to the son would be equivalent to dishonoring the one who sends him." Think about that in light of the Sanhedrin’s questioning of Jesus’ authority last week. If Jesus’ authority indeed comes from God, then to reject Jesus’ authority is to reject the One who sent Him. This is the strongest condemnation possible for the religious leaders.

But here is the interesting part: in the parable, the Son is dead. The Father is still coming to enact judgement, so why does Jesus include the rest of His teaching? For Jesus quotes a portion of Psalm 118 directly, "22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. 23 This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes."

Now, there are couple of things here that are of note. The first is the translation of the words "cornerstone" from the Greek. When we hear this word, we think of a stone at the corner of a foundation–the foundational stone, so to speak; however, the Greek doesn’t really fit that kind of a stone. The Greek, according to Craig Evans, is better translated as, "‘head of the corner’, which probably refers to either a capstone that completes an arch or a capital that sits atop a column or pinnacle of the building." Therefore, it is a stone above all other stones. It is the stone to which most attention is drawn. It is the stone that everyone looks at. This is an important point in light of the last statement, "That this is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes." What is so significant about this verse?

Again, Evans says, "Thaumastae, ‘marvelous’ suggests that God is accomplishing something against all odds, something completely unexpected, something that mortals cannot achieve apart from dvine assistance." Reflect upon that for just a moment as you think about Jesus who is the Son sent by the Father. Reflect upon that for just a moment as you think about the Son who is rejected and killed by the Jewish authorities–who is disgraced. What happens to Him? What happens to Jesus? He is lifted up; resurrected for all to see. Jesus becomes the chief stone, the cap stone, the stone above every other stone that all are to gaze upon.

Which takes us squarely to the purpose of the church today. I mean, I don’t think it’s that hard to figure out now, do you. The purpose of the church today is to point to Jesus. The purpose of the church today is to proclaim Jesus. The purpose of the church today is to lift up the name that is above all other names and tell the world what God has done through Jesus.

I hope that those of you who are sitting here this morning are saying to yourself right now, "Well, that’s obvious. Tell us something that we don’t know." I hope that you believe this is a no-brainer observation. I hope so, because the reality in most of our congregations is quite the opposite. The reality in our congregations is that we focus most of our attention and most of our arguing on things without even referencing Jesus.

Now, I want to be very clear here. I am not trying to get us away from doing things. As James writes in his letter, "Faith without works is dead." And there are those who are quick to point out a very important truth. It is worthless to go up to a hungry person and tell them, "Jesus loves you," while they are dying of hunger. They will immediately think that Jesus has no concern for their hunger–which simply is not true. However, let me ask you a couple of questions: without raising your hands, how many of you have given to some sort of charitable organization in the past month or so? My guess is that many of you have. Second question: how many of you have proclaimed the gospel and told someone about Jesus in the past month or so? I’d bet a good chunk of change that the number of hands would be far, far fewer. In fact, I’d say we have been trained to let our actions speak louder than words. In fact, you may have also heard that wonderful saying, "Preach the gospel at all times, if necessary, use words."

I’ve used that saying numerous times in the past. I no longer use it. Why? There was a brilliant illustration that the late preacher Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones used when talking about the Gospel. He said: Imagine a king went off to war against an enemy that is threatening your country. If that king loses the battle, what does he send back? He sends back military advisors who say, "Archers over here, calvary over here, infantry over here. Get ready to fight for your lives." In other words, get ready to do everything you can. However, if the king wins the battle, he sends back heralds. They proclaim! They tell the good news, "The battle is done. The king has won. Live into the freedom!" The Gospel is literally translated "Good news." News is told. It is not lived. History is told. It is not lived.

What Jesus has done in bringing reconciliation with God is news. It cannot be lived. It must be told. Therefore, all we do must in some way, shape or form point to Jesus. Everything about our congregation, about our lives should lead people to look at the capstone, the head of the column, the stone that the builders rejected that became the chief cap stone. We must proclaim that the Lord has done this. We didn’t. We didn’t do anything. We have been saved by sheer grace. Humankind could never accomplish the salvation that was given through the cross of Jesus: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through Him."

This is the ultimate focus of the church and the reason it exists. Jesus is trying to convey just this to the religious leaders of His day. They reasoned that they were helping others by putting sacrificial animals on sale in the market place, but they were only truly helping themselves. Likewise, when we focus on being kind to visitors, having a lot of programming, keeping our grounds looking nice, giving through our community care fund, having perfect worship music, and all other sorts of things–FOR THE PURPOSE OF GETTING MEMBERS, then we too are working for and pointing to ourselves. Christianity is not about that. The church is not about that. We are not to be about that. We are called to point to and tell others about Jesus, and when we are pointing to Jesus; well, then we will be nice to visitors, have a lot of programming, keep our grounds looking nice, help others, worship well, and all sorts of things not for our own benefit, but for His. Amen.

Why Do We Plant Trees?

    Why do we plant trees?

    That might seem like a rather stupid question in some regards.  I mean, most of us know that trees are very good for the environment.  They take carbon dioxide and turn it into oxygen–a very important process for those of us who need oxygen to live.  Trees provide shade and relief from the sun.  They provide us with paper; wood for housing and warmth.  Indeed, trees are very, very important.

    But why do we plant them?  Think about this for a moment.  How long does it take a tree to grow to maturity?  How long does it take for a tree to grow to enough of a size to provide shade for a house?  How long does it take for a tree to grow to become large enough to produce a board or a log large enough to burn for hours?  How long does it take for a tree to grow so that one can sit under its branches without fear of sun?  It takes a long, long time; depending on the tree it can take 10 to 20 years for such a thing to happen.  And so, I ask again.

    In this day of instant gratification and instantaneous access to information, why do we plant trees?  And if we are nearing the twilight of our lives, why even bother knowing it is unlikely we will get to see the fruit of our work? 

    Why do we plant trees?

    Perhaps it is because of the hope we have.  Perhaps it is because we believe that such planting will be a benefit even if it takes years for it to happen.  Perhaps it is because we believe that somewhere in the future a tree will be a benefit for the planet, for our children, or for another person.  We plant trees because we have hope for the future. 

    Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, 27and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. 28The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 29But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.”

    This week as I prepared for my sermon, I listened to several sermons and read several commentaries that wrestled with this teaching–and the following parable about the mustard seed.  They tried to get their heads around these teachings because they tried to apply them to living out the Christian life.  Many said, “Well, we can’t do anything to bring about the kingdom of God.  It just happens.  God does it, and that’s a dangerous idea because it can make us complacent.  It can make us think we don’t have to work toward a better world or a better society.  God does everything.  We do nothing except scatter a few seeds from time to time.  This is actually a dangerous parable.”

    If you interpret this parable in such a fashion, then I think you would be right in assessing the danger.  I think you would be right in being very uncomfortable with what Jesus says.   Indeed such an interpretation could lead–and it very often has led to complacency among Christians.  It has led some Christians to disengage from the world and fail to work for peace and justice.  And, of course, for every action there is a reaction, therefore other Christians have taken up the cause of peace and justice and have decided that it is all up to the Church to establish the kingdom of God.  They are tired of waiting for it and are fed up with lazy Christians, so they roll up their sleeves and strive to make the kingdom happen by changing laws; challenging governments; raising awareness or community organizing through various social ministries.  For many, it becomes an either/or proposition.  Either we say it’s all up to God and become complacent thinking God will handle it, or we believe it’s all up to us and we run ourselves ragged trying to change and, dare I say it, save the world.

    I think this actually speaks to a deeper division within humanity.  I think it actually reveals a deeper problem with how we live our lives–a problem that is not just inherent to the Church.  I think it runs the gamut of our societies.  For I think, as we go through life we are torn between the forces which tell us we need to live for ourselves or we need to live for others.  In the Church this plays out by those who think the kingdom of God will come completely and totally by God’s own hand therefore we have to do nothing except sit back and survive and be pious–I would call this living for ourselves.  And it plays out with those who believe everything is up to us to change and save the world and make it a better place–living for others. 

    Outside of the Church, I think this struggle gets played out in politics by the ideology of individualists and socialists.  Individualists tend to put the rights of the individual above the good of society and see individual freedom as more important than societal responsibility.  Do you hear the idea of living for one’s self here?  Socialists tend to put societal responsibility ahead of individual freedom, so individual rights and power become limited for the expense of the group.  Can you hear living for others?  Now, I’ve simplified things here.  I want you to know that I think things are a bit more nuanced than this.  I am painting in black and white because I think these two forces are constantly working against each other.  I would be happy to expound further in other discussions, but I do think there is enough evidence to support my position–especially since these two sides are constantly arguing and bickering and striving for position and power.  And really and truly, this has been and will be an ongoing struggle if we don’t find some sort of way to bring this conflict into some sort of balance.

    I would like to begin working toward that balance this morning as we seek to understand the Gospel and its application for our lives.  For I believe the Gospel captures our hearts as individuals; roots us in a vision of the kingdom of God; and compels us to work toward the kingdom of God as a reality right here and now.  How does this all work, and can I squeeze it all in without preaching for an hour?  Let’s find out.

    First, I would like to begin by saying that we must be grasped by the Gospel, and this is no easy task.  Why? 

    Many of you know that for a very long time now, John 3:16-17 has made a regular appearance in my sermons.  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world may be saved through Him.”  Martin Luther once called this snippet “The Gospel in a nutshell.”  These two Bible verses capture the nature of what God has done on our behalf.  It was He who took on human flesh.  It was He who became the spotless Lamb of God.  It was He who allowed Himself to be betrayed, arrested, tried, beaten and crucified–all that we might be reconciled unto God.  You see, our hearts are not naturally tuned to serve God.  Our hearts are naturally tuned to serve ourselves or serve others.  They do not naturally seek out God, and when we place ourselves or others as the ultimate things in our life, we break God’s first and most important commandment: you shall have no other gods before Him.  Because we do not seek God and seek to replace Him with either ourselves or others, we deserve His wrath and punishment.  But God does not want our destruction.  God wants to seek and save the lost, but He cannot simply forgive without payment of the cost.  Either we have to bear the cost, or He does.  In the crucifixion, God pays the cost for our disobedience.  He suffers on our behalf.  He endures that wrath on our behalf–even though we did not deserve it.  Thus, we did not earn reconciliation with God.  We did not earn our own salvation.  It was all accomplished by Jesus.

    This is what I have hammered and hammered and hammered for many, many sermons.  I was asked this past week, “When are you going to stop?”  My answer is, “For as long as God needs me to preach it, and if you ever get tired of hearing God’s love for you, then we have a problem.”  There is a reason I answered in that fashion.  As I said before, our hearts are not naturally tuned to God, and they are not naturally tuned to accept any sort of thing that we do not earn on our own.  They are not accustomed to accepting any sort of gift that costs us nothing.   We tend to think that we must earn everything.  Society teaches us over and over and over to work hard, and if we do so, we will be rewarded.  We have that embedded deep within us.  And so we believe we have to have the same sort of relationship with God.  We believe that it is all up to us.  We believe we have to make our faith grow.  We believe we can make peace grow inside of us.  We believe the more we can try and be perfect; the more we can attend church; the more we can do Bible study; the more we pray; the more our faith will grow.

    But that is not true.  We cannot make our faith grow.  We cannot even make ourselves believe in Jesus.  We cannot bring ourselves to any sort of knowledge of Jesus Christ.  The apostle Paul says it this way, “No one can say Jesus is Lord except by the power of the Holy Spirit.”  Even basic belief is impossible on our own.  Our hearts must be brought to that saving knowledge.  Our hearts must be changed and captured by the good news of Jesus.  Our hearts must be turned around by understanding the lengths God will go through to love us–HE IS WILLING; GOD IS WILLING TO DIE FOR YOU!!!  You have to do nothing.  Jesus has done everything.  This is tough to get our heads around.  This is tough to get our hearts around.  This is why I repeat it Sunday after Sunday after Sunday.  The Spirit convicts our hearts as we hear the Word–as the Gospel is proclaimed.  The farmer plants the seed, but he does not make it grow.  The kingdom of God begins in our hearts: tiny, sometimes imperceptible, but as time passes: it begins to grow.

    And when it begins to grow, transformation happens.  When the Gospel seizes your heart, things happen deep within you.  You begin to sense a deep peace.  You begin to have a calmness and assurance about you.  You look less with a self-righteous eye.  You see others as those whom God desperately wants to have His Kingdom grow within.  You know it is important for you to plant seeds as well.  You know it is important that they come to the same saving grace that you have.  And so you begin to work.  You plant seeds. 

    And there is oftentimes preparation that must be done.  Sometimes the weeds of poverty and injustice must be cleared before the Gospel can be heard.  Sometimes compassion must be shown to those who grieve before the love of Jesus can be announced.  Sometimes, houses must be built for the homeless. Sometimes the sick must be comforted.  Sometimes, hunger must be satisfied.  Sometimes trust must be built.  Sometimes old wounds must be healed.  In each case, copious amounts of time pass.  There is no quick fix.  The Kingdom of God takes time to grow in others just like it takes time to grow within your heart.  At this point, I hope you can see how when the Gospel takes root, it moves us away from individualism–living for ourselves and socialism–living for others.  For when the Gospel seizes our hearts, we live for neither.  We live to spread the Kingdom of God.  We live to have that Kingdom grow within ourselves and within others because of what God has done through Jesus Christ on the cross.

    Why do we plant trees?  Because we hope in the future.  Why do I preach the Gospel every Sunday?  Because I hope in the future Kingdom of God.   Why do we feed the hungry and work for peace and justice?  Because we believe these things are a part of God’s future reality which is already growing in our hearts.  Such things might start small and inconsequential, but they grow.  They cannot be hindered.  They will produce fruit as we seek not to serve ourselves or serve others, but serve the Kingdom of God which has come to us through the Gospel–through the work of Jesus–For God so loved the world!”  Amen.