Immediately, our minds, trained by society's use of that term, conjure up visions of church buildings. But remembering that the church of God is people, answer the question again.
What does a church look like?
In the New Testament at least, they look like everything, don't they? There are churches that fight, and churches that love. There are churches tolerating sin, and churches fighting against error. There are evangelistic churches, and dead churches.
So, what should a church look like? I believe chapter 12 in our reading shows us a view of a near perfect church.
1. Different (vv. 1-2)
First, we should not look like the world around us, and that includes the world's churches. We-the individuals who make up the church-should be characterized by holiness and a willingness to determine and then follow the will of God. That will make us different, as we seek to serve, not self, but God.
2. Working (vv. 3-8)
Notice that Paul discusses here the idea that individuals do not all have the same gifts, but he then advocates more work, not less. Too often, some have decided that since they cannot preach or lead singing they will simply coast, letting others do the work. The point is that preaching and leading singing is a very small part of what a real church needs to do.
"Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness" (vv. 6-8, emphasis added).
True churches are those who are working, everyone according to what they are able to do, and they recognize that all are able to do something.
3. Loving (vv. 9-16)
Some will see in these verses a continuation of the admonition for the church to work, and that is true, but it is also true that they show us the motivation behind much of our work. True, honest love for one another will cause us to work in such a way that our brethren are benefitted most.
It is a beautiful thing when a church lives out these verses, and we must look behind the scenes to see this kind of living. This is the love that goes and cleans another's home when they are sick. It is the love that weeps silently with one whose loved one has died. It is the love that prays earnestly when our brother or sister needs the help only God can give.
Most of all, this is the kind of love that goes out searching for a fallen brother or sister, gently bringing them back to Christ.
4. Different (vv. 17-20)
Wait a minute, didn't you already use that one, brother? Yes, but notice in these verses a call to be forgiving, to turn the other cheek, to continue to be good in the face of evil. That's really different, isn't it?
Anyone can be good in the face of good, but God calls His people to be good in the face of evil, and to let Him worry about avenging that evil. We are good in order to try and cause people to ask, "Why are you so different?"
The answer to the question is, "Because we serve Christ." And that answer is designed to open doors for us to lead others to Him. And isn't that the real work of the church?
"Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
for His steadfast love endures forever!" (Ps. 118:1).
It is important to be thankful to God everyday, but this morning, I would take special note of our nation's desire to set aside a day to thank the Lord, and I would heartily join in.
I am thankful for this world, the creation of God, and I would rejoice in its majestic beauty, from Caribbean shorelines to the snow-capped Rocky Mountains, from the furious beat of a duck's wings in flight to the graceful soar of an eagle on the currents, from a Summer thunderstorm to real Texas Blue Norther.
I am thankful for God's most stunning creation, man. To grasp the nobility God has given man, one can read the speeches of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt or Ronald Reagan. One can glance at the incredible work of the Egyptian pyramids, the Empire State Building or Hoover Dam. Or one can simply watch a mother with her newborn child.
I am thankful for my family at Westside, and having served you as an elder, I am reminded of the words of Paul to the Philippians, "I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart" (Phil. 1:6-7a).
I am thankful for the family God brought me from, for loving parents who taught me the truth and guided my path to Him. And they have continued to serve as a guide to my children in these later years. They have been a blessing to me beyond my feeble thanksgiving.
I am thankful for the family God has given me. We have been blessed with two fine sons, committed to hard work, and more important, committed to Jesus. I am thankful for Jeff and Cliff, for their love and their strength. I am also thankful for the newest member of our family, our future daughter-in-law, Courtney. We have grown to love her as our own, and we look forward to great things for her and Jeff together. Finally, I am thankful for Melinda, the glue that holds our family together, whose love both strengthens me and puts me to shame.
I am thankful for the Father, who saw fit to send His Son to die for the sins for which I could never have atoned.
I am thankful for Jesus, who willingly made that sacrifice because He loved me.
I am thankful for the Spirit, whose word guides me, and who continues to speak for me when my own words fail (Rom. 8:26).
"Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
for His steadfast love endures forever!" (Ps. 118:1).
Our reading today is fitting for the day before Thanksgiving, because in it we find so very much to be thankful for. I hope that you'll read this passage and that tomorrow, before football, food and family, you'll take some time to be thankful for what God has done for you.
"But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life" (6:22).
We are more than 100 years removed from the time of slavery in this country, yet still the wounds can seem fresh in our national consciousness. How much more the slavery in our own lives? That slavery, to sin, required the death of Jesus to set us free. That requirement was met willingly, offering us not only freedom, but sanctification and eternal life.
"For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing . . . Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (7:18-19, 24-25a).
We have all felt the impact of sin in our lives, of wanting to do right, but failing miserably. When I fail in such a way, how am I to be proclaimed right with God? Who will deliver me? Any who have tasted the bitter fruit of sin can identify with Paul, and his thanksgiving almost shouts from the page: "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (8:38-39).
We should especially be thankful for the assurance, the firmness of our faith that Jesus can deliver us through any of Satan's storms or attacks. Nothing we normally fear can take away God's love. Not even the combined efforts of all the forces of evil. God is faithful.
"Those who were not My people I will call 'My people,'
and her who was not beloved I will call 'beloved.'
And in the very place where it was said to them, 'You are not My people,'
there they will be called 'sons of the living God'" (9:25-26).
I am certain that most who read this blog are Gentiles. Imagine if God had continued to concentrate His efforts only on the Jews. I need to be thankful for the grace God provided to me as one born outside His covenant with Israel.
"If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved" (10:9).
If I truly need a reason to be thankful, all I need do is think of the crimes, the sins I have committed against God, and then read this beautiful, simple verse. God could have (i.e. would have still been just) asked that I do something big, like climb Mt. Everest. He could have asked that I do something noble, like lay down my life for another. He could have asked that I do something very expensive.
Instead, He asks that I believe in Him and confess Jesus. I should not only be thankful, but humbled.
"For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen" (11:36).
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek" (1:16).
Many of us have heard that verse in countless sermons and have read it hundreds of times. Rightly so, for it reminds us of the powerful words and ideas in scripture that bring salvation.
But Paul's focus is actually found in the next verse: "For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, 'The righteous shall live by faith'"(v. 17).
The righteousness of God. What does Paul mean that God's righteousness is revealed in the gospel? Since we are seeking to know God better, His righteousness is an important facet of His character for us to understand.
Paul goes on to speak first of the need for God's righteousness. He comments on the Gentiles drifting further and further from God, even though they should have recognized Him (and His dominion over them) from His creation (1:18-32). He further speaks of the Jews need for God's righteousness because of their inability to keep the Law of Moses (2:17-29).
The truth is that neither Jews nor Gentiles were righteous before God. Paul sums up in this way, "But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins. It was to show His righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus" (3:21-26).
He then shows how the faith of Abraham allowed God to proclaim (count) him righteous, and that since Abraham's faith was shown before his circumcision, Gentiles could be saved in the same way (4:10-11), and since Abraham manifested his faith in his circumcision, Jews could be saved if their circumcision was of the heart, that is, by faith (4:12).
After this, Paul explains that it is in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus that we are able to access God's righteousness (5:1-11). Remember that Paul has already shown that all are sinners (3:23), and that the only justification is through faith. But how does faith achieve righteousness?
Because God loved us, He sent Jesus to die, canceling our debt of sin (5:1-11). Because of the righteous life of Jesus, it did not matter that our sins were innumerable. The more sin there was, the more God's grace was shown (5:12-21).
Some points to sum up:
1) All are sinners, and as such, unworthy of salvation.
2) God loved us (even as sinners), and sent Jesus to die for us.
3) We are thus justified by faith in Jesus.
4) In that way, the gospel shows God's righteousness. His righteousness, not our own, saves us.
5) God's righteousness is the power of the gospel.
It is one of the most harmful things to Christianity in all of history. It is something that has turned many, many people away from Christ.
Persecution? Atheism? Government intrusion?
No. I am speaking of the phenomenon of the televangelist. What could have been a very useful tool for evangelism (television) has turned into a tool for men to become rich in material things at the expense of the gospel and their followers.
And it has hurt us. Though we are not associated with any of these men, the world associates all of Christianity with them. They are a blight on the very word of God.
How do we distance ourselves from them?
"Here for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be a burden, for I seek not what is yours but you. For children are not obligated to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls" (12:14-15a, emphasis added).
If we seek to impact the lives of those who have become cynical toward Christianity because of those who are after their money, we must convince them we are most certainly not. We do that by showing them that we care for their souls, and not their money. We do it by living out what Paul says here.
