| Part 1 |
The Church Meaning and Membership Part 1 In our current scripture… in English … the word “church” appears often … and when we hear the word we think we understand the meaning of the word in its current context … and perhaps even in the context in which it was originally used. However, I doubt that this is really so. In fact, even the distribution of the use of the word “church” … that is, where and when it is used in the scripture … shows a clear distinction in the words contextual meaning. The Greek word that is translated as “church” is ecclesia … it is used 115 times in the Greek Christian scripture … the New Testament … and is translated as church 112 times. In all four of the gospels, the word only appears 3 times … all in Matthew … within two specific occurrences in chapters 16 and 18. The word is never used in the gospels of Mark, Luke or John. In the book the Acts of the Apostles however, the history of the early church, the word is used 19 times and in the 21 epistles, or letters, in the New Testament, the word is used 66 times. The word is frequently used in the Revelation of Jesus to John. The point … It is clear from this distribution, that the term “church” is not one used by Jesus … but is a word that is frequently used by the believers in Jesus … after his death, resurrection, and ascension. Why is this? First of all, Jesus taught in Aramaic and within a Jewish context … and within this Jewish context of 2000 years ago there is really no concept such as church … as we know it today. The Hebrew/ Aramaic word that would have been used by Jesus and his followers is qahal. This word, used 107 times in the Hebrew scriptures, and is translated as ecclesia in the Greek Hebrew scriptures … the Septuagint. We rely on the Greek Hebrew scripture as the source of our Old Testament. Qahal obviously does not mean “church” in the Hebrew scriptures, the Old Testament, where the concept does not exist. In the Jewish context it means congregation (86), assembly (17), multitude (3), or company (1). For example … in Genesis 48:4 … “… Behold, I will make you fruitful, and you will multiply, and I will make you a qahal; and will give this land to your seed for an everlasting possession.” Qahal here means “a multitude of people.” We wouldn’t be speaking of “church” in God’s covenant promise to Abraham. (There aren’t even Jews yet at this point!) So neither the Hebrew/ Aramaic word qahal or the Greek word ecclesia can be correctly thought of directly as church. There is another Greek word … kyriakon (kyriakos) which would better be translated as church but this is not the word that is used in the New Testament writings. (Kyriakos is used twice … 1 Cor 11:20 … “the Lord’s supper” & Rev 1:10 … “the Lord’s day.” But this gives a clear clue as to what church means … it pertains to the Lord’s possession. Ecclesia means an “assembly” … from the Greek roots “ecc” “kaleo” … “to be called out” … usually by a higher authority. A secular council … soldiers in an Army. In the Christian context we should think of an ecclesia as an assembly of believers … called out … by God. Called out of what … the world. For what purpose … to be God’s people. If we think of the word in that context … it makes sense for the covenant people of God of the Old Testament … and for the believers in Jesus as the Son of God in the context of the New Testament. But … by the time the bible was translated into English … beginning in the 15th century … “churches” had become well established and the translators wanted that “assembly of believers” that the scriptures speak of … to be thought of as the established churches. It was a self serving translation. So when we hear the word church today … what should we think of … The church is … an assembly of people called out of the world by God to love, obey and worship Him. In this concept of church … established after the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus … there are prescribed conditions of membership. And there are scriptural and traditional … inferences as to what membership in the church entails. That’s what we will be talking about … ------------------------------------------------------ We can see this in the very first book after the gospels … The Acts of the Apostles. But even before Jesus return to his Father … when he still walked among his disciples … he gave these instructions … just before his ascension … Matt 28 … 16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. 18And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’ The eleven disciples … They worshipped him … All authority … has been given to me. Make disciples … Teaching them … Until the end … Now Jesus has ascended … but he is still with the believers. And the Holy Spirit has been received … on Pentecost … the birthday of the church … as we know it. And we read in the Acts of the Apostles … 44All who believed were together and had all things in common; 45they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, 47praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved. (Acts 2) No one was in need … everyone took care of one another. They prayed in the temple daily … they were Jews! They broke bread at home … celebrated the Eucharist … which means Thanksgiving … the agape… or love feast. Numbers increased. They had glad and generous hearts. Christianity has always been a Way of Life … Many accept the Christian explanation … but not the way of life. To use the vernacular … many who profess faith … talk the talk … but don’t walk the walk. And all who believed were together ... no social superiority … no racial or ethnic intolerance … … They were bound by fellowship … and by … ideas … apostles teachings practice … breaking of the bread in the Eucharist religious habits … praying in the Temple and all this was done with joy and gladness … Is this what we see in the church today ?????? The community should be total … where the lonely find friends … the sinful find forgiveness and understanding … believers find support and encouragement … That’s the assembly of believers … the church … an assembly of people called out of the world by God to love, obey and worship Him. And we worship him in community … through liturgy … liturgia … the work of the people … and by caring for one another. But soon … even in this early assembly …there was a dispute … … the twelve called together the whole community of the disciples and said, ‘It is not right that we should neglect the word of God in order to wait at tables. 3Therefore, friends, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task, 4while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word.’ 5 What they said pleased the whole community, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 6They had these men stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. The community had grown … it had become an organization. Others were needed to be chosen within the community … for a variety of tasks. When the church is, in fact, a community, there are many roles to played. In fact … these seven disciples … deacons … who were chosen by their community … became great missionaries and martyrs … 7 The word of God continued to spread; the number of the disciples increased greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. (Acts 6) Stephen … the first deacon becomes the first martyr … The story continues with Philip ... Ethiopian … Acts 8 Guided by an angel … A court official … Praying in Jerusalem … Reading Isaiah (53 … suffering servant) … 35Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. 36As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, ‘Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?’ 38He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. (Acts 8) The Holy Spirit moved the Ethiopian to be asked to be baptized … because of the work of Jesus … the words of Philip … and the grace of the Holy Spirit … We often talk about faith and works … don’t tell me what you believe … show me what you believe … … here we see another aspect of the early community … some one must open his mouth … preach/ teach the seeker … just as Philip did with the Ethiopian … … we are all called to profess our faith … and beliefs … not only inside these walls … in a creedal statement … but … to all the people … its not a request … it’s a command. Cornelius … Acts 10 Story … Cornelius is a seeker … A Roman soldier … a devout man … prayed constantly. Peter … “what God has made clean … you must not call profane.” Circumcision party. Peter says … 42He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. 43All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.’ Gentiles Receive the Holy Spirit44 While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. 45The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, 46for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter said, 47‘Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?’ 48So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. (Acts 10) The Holy Spirit was received … as Cornelius and his family were preached to by Peter … then they were baptized. This is how people came into the assembly … the church. The Ethiopian … Cornelius … the Roman soldier … were moved by the Spirit of God to seek the truth … and the community established in the name of Jesus. |
Commentary provide by John Rybicki |