| Part 2 |
The Church Meaning and Membership Part 2 Last week we discussed the meaning of the word … and concept of church … both in the Hebrew scripture … the OT … and in our own NT. We discussed two similar … but different stories from the book of the Acts of the Apostles. The baptism of the Ethopian eunuch by Phillip (chap 8) … and the baptism of the Roman soldier Cornelius by Peter (chap 10). Both the Ethopian and Cornelius were moved by the Spirit of God to seek God … to have questions answered … and to participate in a community of believers established with the purpose of responding to the revelation of God. The Ethiopian was obviously a “God fearer,” a non-Jew who participated in Jewish custom and ritual … but did not subscribe to circumcision or strict dietary laws. The Ethiopian is simply baptized by Phillip … in the desert … Phillip disappears … and the Ethiopian goes on his way. A single individual … with a question … now filled with the Holy Spirit … whose life was transformed. Conversely, Cornelius and his entire household are baptized by Peter … in the home of Cornelius … but … there is also a group from what is referred to in the Acts as the Circumcision Party … conservative Jewish converts … probably Pharisees … from Jerusalem … who accompanied Peter. A single follower Phillip … bringing in another single individual. Cornelius household being brought in by Peter … with a group from Jerusalem. The differences in the events … each has a lesson … It is important to note that none of those being brought to the faith in these stories are Jews … -------------------------------------------------- But … when Peter returns to Jerusalem … there was another dispute … Would those Gentiles … like the Ethiopian and Cornelius … have to obey the Law of Moses … in order to be followers of Jesus. Would Gentiles … in effect … have to become Jews in order to become Christians ?? This dispute was so serious that a gathering of the leaders of the community gathered in Jerusalem. James presided … Acts 15 There is a discussion between Peter, James, Paul, Barnabas and others … spoken of as the apostles and elders … concerning what should be done. James speaks … 19Therefore I have reached the decision that we should not trouble those Gentiles who are turning to God, 20but we should write to them to abstain only from things polluted by idols and from fornication and from whatever has been strangled and from blood. 21 The Council’s Letter to Gentile BelieversThen the apostles and the elders, with the consent of the whole church, decided to choose men from among their members and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. 28For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to impose on you no further burden than these essentials … If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.’ (Acts 15) The church was ordering itself … deciding … establishing rules … … for the people who would separate themselves from the world. The church was becoming “a church” … more as we know the term today. Not exactly like … but more like … --------------------------------------------------------- Before we go forward … however … another classic story … this time of a Jew’s conversion … or more correctly stated … a transformation … is told … the story of Paul. Paul’s conversion is actually presented 3 times in the Acts of the Apostles … in chaps 9, 22 and 26. We know the story … Paul (as Saul) persecuted followers of Jesus … He was a Pharisee … from the tribe of Benjamin. He studied under Gamaliel … one of the foremost Jewish scholars of the day. On his way to Damascus … Saul was given a vision … and was asked by Jesus why he was persecuting him … He was made blind. In Damascus … Paul remained for 3 days … A believer Ananias … was told to search Paul out … From chap 9: 17So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ 18And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, 19and after taking some food, he regained his strength. --------------------------------------------------- As we go further into the book of Acts … we see the missionary work … especially of Paul … carried out … to follow the command of Jesus to make disciples of all nations. (Acts 18:8) “… and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul became believers and were baptized. In Ephesus … Paul preaches in the name of Jesus … and … (Acts 19:5-7) “… they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied … In Jerusalem … Paul preaches … Acts 22:16 16”And now why do you delay? Get up, be baptized, and have your sins washed away, calling on his name.” -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It is abundantly clear from the stories of the Ethiopian … Cornelius … and even of Paul … that it is the Holy Spirit who leads one to Christ and his church … the assembly of believers. Baptism … however, is always the element … the symbol of commitment. The contract of the New Covenant. The decision point for the seeker … Once someone is baptized … there is no turning back. You can never be “unbaptised.” One enters into the assembly of believers … the Body of Christ … and there are obligations. Baptism …is for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38); washes sins away (Acts 22:16); puts one into Christ (Rom. 6:1 & Gal. 3:27); and puts one into the body of believers (1 Cor. 12:13). Baptism offers a new beginning … a start … not a finish. ------------------------------------------------------- But what of those baptized as infants … Many who have been baptized have never really made a commitment … they have simply been baptized … They didn’t seek baptism as the Ethiopian and Cornelius did … and haven’t done anything with their baptism … as Paul did. One must desire to live a Christian life … to follow The Way … after baptism … otherwise, that baptism will not be a blessing … but will ultimately be a dreadful reminder … of a failure of the promise … a failure of the covenant. 5Jesus stated, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. (John 3) Baptism alone is not enough … one must respond to the Spirit … John Chrysostum … in a homily given almost 1600 years ago … said “After baptism it is in our power to persist willingly in following Christ. If we don’t … the gift which we have received from Jesus is not destroyed … but buried as a treasure in the ground. We should take care to unearth the treasure and bring it to light.” Remember the gospel of the talents from just two weeks ago. The master gave each servant talents … some made good use of them … and served the master with them … One servant did not … he buried his talent in a field … The master confronted that servant … and said … 28… take the talent from him, and give it to someone else30 As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matt 25:28-30) The words of John Chrysostum are much more pastoral than the parable Jesus told … John said … use your gift … bring it to light … Jesus said … use it … or loose it … and be punished … severely … ------------------------------------------------ Do we think that the promise of the new covenant can’t be taken away from us ??? Paul provides a warning to us in 1st Corinthians … “I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea … Paul is talking about the Exodus … Under the cloud … in the Jewish understanding … means being under the protection of God as his chosen people … the cloud that protected the Jewish people during the Exodus from Egypt was a symbol of the Shekena … the very Spirit of God. … and the baptism was the Lord God allowing the people to pass through the Red Sea … unharmed … while the pursuing Egyptians were destroyed. Paul continues … 3and all ate the same spiritual food, 4and all drank the same spiritual drink. 5Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the wilderness. We all eat the same spiritual food here in the Liturgy … and we all partake of the same spiritual drink … 6 Now these things occurred as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil as they did. 7Do not become idolaters as some of them did … Remember … idolatry is placing anything … before God … 9We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed … 11These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us … 18Consider the people of Israel; are not those who eat the sacrifices partners in the altar? Paul is saying here that the Jews had the law, the Spirit … they were baptized through Moses … they participated in sacrifices at the altar that were acceptable to God … But they lost their inheritance … Paul continues … 16The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? 17Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 1 Cor 10 Do All to the Glory of GodIn Galations Paul states … “… you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.” (Gal 3:27) We are now keepers of the covenant. --------------------------------------------------------- If we think that this cannot happen to us … we should look back at the parable of the Wicked Tenants … which we heard just 5 weeks ago … The beautiful fruitful vineyard was given to God’s chosen … but they abused his love … took it for granted … and treated it as their own … At the end of that parable Jesus concludes … 43Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. ----------------------------------------------------- Paul preaches to the church in Rome this very same message … 27As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. How can we who died to sin go on living in it? 3Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. (Rom 6:2-4) And that newness demands … Transformation … change … and being called out of this world to be like him … Being baptized as a child is a rather passive act … But responding to the Spirit … requires action. |
Commentary provide by John Rybicki |