Lawson Road CoC Teaching
Peter Horne: The Church Belongs to Jesus
can see all these smiling faces over there. I was like, oh, we're not, we've got everybody here that we need to. It's good. If you have a prayer card this morning, we can collect those at this time. And if they, you suddenly just remember you need to write a prayer card, we'll pick them up again later as well. So we are picking up our sermon series that we've been in last week. And see if my click is working today. No, thank you, Ann. Yep, there we go. So it's a riff, if you will, on the name church of Christ. And I'm not suggesting through this that there's only one name, obviously in the, in Scripture the church is referred to in several ways. But since this is the name that we have, what does it mean to be the church of Christ? One of the things that means is that the church belongs to Christ. It's of Christ. It belongs to Christ. And so I want to, we're exploring what that means. What are the implications of having that as our name, right? Names mean something. We talked about that last week. And so if names mean something and this is our name, what does it mean for us that the church belongs to Christ? So I want to, we pick up where we read this morning in Colossians chapter one and verses 15 through 20. Well, yeah, just 15 through 20. I know we read a little bit more than that. But what we have here actually is a poem or a hymn. Now, we're not, we, nobody can ever be 100% sure if this is a hymn that Paul wrote, or if it's a hymn that Paul found and put in and said, hey, this works really well. This explains what I'm talking about. But it seems to be a piece of poetry or hymn that the church was familiar with. And so he's saying to them, hey, this hymn, it makes the point that I'm trying to make here. So what I want us to see, well, just as we begin, I'm not, I know it's small writing up there and I apologize. You know how the Bible's in columns, which would have been helpful, but Ernest wouldn't let me turn the screens vertical. So we're just kind of stuck with doing it this way. But what we could see is there's sort of like two verses to this hymn. And so the first begins in verse 15 and the second in verse, the second half of verse 18. And so I'll put those up there on the screen next to each other. And it's interesting just to see some of the themes that recur as we go through here. The first one says, the son is the image of the invisible God, the first born over creation. It doesn't mean first born in the sense of given birth to, but it means first born in terms of position in terms of honor and respect. He is the one that is honored, that is respected, that is admired over all creation. And then over in verse 18, that second verse of the song begins, he is the beginning. Now the first born, not of creation this time from among the dead. And so we have here this point of what we might call the original creation, that Jesus is the first born over creation. We're told elsewhere that all things were made through him, or it says down there at the bottom, right? Through him and for him at the original creation. But then in the second verse, we're not talking about creation so much as we are talking about the new creation. That the resurrection, the resurrected life that is now available, he is the first born from among the dead. Elsewhere we're told that he's the first fruits of the resurrection, something that we can look forward to as being the second or the third fruits. And it says that this is the case so that all things him can have supremacy. And then we see this phrase in him, in the original creation, in him, all things were created. And when we say all things, we're talking about all things in heaven and earth, visible and invisible. Okay? And then we come over to the new creation and it says that the fullness of God is now dwelling in him. Through him to reconcile all things to himself, whether things on earth or in heaven. So either way, whether we be, because we might think, oh, Jesus died, right? We know the story of Jesus' death. Jesus died, and that means that he's our Savior, forgives us of our sins, and he restores things on earth, right? He restores us to him. And so what they're saying here is just as in the original creation, all things heaven and earth were created through him. Now in the new creation, he doesn't just redeem people. He is restoring, reconciling all things, heaven and earth, just like at the original creation. The whole of creation is being put back together in Christ. And now all things have been created through him, and we're told that he is making, this time through him, making peace through him, through his blood shed on the cross. So we have these sort of themes that show up in both places, contrasting this original or first creation with the new creation. And Christ is at the center of both those. Now any good hymn needs a chorus, and so the chorus here is found in the middle. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church. That is the message that's at the crux. Whether we are talking about the original creation or the new creation, Christ is at the center of it. Because he was before it, he holds everything together. Certainly that's the case with the original creation. And regarding the new creation, it says he's the head of the body. He is, that is the church. Now it goes on to expand that new creation is being more than the church, but it is still the focus point here in this hymn. So we want to focus today as much as we could go through that whole passage. We want to focus today on this idea of he is the head of the body, the church. Jesus is the head of the body. Now we use the word head in English in many different ways. You can, if you want to task, just go home and think how many different kinds of things are referred to as a head. For instance, you've got your head, but you've got the head of a corporation. You've got the head of a hammer. They're all very, very different heads. And so it's a word that has many different meanings. One of the ones that, and Greek is the same. So if we were to go to Greek, it's the same thing. It has this, one of the ways that Greek is used, uses the word head much more than is common in English, is as the point of origin. And so we might, we might use it in this way in terms of the headwaters of a river. What are the headwaters of the river? It's not the brain of the river. It doesn't mean it's the most important part of the river, because it's not, it's not the widest or the fastest flowing. The headwaters of the river are where the river originates. It's the source of the river. And likewise, we might talk about a trailhead. You would think the trailhead is at the top of the mountain, because that's where the head goes. But the trailhead is where you begin walking. It's at the start. It's the point of origin for the trail. And so as we look through, we see this sort of emphasis being made, that this isn't about, although it does talk about Christ having supremacy and different things, when it says that he is the head of the body, the church, it's talking about him being the source. Notice how it says of the original creation, he's before all things, and he's holding things together. And so when it comes down to the church, it says, he's the head of the body. He's the origin of the body, the church. Now, we're most accustomed to using head, at least metaphorically, as the head of the corporation, the most important, the one in charge, the person with the most authority. Now, I'm not at all suggesting that there is anybody that has more authority in the church than Jesus does. That would be problematic. But at least in the passages here, where it's talking about the, in these passages, talking about Christ the head as the source, as the origin of the church. It's interesting when we look at the different ways that this body metaphor, which is one that Paul uses a lot in his writings, different ways that Paul uses it. There are four really main passages in the New Testament that he uses this terminology. And in Romans and 1 Corinthians, he talks there about unity and diversity. And so he says that the body, the church is a body, and everybody has a different part to do. Not everybody can be a hand, not everybody can be a foot or whatever. But what's interesting here is he actually says that parts of the head, the ear, or the eye, or the nose, are people. He says, you can't all be these parts. And so he says, we're all different. There's diversity. But he says, we have to work together. We have unity as the body of Christ. And so those two passages, addressing, I think, particular needs in the church in Rome and the church in Corinth. He's saying, this is what you're facing sort of tension and you're facing disruption. You need to realize differences are okay, but we need to work together. In Ephesians and Colossians, two letters that are very similar, he has this different message. And his message here is that about our dependence upon God, or upon Christ, because he talks about not just the body, but about the head. And in both these passages, the head is Christ. And so unlike where the church's ears and eyes and nose, it's like, no, the head is separate from the body. It's a metaphor, okay? So just work with us. But it's saying the point of emphasis here is that the body is dependent upon the head. The body has no life without the head. The body, in this case, originates from the head. The head is the source of the body. And so it's even though they're both passages are talking about using the same image, the message is a little, a little different. So when we think of the church now as the body of Christ, the church of Christ, the body of Christ. As Christians, we are followers of Jesus, okay? As Christians, we're followers of Jesus. That's simply what it means, or followers of Christ. Anybody recognize this guy? He played basketball. Long time ago, long time ago, sold blood shoes. He's a better shoe salesman, I think than he was a basketball player. But in sports, it's not uncommon for them to have like fan appreciation nights and they give away this kind of collectible. It's a bobble head, okay? And I want us to turn over to Ephesians and I'll make the connection here. In Ephesians chapter four, and I'm reading here in verse 15, "Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is Christ. From him," so you see that point of origin, "from him, the whole body joined and held together by every supporting ligament grows and builds itself up in love as each part does its work." So Christians are followers of Jesus, we're told then the church is the body of Jesus. And I think the reason I had the bobble head there is that I think this is the image that Paul has in mind when he talks about it. It's a little unclear and I know they didn't have bobble heads in the first century, but he says that speaking the truth in love, the body will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is Christ. So we have the head and the body is growing to catch up to the head, to become the body that matches the head, to be mature, to be a fit for it, of him who is the head that is Christ. So the head is already perfect, the head is already complete, the head is already mature, that's Jesus. Now the church is this puny little thing underneath. And he says the church, this is it, we're the body of Christ, but we're not the complete body of Christ, we're not the finished product. We've got to go to the gym, we've got to work out, we've got to practice, we've got to train, we've got to mature, and we've got to grow into the body that matches the head that is Christ. And then when we do that from him, from the source of this head, the whole body joined and held together by every supporting ligament, it grows and builds itself up in love as each part of the body does its work. And so I find this helpful sort of image for me to picture what it means for the church to be the body of Christ, at least as we're talking about here, that the head is complete and the church is work in progress. So Christians are followers of Christ, the church is the body of Jesus. As a consequence of that, what's important to Jesus becomes important to us. I know if we go back to 1 Corinthians, it talks about there, if one part of the body hurts, another, the whole body hurts, right? That's the truth. But the head is what sets the direction for the body to walk. The head is what decides, it's important, what are we going to do today? And so Jesus' mission becomes the church's mission. What's important to Jesus needs to be important to the church. Because we're the body of Christ, we're not autonomous from the head, we're following Jesus, we're growing into Him. So what is the mission of Jesus? What's the purpose of Jesus? Certainly Jesus' time on earth, right? So we can begin here in Matthew chapter 1. It is birth, actually before His birth. An angel is speaking to Joseph. He says to Joseph, you give Him the name Jesus. Why? Because He will save His people from their sins. Why is Jesus being born? Because He's going to save His people from their sins. So you and I can't save people from their sins, can we? But we can certainly let people know that that's what Jesus does. But that's a mission, that's a purpose of Jesus being on earth. If we go to Luke chapter 19, here we're told that the story of Zacchaeus and Zacchaeus is hanging out with the wrong crowd, and Jesus says to those who are criticizing Him for hanging with the wrong crowd. He says, "The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." And notice how this develops because in Matthew we were told that He comes to save His people, His people. And now we're told you think, "Oh, He's coming to the Jews. He's coming to save the Jews," right? If you read that in Matthew. Now in Luke the Son of Man is coming to seek and save the lost, okay? It's not a contradiction, it's a development, it's a growth, okay? That there are people that need Jesus. I think that's one that we can say, "Yeah, I relate to that." If that's the mission of Jesus, it's the mission of the church, isn't it? To seek and save the lost. And maybe our emphasis is more on the seeking, as I said before, we can't save, but we can certainly seek and bring them in connection with Him who does save. There's one more. So we see here the two green ones at the bottom there, save people from their sins, seek and save the lost, are pretty similar in their expression. But if we go to Luke chapter 4, we find this Jesus Himself in His own words, giving another mission statement, if you will. And sometimes this is referred to as the Nazareth Manifesto, but that'll be on the quiz, but not worth a lot of points. Starting in verse, I can't read my Bible, 18, is it? So we have this here, "The Spirit of the Lord is on me because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind to set the oppressed free to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." That's not as obvious, is it? It's not as simple because it's a little bit longer here. It doesn't mention sin, so it's different from the other two, right? And yet Jesus says, "This is my purpose." He's sat down, He's come back to His hometown, Nazareth. He's sat down in the synagogue, and He stands up to read, and it's reading from the prophet Isaiah. So Isaiah 58 and 61 are the passages in this particular little bit. He finds this place. It says, "Unrolling it, He found the place. He was looking for it. Then He rolled up the scroll after He read it, gave it back to the attendant, sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on Him." He began by saying, "Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." And I think sometimes when we have a very narrow understanding of what the mission of Christ is, when we come back to here and we're looking at just the green squares there, saving people from sin, seeking and saving the lost. When we have this very narrow one, we might come to Luke 4 and it says, "Today, this is being fulfilled," and we'll say, "What are you talking about, Jesus? Who'd you save?" You just read from Isaiah, okay? Who'd you save? Who'd you forgive today? Because he says, "Today, this scripture is being fulfilled." This is why I'm here. But he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor, good news. And so, one of the things we have to realize is that our mission is also to proclaim good news. I think so many churches have, I'm not telling another church, let me put it this way, it's easy for us to become caught up in so many things that are written in scripture and lose the point that our primary mission is to proclaim good news. Because it doesn't matter whether we're talking about saving people from sin, seeking and saving the lost, or some of the aspects that are talked about here in Luke 4, they are good news to the poor. Not just to the poor, but to the poor, I think here can mean to people that don't have the good news, right? If you don't have it, you're poor in that respect. He sent us to proclaim freedom. Now, that doesn't mean we could go into our jails and prison cells today and say, "All right, I know you just got sentenced to life yesterday, but hey, we're here to proclaim freedom. Throw away the, give me the keys. Let's open those, let's get everyone out of here." All right, it's not, he's not undermining this justice system or appropriate punishments that we might have there. But he's saying the freedom that he's talking about is like when he says, "I've got, you know, you want water, but I've got living water, okay? I've got a water, I've got a well of water that never runs dry." And he says, "All of us can have access to this freedom." Now, if somebody, I think there are certainly cases where we see people who are oppressed that they need to receive freedom in a very tangible way, right? We can't just say, "Oh, you poor person, your life is so hard and difficult." Well, I'm here to proclaim freedom. Let me tell you about Jesus. All right, now go back to that difficult situation. Go back to that marriage and be beaten and abused. Go back to that employer and be taken advantage of. Go back to whatever that situation might be and just know that Jesus is there with you now. Like, no, we have opportunities to say there is real freedom for prisoners. But there's freedom on two levels. Jesus didn't say, "Hey, I've got living water, you don't need that other water anymore." Right? Everybody going to force it in their house, right? We need that water. But Jesus says, "I've got another level of water for you, a water that won't run dry, a water that gives you eternal life." And so, when we talk about freedom or good news to the poor or freedom, when we're talking about healing, we're not just talking on a spiritual level, we can't just spiritualize it. But we say, because we can give you and make a change in your circumstances, we want you to understand that that good news, that freedom, that healing, that that is symbolic of the true, the ultimate freedom, the ultimate good news, the ultimate healing, because when Jesus arrived, the year of the Lord's favor arrived. And when he talks about the year of the Lord's favor, he's talking about the year of Jubilee. And in the Old Testament, the year of Jubilee was a year when all debts were forgiven, a year when land that had belonged to a family and being sold was returned to that family, a year where they rested and celebrated where God said, "You are my people," and I just celebrated that relationship that they had with him. It was supposed to be celebrated every 50 years. As far as we can tell, they never celebrated it. Perhaps the economic cost was simply too great for them to be willing to do it for those in power. And so Jesus comes and says, "No, now is the time of Jubilee, now is the time of forgiveness, now is the time of forgiving debts, of forgiving wrongs, of returning property to people. We're going to make things right. We're going to make things the way they should have always been. This is the year of the Lord's favor. And so if this is the mission of Jesus, it's also the mission of the church. Because the church belongs to Jesus, we proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent us to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. His mission, his message, become else. Now because the church belongs to Jesus, there are some things that it can't be. It's not a social club. It's not a sports club. It's not a real estate investor. It's not a doctor's clinic. We can keep going on, right? But, there's a but here. Because if we go back, what was it that we were supposed to be proclaiming? Good news and freedom, recovery of sight, setting the oppressed free. Okay, so there's freedom and healing. So we can't always say, "I know the church, the church can't be a real estate investor. The church can't be a doctor's clinic." You see, we could take that and say, "Oh, the church can't own property outside of what we need for ourselves. The church can't run a health clinic." And yet, so much to think of, so much mission work is done through offering dental clinics or health clinics. If we go back through history, I don't know about so many hospitals in different places, certainly in the South. There's Baptists, there's Methodist health care systems, there's the San Francis, or these churches have had healthcare. We're saying that, "Oh, no, that's wrong." But we can say, "No, this is a way of proclaiming healing." So the exception here is the church isn't these things unless these things are part of the mission of Christ. Because we also can't just step back and say, "Oh, we have nothing to do with that." We don't want to see sick people get better, we just want to see their sins forgiven. And so there's a disconnect there if that's our attitude. So yeah, we don't invest in real estate because we want to have money in the bank. But if we can invest in real estate and provide housing for the poor, that's good news. You see, there are things that we can do that live out our mission. And when we do these things in the name of Christ, yeah, we're telling them good news. We're providing healing. We're saying, "Yeah, God loves you. Now let us tell you of even better good news that the God that gave you this house has a better house for you." That the pain that you're feeling, that that pain can be held, but also the relational pain, the sin pain, the disconnect that you have not only from those around you but from the creator, that can also be bridged. That can be forgiven because Jesus died for your sins, that Jesus did come to seek and to save the lost. Because the church belongs to Jesus, the church has the mission of Jesus. We need to remember that. A while back when I mentioned this passage in Matthew 28, it's usually called the great commission. I changed that. I think I borrowed it from someone and then conveniently forgot who they were. But it's the, I believe it's the co-mission of Jesus. It's what we do with Jesus. I think it gives us, brings us together and says, "Yes, Jesus is the head. Jesus points us in a direction, but we're not doing it on our own." See, the head doesn't just send us off and say, "Okay, body, go." Jesus said to them, "All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me." Does that sound familiar when we think of Colossians and what the message there? He says, "Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you, and surely I am with you always to the very end of the age." You see, he's not saying, "Go." He's saying, "Let's go." Right? "I'm with you. I'm with you. I'm coming with you. Okay? I'm sending you and I'm coming." Okay? This is a co-mission. And so, yes, this does involve telling people of seeking and saving the loss, doesn't it? Of telling them that Jesus came to save his people from their sins. It involves of telling them not just that, it involves telling them of what's ahead of the hope that we have in Christ. It tells us, as Colossians said, it talks about, "He's the first from among the dead, and that we get to come and ride on His coattails into eternity." And so, we have all of these these images, these messages of good news that to share with the world. And so, the mission of Jesus is one that has different elements to it. Yeah, it involves teaching what I think we've traditionally thought of as just the gospel. But when we look at Luke 4, we're reminded it's bigger than just teaching. The mission of Jesus is bigger than teaching and preaching. Right? That'd be my job. And you guys could just go home and you'd be off the hook, right? Yeah, as long as Peter's up there doing what he's supposed to be doing, the church is doing the mission of God. The mission of Jesus is the mission of the church. And the church is you guys. The church is you guys. It's your mission as much as it's mine. It's your mission as to how we're going to engage with the world Monday to Friday, where really Sunday 12 o'clock till next Sunday morning at 9.30. Okay? How are we going to engage with the world? How are we going to represent Jesus? How are we going to be people bringing a message of good news? What is the good news that people around us need to hear? Yes, they all need to hear about Jesus, about resurrection, about eternal life, about forgiveness. There's also other things in their life where they need good news because they need healing. Maybe that just means they need it right to the doctors, right? And then we can give them a right to the doctors and we show them the love that we have for them, the love that God has for them. We looked at that passage in Ephesians chapter 4, last week we read it again today, that this body, this bubble head body that is growing up into Jesus grows and builds itself up in love. As each part does its work, okay? We grow into the body of Christ when we grow in love, not just for each other, but for those around us. And not just when the preacher preachers, but when each part does its work, we are the body of Christ on the mission of Christ. Amen.