This is a bit of a weird text as it was an interactive sermon with questions. The readings were Romans 13, 8-the end and Matthew 18, 15-20
There was a rather pithy quotation in an article by Kris Akabusi in the Guardian, on the eve of the Olympics. He wrote, “The past is for reference, not for residence”.
It was written in the context of sportsmen and women looking onward and upward as they went into the Olympics, but I find it has an enormous resonance for the church.
Today we are going to be thinking about the past, the present and the future of our church, and I am going to ask you three questions in a while that will help us to understand what has happened here, what is happening, and what we would like to happen in the future.
First we are going to look briefly at two passages with enormous relevance for the church, because they tell us how to live as Christians together, and in the face of a hostile reaction from those around us.
That does not mean we are meant to be living in an ivory tower, cut off from the evils of the world, not does it mean that we are to assimilate entirely with the patterns of behaviour that society in general treats as normal.
Romans is Paul's letter of self-introduction to a Church he has never yet visited. None of the Gospels has yet been written, but the stories of Jesus are circulating among the Churches, and Paul is echoing one – his suggestion that love is the fulfilling of the law. Though it may be that he didn't get this from Jesus, but from his teacher Gamaliel, as it was a teaching not unknown among the rabbis.
Paul's concept of 'the flesh', or the sinful nature (verse 14) needs some understanding. For Paul, the flesh is the realm of rebellion against God. As I have said in another sermon recently, the term does not in itself imply anything specifically sexual or even necessarily specifically sinful. It contrasts with the realm of the spirit, which is where we encounter God. Christ has freed us to live in the realm of the spirit, but we still have desires for the realm of the flesh. Christ is our armour against them.
I think it is most significant that Paul uses the imagery of armour on more than one occasion in his letters; clearly he did not expect Christians to have an easy life. In Ephesians 6 Paul expands his metaphor, with detailed applications of the different elements of armour to elements of the Christian life; You may well remember he speaks of the breastplate of righteousness, but there is no armour for the soldier’s back; the armour of light is not designed for running away, but for advancing, advancing the Kingdom of God.
Matthew 18.15-20 is one of the gospel sections found only in Matthew, and reflects the context of the loose network of house churches and travelling preachers that seems to have made up Matthew's original readers. It was a community under pressure, facing opposition both from other Jewish groups and from Roman authorities, and it was coping with its own potentially volatile mix of Jews and Gentiles. Discipline mattered, and is here presented as stemming from Jesus himself. But it is ordered discipline, not the arbitrary whim of a leader or elder. The aim is restoration, and reconciliation of a comunity.
Matthew and Paul write for the infant church, which had its own issues, yet prevailed and was able with the help of God to spread the gospel beyond their own borders and ultimately over time around the world. We are the inheritors of their faithfulness, but also of their task of being the church for our generation. Like them, we may have our issues, but we also have much to celebrate!
Now, lets get to our questions. I have been brief, to allow you the space to think about these;
First, Remembering your entire experience at our church, when were you most alive, most motivated and excited about your involvement? What made it exciting? Who else was involved? What happened? What was your part? Describe what you felt.
Second, What do you value most about our church? What activities or ingredients or ways of life are most important? What are the best features of this church?
Finally, Make three wishes for the future of this church.
