The Great Ends of the Church: Shelter, Nurture, and Spiritual Welfare of the Children of God
Sermon Text for April 22:
Acts 2:41-47; I John 1:1-10
A bright young woman with everything going for her suddenly receives a diagnosis of cancer. She is devastated! Things like this don’t happen to people like her. Tearfully she tells her family and then swears them to secrecy. No one must know because she can’t even bring herself to say the word, “cancer” to anyone but those closest to her. And she feels more alone than she ever has felt. She feels as if she is the only one in the world who has ever received such dreadful news. She begins to draw into herself and away from friends. She stops returning phone calls and changes the subject when someone notices that she is not her old self and asks what is wrong.
She needs someplace where it is safe to ask the hard questions and where people who understand will offer her nurture and support. One day she allows herself to admit how fearful she is, and she shares the doctor’s diagnosis with a few close friends from church. Much to her relief no one judges her. No one pries or tries to get her to share more than she is comfortable sharing. Gradually her feeling of being alone begins to lift. These people care, they’ll be there, they will keep her going when things inevitably get even tougher.
The Presbyterian Church USA exists to be a safe haven when our members are wounded, and when the world no longer makes any sense. When the world drains us of all hope, when we’re striving with all of our might just to keep going, the Presbyterian Church provides spiritual nourishment and shelter. This is our reason for being: to provide for the Shelter, Nurture, and Spiritual Fellowship of the children of God. It’s what we do and who we are.
Shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship are the identifying marks of a truly Christian denomination or congregation. A congregation is genuinely Christian when it is a safe haven for people in trouble. A congregation is truly Christian when it is a place where believers find refuge when the world no longer makes sense.
When a congregation is genuinely Christian its members nurture one another in faith so that each one grows strong. The genuinely Christian congregation bows down to care for the weak, while reaching high to nurture those who are strong. In the genuinely Christian congregation members are joined together in a fellowship so deep that they know they belong to one another.
The first century Church discovered this spiritual fellowship almost by accident. Most of the earliest members were Jews and they worshipped in the Temple or the synagogue. But soon they discovered that the spiritual food in these services was no longer sufficient for their needs. Their belief in Christ defined them so completely that the Christians began gravitating to fellow believers’ homes after worship to break bread with one another. In the breaking of bread and sharing the cup the bond which connected them was strengthened.
The Book of Acts tells us about this fledgling Christian fellowship. Members worshipped with their Jewish families and then went on to meet in each other’s homes. Their identity as followers of Jesus broke down all of the walls that normally separate people. They even gave up private property in order to share what they had with one another. This caring community was so attractive that those outside were drawn to Christ and the community grew.
The writer of I John talks about this “spiritual fellowship”. John and the other disciples felt the presence of Christ in their lives and realized it was not for them only. It needed to be shared with others and so John writes, “we proclaim” Christ to you, “so that you may have fellowship with us; and our fellowship is with the Father and his son Jesus Christ.”
Christian fellowship and nurture is bigger than a congregation or a denomination. All who name the name of Jesus are joined together in a fellowship of caring, nurture, and fellowship. When I heard the news of the tragic shooting in Virginia last Monday I was deeply saddened like the rest of you. I wondered how this could happen to some of the best and brightest of our nation’s young people. And then I remembered Columbine. I felt my hear clutch within me. In April of 1999 I served a Church in Littleton, and the grandson of one of our members was among those who were murdered. The tragedy was almost unspeakable, and last week it happened again. For a while the old pain returned and was added to new grief.
Interestingly the week of the Columbine murders I was preaching on the “Shelter, Nurture, and Spiritual Welfare of The People of God.” And I absolutely didn’t know what to say. But within hours people I did not know, from all across the country sent emails pledging love, support, and prayer. Flowers arrived from strangers. One man from California called to say he was ready to jump in his car and drive to Littleton if I thought he could help. One church sent five hundred origami doves as a sign of their love.
And slowly I began to see a new reality: In the love of Jesus Christ we belong to each other – even to people we will never meet or even see are a part of a shelter constructed by Christ himself. In the Church of Jesus Christ we are sheltered, nurtured, and joined together in a mystical union of caring and support. The support of faithful people who reached out to us in 1999, helped me and my congregation survive that difficult, crucifying time.
I put the names of some of the pastors and chaplains who are ministering in Blacksburg, Virginia in the bulletin. You belong to a congregation in Lakewood, Colorado, that shelters, nurtures, and provides spiritual fellowship for you. And members of Christ’s Body related to Virginia Tech, and the churches in Blacksburg need to be sheltered and nurtured by our prayers, cards, emails, flowers, and anything else we can think of.
I am proud to tell you that the Presbyterian Church USA was on the scene immediately with personnel and money to assist the churches, pastors, and others in the community. Because you and I are part of the Presbyterian Church USA we will continue to bring shelter and nurture for a long time to come through disaster assistance teams.
Friends, that’s what it’s all about. Because of Jesus Christ, we shelter and nurture one another. That’s why we exist. It’s what we do and who we are. I know that sometimes people get angry with our presbytery and our denomination, but right now we can be proud. Because the Presbyterian Church USA exists to provide shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship for the people of God, you and I are making a real difference in the lives of people in Virginia and around the world. Thanks be to God.
Copyright © 2007 by Dwight R. Blackstock
Acts 2:41-47; I John 1:1-10
A bright young woman with everything going for her suddenly receives a diagnosis of cancer. She is devastated! Things like this don’t happen to people like her. Tearfully she tells her family and then swears them to secrecy. No one must know because she can’t even bring herself to say the word, “cancer” to anyone but those closest to her. And she feels more alone than she ever has felt. She feels as if she is the only one in the world who has ever received such dreadful news. She begins to draw into herself and away from friends. She stops returning phone calls and changes the subject when someone notices that she is not her old self and asks what is wrong.
She needs someplace where it is safe to ask the hard questions and where people who understand will offer her nurture and support. One day she allows herself to admit how fearful she is, and she shares the doctor’s diagnosis with a few close friends from church. Much to her relief no one judges her. No one pries or tries to get her to share more than she is comfortable sharing. Gradually her feeling of being alone begins to lift. These people care, they’ll be there, they will keep her going when things inevitably get even tougher.
The Presbyterian Church USA exists to be a safe haven when our members are wounded, and when the world no longer makes any sense. When the world drains us of all hope, when we’re striving with all of our might just to keep going, the Presbyterian Church provides spiritual nourishment and shelter. This is our reason for being: to provide for the Shelter, Nurture, and Spiritual Fellowship of the children of God. It’s what we do and who we are.
Shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship are the identifying marks of a truly Christian denomination or congregation. A congregation is genuinely Christian when it is a safe haven for people in trouble. A congregation is truly Christian when it is a place where believers find refuge when the world no longer makes sense.
When a congregation is genuinely Christian its members nurture one another in faith so that each one grows strong. The genuinely Christian congregation bows down to care for the weak, while reaching high to nurture those who are strong. In the genuinely Christian congregation members are joined together in a fellowship so deep that they know they belong to one another.
The first century Church discovered this spiritual fellowship almost by accident. Most of the earliest members were Jews and they worshipped in the Temple or the synagogue. But soon they discovered that the spiritual food in these services was no longer sufficient for their needs. Their belief in Christ defined them so completely that the Christians began gravitating to fellow believers’ homes after worship to break bread with one another. In the breaking of bread and sharing the cup the bond which connected them was strengthened.
The Book of Acts tells us about this fledgling Christian fellowship. Members worshipped with their Jewish families and then went on to meet in each other’s homes. Their identity as followers of Jesus broke down all of the walls that normally separate people. They even gave up private property in order to share what they had with one another. This caring community was so attractive that those outside were drawn to Christ and the community grew.
The writer of I John talks about this “spiritual fellowship”. John and the other disciples felt the presence of Christ in their lives and realized it was not for them only. It needed to be shared with others and so John writes, “we proclaim” Christ to you, “so that you may have fellowship with us; and our fellowship is with the Father and his son Jesus Christ.”
Christian fellowship and nurture is bigger than a congregation or a denomination. All who name the name of Jesus are joined together in a fellowship of caring, nurture, and fellowship. When I heard the news of the tragic shooting in Virginia last Monday I was deeply saddened like the rest of you. I wondered how this could happen to some of the best and brightest of our nation’s young people. And then I remembered Columbine. I felt my hear clutch within me. In April of 1999 I served a Church in Littleton, and the grandson of one of our members was among those who were murdered. The tragedy was almost unspeakable, and last week it happened again. For a while the old pain returned and was added to new grief.
Interestingly the week of the Columbine murders I was preaching on the “Shelter, Nurture, and Spiritual Welfare of The People of God.” And I absolutely didn’t know what to say. But within hours people I did not know, from all across the country sent emails pledging love, support, and prayer. Flowers arrived from strangers. One man from California called to say he was ready to jump in his car and drive to Littleton if I thought he could help. One church sent five hundred origami doves as a sign of their love.
And slowly I began to see a new reality: In the love of Jesus Christ we belong to each other – even to people we will never meet or even see are a part of a shelter constructed by Christ himself. In the Church of Jesus Christ we are sheltered, nurtured, and joined together in a mystical union of caring and support. The support of faithful people who reached out to us in 1999, helped me and my congregation survive that difficult, crucifying time.
I put the names of some of the pastors and chaplains who are ministering in Blacksburg, Virginia in the bulletin. You belong to a congregation in Lakewood, Colorado, that shelters, nurtures, and provides spiritual fellowship for you. And members of Christ’s Body related to Virginia Tech, and the churches in Blacksburg need to be sheltered and nurtured by our prayers, cards, emails, flowers, and anything else we can think of.
I am proud to tell you that the Presbyterian Church USA was on the scene immediately with personnel and money to assist the churches, pastors, and others in the community. Because you and I are part of the Presbyterian Church USA we will continue to bring shelter and nurture for a long time to come through disaster assistance teams.
Friends, that’s what it’s all about. Because of Jesus Christ, we shelter and nurture one another. That’s why we exist. It’s what we do and who we are. I know that sometimes people get angry with our presbytery and our denomination, but right now we can be proud. Because the Presbyterian Church USA exists to provide shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship for the people of God, you and I are making a real difference in the lives of people in Virginia and around the world. Thanks be to God.
Copyright © 2007 by Dwight R. Blackstock
posted by Dwight Blackstock | 12:48 PM
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