The Third Article: He Calls, Gathers, Enlightens The Whole Church
Sermon
What's That Supposed To Mean?
Using The Catechism In The 21st Century
Object:
The Apostles' Creed -- The Third Article
I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen. What does this mean? I believe that ... the Holy Ghost ... calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth....
"I don't have to go to church to be a Christian." Ever heard anyone say that? Ever thought it yourself? I have. And the truth of the matter is, you don't have to go to church to be a Christian. Otherwise people who are shut up in their own homes or in nursing homes couldn't be Christians. If you had to go to church to be a Christian, what happens to you on Monday through Saturday when you aren't in church?
So, what good is going to church? Or, what good is having the church come to you when you are sick in the hospital or a nursing home or your own home? What difference does it make to have a bunch of people get together, call a pastor, and meet once or more a week to worship Jesus in public? Couldn't they worship Jesus in private? Couldn't they study their Bibles in private? Do you really need a pastor to do baptisms or serve Holy Communion or teach the Bible in order to be a Christian?
The Bible is clear about what it takes to be a Christian: "Whoever calls on the name of the Lord Jesus will be saved." "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by what is preached about Christ." "Whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved."
The great man of faith in the Bible, Abraham, never went to church. There weren't any in his day. But he was a man of God who trusted in God to forgive his sins and take him to an eternal home.
So why do we have churches? For much the same reason as we have places to take our cars when we need gasoline or repairs. Couldn't you take care of your car at home? Some people do have their own tools and gas storage tanks. Why don't we all? And why do those who have their own tools and shops and gas storage tanks still come to the service station? Isn't it because service stations make the job of taking care of your car easier? The professional mechanics probably can fix cars faster than you can at home. And those of you who can't fix cars, either because you never have had the time to learn how, or because you are as mechanically inclined as a grapefruit, you can hardly get along without the service station! The point is, we don't need service stations to take care of our cars, and yet wherever you find cars, you find service stations.
The church is like a service station. The Apostle Paul describes this in his letter to the church of Ephesus. "It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." Churches are where you find prophets and apostles and evangelists and pastors and teachers doing the work of preparing God's people for works of service and helping them grow up in faith.
If you didn't have a church to go to or a church that is taking care of you, you probably also don't have a pastor. Pastors are like the professional car mechanics. Pastors know a lot of shortcuts when it comes to studying God's Word. They have spent many, many hours at the feet of prophets, apostles, and evangelists getting to know Jesus in the Bible. Pastors are especially equipped to show you all the blessings Jesus has in store for you in His Word and sacraments. Paul tells us that pastors are one of the gifts Jesus gives to the church to help us grow up in our faith. People without a pastor have a hard time growing up.
Churches are also a blessing for people who can't or won't come to church. Church members pool their resources so they can pay a man to use his training to make house calls and train others to do this work. So the pastor and his helpers take the good news of Jesus to those in the hospital, in the nursing home, and those who are too sick to come to church. He also represents Jesus in the homes of people who won't come to church. The rest of the congregation prays that members who can't come to church will be reminded of the love of Jesus and those who have fallen away would then be drawn back into the support circle of the church by the love of Jesus.
We would find it hard to remain Christian without our church. If you don't believe that, consider the history of God's people before Jesus. Until only a few hundred years before Jesus, God's people did not go to church. Church, as we know it, was not invented until after the Temple was destroyed and the people were carried off to Babylon. Before that, only the men were required to travel to God's house, and only three times a year. Thus, the people did not get much exposure to God's Word. And look how wicked they were, including so-called heroes of faith like Samson, David and others like them. Furthermore, consider those who have dropped out of church. The longer they stay away from the church, the harder it is to tell them apart from those who never went to church!
What an extra blessing we have today because we have a church to belong to! The Holy Spirit uses the church as a center of spiritual nurture and care where he can unfold the Word of God in all of its blessings to us. The church is where the good news of Jesus is clearly taught and faith built in ways that are difficult without the church and its pastors. May we not take this blessing for granted.
Prayer: Holy Spirit, Giver of life, who spoke by the prophets and helps keep God's people with Jesus, bless our church with pure preaching and teaching. Help our pastor show the love of Jesus in what he says and what he does. Help us all grow up under the leadership of this pastor which You and Jesus gave us as a royal gift of love. Forgive us for the times we have neglected gathering in this place to hear about Jesus. And be with those who cannot be here with us by inspiring us to go and be with them, taking the good news of Jesus with us as we go. Amen.
I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen. What does this mean? I believe that ... the Holy Ghost ... calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth....
"I don't have to go to church to be a Christian." Ever heard anyone say that? Ever thought it yourself? I have. And the truth of the matter is, you don't have to go to church to be a Christian. Otherwise people who are shut up in their own homes or in nursing homes couldn't be Christians. If you had to go to church to be a Christian, what happens to you on Monday through Saturday when you aren't in church?
So, what good is going to church? Or, what good is having the church come to you when you are sick in the hospital or a nursing home or your own home? What difference does it make to have a bunch of people get together, call a pastor, and meet once or more a week to worship Jesus in public? Couldn't they worship Jesus in private? Couldn't they study their Bibles in private? Do you really need a pastor to do baptisms or serve Holy Communion or teach the Bible in order to be a Christian?
The Bible is clear about what it takes to be a Christian: "Whoever calls on the name of the Lord Jesus will be saved." "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by what is preached about Christ." "Whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved."
The great man of faith in the Bible, Abraham, never went to church. There weren't any in his day. But he was a man of God who trusted in God to forgive his sins and take him to an eternal home.
So why do we have churches? For much the same reason as we have places to take our cars when we need gasoline or repairs. Couldn't you take care of your car at home? Some people do have their own tools and gas storage tanks. Why don't we all? And why do those who have their own tools and shops and gas storage tanks still come to the service station? Isn't it because service stations make the job of taking care of your car easier? The professional mechanics probably can fix cars faster than you can at home. And those of you who can't fix cars, either because you never have had the time to learn how, or because you are as mechanically inclined as a grapefruit, you can hardly get along without the service station! The point is, we don't need service stations to take care of our cars, and yet wherever you find cars, you find service stations.
The church is like a service station. The Apostle Paul describes this in his letter to the church of Ephesus. "It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." Churches are where you find prophets and apostles and evangelists and pastors and teachers doing the work of preparing God's people for works of service and helping them grow up in faith.
If you didn't have a church to go to or a church that is taking care of you, you probably also don't have a pastor. Pastors are like the professional car mechanics. Pastors know a lot of shortcuts when it comes to studying God's Word. They have spent many, many hours at the feet of prophets, apostles, and evangelists getting to know Jesus in the Bible. Pastors are especially equipped to show you all the blessings Jesus has in store for you in His Word and sacraments. Paul tells us that pastors are one of the gifts Jesus gives to the church to help us grow up in our faith. People without a pastor have a hard time growing up.
Churches are also a blessing for people who can't or won't come to church. Church members pool their resources so they can pay a man to use his training to make house calls and train others to do this work. So the pastor and his helpers take the good news of Jesus to those in the hospital, in the nursing home, and those who are too sick to come to church. He also represents Jesus in the homes of people who won't come to church. The rest of the congregation prays that members who can't come to church will be reminded of the love of Jesus and those who have fallen away would then be drawn back into the support circle of the church by the love of Jesus.
We would find it hard to remain Christian without our church. If you don't believe that, consider the history of God's people before Jesus. Until only a few hundred years before Jesus, God's people did not go to church. Church, as we know it, was not invented until after the Temple was destroyed and the people were carried off to Babylon. Before that, only the men were required to travel to God's house, and only three times a year. Thus, the people did not get much exposure to God's Word. And look how wicked they were, including so-called heroes of faith like Samson, David and others like them. Furthermore, consider those who have dropped out of church. The longer they stay away from the church, the harder it is to tell them apart from those who never went to church!
What an extra blessing we have today because we have a church to belong to! The Holy Spirit uses the church as a center of spiritual nurture and care where he can unfold the Word of God in all of its blessings to us. The church is where the good news of Jesus is clearly taught and faith built in ways that are difficult without the church and its pastors. May we not take this blessing for granted.
Prayer: Holy Spirit, Giver of life, who spoke by the prophets and helps keep God's people with Jesus, bless our church with pure preaching and teaching. Help our pastor show the love of Jesus in what he says and what he does. Help us all grow up under the leadership of this pastor which You and Jesus gave us as a royal gift of love. Forgive us for the times we have neglected gathering in this place to hear about Jesus. And be with those who cannot be here with us by inspiring us to go and be with them, taking the good news of Jesus with us as we go. Amen.
