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Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
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Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity |
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October 14, 2007 Hebrews 10:24-25 Why Should I Go to
Church? We have been talking about the Bible’s answers to the great questions of life. We started with the biggest question of all, “What is the meaning of life?” The answer is “love God, and keep His commandments.” Obviously we cannot love God if we do not know God, so we were drawn immediately into the next great question, “Can I know God?” The Bible says, “yes.” Nature reveals God. The Bible reveals God. Christ reveals God. God has done much to make Himself known to us, so we can know Him. This leads to the next question, “Do I know God?” We looked at John 3:16 to see that we know God when we believe in Christ as He is revealed in Scripture. We then looked at the next obvious question, “Why should I believe the Bible? The answer is that we can only believe the Bible if it is the Word of God. If it is not, leave it. If it is, then we are obligated to believe it. And we looked at reasons why we should accept the Bible as the Word of God. This brings us to the next question, “Why should I go to Church?” I am sure you have heard people ask that question. It is usually put forth in a challenging tone, implying some problem with the Church, or some other valid reason for avoiding it. Others seriously want to know how their faith in Christ relates to an organization that doesn’t always seem relevant to them. There are millions, maybe billions of people living on earth right now, who claim to be Christians. What is my relationship to them? Is there any relationship to them? Should I be a part of the Church? Should I attend services? Should I join it? These are all different ways of getting at the same issue, the same question. I usually hear it in the form of “Why should I go to Church?” Why should you go to Church? First, because Christ commands it. Listen to these words from the Book of Hebrews 10:24&25; “Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and
to good works: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the
manner of some is.” I should
say here that the Bible always assumes Christians will participate fully
in a godly Church. This assumption underlies every word of the Bible from
Genesis to Revelation. For example, in Matthew 18:17, Christ says that
when another Christian offends against us or is found in gross and
unrepentant sin, there is a process of reconciliation and restoration,
part of which is to take it before the Church.
Acts 2:47 says “the Lord
added to the church daily such as should be saved.”
The Bible uses many images to teach us about the Church and our
relationship to it. All of
them teach and assume our active participation in the Church.
Ephesians 4:16, calls it the body of Christ.
1 Corinthians 12:27 takes this a step further, saying to the
Church, “Now ye are the body of
Christ, and members in particular.” The Church
is spoken of as the family of God. Every
time we pray the Lord’s prayer we are saying that we are a family of
which God is our Father. Every
time the Bible talks about “faithful
brethren” (Col. 1:2) or says, “all
ye are brethren,” (Mt.23:8) it is telling us we are a family in
Christ. 1 Peter 2:5 tells us we are a spiritual house, and that each
one of us is a living stone in that house.
That same verse also calls the Church a “holy priesthood” offering up “spiritual
sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” But some do
not get it. Some do not
understand that they are to be active in the Church, so God states it
boldly in Hebrews 10:25, “Not
forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.”
The “assembling” refers to the meetings of the Church.
Specifically, it refers to the meetings for worship. In the Greek
New Testament, it is the same word from which we get the word,
“synagogue” and it means the worship services of the Church.
So, if we love God and keep his commandments, we will go to Church.
That is the first reason to go. We should go to Church, second, because the Church is God’s idea, not man’s. Many people believe the Church is simply a human invention which may be joined or not according to one’s time and interests. Not so. The Bible makes it very clear that God established the Church. “Upon this rock I will build my church,” Christ said to Peter in Matthew 16:18. It is His Church. He is its founder and its foundation. The very word “Church” recognizes that it is God’s own organization. I refer again to the Greek language, in which the New Testament was originally written. There the word, “church” is “ecclesia,” meaning, “called out.” The Church is God’s “called out” people. We are called out of the world into a relationship with Christ, and with one another. God has called us, and established us in the Church. Again we see that it was His idea, His plan, not ours. Consider Ephesians 4:11, “And he gave some apostles; and some prophets; and some evangelists; and some pastors and teachers.” Gave them to whom? To the Church. That letter of St. Paul was written to the Church in Ephesus. It was to them, that is, to the Church, that God had given the ministries listed there. In Acts 20:28 the Bible tells ministers to “feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.” St. Peter echoes the same command, telling ministers to, “Feed the flock of God,” (1 Pet. 5:2). Would God call ministers, and command them to feed the Church, without also calling a people together to be the Church? That would be nonsense, and God doesn’t do nonsense. Finally, we should go to Church because we need it. We need the fellowship of it. We need the instruction and Bible teaching we receive there. We need to be a part of the worship in the Church. And, while worship is directed to God, and not to us, we benefit from it. We are strengthened by both the Word and the Sacraments, which we receive at Church. Of course, it matters what Church you go to. It must be a Biblical Church. It cannot stray from the straight and narrow. If it does it ceases to be a Church. It may still call itself a Church, but it has in fact ceased to be a part of the True Church. We need to be very clear here, that it is not buildings or stained glass windows, or pretty music or ceremonies that mark the True Church. It is the worship of the True God in Spirit and Truth, according to His word. I close with this story. A country parson was making his rounds one chilly afternoon, and he came to the farm of a dear parishioner who had been absent from worship for several weeks in a row. The farmer welcomed the parson, putting his horse in a clean stall and giving it fresh oats and hay to munch while he and the minister went to the house to warm themselves by the fire. They talked about the weather, the harvest, the future of agriculture, and many other things. During the conversation the pastor took tongs from a peg near the fireplace, and pulled a small, but brightly burning ember from the fire. As the men talked, the ember’s flame died, and it gradually changed from glowing red to dark black. It was almost dead when the parson picked it up and placed it back in the fire. There it gradually warmed again until it burst into flames. The farmer had watched his friend’s action, thinking them odd but harmless. But when the ember caught flame again, he looked deep into the fire and said, “I see the point, Reverend. I’ll be in Church this Sunday.” Holy God, You suffered and died on the cruel cross to redeem a people unto Yourself. By Your grace you have called us out of the world of sin and darkness into this fellowship of holiness and light, called the Church. Dear Christ, if You loved the Church enough to die for it, help us love it enough to live in it. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. The Rev. Dr. R. Dennis Campbell, Vicar, Holy Trinity Anglican Church,
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