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Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
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The Body of Christ |
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Corinthians 12:27 Fourth
Sunday after Trinity June
15, 2008 The second half of the Church calendar emphasizes Christian living. In keeping with this I have been talking about Christian living in the Church. Last Sunday I spoke about the Church as the family of God, saying that the kind of love and friendship we desire in the Church, is a by-product of something else we do in the Church. It is not found by seeking it, but, like happiness, it is found along the way to a higher destination. That destination, or, goal, is the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. As we, the members of the Church seek this together, we find ourselves developing respect, friendship, and even love for one another. We find ourselves becoming the family of God. Let me say this again in another way. We do not grow closer to one another by seeking to develop “touchy feely” attachments to one another. We grow closer to one another as we seek and serve God together, as the Church. This is especially true in the local congregation. We all know it is possible for people to live in the same house, and even be related to one another by blood, yet be anything but a real family. It is not the proximity of people, it is the intentional sharing life together, that turns a group of individuals into a family. The same is true in the Church. The relationships we want are formed as the result of our sharing life together as we seek Christ and His righteousness. Today I want to turn to another aspect of the Church. We are all aware of Paul’s assertion that the Church is the body of Christ and that we are members of that body. Paul is, of course, using symbolic language, so I don’t want to over literalize it, but it is also true language, and I don’t want to understate it or trivialize it either. I do want to draw two rather obvious conclusions from it. First, Christ is spiritually present in this world in and through the Church. Second, participation in the Church is participation in Christ. Christ is spiritually present in this world in the Church. We know that God is omnipresent. We cannot escape the presence of God though we flee to the outer reaches of the universe. Likewise on earth we cannot find any spot where God isn’t already there. This world exists in Him. So when we talk of Christ as “God with us” or when we speak of the Holy Spirit as Christ with us, we understand that we are talking about a spiritual condition that goes beyond the normal presence of God in this world. It is the same when we talk about the Church as the body of Christ. We are not saying Christ is not in the trees and the stars, or even in other people sustaining their lives and providing for them. We are saying He is present in the Church in a way that is very different from the way He is in other things and other people in this creation. We are saying Christ dwells in the Church. We are also saying Christ works through the Church. Most of what God does for the spiritual welfare of people in the world is going to be done through the Church. I do not say everything will be done through the Church, but it is clear most of it will be. Other institutions have their places and their tasks. The home, the state, the office of commerce are all ordained of God and can work for the benefit of humanity when used wisely. And each of them can and should honor God. But none of them can take the place of the Church. In the plan of God, none are meant to. It is the Church that preaches the Gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ. It is the Church that teaches the word and the way of God. It is the Church that celebrates and administers the sacraments. It is the Church that sends the missionaries. It is the Church that gathers on the Lord’s day to worship Him. If there is ever going to be peace and freedom and unity on this planet it will be found in the Church, and if the nations ever find any semblance of the peace and freedom and unity we enjoy it will only come as they hear and obey the commandments of God found in the Bible and proclaimed by the Church. The closer they come to accepting and doing what the Bible teaches, the closer to real peace and unity they will come. The further they depart from the teachings of Scripture, the further they depart from real peace. I am not trying to put the Church in the place of Christ. I am saying that God in His providence has chosen to work for the spiritual good of humanity primarily through the Church. Some will find that statement shocking, but even more shocking is my next point; participation in the Church is participation in Christ. For more than 169 years, Virginia was a colony of England. As such, the colonists brought their English customs and manners and laws, and even their religion to this continent. This was no accident. They considered themselves English, so they cherished their identity as English citizens and they intentionally continued their English customs. The people of Williamsburg sort of considered their town a suburb of London. And, in their minds, as they participated in Williamsburg they were participating in London, and as they participated in Virginia they were participating in England. If you think of the Church as a colony of Christ you begin to see what I am getting at. We cultivate the manners and customs and beliefs of Christ. We cultivate the ideals and values of Christ. But if you change the image from that of a nation and a colony to that of a body and a body part, as the Bible does, you can see this even more clearly. Your hand participates in you. Your eyes and feet and internal organs are members of you, so they all participate in your life. They all participate in what you do, and what you are. And we are members of Christ’s body, so we are members of Christ. We participate in what He does and who He is. As the members of our own bodies draw their life from their participation in and unity with the body, so do the members of Christ’s body draw their life and strength from our participation in and unity with the body of Christ. And where is this body of Christ in which we participate in Him? It is the Church. Let me say this plainly; participation in the Church is an essential element of participating in Christ. This is a huge and important truth, yet it is completely missed by most Christians. Individualism has become as sacrosanct in the Church as it is in the world. And most Christians are very highly concerned about their personal relationship to Christ and very slightly concerned about their relationship to His Church. I am not belittling our personal relationship with Christ. On the contrary, I encourage it. I want to see more of it, not less. I want to see more private and family prayer, more deep reading of the Bible, more personal devotion to holiness, and more biblical thinking and acting in every aspect of life. But this cannot ever replace our participation in Christ through His body. This teaching of Paul that we are members of the body of Christ is bigger than most of us have probably thought it is. And it deserves more thought and action on our part than most of us have probably given in the past. I don’t claim to have given it the thought or action it deserves myself. Certainly this sermon has done nothing but scratch the surface of its meaning. I have not discussed the difference between the Church as an institution and the Church as the spiritual body of all true believers, for example. Nor have I made the distinction between Churches that have devoted themselves to keeping the pure, biblical faith and those who have compromised the Bible. God willing, I will talk about these another day. For now let me simply say that we participate in the invisible Body of Christ largely through our participation in the visible Body of Christ, the Church. That is why we must take care that we are a part of a biblical visible Church. May God help us to seek to understand more of what this means to us. Amen. The Rev. Dr. R. Dennis Campbell, Vicar, Holy Trinity Anglican Church,
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