Sermon from the Rev. Dr. Tara W. Bulger preached July 28, 2024

For several weeks now, we've been looking at the doctrines, or teachings, of the church and today we're going to look at the doctrine of the church. It is a reminder of who we are supposed to be as the church of Jesus Christ. And to begin, we have this passage from Acts that describes what the early church was like.

Acts 2:42-47

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

I have been thinking about the church this week. On Thursday and Friday of this week, I went to my home in North Carolina for a family funeral. I come from a part of North Carolina that's so far west, it is essentially east Tennessee. It's a tiny mountain community.

I went to the church that was the first church I ever went to: Sweetgum Baptist Church. It is different from this church in some ways. It's a very small white clapboard building that's been the same since I was a child. It's an independent Baptist church, which means they have some very different theologies from us. For instance, this was a family funeral and there were three Baptist preachers who each gave a sermon. It was a long funeral. It was also different in that there was an altar call during the funeral. I don't know if you know what that is, but an altar call is where they invite anyone who wants to be saved to come forward. And I will tell you, I looked around and everybody there belonged to that church except for me. And I thought is this for me? Are they giving an altar call for me?

There are a lot of things that were the same however. There was a family who had nursed their loved one through the end stages of Alzheimer’s disease and there were people in that church who had held their hand through it all. We came together for the funeral and we gathered around the grieving family and we sang songs together and we lifted them up in prayer and we heard the word of God. A church just like our church and a church a lot like that early church from the first century that we're reading about in Acts. So many of the things we do as the church are the same as they were then. There was fellowship and the breaking of bread, sharing of meals together, listening to teachings about the Bible and growing in faith. That’s what the church does—the church then, and then the church now.

But as we talk about the doctrine of the church, I want to dwell a little bit on how the church has been defined through the centuries. I understand that it's the ultimate “preaching to the choir” moment when I'm telling the church about the church. But think of it this way: remembering who the church is and what the church should be should fill us with renewed energy to go and be that church in the world.

In the Bible we are told the church is many things. We're told first that it is the people of God. Long ago God made a covenant with Abraham and said, “I will be your God and you will be my people.” When Jesus Christ came along, a new covenant was formed and all people were invited into the covenant. All people were declared God's people. And so the church is where you will find the people of God.

The New Testament in particular talks about this church as a servant, just like Jesus Christ was a servant. Jesus Christ came in the world to heal people, to love them, to help them. So, too, the church is the place where people are healed and loved and helped both inside and outside of these walls.

Finally, the New Testament tells us that the church is the place where the Holy Spirit gathers us and is present When we gather together, the promise is that the Holy Spirit is here with us working out God's purposes within us.

Another way to look at who and what the church is, is to look at one of our oldest creeds. The oldest creed we have is the Nicene creed. In that creed the church is described as one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church.

When that creed says that the church is one, what it means is that all of the churches who call on Jesus Christ have much more in common than we have in difference. Take that little church in North Carolina. They don't believe women should be ordained. (Maybe that's why I was getting the altar call.) But they believe in Jesus Christ and I have more in common with them than not. We believe in one Lord, one faith, one baptism. And so all churches around the world who call on the name of Jesus Christ are one. Those churches are made up of our brothers and sisters. You do not have to like all of them, but you have to love them and you have to recognize them as God's own. They are our siblings in Christ.

The Nicene Creed tells us that the church should be holy. Holy—not because we are without sin, but we are holy because we are the church of Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ was holy. We are still a sinful people, but we are also a people who know that it is important to grow into the likeness of Christ. The process of sanctification means that we become more like Jesus over the course of our lives. Another way to think of being holy is simply that holy means to be set apart and we are a people set apart for the service of Jesus Christ.

The Nicene Creed tells us that the church is catholic and all that means is universal. The church is universal. The church is for everyone regardless of race or gender or sexuality or politics. The church of Jesus Christ is for everyone. All are welcome here, invited into this life with Jesus Christ. That's what it means to say the church is catholic or universal.

Finally the creed tells us that the church is apostolic. The early apostles took the teachings of Jesus and they taught them to others and they tried to live those teachings out. And we are apostolic in the same way. We too are sent out to tell other people the good news of Jesus Christ. We are apostles of the church.

The Church reformers made the understanding of the church much more simple. Martin Luther and John Calvin in the 15th century said the church is for the ear, the eye, and the hands.

The church is for the ear—the church is the place where the word of God is rightly preached and rightly heard. It’s not just about the preacher friends, its about hearing the Word too. We come into this time of worship and we ask God to help us hear God speak through the sermon. The church is for the ear.

The church is also for the eye because the church is the place where we come and we see the sacraments enacted. We see the waters of baptism shared over someone. We see the bread broken and we are reminded of Christ's broken body. We see the cup poured and we are reminded of the new covenant. The church is for the eye.

The church is also for the hands. Hands that reach out to help other people. And you are the church whether you are in this building or outside of this building. And your hands should always be reaching out to help others. That's what the church is in our modern time.

There are two areas where I think our ideas of who we are as people conflict with the idea of the church. The first is that we live in a time when the individual is highly prized. We believe in the individual. We believe that we have the right to choose what we will do with our lives and with our time. And in that case, the church becomes just another choice. But over and over again in scripture, we are told that the church is called by God. Do you believe in Jesus Christ? Have you been offered grace and salvation? Then you are also called to be the church. The question isn't, do you like church or are you getting anything out of it? The question is, am I the church? And the answer is always yes. So even though we are individuals and we live our lives, remember that you are called to be the church of Jesus Christ. It's not a choice. It's tied to our salvation.

The second thing that often causes us some sort of problem is that we tend to think of our faith as being something that's very private, don't we? That my faith is my business. But over and over again, we are told in the Gospels that we are a community.

And that not only that, but the church is a community that should show the world what God's kingdom looks like. Your faith isn't just private. Your faith is also something you are to show the world. That's what the church does. People should be able to look at the church and say, there is a people who love and care for one another. I bet the rest of the world should be that way too. We are supposed to exhibit what the kingdom of God looks like, and we do that as a community to the world. It's no longer something we can just keep private ourselves.

So this is who we are as the church. The good news is that I've seen you do this over and over again in this place. I have seen this church rally around people who have a terrible diagnosis and rejoice when they get better and grieve when they die. I've seen you do that. I have seen you welcome people into this church who've never been here before—-so glad to have them here, wanting them to be a part of the community. I've seen you do that and we will do it again and again. I've seen you break bread together. I've seen you laugh and cry with one another. This is what we know the church to be and this is what the world needs from us as the church. So as we move into the future, remember the church is you. The church is us. The church meets in a building, but the church is always present, always witnessing to a hurting world that there is peace, love, and grace in the person of Jesus Christ. And I am privileged to get to be a part of this church with you. May it be so as we go into the future. Amen and amen.