Re-imagining the Church. [Eph. 2]
Ephesians 1: 20 – 23; 2: 11 – 22
William Blake said, “What is now proved was once only imagined.”
Our imagination plays a very important part in our human development. Imagination is the faculty or action of forming new ideas from our knowledge, experience and interpretation of life. Without imagination we remain stuck in the same place. We need to use the faculty of imagination to gather knowledge, interpret it and organise it in a way that is meaningful. The world that confronts us in our schools, democracy, architecture, music and art was first conceived in the imagination. There is very little in our world that exists that was not first conceived in the imagination. Except, I venture to say, the negativity and cynicism and pretence to be truly real.
We can only be thankful to the imagination of the reformers and thinkers like Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, William Wilberforce, and Nelson Mandela who imagined a world that would give dignity to the poorest of the poor, a world without slavery and a nation free of institutional racism. Mandela said; “The power of imagination created the illusion that my vision went much further than the naked eye could actually see.”
The faculty of imagination comes from God the Creator whose imagination gave us this amazing world and has given us a picture of how we can best enjoy this world. The Bible calls us to imagine a world that is different: a world free of divisions, fear, despair, hatred and cynicism. Different writings in the Bible provide us with insights: some more beautiful and hopeful than others. As the first Christians came to adjust to the vision of life Christ gave to them they struggled to apply it. Many of the NT writings show us their struggles and failures. And that is helpful. Ephesians is one of those letters that provides us with a comprehensive picture of the Church. Today in the face of decline and uncertainty it is wise to ponder God’s vision of Church compared with ours.
Albert Einstein said; “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”
You know what you think the Church is. I will leave you to compare your picture of the Church with God’s picture. God gives us many metaphors that help us understand what the Church is.
The first thing we are told about the Church is that it is a united community. The first mark of the Church is its unity. It is God’s plan to gather up all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth [Eph 1:10; Rom 8: 18-25]. After Jesus died on the Cross the Jewish leaders and Roman administrators, who executed Jesus, thought it was all over. But instead something amazing happened. No I am not thinking of the Resurrection, I am thinking of those groups of people around the empire who were formerly enemies becoming communities of love and compassion. I don’t think we always understand the division and enmity between Jew and Gentile in those days. The separation ran deep, seething with dislike. However after Jesus’ death and Resurrection bands of followers, Jew and Gentile, came together. The world witnessed a new phenomenon: alienated people reconciled and becoming a community of love. This is the first testimony to the Resurrection of Jesus the Christ. This new people are called Christians [2: 11f.]. Ephesian chapter 2, which we read today, spells this out so clearly. It is expressed again and again in the Bible that Christ Jesus, raised from the dead, brought reconciliation into the world. Galatians speaks of there being no difference between Jew and Greek, male and female, slave and free, when we are baptised into the name of Christ Jesus [Gal 3: 27-29; cf. 2 Cor 5]. Our unity is a testimony to the work of God in Christ. Yes, we may fail, but isn’t it wonderful to gather with the church and find our divisions extinguished by our being in Christ. The people alongside us are our siblings. Sure we get on with some of our siblings better than others, but blood is thicker than water, and that person with whom you don’t get on so well is your brother or sister in Christ. You are spiritually related. And our heavenly parent and brother do not smile upon our disunity.
The second thing that the Church has is the fullness of Christ [1:23]. The Church is a collection of people gathered in the name of Christ Jesus – Christians. Christ incorporates us into his body and we are one with Christ. Jesus told us that this would happen when he spoke to us of himself being the vine and we the branches, in John’s account of the Gospel, chapter 15. The sap in the vine is the same sap in the branches. The vine is one: root, trunk and branches are all one. That is what the Church is: Christ’s body on earth [1: 23]. That is the notion which pervades the New Testament and our theology. We are Christ’s body on earth. We become little christs to the world. We are the branches reaching out bearing the fruit of the Christ – reconciling love, compassion, justice and forgiveness.
Thirdly many metaphors are used to describe our unity. We are described as citizens [2:19]. For the first Christians the metaphor helped them understand that God saw them not as Jew and Gentile, but as a new people. The other metaphor, which is far more intimate than citizen, is household – a family. One cannot express it more clearly than what Paul writes; So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God [2:19].
Fourthly, there is the image of growth suggesting the Church is like a plant or a human body [2: 21]. The Church is a growing a thing. World wide the Church is growing numerically, but more importantly the Church grows in quality. It grows into maturity. So often the Church will act immaturely and sometimes sadly like a delinquent. But the metaphor of growth informs us that being in Christ and in community is a not a static thing. Growth takes place. Church is alive and there is growth.
Fifthly, we come to hear those powerful and evocative metaphors of building, dwelling place and temple: in essence the Church is a ‘building’ [2: 21-22]. The images of building, dwelling place and temple are intertwined. They are metaphors. They describe the universal Church, not local church. The local church is only part of the Church universal. The Church is not a literal building. The first thing to note about the Church as a building, dwelling place and temple is that the cornerstone is Christ. The cornerstone in the ancient world was the first stone laid. It is the reference point of all other stones. So Christ is our reference point.
The building metaphor helps us see that the Church is founded on Jesus who begins the building, then follow the other stones, which are the Apostles and people of God. We are the ‘stones’ in God’s building –the Church – the body of Christ on earth. To take the image of a temple is sufficient to explain what the metaphors of building and dwelling place are saying. In the ancient world the temple was the place where the god dwelt. When conquering armies arrived they would do two things. They either destroyed the temple or tore down any images of the conquered people’s gods and replaced them with theirs. The temple was the building that exhibited the power of the people. In the ancient world the temple was significant – very significant. But what Jesus did was to revolutionize what the Temple truly was. He spoke of his body as the temple [John 2: 13-21]. He said where two or three are gathered there he is in the midst [Mt 18:20]. This metaphor was widely used in Pauline literature and in the letters of Peter [1 Peter 2:4; Is 16:18; 1 Cor 3: 16; 2 Thess 2:4]. The important message of this metaphor is that we form God’s Temple.
Let us take these insights and imagine them. You and I together express God’s intended unity of all in our fellowship. Through Christ we hold the fullness of God. We are God’s adopted children, heirs of God’s promises and enjoying God’s blessings through Christ. We form together the building of God where God dwells. We are the Temple of God where we worship and praise is offered to God. That is who we are.
Now some may say I am not good enough. You’re quite right. You aren’t! But we are made ‘good enough’ by accepting Christ. Christ Jesus incorporates us in his body the Church. We are grafted into Christ, the Vine, and become this brilliant jewel – the Church. God forgive us for not taking this seriously. God have mercy on us for surrendering to doubts. Christ have mercy on us for not being a sister / brother to him and each other.
I dream of a time when Church enters the imagination of God and the imagined becomes the real. We have glimpses of this. Let us make it more so.
*******
Peter C Whitaker, Leighmoor UC: 16/09/2018
/ www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org
Our imagination plays a very important part in our human development. Imagination is the faculty or action of forming new ideas from our knowledge, experience and interpretation of life. Without imagination we remain stuck in the same place. We need to use the faculty of imagination to gather knowledge, interpret it and organise it in a way that is meaningful. The world that confronts us in our schools, democracy, architecture, music and art was first conceived in the imagination. There is very little in our world that exists that was not first conceived in the imagination. Except, I venture to say, the negativity and cynicism and pretence to be truly real.
We can only be thankful to the imagination of the reformers and thinkers like Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, William Wilberforce, and Nelson Mandela who imagined a world that would give dignity to the poorest of the poor, a world without slavery and a nation free of institutional racism. Mandela said; “The power of imagination created the illusion that my vision went much further than the naked eye could actually see.”
The faculty of imagination comes from God the Creator whose imagination gave us this amazing world and has given us a picture of how we can best enjoy this world. The Bible calls us to imagine a world that is different: a world free of divisions, fear, despair, hatred and cynicism. Different writings in the Bible provide us with insights: some more beautiful and hopeful than others. As the first Christians came to adjust to the vision of life Christ gave to them they struggled to apply it. Many of the NT writings show us their struggles and failures. And that is helpful. Ephesians is one of those letters that provides us with a comprehensive picture of the Church. Today in the face of decline and uncertainty it is wise to ponder God’s vision of Church compared with ours.
Albert Einstein said; “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”
You know what you think the Church is. I will leave you to compare your picture of the Church with God’s picture. God gives us many metaphors that help us understand what the Church is.
The first thing we are told about the Church is that it is a united community. The first mark of the Church is its unity. It is God’s plan to gather up all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth [Eph 1:10; Rom 8: 18-25]. After Jesus died on the Cross the Jewish leaders and Roman administrators, who executed Jesus, thought it was all over. But instead something amazing happened. No I am not thinking of the Resurrection, I am thinking of those groups of people around the empire who were formerly enemies becoming communities of love and compassion. I don’t think we always understand the division and enmity between Jew and Gentile in those days. The separation ran deep, seething with dislike. However after Jesus’ death and Resurrection bands of followers, Jew and Gentile, came together. The world witnessed a new phenomenon: alienated people reconciled and becoming a community of love. This is the first testimony to the Resurrection of Jesus the Christ. This new people are called Christians [2: 11f.]. Ephesian chapter 2, which we read today, spells this out so clearly. It is expressed again and again in the Bible that Christ Jesus, raised from the dead, brought reconciliation into the world. Galatians speaks of there being no difference between Jew and Greek, male and female, slave and free, when we are baptised into the name of Christ Jesus [Gal 3: 27-29; cf. 2 Cor 5]. Our unity is a testimony to the work of God in Christ. Yes, we may fail, but isn’t it wonderful to gather with the church and find our divisions extinguished by our being in Christ. The people alongside us are our siblings. Sure we get on with some of our siblings better than others, but blood is thicker than water, and that person with whom you don’t get on so well is your brother or sister in Christ. You are spiritually related. And our heavenly parent and brother do not smile upon our disunity.
The second thing that the Church has is the fullness of Christ [1:23]. The Church is a collection of people gathered in the name of Christ Jesus – Christians. Christ incorporates us into his body and we are one with Christ. Jesus told us that this would happen when he spoke to us of himself being the vine and we the branches, in John’s account of the Gospel, chapter 15. The sap in the vine is the same sap in the branches. The vine is one: root, trunk and branches are all one. That is what the Church is: Christ’s body on earth [1: 23]. That is the notion which pervades the New Testament and our theology. We are Christ’s body on earth. We become little christs to the world. We are the branches reaching out bearing the fruit of the Christ – reconciling love, compassion, justice and forgiveness.
Thirdly many metaphors are used to describe our unity. We are described as citizens [2:19]. For the first Christians the metaphor helped them understand that God saw them not as Jew and Gentile, but as a new people. The other metaphor, which is far more intimate than citizen, is household – a family. One cannot express it more clearly than what Paul writes; So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God [2:19].
Fourthly, there is the image of growth suggesting the Church is like a plant or a human body [2: 21]. The Church is a growing a thing. World wide the Church is growing numerically, but more importantly the Church grows in quality. It grows into maturity. So often the Church will act immaturely and sometimes sadly like a delinquent. But the metaphor of growth informs us that being in Christ and in community is a not a static thing. Growth takes place. Church is alive and there is growth.
Fifthly, we come to hear those powerful and evocative metaphors of building, dwelling place and temple: in essence the Church is a ‘building’ [2: 21-22]. The images of building, dwelling place and temple are intertwined. They are metaphors. They describe the universal Church, not local church. The local church is only part of the Church universal. The Church is not a literal building. The first thing to note about the Church as a building, dwelling place and temple is that the cornerstone is Christ. The cornerstone in the ancient world was the first stone laid. It is the reference point of all other stones. So Christ is our reference point.
The building metaphor helps us see that the Church is founded on Jesus who begins the building, then follow the other stones, which are the Apostles and people of God. We are the ‘stones’ in God’s building –the Church – the body of Christ on earth. To take the image of a temple is sufficient to explain what the metaphors of building and dwelling place are saying. In the ancient world the temple was the place where the god dwelt. When conquering armies arrived they would do two things. They either destroyed the temple or tore down any images of the conquered people’s gods and replaced them with theirs. The temple was the building that exhibited the power of the people. In the ancient world the temple was significant – very significant. But what Jesus did was to revolutionize what the Temple truly was. He spoke of his body as the temple [John 2: 13-21]. He said where two or three are gathered there he is in the midst [Mt 18:20]. This metaphor was widely used in Pauline literature and in the letters of Peter [1 Peter 2:4; Is 16:18; 1 Cor 3: 16; 2 Thess 2:4]. The important message of this metaphor is that we form God’s Temple.
Let us take these insights and imagine them. You and I together express God’s intended unity of all in our fellowship. Through Christ we hold the fullness of God. We are God’s adopted children, heirs of God’s promises and enjoying God’s blessings through Christ. We form together the building of God where God dwells. We are the Temple of God where we worship and praise is offered to God. That is who we are.
Now some may say I am not good enough. You’re quite right. You aren’t! But we are made ‘good enough’ by accepting Christ. Christ Jesus incorporates us in his body the Church. We are grafted into Christ, the Vine, and become this brilliant jewel – the Church. God forgive us for not taking this seriously. God have mercy on us for surrendering to doubts. Christ have mercy on us for not being a sister / brother to him and each other.
I dream of a time when Church enters the imagination of God and the imagined becomes the real. We have glimpses of this. Let us make it more so.
*******
Peter C Whitaker, Leighmoor UC: 16/09/2018
/ www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org