[There's a possibility that the message MP3 will be coming soon]SUMMARY
Read: John 17
The words that you would choose to describe yourself, in order to be accurate, would have to describe things that you actually do (You can’t say you’re quiet if you talk a mile a minute. You can’t say you’re driven if you choose to sit on the couch all day long). Our attributes and actions are connected. We have come to a transition in our ‘Light For the Nations’ series in which we switch from exploring what the Church is to considering what the Church does. And we will find that what the Church is and what it does are closely connected. And we make this transition by looking not only at John 17, but also the historic attributes of the Church as found in the Nicene Creed. In it, we confess: “We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.”
The Church is ONE. Jesus had much to say about this in His prayer (see John 17:11, 21-23). The unity that Jesus prays about is, as Bruce Milne describes it, supernatural, tangible and evangelical. It is supernatural. Jesus said, “Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us.” That is astounding! As believers, we participate and are drawn into the unity that exists in God! We are united not only with one another, but with God. It is also a tangible unity. Our unity is not to be simply some mystical or invisible or potential unity. Rather, it is to be a reality. People should be able to actually see it. This doesn’t mean that we all have to wear matching outfits, but it does mean that the invisible spiritual cords that bind us together as Christians should cause us to exhibit love and concern and support for one another. And this unity is evangelical, meaning evangelistic or gospel-declaring. Jesus prayed, “May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me." Our unity is to serve as a witness to the truth of Jesus and the validity of the Gospel.
The Church is one and the Church is HOLY. Jesus spoke of this when He said in vv. 16-17, “They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” And v. 19, “For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.” ‘Sanctify’ as well as ‘holy’ come from the same root meaning “separate” or “set apart”. The Church is holy because we are a people, set apart for God, who are being re-created, by the Holy Spirit, into the image of Christ.
The Church is also CATHOLIC. This does not mean “Roman Catholic”, but refers to the Church being universal – made up of people from every tribe, language, people and nation on the earth. The Church consists of all those who have been reconciled to God through Jesus Christ – all those who have been brought into the Kingdom of God – a Kingdom which has no spatial, ethnic or even temporal boundaries. Believing in the “catholic church” means then, recognizing that the Church is bigger than the local congregation. We are connected to other believers in the next town over, on the other side of the world and throughout time.
The Church is APOSTOLIC. The Church is rooted in the Gospel message that was given to the Apostles, by Christ and through the Holy Spirit, and from them has come to us. Paul tells us in Ephesians that we the Church are “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.” Jesus said in John 17:14, 17-18, “I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world … Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.” Jesus gave the word of truth to His apostles and then sent them into the world with it. We are a part of the Church because God, in His mercy, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, has awakened us to respond to that word of truth.
Those are four essential attributes of the Church. But those words must not simply serve as adjectives defining the Church, but also adverbs describing the Church’s mission in the world. As Charles Van Engen (in God's Missionary People) suggests, Churches cannot believe that their mere existence guarantees them these attributes, without any thought as to whether or not these attributes are actually functioning in the life of the church. We must recognize that these things can be attributed to us only as we remain in Christ – only as we faithfully follow Christ and live out the Gospel.
And so Van Engen helps us here in moving these attributes into actions. He describes the Church as a Unifying Force, a Sanctifying Force, a Reconciling Force and a Proclaiming Force.
The Church is one and therefore it must be a Unifying Force. We cannot be satisfied talking about unity, we must be actively involved in fostering and maintaining unity. We must be a community that accepts and bears with one another; that serve one another and submit to one another out of reverence for Christ; that forgive each other, encourage one another and build each other up. But being a unifying force is not simply maintenance, it is mission. We must seek to unite people with that unity. Being a unifying force involves gathering together and inviting others to gather with us. We welcome and incorporate and integrate other people into the Body of Christ. Thus, we build up Christ’s Body.
The Church is holy and therefore it must be a Sanctifying Force. We are a purifying force, not in being judgmental or acting like the Inquisition, but in bringing the purifying presence of Jesus to others and bringing them to Jesus to be purified. Van Engen writes, “The Church lives so that people can be forgiven and healed and the presence of the holy can be experienced.” Are we doing that? Is our existence as a body of believers leading people to be forgiven and healed? When we gather together can people experience the presence of God in our midst? When we go out into the world, can people see the presence of the holy God in our lives? Can they see Jesus through us? Jesus said that we are to be salt and light – a preserving, healing, flavoring , illuminating presence in the world – a sanctifying force.
The Church is catholic and therefore it must be a Reconciling Force. We are a people who have been reconciled to God through Christ. And as those who have been reconciled to God, we have been given the ministry of reconciliation. As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5.19-20, “he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.” It is not enough to be reconciled to God ourselves, we must be a reconciling force in the world – bridge builders between a fractured and alienated humanity and God.
Finally, the Church is apostolic and therefore it must be a Proclaiming Force. If we truly are grounded in the apostolic teaching, committed to the Gospel, then we will naturally go out with the same message. The apostle John wrote at the beginning of his first letter, “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.” That is not only John’s mission; that is our mission. What we have experienced in and through Christ, we now proclaim to others. We are apostolic in that we believe the Gospel. But we are also apostolic in that we, as followers of Jesus, are sent out to live and proclaim the Gospel.
The Church then is the unifying, sanctifying, reconciling and proclaiming force of Jesus Christ in the world. For it is only when we allow our adjectives to become adverbs – when we allow who we are to affect what we do that we can be Light for the Nations.
