This is a call to worship I presented back in 2004.
I am sure you understand the feeling…walking through the doors of that building you have entered week after week for so many years, to which you attach so many fond memories…being greeted with warm smiles, hugs, and handshakes…everywhere you look there are the warm, smiling faces of old friends and new acquaintances. You can hardly make it to your seat there are so many people interested in asking you how are doing and how your week has gone, most of them genuinely interested. An old familiar face stands up at the podium and seems to have to work rather hard to gain the attention of so many people who just can’t seem to get enough of the fellowshipping. After everyone settles down a bit he finally begins to speak. With a grin from ear to ear and excitement in his voice, he says “Welcome, everyone, to the weekly meeting of the Kiwanis Club!”
You look around at those sitting near you and beside you…You notice your buddy Charles who helped you move into your new home a few months ago, and over there are Andy and Joan who came to visit you in the hospital after that minor surgery a few months back. As you glance around from face to face, your attention is distracted by the speaker who seems to be trying to say something important, but it’s nothing you haven’t already heard. He’s just repeating the 6 objects of the Kiwanis club:
1) To give primacy to the human and spiritual rather than to the material values of life.
2) To encourage the daily living of the Golden Rule in all human relationships.
3) To promote the adoption and the application of higher social, business, and professional standards.
4) To develop, by precept and example, a more intelligent, aggressive, and serviceable citizenship.
5) To provide, through Kiwanis clubs, a practical means to form enduring friendships, to render altruistic service, and to build better communities.
6) To cooperate in creating and maintaining that sound public opinion and high idealism which make possible the increase of righteousness, justice, patriotism, and goodwill.
And you think, wow, this is a really wonderful club; it has everything I need in a community. Fellowship and friendship, a commitment to righteousness and ethical behavior, an emphasis on valuing loving relationships, plenty of opportunities to give to charitable causes and perform acts of service to make the world a better place. What more could you want in a club?
Then as the speaker drones on, your mind drifts into a thought experiment. What’s the difference between the Kiwanis club and the Church? I mean, it seems like the Kiwanis club is already pretty close, so we wouldn’t have to change a lot about it to make it look like a church service. I guess first we would need to move our weekly meetings to Sundays rather than a week day; that one’s pretty obvious. We already say a prayer at the Kiwanis club, so we’re covered there. We do need to add a song or two, though. We could probably get away with something like “God Bless America” or “Kum Bah Yah”. To handle the communion requirement, we could serve crackers and grape juice for breakfast instead of ham and eggs…and I think that about covers all the bases.
So, it seems the Church and the Kiwanis club really aren’t so different after all. They’re both about good, righteous people coming together in a community to extend the warmth of fellowship to one another and to reach out to people in need. Chess clubs are clubs focused on chess. Investment clubs are clubs focused on investing. So, maybe the Church is just a club focused on God. Or is it?
Is the Church a club? And if it is not a club, then what is it? Is there anything that makes the Church different from every other club in the world? Is there anything that makes her special, or is the Church just one more organization; one more community of people passionately united by a common belief or cause?
Well, if we were in class right now, this would be a good time to discuss those questions, and I hope we all take advantage of the opportunity to do just that when we dismiss for classes. But I’ll go ahead and start us off with my answer just to provide a framework for our worship this morning.
The Church is the Body of Christ, the literal Body of Christ. The Church is not simply a collection of like-minded people; it is a living, spiritual organism with Christ at its head. Two thousand years ago, Christ’s physical hands healed wounded people and that healing did not stop at His ascension. Christ’s Body, His Church, continues to heal wounded people by His divine power. Through His Body, His outpouring of infinite love continues. Through His Body, suffering and oppressed people find hope. Through His Body, the world continues to experience the physical presence of God on earth. Through His Body, sinners find forgiveness by the Grace of God.
What is it that we expect to happen we when pray to God? By what means do we expect Him to answer our prayers? When we cry out to God “May the lost people of Abilene come to know you” or “Please, Lord, provide shelter for the homeless and food for the hungry” or even “Lord, please stop the genocide in Sudan.” What is it that we are expecting to happen? What does it look like when God steps in to heal a broken world? Shouldn’t we expect a decision made by Christ, the head of the Church, to initiate some kind of meaningful action in the Body? The head decides to heal, but hands do the touching. The head decides to encourage, but the lips do the speaking. The head decides to reach out to the lost, but the feet do the walking. The head decides to bless the world with God’s infinite love, but it’s the Body of Christ, the Church, that does the loving.
The Church is not a club for like-minded people who are looking for friendship; the Church is God’s means of showing His friendship to the people of the world. The Church is not a loose collection of independent, local congregations each lamenting their own weakness when their memberships decline; Christ’s Body, His Church, timeless and universal is the single most powerful force this planet has ever known and the gates of Hell will not overcome it. The Church, unlike a club, is not united by the common interests and beliefs of its members and it is not divided when individuals disagree. The Body of Christ is united by blood. It is not a community, and it is not a club; it is a body, and as it is Christ’s Body, the Church is united by the blood of Christ.
We are all here today only because we have been saved by the blood the Jesus. We have nothing to boast about. It is not our own power, our own abilities, or our own righteousness that makes Christ’s Church the most powerful force on the planet. It is God’s divine strength working through weak and imperfect people. In fact, it is only in our acknowledgement of our weakness that His power is made perfect. Maybe that is something else that sets the Church apart from the clubs. Clubs find their strength and power in the abilities their members. The Church finds its strength and power in our own humility and willingness to surrender completely to God’s will. We are only powerful when we recognize our powerlessness. We are only made perfect once we recognize our imperfections and our need for God’s grace.
Well, after all this club-bashing, there is one club I can think of that it probably wouldn’t hurt us to emulate. I’m thinking of Alcoholics Anonymous. If we are going to look like a club, I only pray that we will look like that one, people who find strength in admitting weakness and find fellowship in a shared brokenness. It’s tragic that the Body of Christ has seemed to gain a reputation for being judgmental when we all know that none of us are righteous before God. We all stand condemned as sinners except by the grace of God. Or maybe we don’t know it, or just like to forget that we really are sinful people saved only by God’s grace. Maybe, like the members of AA, we just need to remind ourselves once in a while. “Hi, I’m Jeff and I live a sinful life. I am here this morning because I have been saved by God’s grace.” Whatever you have done, however bad you think you’ve been, you are not alone in this crowd. We are all imperfect, fallen, sinners, every one of us. We come together this morning not proclaiming our own righteousness but declaring God’s grace for sinners like us. The Church is a place for sinners. Christ did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. If you don’t think you’re a sinner, then what need do you have for God’s grace and why would want to waste a Sunday morning praising God for a gift you obviously don’t need?
Today we will participate in imperfect worship to a perfect and holy God. The worship will may appear poorly planned; the song leaders may miss some notes or lead the songs too fast or too slow. The preacher may ramble a little. The communion thoughts may be completely off-the-wall. And all of us may be continually distracted by the cares of the world. But, even in spite of all of our imperfections, one thing is certain; we will worship in the presence of the Creator of the universe. He is here among us, right now, in this place. You may feel unworthy to enter the presence of a holy God, but you are no more unworthy than anyone here. Come to worship just as you are and lay the burden of your guilt at the foot of the cross where there is mercy.
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