(This is a very literal translation/transcript of the sermon which can be viewed at the attached YouTube link. At the beginning I say hello, into the camera, to our church members who are at a family camp at the sea.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0Zyb9WZ1sE
Hello to all of you there at the sea, by the sea. We miss you!
So. Two weeks ago I preached here. And it’s interesting that, that same evening, I was invited to preach in another church—well, let’s say, not so much to “preach” as much as to “share” informally, on a particular question. And about this question I decided, today, with you, to… “share”, also.
Well, two weeks ago, if you remember, I asked the question, “Why the Ascension of Christ?” And I hope you remember that I meant, not "Why the event, Christ’s return to the Father, itself?” But I meant, “Why exactly the actual physical movement, the visible transit from ‘here’ to ‘there’?” And I hope that you remember what I said about this. And I hope that you considered my observations sufficiently grounded biblically speaking.
Today I will ask another question, and precisely the question on which I was asked to talk in the church on the right bank. The question? “Why church?" So I’ve already asked “Why the ascension?” and here, “Why church?” And as I, two weeks ago, further clarified, narrowed, my question, I will also narrow my question today: I don’t mean “Why does the Church exist at all?” I am speaking in particular, or asking in particular, “Why does the church gather?” as we sometimes say, “I’m going to church,” right? I’m thinking about the church service, I’m thinking about the believers’ meeting.
What’s the church gathering for? What are we coming together and spending time together for, the way we do? To what is it all oriented?
And here there are of course biblical answers. Though they may not be the kind we expected.
Let’s look right away at some places that offer us a glimpse, that let us peek into God’s design concerning the Church and its gatherings, starting with a very familiar place in the Bible, the Gospel of Matthew 18:20. “For where there are two or three gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
Yes, Christ is always with us, always, as we read in the Great Commission, right, “I am with you to the end of the age,” He’s always with us wherever we are, including when we are alone, or when we are all together. But there is a unique and special dimension of fellowship, fellowship both with each other and with God, when we are all together, when Christ’s ‘nation’ (folk) gathers. Why? Why is there this special, unique dimension of fellowship with God and each other when we’re together? That’s a good question. I will say more about this later.
But first let's look at something else the Lord says about his "folk." Again the Gospel of Matthew 16:18. “And I say to you, you are Peter. And on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”
This assertion does not of course relate in particular to the gatherings of God’s people as much as it relates to the Church’s very existence as a whole; that is, Christ is building His Church always, whether we’re together or not. He is ceaselessly building US, edifying us both individually and in connection with each other. Later I will underline the importance of this, i.e., of how our life as God’s Nation, wherever we are or whenever it is, that life that is not limited to our meetings, it’s that life in Christ that we live out in the world—it must make our gatherings—I’ll repeat: that life that we live out in the world, in Christ, it must make our meetings, when we’re together, all the fuller and richer and more beneficial. In short, if the spiritual condition of the believer depends 100% on the church meeting, he is exposed to deep danger. I’ll say more about that later.
Well, I’ve already raised two or three matters about which "I will say more later." Before looking at them more detailedly, let’s ask today’s key question again: “What does the church gather for? What is the worship service for?”
Someone will likely…one of you sitting here or one of you (watching online)…perhaps also sitting…will answer right away: “Well, brother Ken, this is very simple: to preach and worship! All of us know that already! At the church service we preach God’s Word and we worship. So, that’s it! Why ask such an elementary question?”
But in these two answers there are problematic elements, brothers and sisters. The problematic elements of these answers are rooted in assumptions, assumptions, in the first place, that the church gathers just for this (to preach and worship), and that this (to preach and worship) takes place only at the church service. These our problematic elements. In these assumption we observe concrete errors.
To start with let’s talk about “worship,” okay?
“Worship.” It’s the essential dimension, or let’s say aspect, of spiritual of life that cannot be reduced to just what we do in the church building. Worship is a way of life. Be it “in church,” be it at home or at work, wherever we might be. Study the Bible from beginning to end and you will find that “worship” has a very wide sense. Interestingly, in Hebrew, their verb “to worship”… “to worship God”… literally translates as “to work.” Like the way a person works for a company? “To work for God.” To work on His behalf. That is, by your way of life, to glorify Him—this is “worship.” In the wider sense. In essence it means a life glorifying God with its holiness, love, obedience, and faith.
Do we worship God when we gather together as a church, when we pray, when we sing, and preach? Of course! Yes! But take note: we worship not because the church service is the God-appointed time precisely for worship, but rather because worship itself naturally characterizes our gathering just as it should characterize all of our life. We worship Him here, and we worship Him at home and we worship Him at work, we worship Him with our manner of life. So of course we worship Him here too, right? Worship isn’t actualized, so much, at the church service, as much as it permeates a life of worship. Ultimately it means manifesting just how much God means to me. That’s what worship means. It’s…to show…what God means to…us. It’s manifested in character, in words, in actions, in thought, in how we treat each other. That’s what a life of worship means. And such a life isn’t bounded by the church service but the other way around: the church service is part and parcel of such a way of life. The Bible never tells us to meet on Sunday so that there might be a possibility to worship God. But, sooner, what does the Bible tell us about worship? Romans 12:1—“And so I beg you, brothers, by the mercy of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing, to God, as your spiritual service of worship.” That’s a life of worship.
And now, the second part of that answer in which there are problematic elements: “We gather to worship and preach.” A few words concerning “preaching.” I have already, here, in our church, preached about this, so I won’t repeat everything I said then. But I’ll try to convey the essence of it in a few words. It’s interesting that, if you pore through the whole New Testament, you won’t find, anywhere, even a single verse, where it says that we “preach” to believers. It’s not there! There doesn’t exist in the Bible, in God’s Word, a place where it says that we preach…to believers. But what does it say? Concerning the gathering of believers? What do we engage in there? We teach! There’s the biblical word that is utilized concerning the gathering of believers: we teach.
We teach the way of faith, we teach a life of obedience to our Risen Savior, we help, we edify, we exhort, we comfort, we spur on, we affirm, we encourage, in every way we strive to…provoke believers on, ahead, to the fulfillment of their calling in Christ. That’s what we engage in among believers, among the “folk” of Christ.
But in the New Testament the word “preach” has a very narrow meaning. In the Bible, “to preach” means “to proclaim the good news to unbelievers” so that they might hear, believe, and be saved. This is, you might say, the technical meaning, the biblical meaning, of this word. The narrow meaning. And, however surprising it might be, as I’ve already mentioned, you won’t find a place in the New Testament where it says that we do this, precisely this, with relation to other believers, because they’ve already believed—they’re already in Christ.
But, brothers and sisters, you understand that here I’m not…agitating, of course, that we shouldn’t “preach” in church or that we should stop calling our (church) preaching “preaching.” No. It’s unrealistic. Even undesirable. For a few reasons. In the first place, among us are often found unbelievers, aren’t they? So they need to hear the Gospel. For them we, in the purely biblical sense, “preach.” The proclamation of the Gospel inescapably constitutes part of the teaching that resounds from the pulpit at the church service, for the sake of those who haven’t come to faith yet. And in the second place, to call preaching “preaching” is already so deeply imbedded in our tradition that it’s not worth fooling around with it. It’s just words. Let it be.
But, brothers and sisters, nevertheless—assuming that we all want to understand God’s Word the best we can, right?—nevertheless it’s worth correctly understanding what exactly the word “preach” means in the Bible. And what it doesn’t mean. And most of all, to correctly estimate the critical role of TEACHING in the church, among the people of Christ. In point of fact, to teach is the key pastoral function in the church. This function is not bounded by the pulpit, not by the worship service, not even by words. To teach is the essence of the pastoral function in the life of the church.
Let’s quickly look at the very first biblical description of church life after the day of Pentecost, okay? It’s Acts 2:44. And by the way, I am talking about all of this here, not because I assume that all of you don’t understand it. I’m talking about all of this because, in the first place, it’s worth undergirding such biblical facts, and, in the second place, I consider that, as a church, we are moving, praise God, in the right direction, and I’m saying all this in order to…affirm you, onward.
2:44—All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 And every day [What did they do?] every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes [Why does he mention this? Just to show us that the believers of that time ate? Well, that goes without saying, we know perfectly well they ate! But they fellowshipped, in a new way! They became family to each other. Before this they never broke bread together in each other’s homes, they were alien to each other, but now they’ve become “our own” as it were—a new bond, a supernatural bond between them and not only on Sunday] and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Both here and in the epistles of the apostles we can see that the meeting of the church is, in the first place, appointed for the people of Christ, not for unbelievers. The assembly of believers is an assembly of believers, not unbelievers. I am not saying that unbelievers are not received hospitably and with alacrity into our company on Sunday--they are received, of course. But I am definitely saying that this is unbelievers, as guests, visiting a meeting of believers, and not the other way around: this is not believers, as guests, visiting a meeting of unbelievers. We maintain this principle. This is OUR gathering as believers. You understand the difference. Yes, we joyfully welcome unbelievers into our company, we want them to hear the Gospel—though not only here at the worship service; it’s not limited to that. But in the first place the church, as such, meets, gathers, as a family, as the body of Christ, in order to be edified, to teach, to encourage, to comfort, to counsel, to pray, to strengthen itself in the Lord, to praise God and concentrate together on what transcends and encompasses all other questions of life. That’s what our meeting is for.
Ultimately, the church gathers for one very simple reason: the church is a family. What kind of family never gathers? I ask you. That's why it says in Hebrews 10:25....
“Let us not forsake the gathering of ourselves together, as is the practice of some. But we will keep exhorting one another, and all the more as you perceive the coming of that day.”
This desire to gather witnesses about to Whom we belong. It witnesses about the new life reborn in us by the grace of God through the saving feat of our Lord Jesus Christ.
What does a family do—I’m asking you—what does a family do when it gets together? When the relative have come over. What does the family do? Tell me. (Inviting responses. Someone says “they ‘fellowship,’” using a Russian word that broadly refers to being and interacting together; I push the listeners to be more specific:) But what is that ‘fellowship’ made up of? Tell me specifically, what do we do? (Repeating answers from the congregation…) Conversations, we eat, we laugh, do we ever cry? Yes we do. We share our experience. Yes, our problems. We pass on news. We communicate our plans—“You know what I’ve decided to do, you know I’ve decided to move”—“WHAT? Absolutely not!” Sometimes even we argue with each other. But it’s family! And, you see, this all relates to the church.
Another question, a more complex question. That question was simpler, rather elementary, right? But here’s a harder question. More abstract. In what way is a family a family when they’re not together? For example, my parents are in Texas—we’re not together. Are they parents to me, or not? They’re not here, so how are they my parents? What does it mean? Each of us here has somebody in the family who is not here right now. Does that person remain a relative? A loved one? How? Tell me!
(Responding to suggestions from the congregation….) We think about them…pray for them…we phone them, yes!...we worry about them…yes, this connection stays there even when they’re not there. And that’s what “church” means, too.
The gathering and fellowship of God’s people should be merely the tip of the iceberg, the tip of the iceberg. You know that the tip of an iceberg, no matter how big it might be, is in fact the smallest part of the iceberg. You know that, yes? Under the water is located probably ten times more than we see. Well, the gathering of believers should be only just the tip of the iceberg, the tip of our spiritual lives. If we try to load the worship service with the whole significance and essence and depth and joy and aspiration of Christian life, the iceberg will flip upside-down. It’s just impossible! Moreover, if we make the church service our whole spiritual life, i.e., the whole iceberg, then the iceberg is hollow. It might be huge, but it’s hollow.
Every member of the Body of Christ must live a life of worship, that is, a life glorifying God, outside of our meetings as well. And that will only enhance our gatherings together. It’s a life of service, a life of testimony in labor and devotion to Christ in the world. When our life in the world is like that, then our meetings, our fellowship and worship together as a church, become all the richer precisely because we bring here, to these meetings, our experience, our questions, our discoveries, our joys and sorrows, our worries and our testimonies about the Lord’s work in our lives. And having come together we share these things to learn from each other, fortify each other, and having been fortified to return to the battlefield. That’s why we gather.
Yes, war happens to be a relevant metaphor here, doesn't it? "Family" is one good analogy, "war" is another good one. In war, all the soldiers are devoted to one cause. They are sent into battle, and after the battle they again gather to reconnoiter, that is, to find out how everything went, what the current situation is, how to deal with it, they receive new directions, food, medicines, support, and, most importantly, they all know that they are committed to the same goal and that they are pursuing it not only when they are together...not only when they are together. Some of them then go to the one battlefield, others to another, but in their hearts they are always together, striving for the same goal, committed to the same principle, always ready to come to eath other’s assistance. Our church meetings are like that. We gather to reconnoiter, to heal wounds, afford each other support, learn from each other, make plans for the battlefield. All of which presupposes that out there, outside these walls, we really do have a genuine life in Christ under the leading of the Holy Spirit.
I said earlier that I would return to a particular question. Let's read Matthew 18:20 again. “For where there are two or three gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Why? Why is God with us in a special way when we are together—we might even say, as He is not present when we are not together? Well, I’ll tell you my view. It think it’s because none of us can contain the manifold manifestation of the Spirit of God; we need each other so that the “image” of Christ, the manifold countenance of Christ, might be even more fully manifested through us together. We better register the multifaceted, infinite “face” of Christ through one another than when we are isolated. I cannot manifest all the facets of this holy “face” by myself. I see facets of this precious “face” in you, and in you, and in you, of which I knew nothing before! And for me this is a revelation...a revelation…. We need one another so that the countenance of Christ might fully manifest itself through us together, might manifest itself from one to another, might reveal to us aspects and depths of the infinite beauty of Christ which we could never see in isolation.
Each of us is finite. Even together we are finite. But at least together, in the Body of Christ, Christ is “with us” in a unique way , among us, that cannot be repeated in isolation from each other. None of us is capable by ourselves to manifest all the facets of the multifaceted grace of God the way they are manifested through the through the Body of Christ.
So, we will not abandon the gathering of the Church, but we will also not turn our gathering into an idol or magical spiritual pill. Coming together should be a desire, not a law; it should be a natural expression of our bond in Christ, not a religious ritual. This should be the tip of the iceberg of our spiritual life. It should be a desired, refreshing opportunity for “reconnaissance” like soldiers and inspiration of one another to go out again to the battlefield. The church's gathering must also be a special opportunity to ask the Lord to speak to us through each other, where we learn and edify each other, just as I hope we learn from and edify each other during the week. This is what the apostle Paul meant when he wrote: (Ephesians 4:15-16) "...speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work."
