Why Church?

 (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."

 

 

Getting Ready To See Christ

I was listening to a sermon recently on such parables as the Ten Virgins and the assortment of parables, with variations, about the master away on a trip and his servants managing his wealth till he gets back. The preacher was a young man, probably still in his thirties. As usual, a key interpretation/application was, to put it as a question, are you getting ready for Jesus' return? Which is fine, of course. Always a worthy question to pose. Yet as I sat there listening the thought came to me, "This is a young man's sermon. To older people the actually vivid and immediate question is how ready we are, not for Jesus' return, but for our departure. Which then makes the point moot." 

Yes, we must be ready for the Lord's return at any moment. But if you are willing to accord statistical probabilities even a bit of weight, then going by the fact that, so far, 100% of Christians who have died in all history since the Lord's resurrection have in fact died in advance of His return, the odds are somewhat slanted in favor of your going to see Him before He comes here to see you. At which point, of course, eschatology--at least of the speculative sort--is no longer a meaningful endeavor. Eternity is soooooo much more mind-blowing and awesome than eschatology. And so much...closer.

A good friend wrote me in response to the reflections above: "There is the question, Are we ready for the Lord's return, and there's the question, Are we ready to depart? Is the key question, Are we ready?"

I replied: "Yes! I think for many young people that question is enfolded in a big 'IF', as in 'If the Lord returns soon.' For us older people the 'if' becomes less and less relevant, because, regardless, we sense vividly that our Appointment with Him is around the corner, anyway."

So what I would say further, here, is, all of the scriptural inducements to preparedness, in the light of Christ's sure return, even his "soon" return, are inducements to a vital sense of urgency which is itself independent of, and on a higher plane than, any speculative eschatology and even, necessarily, the "likelihood" of His imminent coming. I say "necessarily", why? I'm simply being logical. If the whole raison d'etre of urgent preparedness were the fact of Jesus' soon return--yes, even before you had time to die--it would mean that every case of faithful, obedient, urgent preparedness (holiness, love, devotion) in the history of the Church up to now that ended in physical death was...mistaken, misguided. Because they got ready for something that didn't happen. If that's all that "getting ready" for Jesus' coming meant. But of course, I don't accept that. That sense of urgent preparedness, its value, its substance, transcends the temporal eschatological contingencies. At the same time it cannot be understood in strict isolation from them, either, because the great Eschaton, the Consummation in His Parousia, is, by our union and identification with Him, ours too. We appear together with Him in the clouds. In a manner of speaking it is the next moment following upon our deaths. No matter how much "time" or in what mode of being we experience it in between, the fact remains that His Parousia is our next big step and it won't take any Bible study or prophecy conferences in Heaven for us to gear up for it...if you see what I mean.

And that's how I read the parables on preparedness. To me it makes for, far from a diminished significance, an immeasurably deeper one.

Rejecting the Fact

 A fastidious grammarian's peeve...though this is less grammar than logic: when people use the word "fact" to indicate something they don't believe is true.

Both stylistically and logically the use of "fact" as a synonym for "idea, proposition, claim, notion, view, argument, position, opinion" etc., or even as semantically meaningless dead weight in front of the word "that," is simply horrid.

"I completely reject the fact that Jeffrey Epstein killed himself."

Well then, you don't think it's a fact, do you? So what are you saying? That it's not a fact? Then why did you call it a fact? Or are you actually saying that you DO believe the man killed himself and you just can't reconcile yourself to the terrible fact? Maybe you feel he was too young to die..."Jeffrey we hardly knew ye"? (Of course, that's not what anybody would mean by such a sentence but, logically speaking, it's the far more precise way to understand it.)

So why would "I don't believe Jeffrey Epstein killed himself" be, in any way, a weaker sentence than "I completely reject the fact that..."? It isn't, of course. It's tons crisper, neater, stronger. Or if you are really driven to use "reject," then how about "I completely reject the claim that..."?

I think people throw the word "fact" in for two or three reasons: 1) it is the quickest, intellectually least demanding "go-to," 2) people sense SOMETHING has to be there (in fact, it often doesn't), and, 3) a convoluted sort of semantical-syntactical mental gymnastic lends the usage a bogus cachet of authority, as if the person, by saying "I reject the fact that..." has actually established the factual refutation of the thing. No. Actually the person has proposed the existence of a fact to which he cannot reconcile himself. Precisely the opposite of what he wants to say.

Stopping to think about it for a moment, what does it really mean to "reject a fact"? It means the thing is there, a fait accompli (literally), something that has happened and can't be "un-happened." Like, for instance, September 11th. Nobody--no, not even using the phrase in the popular illogical way--"rejects the fact" that September 11th happened. Not even whacko conspiracy theorists who deny there were real airplanes involved argue that the Twin Towers are still there. Whatever one might think about HOW or WHY it happened, everybody knows the thing, in the broadest sense, happened. It's a fact. So what would it mean to "reject" that fact? Anything at all? Perhaps in a ridiculously strained, stretched way, as if to say, "I refuse to admit that awful reality into my consciousness." But, still, it's a rather silly way to say it.

You can find, however, plenty of people out there, in the "threads," continuing to "reject the fact" that Islamist terrorist-murderers flew the planes into the WTC, the Pentagon and the field in PA. Of course when they "reject the fact," they think they're saying they reject the idea, dispute the view, deny the claim, dismiss the theory.... In reality they are doing literally what they say: rejecting the fact. Which says it all, doesn't it? That and $2.50 will get you a latte.

Besides the logically short-circuiting way of using "fact" to mean anything BUT a fact, there is also the outright dead-weight way of using it, i.e., when it is a synonym of nothing at all.

"What do you think about the fact of Harry and Meghan leaving the royal family?" (I'm quoting popularese, here; no need to point out to me that Harry is still Charles' son and William's brother; if there's anything I can't stand, it's a stickler.)

"The fact of" is 100% semantic-stylistic dead weight in that sentence. It isn't even a synonym, as above, for "view, opinion, theory, position," etc. No, here it is just NOTHING. It's about the deadest of dead weights, semantically, that I can conceive of. Take the phrase out and the sentence is: ONLY. BETTER.

It seems to me people resort to this dead-weight brand of "fact" in order to, again, lend their sentence a cachet of gravitas, but the cachet is perfectly "faux." Like a Rolex you can pick up for a neat $45 off a sheet on a Manhattan sidewalk.

A Winter Play (English Version)

 

Narrator: The events to which we will now be transported took place in the town of Bethlehem, 70 years after the birth of Jesus Christ. On this evening, a small group of Christians has gathered at their prayer house, after hearing the wrenching news that Nero has executed the apostles Peter and Paul. The believers are heartbroken and in turmoil over the rapidly growing persecution coming ever closer to Bethlehem. They gathered this evening to comfort and strengthen each other, and to pray. Their meeting has ended, some have already gone home, a few small circles have lingered, talking quietly among themselves.

 

Look. Over here, in this corner of the room, near the window, we see Rachel, who was the cousin of Joseph the carpenter. Rachel was living in the house of Joseph’s relatives when Joseph and Mary came to Bethlehem so many years ago. And with Rachel are her grandchildren, Mariam and Dan. With them, too, is Teman Bar Shem, one of this church’s elders. On that holy night when Christ was born, Teman was a very young boy spending the night, for the first time, out in the fields with his father, a shepherd, when the angels of God appeared to them….

 

Rachel : It is all happening just as the Lord Jesus said: "If the world hated me, it will hate you, also, because of my name." 

 

Teman : And yet, sister Rachel, was not Paul one of those who hated Him, before the  great power of the resurrected Messiah conquered him?

 

Rachel : You're right, brother Teman. The power of Jesus is conquering many....

 

Teman : The glory of Messiah’s kingdom will finally cover and subdue the whole earth. Just as it overwhelmed us out there in those dark fields not far from here, that night so many years ago when the Lord was born. 

 

Rachel : Look, we can almost see those fields from the window, in the moonlight. 

 

Dan : You were there that night, Teman Bar Shem ? 

 

Mariam : You saw the heavenly vision with your own eyes? 

Teman : With my own eyes. I was then a boy, spending the night with my father in the fields, when the angels suddenly materialized before our eyes, exultantly announcing Messiah’s birth 

Mariam : You must have been terrified!  

Teman : We were, until the angel spoke to us. His voice was calming, like the sound of leaves in a tree, rustled by a gentle breeze.  

 

Dan : Grandmother, you didn’t hear the angels, did you?

 

Rachel : No, not at all. I was at the house, where I lived with the family of our cousin Joseph, in the very house where you and I live now. They were deeply gracious to take me in when I was left an orphan. I could never have imagined that I'd been received into the household of the King of kings! No, I didn't see the angels, but I did see the shepherds, yes, including a little boy named Teman, when they came to our house to see the newborn king!

 

Mariam : That means we too are relatives of Jesus, doesn’t it?

 

(Rachel nods gravely) 

 

Teman : But now, at the price of His holy blood, by the power of His resurrection, by the grace of divine adoption, we have all become His family, His household—

 

Rachel : “Whoever does the will of My Father in Heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother.” 

 

Dan : But if we are the actual relatives of the Lord, doesn't that give us greater honor? 

 

Teman : You mean, to sit at his right and left side in the Kingdom? Like the sons of Zebedee wanted, when the Lord told them they didn't understand what they were asking?  

 

Rachel : Brother, don't be too hard on him, he's still a boy. Besides, remember - it wasn’t the sons of Zebedee who asked, but their mother! 

 

Teman : Well, you are right on both points, sister Rachel. I apologize, Dan. But, dear boy, watch, and take care. Pride is a ruthless enemy; it does not spare youth but capitalizes on it.

 

Mariam : It seems to me that our kinship to the Lord brings us no honor in the world, only greater suspicion, threats and danger. 

 

(Rachel and Teman exchange glances)

 

Dan :  Is that why Mama and Papa have gone to Alexandria?

 

Teman : Yes, Dan. The Empire, full of worldly power and glory, nevertheless fears us, the weak and the powerless—

 

Rachel : "—whom God has chosen, to shame the things that are strong….” 

 

Teman : Exactly as our beloved brother Paul said: God chose the base and despised things of the world, even the things that are not, to nullify the things that are, so that no one might boast before Him.

 

Mariam :  Are they really afraid of  us? 

 

Teman : They fear what they cannot comprehend—

 

Rachel : The darkness cannot comprehend the Light.

 

Teman : And see, now they have killed Peter and Paul, because fear and darkness have seized them—

 

Rachel : And in their ignorance they are now pursuing with a mad rage whoeover belongs to the household of Joseph and Mary—

 

Teman : Or even to the house of David.  

 

Dan : So we must escape from Bethlehem?

 

Rachel : Yes, grandson. Your parents are making arrangements in Alexandria and will return soon to bring all of us there. Perhaps in Alexandria the threat will be less…at least for a while.  

 

Mariam : It will break my heart to leave Bethlehem!

 

Teman : All God’s children must leave Bethlehem sooner or later, Mariam. The Lord Himself left Bethlehem, to follow the Father’s will.

 

Dan : Will we ever come back? 

 

Rachel : Of course. Bethlehem is ours forever. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

 

Teman : We will all return to Bethlehem and Bethlehem will return to us, my dear children, when the angels again announce the arrival of God’s Son, Emmanuel!

 

Narrator: Let’s turn our gaze now to another part of the room. There, in that corner, we see Hadassah, sister of the disciple Matthias who was chosen to take the place of Judas Iscariot. With Hadassah are Benjamin, her grandson, and Benjamin’s best friend Levi who has come to faith in the Lord only in recent days. Let’s listen and hear what they are discussing.

 

Benjamin:  Grandmother, do sit down, you look so tired. 

 

Hadassah: Peter, executed... Paul, executed.... "All day long we are being led like sheep to the slaughter." And my brother Matthias? What has become of him? Has he already paid, with his life, for the Lord’s sacred calling? 

 

Benjamin : (To Levi) My grandmother’s brother Matthias is the one the apostles chose to take the place of Judas, the disciple who betrayed the Lord. 

 

Hadassah: No, Benjamin, not the apostles but the Lord chose my brother. They prayed to the Risen Jesus to show them who should replace the betrayer. And so Matthias became the twelfth apostle. 

 

Benjamin:  (continues to explain to Levi) There were few possibilities to replace Judas, Levi, because whoever took that holy place had to have walked with Jesus since the earliest days, from the days of John the Baptist.  

 

Hadassah: Yes, just as Peter said that day, so long ago, in Jerusalem, but (with a gentle laugh) the Lord’s measuring rod was stricter than Peter knew. For my brother knew the Lord earlier yet, even from his very birth here in Bethlehem!  My family and the household of Joseph have been close for generations! And Matthias wanted—oh, I always knew he wanted—to be counted among the Twelve. Yet never could my brother have begun to imagine how, finally, his desire would come true.

 

Benjamin : And I am sure, Grandmother, that he would gladly have surrendered his desire, if only Judas could have been saved.  

 

(Hadassah nods in agreement)

 

Levi : I have heard of him, of course, though I have only just turned to the Lord. The 12th apostle, Matthias of Bethlehem. Even the nonbelievers of our town know about Matthias who abandoned his inheritance in Bethlehem to follow Jesus the Nazarene. They say he went with the Gospel, finally, to the north, beyond the empire, into the land of Ararat, the kingdom of Armenia. 

 

Hadassah : Yes .... That was almost 30 years ago now. 

 

Levi : Grandmother, have you heard no news from your brother since then?  

 

Hadassah : For some years, maybe five or six, we’d receive word from him…from time to time. But then…nothing more. It is so painful not to know: is Matthias proclaiming the Gospel to this day, somewhere in the world? Or has he already paid the full price of devotion to the Lord Jesus, as Paul and Peter now have?

 

Levi : However it may be, Grandmother Hadassah, your brother has gained an inheritance immeasurably greater than the houses and lands he left in Bethlehem. Whether he proclaims the Word to this day or is exulting in the Lord's presence, just think what eternal treasure his soul possesses! I too yearn to be rich, like that—rich in the Lord. I am ready to give up everything for the sake of Jesus’ name!

 

Benjamin : Levi, though I’m the one who led you to the threshold of the kingdom, to the foot of Messiah’s cross, only days ago, your zeal for the Savior puts me to shame for my complacency.  

 

Levi : No, Benjamin, no! What are talking about? If you were so complacent, you could never have led me to Him. For which I will always love you. 

 

Hadassah : I watched you as boys growing up together, playing together….

 

Benjamin : Fighting with each other!

 

Hadassah : Yes, and fighting, too, like all children. And how I prayed, and with how many tears, that finally you two would be not just friends, but brothers in the faith and Spirit of Messiah! Friends in the flesh come and go but when the power of the Almighty overshadows you, uniting your hearts in the love of Messiah Jesus, then you are bound forever, no matter where His will may send you.

 

Benjamin : Does the death of the holy apostles mean the Lord’s return is very near?

 

Hadassah : Perhaps ... though something within whispers to me that there will be yet many generations before His glory appears in the sky.  

 

Levi : And didn't the Lord say that the Gospel must be preached to the ends of the earth?

 

Benjamin : And both Peter and Paul foretold a terribly falling away in the last days—

 

Hadassah : When people will mock: "Where is the promise of His coming?" 

 

Benjamin : Those days have not yet come.  

 

Levi : "I will build my Church," said Jesus.  Can it be, then, that His holy people is not to increase, and grow, to cover the face of the earth beyond our imagining, before the day of His return? Must not His Church gather in souls from every tribe and nation, in countless numbers?

 

Haddasah : My children, I hear how the Lord’s voice is whispering—gently, yet irresistibly: you will both escape from Bethlehem, not to save your own lives (for who saves a life if not the Lord?), but to serve Him as blazing torches of eternal life in the world. The net is closing quickly around us here in Bethlehem; all the signs are, the Empire is intent on obliterating the testimony of Jesus in the place of His birth.

 

Benjamin : But what about you, Grandmother?  

 

Levi : You will come with us, surely!

 

Hadassah :  No. When the enemies of our Lord come to Bethlehem, hunting out the testimony of Jesus, it must indeed be here, to be found by them, even if in their madness they think to destroy it. They are coming to find Jesus. They will find Him, in us whom He bought with His blood. If the testimony of Jesus must for a time be extinguished in Bethlehem, let it be at the cost of my blood. I am ready. But let whoever seeks Jesus find Him.

 

Levi : Then we will also stay, and die for Him!  

 

Benjamin :  Of course , Grandmother! Let no one ever say we were afraid!  

 

Hadassah : No. (Benjamin and Levi begin to protest) Listen to me, my beloved sons: No. You will go, bearing the treasure of the Gospel, as if in your own arms the precious Infant of Bethlehem. Carry Him in your hearts, my dear ones, and proclaim everywhere the King born in Bethlehem!

 

Narrator: Here in the back of the room, this little group of believers huddled together, we see Abigail, a wealthy widow, and with her Malkiya Bar Ezer. Malkiya used to be a slave in Abigail’s household. But after he became a Christian he led Abigail herself to the faith. With Abigail and Malkiya is Elizabeth, a servant in the house of Abigail's father-in-law.

 

Abigail: You know, my father-in-law has been considerate, even generous, to us, though he is not a believer—

 

Elizabeth: Your father-in-law, my master, even helped us to construct this house for our church.

 

Abigail: Yes, Elizabeth, he has been kind up to now, though he considers our faith a superstition—

 

Elizabeth: "A harmless superstition," he said to me, "as long as you do not threaten public order." 

 

Abigail: He certainly considered it very close to a violation of public order when I gave you your freedom, Malkiya Bar Ezer. It was daring of me to do so, but you were the servant of my husband, not of my father-in-law.

 

Malkiya: I never asked for my freedom, Sister Abigail . But you remember how our beloved brother Paul advised slaves to get their freedom if possible, and if not— 

 

Elizabeth: Then to serve as to the Lord.  

 

Malkiya: Yes! Even had you not freed me, Sister Abigail, the Lord Jesus had already set my soul free, with a freedom this world could never give.  

 

Elizabeth: Truly you speak of the same freedom I exult in now… (to Abigail) even if I am still a bondservant in your father-in-law’s house.

 

Abigail: (To Malkiya) I couldn’t possibly allow you to remain a slave, my brother, after you led me to the Light of the world.    

 

Malkiya: When I saw how deep and dark your despair was after my master your husband died, God’s love compelled me to declare the good news of Jesus to you.  

 

Abigail: His risen life burst in upon my soul so clearly, to refuse Him would have been the worst lie, and sin, against God and against myself! It was as if I had no choice at all...yet receiving the Lord Jesus was the freest act of my whole life! 

 

Elizabeth: So it was for me, as well, the day I heard Christians announcing the resurrection and salvation of Messiah in the central square. I was doing the daily errands, buying produce for the house, when the sound of the Gospel invaded my heart, drowning out everything else. Jesus was standing before me, inviting me in. 

 

Abigail: Into the Kingdom!

 

Malkiya: We are all citizens, and free, in the Kingdom of Jesus!

 

Abigail : But now, after the Emperor Nero has executed the apostles of the Lord -

 

Elizabeth: Your faith is not weakening? 

 

Abigail : Oh no! That isn't what I meant. But I fear my father-in-law will now consider our faith something worse than "harmless superstition." He worries about his position in society. 

 

Malkiya: By putting Paul and Peter to death, the emperor has surely declared all Christians enemies of the state. 

 

(Elizabeth sighs )

 

Abigail: What is it, Elizabeth? 

 

Elizabeth: My master was so quiet and distant today, and when I inquired about his needs, he didn't answer. He only stared… as if distrusting me.

 

Abigail: Oh, Elizabeth!  

 

Elizabeth: He never behaved that way to me before.  

 

Malkiya: "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that comes upon you to test you", our dear Peter wrote—

 

Elizabeth: "To those who reside as aliens" in the world.  

 

Abigail: To the "scattered" throughout the world. …In my spirit there is a dreadful certainty, as if the Lord Himself is preparing me, urging me to be strong. I believe we will soon be outcasts. There is a limit to the kindness of my father-in-law. He fears most of all for his safety and prestige. 

 

Elizabeth: (pensively,recollecting) "The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head" ... 

 

Abigail: We are nobody in this world.

 

Elizabeth: Yet we are the living stones of God’s house, “a chosen race, a royal priesthood.” 

 

Malkiya: "Our citizenship is in heaven." 

 

Elizabeth: Your father-in-law is merciful enough to send us away rather than betray us to the authorities. Of that, at least, I am sure.

 

Abigail: If so, then where will we go?  

 

Malkiya: Wherever the will of God leads us. We will follow the “Shepherd and Guardian of our souls” from Bethlehem to the end of the earth, if He so desires.  

 

Abigail: To the end of the earth .... And if the earth is round?

 

Elizabeth: Then we will follow Him all the way… from Bethlehem… to Bethlehem!  

 

Narrator: And finally, over there near the front door, speaking softly yet urgently together, are Reuben Bar Eliud, an elder of the church, whose memory preserves the events of those distant days when the babies of Bethlehem were killed by order of Herod, and Sarah, a native of Bethlehem, born within just weeks of the Lord Himself, and born not alone but with a twin brother…. Standing a slight distance away are Sarah’s grandnieces Ora and Hava.

 

Reuben: Welcome back, Sister Sarah. We have all been praying for your safe return from Rome.

 

Sarah: Blessed be the Lord, it was a difficult, long journey but your prayers were answered. 

 

Reuben: When did you arrive?

 

Sarah: Two days ago.

 

Reuben: And... you did not return alone? 

 

Sarah: No, they are here with me. I will introduce you to them now, but, brother, I want to remind you, the older girl, Ora, has been nearly blind since birth.

 

Reuben: Blind… as was your dear mother.

 

Sarah: Yes, this "thorn in the flesh" spared our family for two generations, but afflicted the third again.  

 

Reuben: Which made your travel back to Bethlehem harder...

 

Sarah: Not so much, no! Ora sees at least a bit, but more than that her little sister Hava is so devoted to her and watches out for her, I can only watch in amazement. I will even say that without these dear girls my return journey, alone, would have been much harder, brother. They refresh my spirit!

 

Reuben: Well! Then in that case I must get acquainted with these angels immediately! My spirit could use some refreshing. 

 

Sarah: Girls, come here, I want to introduce you. (Ora and Hava come over to Sarah and Reuben) Ora, Hava, this is Reuben Bar Eliud, one of our elders here in the church. Brother Reuben, these are the granddaughters of my sister Shiphrah. 

 

Reuben: Welcome to Bethlehem, children. I remember your grandmother well.

 

Hava: And our great-grandmother too?

 

Reuben: Oh yes, and even your great-great-grandparents!

 

Hava: (in wonderment) Why, are you a hundred years old? 

 

Sarah: Tch! Hava!

 

Reuben: (laughing) I’m not far from it, Hava, not far at all. (To Sarah) My spirit is being refreshed already! But come, let’s all of us sit down together over here….

 

(As they are moving to some seats, Hava helping Ora)

 

Ora: My sister has the gift of saying whatever she thinks!

 

Sarah: That “gift” got us through some anxious moments on the journey from Rome, Ora, when people might otherwise have ignored an old woman and two young girls in difficulty.

 

Ora: I know, of course, Aunt Sarah. Hava has a capacity for capturing everyone’s attention, and then letting them know exactly what to do, and when, and how, and why!

 

Hava: It’s not that I’m bossy, but really: if you don’t speak up, how can you make people hear you? And if you don’t tell them what to do, how will they know?

 

Reuben: (greatly amused) Perfectly true, Hava, perfectly true! Oh, if only I were younger, with a strong voice again, the brothers and sisters in this church would sit up straight and listen to what their pastor tells them! 

 

Sarah: (with mock indignation) Now really, Reuben, I beg you. You know perfectly well the whole church respects you deeply, and listens to you!

 

Reuben: Even if I am a hundred years old? Eh, Hava?

 

(They laugh)

 

Ora: However painful it was to leave Rome, our birthplace, to finally come here, to you, is the fulfillment of a dream. All our life we have listened to the testimonies and witnesses from the city of Jesus’ miraculous birth. Finally to see Bethlehem ourselves, it is almost like stepping into Heaven. And, yes, I can see, if poorly. I have seen, and touched, the house where the holy family lived—

 

Hava: And we have gone out into the field, to the place where the shepherds saw the angels!

 

Ora : And coming here, to the church, my weak eyes could catch the glow of the candle in the window. It seemed to me that Jesus, the Light of the world, was holding open His arms to welcome me to His own house!  

 

(Reuben puts his face in his hands, moved)

 

Sarah: Are you well, brother? 

 

Reuben: (recovering himself) Yes, yes, I’m alright, but, children, do you understand that you’ve come to a city of both marvel and mourning, a place of both joy and deepest suffering?

 

Hava: Yes. We understand, Reuben Bar Eliud. 

 

Ora: We’ve been told of the grief that afflicted our family.

 

Reuben: I myself saw the radiance of heavenly glory break out over our city and come to rest over the house where the holy Child lived. He was two years old then. I was ten. How old are you, Hava?

 

Hava: Ten.

 

Reuben: I was your age when the Magi from the East appeared on our streets, the first of countless Gentiles streaming to worship the King of kings! But after that….

 

Sarah: After that, the horror….

 

Ora: We know, Aunt Sarah.

 

Sarah: I was two years old. I was a twin. I had a brother, Eliasaf. I remember him. I remember that terrible day! (Covers her face in grief; Hava comes close and embraces her)

 

Reuben: Our brothers Paul and Peter are far from the first martyrs for the Lord Jesus. No, not even the blessed Stephen was the first. The first were the Innocents of Bethlehem, among them Eliasaf, brother of your grandmother and your great-aunt Sarah.

 

Ora: Grandmother Shiphrah told us everything...

 

(Hava goes from Sarah to Ora and embraces her, too, remaining by her side)

 

Reuben: Your parents sent you here to us to save you from the growing persecutions in Rome, but I fear, my children, that this place will not long be a refuge.

 

Ora: It's enough for us that we have seen Bethlehem once.

 

Hava: But we must wait here, for Grandmother and Father and Mother to arrive, before we go on!

 

(Reuben and Sarah exchange glances)

 

Reuben: There may not be time to wait for them.

 

Sarah: But what can we do?

 

Reuben: Sarah, you must go with them. There is refuge, for now, in Egypt, in Alexandria. We have people there who will take you in. (Looking at the girls) You can wait for your grandmother and your parents there. You will be safe. I will see that word reaches them in time, not to seek you here but to go on to Alexandria.

 

Sarah: But I… I always thought… I even made a vow to the Lord… that I would die here, here in Bethlehem where my brother lies—

 

Reuben: No, Sarah. You must get Ora and Hava out of here as quickly as you can.  You promised your sister to protect them, didn’t you? (Sarah nods) You must keep your word. 

 

Sarah: But my promise to God? What of that promise, Reuben?

 

Reuben: That promise, He never asked of you. But (indicating the girls) this promise He demands of you.  You could do nothing to save your brother from Herod—for which you are not guilty; you were a two-year-old child, Sarah!—but now the Lord has entrusted these...innocents into your hands. Now you can do something. The Lord has given you that.  

 

Sarah: (struggling and conquering) Yes, the Lord has given me that. (looking at the girls) Of course. (to the girls) Children, we must leave for Egypt, within the week. (reflectively) Everything is changing now. Just when it seemed to me that my life was settled.

 

Reuben: Everything changes, always. As the Lord ceaselessly pursues His magnificent design, nothing stays in place. Heaven and earth are swept away when He utters His Word. But...the candle that you saw, Ora—it will remain, here, as a witness to the end…the very…end. I speak of the Resurrection flame, children, the flame that…they will find…when they come…burning in the hearts of…of “two or three gathered in the Name”…. 

 

(Ora begins humming a song. Hava joins her, starting to articulate the words. The song used in the original production was the Welsh Christmas hymn, “Come to Bethlehem Town,” translated into Russian. The girls sing the first couple of lines.)

 

Sarah: I know that song.

 

Hava: We always sing it in Rome; it is about Bethlehem.

 

Reuben: Yes, we used to sing it here, too, long ago; for some reason we stopped...

 

(Reuben begins to sing the song in full voice. Sarah, Hava and Ora join in. Then the rest of the people in the room, one by one, join in until they are all singing with gusto. [The narrator of course is not singing.] On the second round of the song, somewhere in the middle, everybody begins filing out, as if they are leaving the church house to go home, continuing to sing, departing the stage to the right and left. All leave except for Reuben and Hadassah.)

 

Narrator: The old song continues resounding in the hearts of the Bethlehem saints as they leave the prayer house for their homes, heartily fortifying one another with words of hope, love and faith. Reuben stays to make sure everything’s in order and lock the doors. He notices to his surprise that Hadassah likewise has lingered behind, even though her grandson and his friend have left.

 

Reuben: What, sister Hadassah , did the boys forget you? Shouldn't they have walked you home?

 

Hadassah: I told them to go on ahead. I’ll get home very well myself, Reuben. It won’t be the first time.  But they should have these moments together. Who knows how many are left….

 

Reuben: (after a pause) Then I'll walk you home.

 

Hadassah: Not at all, brother. I can manage quite fine. You’re not so sure on your feet anymore, either, you know! 

 

Reuben: I’ll walk you home. I insist. (in dry humor) If you fall into a ditch, I’ll pull you out.

 

Hadassah: (with a smirk and chuckle) And if you fall into a ditch, I’ll pull you out.

 

(Hadassah topped him so of course he has to come up with one better.)

 

Reuben: And if we both fall into a ditch?

 

Hadassah: Then let's hope the Archangel Gabriel comes to our rescue.

 

Reuben: (suddenly stilled) Gabriel.... I think it would not be his first appearance in Bethlehem…. (pause)  So… Hadassah… you are staying?

 

Hadassah: I'm staying.

 

Reuben: I am, too. Someone must see that the candle is lit.

 

Hadassah: The Light of the World must be found… here, by our…our…

 

Reuben: Our… “friends”….

 

Hadassah: "If God is for us, who is against us?"

 

Reuben: Amen. Amen! Well then, shall we go? …Only be careful not to push me into a ditch.

 

Hadassah: (laughs as the two of them exit the prayer house and Reuben locks up, then…) How I love the song we were singing. Why did we ever stop singing it here in Bethlehem?

 

Reuben: I don’t know. But I am glad the song came back to us…in time. 

 

(Reuben softly begins singing the song again, as Hadassah joins along, taking his arm as they head offstage. Their voices fade out as they disappear from view.)

 

Narrator: What happened to these souls in the following days? Did they escape their persecutors? Did they find their loved ones in Alexandria? Or preach the Gospel in distant countries? Did they stand to the end for their faith in Bethlehem? Perhaps some were arrested and dragged away to Rome? Were they strong to the very end, paying with their lives for their faith?

I leave it to you to write the rest of their stories on the pages of your own imagination. Yet of this we may be certain: in those days when Rome ruled the world and some elderly saints still could remember the very sound of Jesus' voice, even the day of His birth, among the lives of countless believers the answers to all these questions was 'Yes'. Some escaped, some were taken by the authorities, some preached in distant lands, some witnessed before Caesar himself at the cost of their lives, some were allowed to live out long lives and see their children and grandchildren embrace the salvation of Christ. God's people of those days lived with no promise of earthly security but pressed forward in the assurance of a kingdom not built with human hands, with their gaze fixed on the Jerusalem that is above, with their hearts full of the glory born to us in Bethlehem. Let us so live now, pressing forward to our exultant meeting with the Holy Son of Bethlehem, the Son of David, the Son of God!