What Happens When You Miss Church!
In the twentieth chapter of the Gospel of John, Thomas, one of Jesus' disciples, missed the gathering of the apostles on Easter evening after the resurrection. He missed a lot. The reports of Jesus' empty tomb, and of his being seen alive and risen, were coming in. A wonder, bewilderment, and excitement came over the young faith community that was to become the Christian Church. Thomas missed it. The natural fear and depression of what happened on Good Friday still haunted him, and the real threat of what could happen to him perhaps also caused him to go into hiding. When told the Lord had risen again, he said he would not believe it and said he would not believe it unless he saw the nail prints in Jesus' hands and his wounded side. The next Sunday he gathers with the apostles and Jesus comes in and shows Thomas his wounded hand and side. He tells Thomas to "be not faithless, but believing". Thomas has been called by many since that time, "doubting Thomas". A "doubting Thomas" now is anyone who does not believe in the face of evidence, a skeptic. So, we have branded this brave apostle and martyr for Christ by this one incident. This Thomas who was the first person in the Gospels to address Jesus with a full confession of faith, "My Lord, and my God"! Thomas like most modern people was naturally skeptical of the idea that a dead man had been raised. Wouldn't you be skeptical? He is branded by his worst moment. Sometimes we are too, but it really is not fair. The writer of John is trying to tell us something about belief in the risen Christ, not about the supposed sin of doubt.
Where is Thomas when he remains in doubt? He is by himself, lost and alone. Where is he when he comes to make the full confession of faith? He is with the community of faith, and there in the presence of the risen Christ. That is what the Gospel writers want us to know about how the risen Christ is experienced. In our evangelical culture, we have come to emphasize a "personal relationship with Jesus Christ". The individual and God in relationship has come, in the view of some Protestants, to be what faith is about. Some will actually tell you that is all the faith is about which, from a Reformed perspective, is not the case. John's story of Thomas, as Christ’s with other appearances of Christ in the other Gospels, always show the risen Christ present in the community of faith. It is the community in which the risen Christ is primarily seen as risen. That is important for us. While Reformed Christians differ with some others in saying that the institutional form of the church is the same as the "church invisible" of believers, we do believe that the community of faith is the primary way we know the risen Christ.
Does this mean we are saved by the church? I don't think so as a Protestant Christian. What John IS saying to us is that, when we isolate ourselves from the believing community, we remain in our doubts and fears. It is the strength we draw, by the power of the Holy Spirit, from the risen Christ's presence among us that strengthens our faith and makes it possible to fully confess Christ as Lord. So, while going to Church does not save us in our Reformed understanding of faith, it is still where we hear the Gospel, share in the risen Christ as his risen community, and grow. So, the personal relationship is important. It is central to our salvation, and it comes through the command of Christ in the community of faith. When we gather as Central, we do not gather as 90 saved individuals, but as one body. We are part of each other. So, when you miss church you miss the risen Christ. You may feel some mornings that you miss little when you miss church; it is just the same old thing. In fact, many churches feel that they have to fill every moment with excitement in worship to keep folks coming. However, what we miss church, we cut ourselves off from other believers, and we misss Christ's presence in his body the Church. That presence is quite exciting to me. I hope it is to you also. It is something to think about when we feel we can go it alone in matters of faith.
In Christ's Risen Service,
Jim
Soli Deo Gloria
In the twentieth chapter of the Gospel of John, Thomas, one of Jesus' disciples, missed the gathering of the apostles on Easter evening after the resurrection. He missed a lot. The reports of Jesus' empty tomb, and of his being seen alive and risen, were coming in. A wonder, bewilderment, and excitement came over the young faith community that was to become the Christian Church. Thomas missed it. The natural fear and depression of what happened on Good Friday still haunted him, and the real threat of what could happen to him perhaps also caused him to go into hiding. When told the Lord had risen again, he said he would not believe it and said he would not believe it unless he saw the nail prints in Jesus' hands and his wounded side. The next Sunday he gathers with the apostles and Jesus comes in and shows Thomas his wounded hand and side. He tells Thomas to "be not faithless, but believing". Thomas has been called by many since that time, "doubting Thomas". A "doubting Thomas" now is anyone who does not believe in the face of evidence, a skeptic. So, we have branded this brave apostle and martyr for Christ by this one incident. This Thomas who was the first person in the Gospels to address Jesus with a full confession of faith, "My Lord, and my God"! Thomas like most modern people was naturally skeptical of the idea that a dead man had been raised. Wouldn't you be skeptical? He is branded by his worst moment. Sometimes we are too, but it really is not fair. The writer of John is trying to tell us something about belief in the risen Christ, not about the supposed sin of doubt.
Where is Thomas when he remains in doubt? He is by himself, lost and alone. Where is he when he comes to make the full confession of faith? He is with the community of faith, and there in the presence of the risen Christ. That is what the Gospel writers want us to know about how the risen Christ is experienced. In our evangelical culture, we have come to emphasize a "personal relationship with Jesus Christ". The individual and God in relationship has come, in the view of some Protestants, to be what faith is about. Some will actually tell you that is all the faith is about which, from a Reformed perspective, is not the case. John's story of Thomas, as Christ’s with other appearances of Christ in the other Gospels, always show the risen Christ present in the community of faith. It is the community in which the risen Christ is primarily seen as risen. That is important for us. While Reformed Christians differ with some others in saying that the institutional form of the church is the same as the "church invisible" of believers, we do believe that the community of faith is the primary way we know the risen Christ.
Does this mean we are saved by the church? I don't think so as a Protestant Christian. What John IS saying to us is that, when we isolate ourselves from the believing community, we remain in our doubts and fears. It is the strength we draw, by the power of the Holy Spirit, from the risen Christ's presence among us that strengthens our faith and makes it possible to fully confess Christ as Lord. So, while going to Church does not save us in our Reformed understanding of faith, it is still where we hear the Gospel, share in the risen Christ as his risen community, and grow. So, the personal relationship is important. It is central to our salvation, and it comes through the command of Christ in the community of faith. When we gather as Central, we do not gather as 90 saved individuals, but as one body. We are part of each other. So, when you miss church you miss the risen Christ. You may feel some mornings that you miss little when you miss church; it is just the same old thing. In fact, many churches feel that they have to fill every moment with excitement in worship to keep folks coming. However, what we miss church, we cut ourselves off from other believers, and we misss Christ's presence in his body the Church. That presence is quite exciting to me. I hope it is to you also. It is something to think about when we feel we can go it alone in matters of faith.
In Christ's Risen Service,
Jim
Soli Deo Gloria
posted by Theoblogger at
2:41 PM
