Title: The Church

Scripture:  Revelation 21:1-6

5/9/04 Fifth Sunday of Easter, Yr. C

Rev. Joy R. Haertig

If someone were to ask you why you participate in a church, what would your answer be?

If someone were to ask you what the purpose of the Church is, what would your answer be?

I have a hunch that sometimes many of us are unsure of our answer to either of those questions.  It is easy for the church to be just another activity on our list of “to do's” that we run in and do and don't think about it too much until we come back and do it again.  

John, the author of Revelation, had not forgotten what a gift the community called “church” was. Nor had he forgotten its role in the larger picture of the world.  Perhaps because he was separated from his community due to imprisonment on an island over his religious beliefs that he was more aware of how important it was.

It was from that place of distance that John was able to see the core meaning of what it is to be the Church.  This is what the book of Revelation is about.  It is not a book about some kind of violent cataclysm that some associate with “the rapture” or a mystical prediction of something that will occur on some particular date in history if you are wise enough to decipher the hidden code.  (Though there are many folk that would try to have us believe that this is so.)

The book of Revelation is included in the New Testament as further instruction (just as the other New Testament scriptures) as to how to be the Church - the Living Body of Christ - in a society where corruption, violence, and selfishness create fear and oppression.  Just as the other New Testament scriptures, Revelation was written not as a tool for fear but as words of encouragement for seven churches that were soon to experience the oppressive wrath of the Roman government that was extremely threatened by Christians loyalty to God rather than Caesar.

The genre of apocalyptic writing by Jews and Christians in the first century was common, indeed much more common than the genre more familiar to most of us known as the gospel.”  (Wes Howard-Brook)  Part of what makes this genre so challenging for us is its use of angels, dreams and visions.  It has an other-worldliness about it.

The word “apocalyptic” literally means to “lift the veil”.  As one author described it, for those of you that are familiar with the popular film, “The Matrix”, the “veil” is the world that has been pulled over our eyes to blind us from the truth.  Revelation removes the veil and reveals to us how God sees the world.  

An example of this might be that this world seduces us into believing that consuming what we want regardless of what it does to other people or to the earth is perfectly acceptable.  

Revelation helps lift the veil of this perspective and we are challenged to re-evaluate our priorities.

Revelation is not about the world coming to an end.  Rather it is a vision given to John of the world allowing God to renew  - or “lift the veil” to the truth of what is valuable and meaningful.

Wes Howard-Brook is the author of Unveiling Empire: Reading Revelation Then and Now.  He writes:

Revelation's concluding two chapters paint a spectacular verbal portrait of life as God intends for us to live.  It is explicitly not a fantasy for the future, but a revealed picture of what life as church is intended by God to be.  It is a world of great natural abundance, of flowing water and ripe fruit.  In other words, it is our precious planet as God created it, apart from human sinfulness that has marred so terribly its divinely made beauty.  And in that world, God dwells not in a grand temple like the other gods of the ancient world (or the gods of global capital, ensconced in skyscrapers), but in a tent in the midst of the people.”

I began my reflection this morning with two questions: Why do you participate in a church?  And what is the purpose of the church?

The Book of Revelation, as unusual in its style as it is, helps me answer those questions.  

My earliest connection with why I participate in a church is the memory of my mother singing in church on Sunday mornings.  There are a number of songs in our hymnal with words that come right out of the book of Revelation, such as “Holy, Holy, Holy”.  My mother would sing with such gusto and joy at church that I knew it had to for something, or someone very special.

I also participate in church because I need a community to walk with in my search for meaning and purpose beyond what my culture models for me.  It helps me gain perspective on what is really important.  I go to church in order to join my compassionate efforts with others. I go to church not because it is something “to do” as much as it is one part of a much greater whole.  It is but one aspect of a life of faith.

The purpose of the Church is to “inspire us, to reawaken us to the call to be God's people in the world.” (Wes Howard-Brook)  

The church can be a wonderful place to meet life-long friends and to nurture our sense of community through social activities.  It is a great place to be surrounded by good feelings and support.  These are all good and necessary gifts of community life, but ultimately, the Church's core purpose (or perhaps better yet, its “twin core purpose”) for existence is to reawaken us to the call to be God's people in the world today.  This is hard work - discipleship has a cost.  It is transformative work - discipleship will change and rearrange us.  (If you are not changed by your experience in the church, than the church is not doing its job.)

A well-known Buddhist teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh believes that it is possible that the next Buddha will not take the form of an individual, but the form of a community.  I would concur.  I would like to share a quote from him but replace his “Buddha” with “Christ”.  I believe it is true either way.

“It is possible that the next Christ will not take the form of an individual.  The next Christ may take the form of a community; a community practicing understanding and loving-kindness.  A community practicing mindful living.  This may be the most important thing we can do for the survival of the earth.”

This is what the book of Revelation is all about, the church is one of the communities that can foster the survival of the earth, it is not just a nice place to gather with a nice bunch of people.  The ministry we do here at RBCC UCC impacts the greater whole and it is the kind of work that reveals the truth of God's vision for the world.  As I reflect on the ministry I have seen in this church there are four areas I would mention and briefly reflect on: (these words were “off the cuff” so the following is a very brief summation)

1. Homelessness, the Troyer House, the domino affect of helping one family at a time.
2. The parking lot and tree controversy ultimately helped us try and understand the balance between human needs and a preservation of the environment.
3. Open and Affirming Commitment, an ongoing evolution of understanding and discovery.  The equal rights in marriage issue will now bring us to another level of understanding.
4. The Loaves and Fishes Brigade and our vision of helping hungry children in two schools of South Africa.  Linking our corner of the world with a corner of South Africa.  Quite amazing!

The Church, our church, has a God-given purpose far beyond what our eyes first see.  So every now and then when you pull yourself out of bed on a Sunday morning when you might rather be reading the newspaper still under the covers - remember that you are choosing to be a part of something very important.  God is counting on us.