Trinity XVII

From the Epistle:

"There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

In the past few weeks, I've been thinking a great deal about the nature of the Church.

I've come to realize that there are two competing ideas about the Church.

The first idea is that the Church is a human organization, like the Kawanis or the Rotary Club.

According to this idea, the Church is a voluntary association of those who in some sense believe in Jesus.

A believer may, if he chooses, join a local congregation, if he finds one where he likes the pastor, the music, the worship style, and the other members.

Or, if he likes, he may worship God on the golf course.

(I suppose to be fair, there really is a lot of prayer on a golf course, especially by those standing over a four-foot put for one hundred dollars.)

Those local congregations may remain independent, or they may join dioceses, presbyteries, or conventions, depending on their taste.

These larger units, may, but don't necessarily have to, join a Jurisdiction, such as the Anglican Church in America.

At each level of organization, the members are free to choose whichever larger body that espouses beliefs, practices, and rules of behavior which most nearly reflect their own prejudices and tastes.

In essence, under this view of the Church, She is a sort of association of religious clubs.

The competing idea is that the Church is not so much an organization as an organism.

According to this idea, the Church is one living being, created by the Father, purchased by the Blood of Christ, and given life by the Holy Spirit.

Into this one living being, the Church, men and women are called by God.

By worthy participation in Her life, those men and women grow in grace and become fit subjects for salvation.

At the end of the age, when Our Lord comes again for his Bride, those who are found within Her fellowship will enter the wedding feast.

Obviously, under this idea of the Church, the beliefs, practices, and rules of behavior to be followed by individual members and individual congregations are those which are Ordained by Christ and are not subject to personal or local choice or change.

Which of these two ideas of the Church we accept will determine how we understand membership in the Church and participation in Her life.

If we accept the organizational idea, we will see membership and active participation as an optional thing, having the nature of a mitzva “a good work".

If being an active member of the Church makes us "feel good", we will do it, if not, we can stay home without the slightest danger to our eternal salvation.

If we accept the organic idea of the Church, we will understand that Our personal Salvation is somehow tied up with being an active and useful part of this one Organism.

This is part of what is meant by “the resurrection the body;” the body does indeed refer to our own bodies, but only due to our being “members incorporate in the mystical body of Christ.”

We will try our best to conform our lives and our minds to Her teaching.

We will perceive that our Local congregation, diocese, or Jurisdiction, as being of any value only insofar as they are true and living parts of that Organism.

Which brings us back to our text for today.

Saint Paul, writing to the local congregation in Ephesus, gives us what are known as the “seven marks of the Church.”

Reflecting on these seven marks may help us to decide between these two views of the Church.

The first mark: There is one body.

The Church is one living thing.

All Christians, both living and dead and ever to be, are parts of that one Organism.

Some are healthy, functioning parts, some are inert parts, and some are actively destructive parts, but all are parts.

The second mark: one spirit.

The Holy Spirit of God is the life of that Organism.

Through the Holy Spirit who lives in the Church we are united with all other baptized Christians both living and dead, and with Christ Himself.

The third mark: one hope of your calling.

We are called by the Holy Spirit into the Church and thereby are given the hope of everlasting life.

The fourth mark: One Lord.

The Church has only one master, one head, one mind, and that is Christ.

The Church is being true to Her Master to the extent that Her teaching and Her practice reflect the Mind of Christ.

The Church must never betray the mind of Christ to accommodate Herself to the prejudices or tastes of her children in a particular time or place.

The fifth mark: One Faith.

The Faith of the Church is that which was delivered by Christ to the Apostles.

Nothing can be added to that Faith, and nothing can be taken away.

The entire teaching office of the Church is to explain the One Faith to men and women in each age, never to invent new truth.

The ultimate insanity of our age is the idea that we understand Christianity better than the Apostles - or perhaps even better than Jesus Himself.

The sixth Mark: One Baptism.

Baptism is the method of incorporation into the Body of Christ appointed by our Lord.

There are no hyphenated Baptisms.

There are no Roman Baptisms, Orthodox Baptisms, Anglican Baptisms, or Protestant Baptisms.

Baptism is baptism and all who are baptized in water and in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost are members of the one Body of Christ.

The final mark of the Church has to do with the work of the Father in the life of the Church. "One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all".

The Church worships one God who is the Father or all those who are members of the Body of His Son.

He has appointed certain rites and ceremonies by which the Church may enjoy fellowship with Himself.

He gives His only Son to die to purchase Her life.

And He sends His Holy Spirit to sustain Her life.

Through Her He offers us eternal life with Himself.

I hope that something in what I have said today may cause each of us to begin to rethink our ideas about the nature of this thing we call the Church.

I pray that we may begin to see Her less as an organization, and more as a divinely created organism.

I pray that we may begin to see active membership in the Church not as a good work, but as a life giving privilege granted by God.

And perhaps ultimately, we may be moved to gratitude that God has called us into this true and valid part of His body which we call Anglicanism.

It is my firm belief that there is no other part of the Body of Christ which more fully expresses the desire for the unity of the Church on a legitimate basis than Anglicanism.

We insist on Apostolic Faith and Practice, in its fullness, and God being our help, will never, ever sacrifice even the slightest element of that Faith or Practice to suit anyone, anywhere.

We can do no less.

But we refuse to require belief in things which go beyond the Faith once delivered to the Saints and verified by Holy Scripture.

We dare not do more.

And finally, we open our hearts and our doors to all who are willing to embrace that apostolic Faith in its fullness, regardless of language or culture or race.

And finally, I ask your prayers today that someday the visible unity of Christ's body may be restored:

So that every Christian everywhere may see that:

"There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

Amen.