Exhibiting the Kingdom of Heaven to the World

A Sermon by Brent J. Eelman

Abington Presbyterian Church

February 18, 2007

 

Acts 2: 43-47

Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. ⁴⁴All who believed were together and had all things in common; ⁴⁵they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. ⁴⁶Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, ⁴⁷praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.* 

 

Every Presbytery has a committee which is called, “The committee on examinations.”  It is the task of this body to examine candidates for ordination as well as incoming pastors.  The examinations are often quite rigorous and stressful.  When I was moving to Texas, I was told that the presbytery there liked nothing more than to get their hands on a “Yankee pastor” and grill him like they would a barbecue a steer.  With that warning, I prepared hard for my exam, going over the finer points of Presbyterian polity and recalling some of the more controversial questions that might be asked of me.  I reviewed the theories of atonement, the sacraments,  and the main points from the Book of Confessions.  I also memorized different things that might be asked of me including the Great Ends of the Church.  The examination proceeded quite well and then I was asked, “Please list the Great Ends of the Church?”  I smiled, because I was ready.  I called upon my memory and spit back the answer:  “The Great Ends f the Church are the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind; the shelter, nurture and spiritual fellowship of the children of God; the maintenance of divine worship; the preservation of the truth; the promotion of social righteousness; and… and….and…..”     I forgot the last great end of the church. 

 

It was one of those classis moments of brain freeze.  Try as I might, I could not remember that last great end.  I must have looked pathetic, because my examiners were looking quite pleased with themselves.  They were going to let me wiggle like a worm on a hook for while… finally I broke the tension and said…. “I forgot.”  I forgot.   They passed me in spite of that omission.  I forgot the last great end of the church….   I believe the church at large has also forgotten this great end or purpose.  This final great end of the church is to “Exhibit the Kingdom of Heaven to the World.”   In the next few minutes I would like to explore three things about this great end:  1.  What does it mean?  2. How have we forgotten it?  And 3. How can we recover it?

I

What does it mean?  The great Danish Philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard remarked that God is in heaven and human beings are on earth.  He was saying that there is a qualitative difference between heaven and earth, time and eternity, God and humanity.  Real estate ads for Vacation getaways might say.. “own a little piece of heaven on earth.”  But the truth of the matter is, that we see very little of heaven here on earth… But there is one place where it should be visible to all: the church.  The church is called to show the rest of the world what the kingdom of heaven is like.  The term Kingdom implies an institution that defines relationships. The church is called to exhibit God’s intentions for the way that human beings are to relate to one another.  In other words, there is a different standard of conduct, a different expectation of relationships within the community of the church. 

 

The great Indian leader, Mahatma Gandhi, told a visiting missionary, “If you would come in the spirit of your master, you would be irresistible.”  What he was saying is that if  Church people would start acting like the Jesus that they proclaim, especially in the way that they treat one another, the world would take notice and want to be part of such a community.  Maybe his thinking is a bit romantic, but we might never know… unless we start treating one another the way Christ calls us to treat each other. 

 

This great end has a purpose and it is directed toward the world.  Consider this world in which we live.   The Middle East has not known peace in thousands of years.  The nations of the former soviet Union are starting to conflict with each other.  There are signs of growing racism and cultural clashes in Europe.  Emerging nations find it necessary to subvert the pursuit of food and quality of life for their citizens to pursue the weapons of atomic destruction.  At a more local level, just a few miles from our door steps, gun violence continues to take its toll, often inflicting death upon the innocent.  Our courts are stuffed with litigation and disagreement between people.  People get mad about silly things. Road rage is a reality on our highways.  Simple civility is no longer commonplace.  You get the picture… The newspaper does not give us a vision of the kingdom of heaven… but the church is supposed to!  Our life together.. the way we interact with one another should show the world that there is a better way… that people can get along… that differences can exist together peacefully.  This is the vision that Acts gives of the early church: 

All who believed were together and had all things in common; ⁴⁵they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds^* to all, as any had need. ⁴⁶Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home^* and ate their food with glad and generous^* hearts, ⁴⁷praising God and having the goodwill of all the people

 

II

How did we forget our special calling to exhibit the kingdom of heaven to the world?    It is not hard to see.  Most of us are familiar with the local congregations that get into conflict.  We can come up with all types of reasons for it and usually there is someone to blame… and blaming has taken on the dimension of sport in some religious communities.  We are trapped by our own sinful egos and continually speak about sin in the third person.  Sin is something that someone else does.  I believe that followers of Christ should only speak about sin in the first person. 

 

In the Men’s Christian Fellowship we are studying the letters of Paul and some are surprised that one of the main concerns of Paul is the conflict and fighting that is occurring in the churches.  His prescriptions to love are for these situations.  When he used that beautiful organic image: “You are the body of Christ.” He was challenging the church to recognize that it was indeed the representation of Christ to the world. 

 

If I can confess a pet peeve about worship, please forgive.  At the beginning of worship we offer our confession of sin.  Then we hear the good news of forgiveness and then we pass the peace of Christ.  The reason that we do this is because the peace of Christ is made possible by the confession and forgiveness of sin.  It is because we are in the presence of a forgiving God, that peace is a reality.  Saying to one another, “the peace of Christ be with you….” is one of the most powerful declarations of Christ’s transforming power in the world.  Peace is a reality!  My peeve… it has become a time to greet and say hello….  That is fine, but perhaps we need another time to do that… the sharing of peace is to important, to vital to our life together. 

 

I believe that one of the great scandals of the church today is the hubris that leads us to condemn one another in the name of Christ.  It is the arrogance with which we decide that we are right and others are wrong in the little things that divide us.  It is the quickness with which we solve our differences by separating from one another instead of pursuing the peace of Christ which we are called to declare to one another.  When I was a volunteer missionary in Taiwan, one of my students,  a Buddhist, asked me, “Why should I become a Christian?  You don’t get along with each other?  You argue about this and that?  What moral and spiritual authority do you have to compel me to join your faith?”    I fear he was right….  “If you would come in the spirit of your master, Jesus Christ, you would be irresistible.”   We have been resistible.

III

How can we recover this great end of the church… to exhibit the Kingdom of Heaven to the world?  I believe that the road to recovery involves owning our behavior and seeking forgiveness.  I can be a very stubborn man.  About fifteen years ago, I got into an argument with a colleague.  His name is Jim.  Jim is a brilliant individual who also has the courage of his convictions.. in other words, he too, can be stubborn.  I can’t remember what we disagreed about… but it was intense.  It affected the small presbytery of which we were members. We did not treat each other very well and it went on for about six months.  I knew I was right and that Jim was acting like a jerk.  He knew that he was right and that I was acting like a jerk.  The truth is we were both half right on that score…. We were both jerks. 

 

It was the day before a presbytery pastor’s retreat and I knew that he would be there and that our presence would probably color the retreat for others. Six months of carrying a grudge takes a lot of energy, and I was tired.  I drove to his church and caught him in his office.  I went up to him and said,  “Jim, I don’t know who is right or wrong, but I know that I have been wrong in the way that I have acted and I am sorry and am asking for your forgiveness.”  We both broke out in tears, embraced and forgave each other.  But we also decided that our reconciliation was important to our colleagues and just as they had witnessed our fight.. we needed to show the power of the spirit of Christ, and so we determined that we would work together on one of the committees of the presbytery.  Exhibit a small part of the kingdom of heaven to the world of the presbytery…

 

I do not tell you that story to share how wonderful I am.  Indeed I am ashamed of the events that brought about that story. I share it because it revealed to me the way that we in the church need to go if we are going to be the church that exhibits the Kingdom of heaven to the world. 

 

There is a great deal of conflict and pain in the world, in our communities, neighborhoods, and our homes. People truly want to know that there is a better way.. I don’t think that they will find it from Dr. Phil or Oprah.. but they will from the church that takes to heart the words of its master, Jesus Christ and exhibits his kingdom to others. This is the good news, and once again the challenge of Christ’s gospel. Amen.

 

*The New Revised Standard Version Bible, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1989.

Abington Presbyterian Church, Abington, Pennsylvania,  www.apcusa.org