The Church – Why Bother?
(Preached January 9, 2005)
Scripture: Matthew 3.13-17; Acts 10.34-43


“You cannot have God for your Father unless you have the Church for your mother.” So said Cyprian, one of the ancient Church fathers.

That belief, in the early and middle ages of the Church, led to the saying among clergy and lay people, “There is no salvation outside the church.”

My, how times have changed! Consider this: the Barna research group reports that in the United States there are about 10 million self-proclaimed, born-again Christians who have not been to church in the last six months, apart from Christmas or Easter. (Barna defines “born-again” as those who say they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important today, and believe they will “go to heaven because I have confessed my sins and have accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior.”)

Nearly all born-again Christians say their spiritual life is very important, but for 10 million of them, spiritual life has nothing to do with church! I would like an explanation for this. Can somebody tell me how so many people can hold such a view of their salvation, their faith, and their God, a view that would be totally foreign to our predecessors in the church?

Yes, I know some of the reasons and factors that have gone into this trend – you do too. Most of them have to do with busy-ness and priorities or with how the church has failed people today. I remember attending a big youth rally a couple years ago and the featured speaker was a young man whose approach to challenge the youth to a deeper commitment was to say he understood how boring and irrelevant church could be and to try to forget about that. Tod Bolsinger, author of It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian, recalls a similar frame of mind in himself during his days as a youth evangelist.

“I can remember saying to kids, ‘There’s no church to join, there’s nothing to commit to, this is only about a relationship with Jesus.’

But Bolsinger looks back on that and says, “Paul wouldn’t preach that message. And the early church didn’t either.”

To answer the question “Why bother with Church?” you must go to the very root of what it means to be saved and what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. We are saved from sin to relationship with God through Jesus, but also to relationship with each other. To be a Christian is to be baptized in the Holy Spirit into the fellowship of God’s Beloved Son and into the fellowship of Christ’s physical manifestation on earth – the Church.

Tim Stafford has written an excellent article for Christianity Today that I wish you would all read. And I’m borrowing from his article. In it he notes that we live in an individualistic culture in which we can get spirituality, music, and intellectual stimulation from many other places, from Barnes and Noble to Internet chat rooms. Yet, there are some things that can only be found at church, things that Jesus thought pretty crucial, pretty important. One of them is the sacraments: Baptism and The Bread and the Cup. Didn’t Jesus say, “Do this and remember me?” How can you follow Jesus and then. . .ignore what He said.

Stafford points out two other crucial things the church provides – the regular rhythm of public worship and the gathering and fellowship of the believers. There is no substitute for being with other Christians in worship, in learning, in service and in recreation. This is Life Together. This is the Church. You can’t get that by yourself. And you can’t get it from a chat room. Jesus himself was baptized; and not in a private ceremony either, not by himself but by another in the presence of many witnesses who believed. He “who knew no sin,” was baptized in fellowship with other believers so that “all righteousness would be fulfilled.” In other words, Jesus showed us the way of obedience is not a solitary path, but a journey we make with others.

Eminent American author John Updike writes, “There’s something wholesome, healthy, and very human about going to church and pooling your needs and your ignorance with that of other people who are willing to get out of bed and put on good clothes and come out to this totally gratuitous event. Nobody’s forcing them to do it, the rewards are elusive, yet the fact that we do it in a group is somehow part of the point.

Exactly. The earliest preaching in the church, which was Peter’s preaching, pointed clearly to this “Come out with us and be saved.” There was never a hint that you could do it on your own. The very word church, in the New Testament Greek language, is ecclesia, “the called out.” Jews and Gentiles alike were told that “God shows no partiality and accepts anyone who fears him and does what is right.” But Peter and Paul and the other apostles would call the repentant to be baptized and to join the fellowship of the believers to grow and to serve. This is the way of obedience and the way of humility. It applies to rich and poor, weak and powerful, famous and unknown.

The story is told of Emperor Franz Josef, who died in 1916, the last of the great Hapsburg rulers. He lay in state in his magnificent palace in Vienna, surrounded by exquisite floral arrangements, sumptuous fabrics, jewels and gold. On the day of the funeral, his body was taken to the church in an exquisite hearse drawn by magnificent matched horses. The pallbearers removed the casket from the hearse, and brought it to the locked doors of the church.

One of the emperor’s attendants knocked loudly on the door, and a voice came from within: “Who goes there?”

“His Majesty Franz Josef Emmanuel Hans, Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, Head of the Hapsburgs.” Came the reply from within: “We do not know him.”

A second time the emperor’s attendant knocked loudly on the door, and a voice came from within: “Who goes there?”

“His Majesty Franz Josef Emmanuel Hans, Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, Head of the Hapsburgs.” Came the reply within: “We do not know him.”

A third time the emperor’s attendant knocked loudly on the door, and a voice came from within: “Who goes there?”

The answer this time was much softer and simpler: “It is Franz, a child of God.”

Soon there was a loud noise as the massive bolts were drawn back, the doors were opened wide, and the interior of the magnificent church was made visible.
The doorkeeper then said, “The Lord welcomes Franz, a child of God. Him we know.”

This is the Good News of Jesus Christ given to the Church – we are all welcome by His grace. Updike was wrong about one thing – church is not a totally gratuituous event on our part. Something happens when two or more gather in His name. He shows up and the gratuity is on Him. Remember, the Father has selected the Church to reveal His wisdom, wisdom that is deep and wide, through this thing called the Church. Those of you who have been in the Church very long know that sometimes it is a delight to be a part of, and other times and oftentimes, it is a trial. I would remind you that we are called to suffer with our Lord, and that means sometimes, suffering with the church. You may be frustrated with your brother or sister; you may be frustrated with your pastor; you may oftentimes wonder why you should bother to go and be involved.

Because your salvation depends on it. Because the church is the only place on earth where Jesus Christ has chosen to dwell. As Stafford puts it, “How can you enjoy the benefits of Christ if you detach yourself from the living Christ?”