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3rd Floor: Floor: Serving the world as Jesus’ hands and feet
yourchurch is a three-story house (3/3) (I Corinthians 12:12-17, John 21:15,16, 10:11-16, Matthew 5:13-16)
Andy Nagahara
In the series, I’ve talked about yourchurch by comparing it to a three-story house. For the final part of the series I am going to talk about the third floor. So far I have talked about the past and the present, but today I would like to share about the future from the present. It is about yourchurch as people who love God and love one another, and how we love the world and its people.
A. You are yourchurch （I Corinthians 12:12-27)
12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body–whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free–and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. … 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
I have talked about the meaning of “your” in “yourchurch,” but I would like to mention the “church” part here. This is so important that I have spoken about it frequently for the past 30 years.
Church does not mean this building. Apostle Paul describes the church as “the body of Christ. In other words, it is a community with Jesus at its center. Because Jesus is one, His body is also one. And yourchurch is an organ of that body, and we are its individual cells. Neither the church building nor the Sunday services and other gatherings are the essence of the church, but we ourselves are yourchurch. We are the church whether we have a church building or not. The Vineyard, the church I mentioned two weeks ago, rented a high school gymnasium on Sundays for its services. And, Hope Chapel, which I talked about last week, did not have a place to rent at first, so they had worship service on the beach. Later, they rented an elementary school gymnasium and we attended while they were worshipping there. We also started out worshipping at a place that we could only rent on Sundays. I suppose nowadays we could start churches even on the Internet.
The church’s value is not determined by the size and splendor of its building. What matters to us is worshiping God, which I spoke about two weeks ago, serving one another, which I spoke about last week, and how we serve this world, which I am talking about today. How and where do people know yourchurch, that is, us? Someone found us by seeing the sign hanging on this building while riding a train on the Yokohama Line and became a member of this church. Others came to us through our website on the Internet and eventually became members. But people can see yourchurch without this building or website. Where can they see it?
When people look at you all, they see yourchurch. Do you think it’s wrong? (Am I wrong?) It is not wrong because we are all organs of the Body of Christ, yourchurch. Worship leaders give the invocation at the end of each Sunday service, which is called the benediction. Each week, we start our journey by receiving the words of the benediction, “I send each of you out to where God is sending you.” Instead of coming to church on Sundays, we go out into society as a church from here, and that’s where people meet yourchurch.
This third floor is where we serve not God (first floor), not each other (second floor), but the people of the world.
B. Our ministries to the world
1. Taking care of the sheep entrusted to your care (John 21:15,16, 10:11-16)
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?”
He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” (John 21:15,16)
When we hear about the world, we tend to think of continents and islands across the ocean, but we are not talking about such a distant place. Jesus does not intend to send everyone to other countries as a foreign missionary. Actually, as the benediction says, God will send you as “pastors” to “different places in our society” and you will spend a week there.
The word translated pastor or shepherd in our Bible has an etymology that means “to feed the sheep”. In order to understand what Jesus meant when he said, “Feed my sheep,” we need to read the words of Jesus in the Gospel recorded by the same John.
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me– just as the Father knows me and I know the Father–and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. (John 10:11-16)
Jesus is not telling yourchurch to “fill the chapel with guests,” but to “make disciples and send them out.” We were not called to have our needs met. We were called to meet others’ needs. Of course, in order to do that, you first need to be healed, fulfilled, and empowered. That’s why I told you that the first and second floors are important.
You are the “pastors” who care for the sheep entrusted to you from Monday to Saturday. Perhaps you have experienced churches with better service. The pastor is a jack of all trades (handyman) there. They speak on Sundays and teach at Bible studies on weekdays. They will preside at all gatherings, give messages, and say the first and last prayers. They visit the sick at people’s request and make other home visits. They also answer requests to pray for anyone.
This is a service that yourchurch does not have. But then people will always remain customers to be cared for or patients to be healed. People appreciate hard-working pastors. But that is not what a real church looks like. That would not please Jesus, who is concerned about the sheep outside the fold. It is the wolves who rejoice in that situation. Without pastors to go out and take care of, the world will remain the wolves’ “Sapporo Beer Garden” ( where they can drink all the beer they want and eat all the sheep they want).
The Reformer Luther clarified with the term “the priesthood of all believers” that the conventional idea of the priest as one who stands between God and people did not come from Jesus. Each and every one of you can follow Jesus directly. The pastor of the church is never an authority to be obeyed, but someone who has the role of taking care of you so that you can be active as a pastor. The pastor of a church is like the captain of a soccer team. It is a team that Jesus leads as a coach. You receive instructions from the coach, not through the captain. The captain is meant to be the voice, encouragement, and coordinator to ensure that the director’s intentions are well communicated to the entire team.
These are the texts from the Bible on which Luther bases his thoughts.
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (1st Epistle of Peter 2:9)
and
You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth. (The Revelation 5:10)
Now we know that our basic role is that of a “priest.” The ministry of priests who follow Jesus is to love and care. Followers of Jesus act as pastors where they are placed. It means taking care of the souls, minds and bodies of people there according to God’s will.
But what is expected of us is not limited to just taking care of people’s personal needs. This can be clearly seen in the following words of Jesus. Let’s read.
2. The salt of the earth and the light of the world（Matthew 5:13-16)
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:13-16)
Jesus explained our role in this world as followers of Him this way. Salt is essential to the flavor of food. Salt also prevents food from spoiling. This role is to act on their own and to encourage people to act so that society is not corrupted by crime and injustice, and so that society can be a better place to live for all people. The civil rights movement led by Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. is a good example of this. Our “Peas” activity, which provides a place for people in the community to relax, also plays a small part in this work.
There is a strong belief that the church should be concerned only with matters of the individual soul and that it should be politically neutral, but I disagree. I believe Jesus wants us to promote nuclear abolition, disarmament and anti-discrimination. Would Jesus say that those who are suffering now should be silent and endure now that they will be relieved when they return to Heaven? Neutral sounds nice, but the bottom line is that I’m not going to be a “Good Samaritan.” Here Jesus even warns that a church that is no longer salty, a church that does not do the righteousness that God requires, will be thrown out and trampled by people.
The third floor of yourchurch exists not only for “salvation of souls” but also for justice.
Jesus went on to say that we are the light of the world.
Last week I told you about the name change of the church in 1997.
Before it became yourchurch, its name was Lighthouse. The name was taken from this text with the hope of introducing Jesus to many people, casting the sure light of Jesus into the world, helping those who are led by that light to begin their lives, and becoming a church that is like a light shining in the darkness. I think it’s a good name because it’s one of the functions of yourchurch’s 3rd floor, but I started to strongly realize that the 3rd floor is only possible because there are 1st and 2nd floors, so it became yourchurch. However, if a church exists only for worship and the enjoyment of the people who gather there, it cannot be called a healthy church because it is like a dance class that does not aim to dance at contests or dance parties.
The light of a lighthouse is indispensable for the navigation of ships. Jesus is the guiding light on the voyage of life for all. The church is to be the lighthouse that brings Jesus to the people. It’s not like, “Okay, let’s put a cross on the wall of the building and light it up so everybody can see it at night!” That’s not what I mean. Because it is not the purpose to have people come to this building.
In order to get to know Jesus, they have to meet Him. How does one meet Jesus? Remember what I talked about earlier today? People meet you, and they meet Jesus by getting to know you.
There is no need to verbally explain the benefits of becoming a Christian unless asked to do so. Just take care of your sheep with all your heart, pray, comfort, encourage and meet their needs. God sends us, yourchurch, into this world today again.
(Prayer) Dear God, we are glad that you are using us as your body. Meet our needs so that we may be willing to carry your work wherever you send us. When we hear that your church is where each of us is placed, and that each of us has sheep entrusted to us, we are overwhelmed by the gap between the weight of that responsibility and our own weakness. Please fill each of us with your spirit and use us as the salt of the earth and as the light of the world. Thank you for your 30 years of guidance, and looking forward to your continued guidance, I pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Summary
In order for the church to carry out the work that God expects of us in society, it is essential that we serve God (1st floor) and each other (2nd floor). We are sent by God to be a part of His body, the church, to take care of people, do justice, and introduce Jesus with love in this society.
For Discussion
1. What is the church?
2. Who are your sheep?