Good Morning!
For today’s prayer and worship help I want to go back to something I talked about in the write-up I did for the ARP General Synod. For those who may not know/remember last week representatives from each ARP church in North America gathered in Columbia, South Carolina for our annual meeting. The main purpose of the Synod meeting is to discuss ways to help our local congregations preach the gospel well and see how we can better operate as a denomination. As part of that work we spend a lot of time together.
Now, in that I don’t mean we spend a lot of time galivanting around the restaurant scene of our capital city (though, as the dear waitstaff at the Palmetto Pig can testify we ARP ministers and elders can eat). Most of our day consists of going through various reports from committees, boards, and agencies of the ARP. Some of those are quickly dealt with through a unanimous vote of thanks, while others see the amendments to the amendment add up and you’d need a scorecard to keep up with where we are in the parliamentary process. It can be a bit tedious. However, something that you do not see, even when things get a little tense, is men arguing in a way that casts aspersions on the other party or the kind of hooping and hollering you might see on Prime Minister’s Questions on C-Span. That’s not to say it never happens, but when it does men quickly see their error and seek the forgiveness of the court. Another thing that you do experience at General Synod is that after all the business is over you see a lot of backslapping, hugs, and seeking out other ministers and elders to see what is going on in their lives, their churches, etc… and how we can be praying for one another. I don’t want to paint too rosy a picture, but this is far more the norm than the exception.
How does it get like this? I know not all denominations have this kind of collegiality nor do a lot of churches, and there have been times in the ARP where this was not the case. To think more devotionally on this topic, and maybe a little closer to home, do we have this kind of relationship with one another at Bethany? It’s a question we need to think about. Whenever we discuss doing things at our church by whose spirit are we wanting it done? Ours? Christ’s? Apollos’s? Paul’s? As you might have picked up there this is not a new thing that the church has to deal with, and maybe be confronted with if need be.
The thing that allows us to have the kind of fellowship I describe for Synod, and this is true for any church, is that there has to be a deep trust in one another. It is a trust not built on the sinking sands of human decency or on the fleshly bonds of familiarity. One of the beauties of Roberts’ Rules of Order (the standard by which we run our meetings) is that it assumes that human beings are sinful. That if given the opportunity men will try and cheat one another to get what they want. Men need barriers. As the old saying goes good fences make good neighbors. So how can the brotherhood be so strong if we need something to keep us from killing each other? Well, remembering our own weakness is one of the great blessings of the gospel. Knowing that if left to our own devices trouble would come we are driven to testify that we need our brothers, and sisters, in Christ, and this is what enables the closeness. Seeing the faith of our brothers bear fruit brings peace. It is because our trust is grounded in who we are in light of the forgiveness of sins and the glory of God that we are moved to see that disagreement is not hatred. Even more to the point is understanding that we are not individuals bodychecking each other into the boards of life, but that in light of the fact that each of us are sinners, that each of us are granted repentance and given a place in a kingdom made without hands, not by the decisions of men, but by the grace of the Lord we are united as one. Seeing we are made for something greater and more glorious than petty personal desires is freeing. The mutual building up of the body of Christ is a team effort that cannot be derailed by beginning a discussion by first thinking about what we need, or what we can get out of this project, but by asking, “How can this help my brothers and sisters in Christ grow in faith?”.
This mindset should motivate Christians, whether ordained, layman, or a covenant child, to know that there is something more important than yourself, this family you are a part of, which is made up of redeemed men and women are together being directed by their King Jesus to not just work with one another for the betterment of the church, but so that the trip to the better country which awaits us in the Heavenly places is filled with joy and peace.
So if this kind of mutual love is not the case at Bethany, or whatever church you may be a member of, how can we go about creating it? First of all, it is not something you can create. It is the organic outgrowth of souls molded through the sanctifying labors of the Holy Spirit in the means of grace. Allowing ourselves to be vulnerable, and honest, to the struggles we are having in the context of a prayer meeting, standing next to a brother or sister in worship, or calling up a fellow member of the church just to chat, or having them over for supper and fellowship is how this happens. It is not one of those things that you can just fake it until you make it. The brotherhood of the church is infectious. We like being around people who care for us, and this only comes with denying self, and lifting up your brother and sister.
So as we close this morning I want to challenge us at Bethany, as the Church universal, to ask how I can be part of the solution, what can I do to ensure that I approach the activities of the body with the right attitude? It all starts with remembering who you are in Christ. Know that you have been brought out of darkness and into the marvelous light of His grace, and see that all those around you were bought with the same blood. When you think of them, think of your Savior. Find your mutual love grounded on the Cross and the Empty Tomb and then you’ll see this collegiality be the norm and the ordinary.
Blessings on Your Week! As always if have need of anything please feel free to give me a holler.
For this Tuesday’s reading here is a short devotional from Ligonier:
https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/love-one-another/
In Christ,
Rev. Benjamin Glaser
Pastor, Bethany ARP Church