This week I would like to move
the conversation onto the church. It is word we use a lot, obviously, and has
associations with many things. Sometimes we think of the church as the
building, such as St. Jude’s. When we speak of St. Jude’s we often think of the
building that occupies 444 Brighton Road. At other times, we think of the
church as a place we go to on Sundays. We say we are going to church, meaning
not only the building, but also attending the act of worship that takes place
inside it. We also speak of belonging to a church, and by that we mean we
belong to a group of people who assemble at St. Jude’s. We also speak of
belonging to the local or global church, or the Anglican Church, or one of the
other denominations. Church is word that covers a multitude of meanings.
However, the New Testament mainly
understands the word church as a ‘people’ (see Matthew 16: 18; Romans 16: 1,
23; Ephesians 5: 25). Occasionally, at St. Jude’s we sing a song that says;
I am the church! You are the church!
We are the church together!
All who follow Jesus all around the world,
Yes, we’re the church together.
The truth of this song, as it goes on to say, is
that;
The church is not a building,
The church is not a steeple,The church is not a resting-place,
The church is a people![1]
When we are baptized we become members of this
church of ‘people’, and all of us are full and equal members of it. St. Jude’s
church building might one day close - we hope not!!! However, that doesn’t
necessarily mean that the church itself will close. St. Jude’s Church could meet
in a hall or school gym, because, ultimately, St. Jude’s Church is the people.
How do you understand the word church?
What does being a member of St. Jude’s mean to you?
Do you think the church could meet out of a church
building and still be the church?
Chris
[1]
Richard Avery & Donald March 1972, ‘I am the church’, Hymn # 467 in ,Together in Song,
HarperCollinsReligious, Sydney, 1999.
2 comments:
Yes Chris, well said. The church is the people but 'temple' worship still goes on. The hardest thing St Paul says is not loving the 'lovable' but loving the 'unlovable'! Let's be real, we all think that if everyone else was like me, the church would be far better off!
Right said, Paul! We are always blind to our own faults. Church: hospital for sinners not waiting room for saints.
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