We Are The Church

Someone sent me something earlier this year entitled, “The Wisdom of the Dakota Indians.” The tribal wisdom of the Dakota Indians, passed on from one generation to the next, says that when you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount. That sounds self-evident. It is good advice. It makes sense. If you find yourself riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount. So why don’t we follow it? How many of the following strategies have we tried in dealing with a dead horse?

• Purchase a stronger whip
• Change riders
• Appoint a committee to study the horse
• Arrange to visit other places to see how they ride dead horses
• Lower the standards so that dead horses are acceptable
• Reclassify the dead horse as “living impaired.”
• Harness several dead horses together to increase speed
• Provide additional funding to increase the dead horse’s performance
• Do a study to see if lighter rider’s would improve the dead horse’s ability to function
• Declare that the dead horse carries low overhead and therefore should remain in use.
• Hope that the dead horse will come back to life

We all have to deal with a dead horse from time to time. You may be wondering what “dead horse” the preacher is referring to today. Is it the building plans that we toiled and labored on for almost three years? Is it our current facility that will need a lot of work? Are they both dead horses? We need to take a careful look at that. After last Sunday’s decision to NOT proceed with new construction at this time, we are in regrouping mode right now at Grace. And that can and should be a good thing for us. It gives us the chance to stop and think about what the church really is.

As I told the children a moment ago, and as our last two songs reminded us, WE ARE THE CHURCH. People make up the church. This old building and any future facilities we may construct are not the church. They are simply tools for us to use as we go about our business of making disciples. If a building keeps us from doing that, it has no place in our lives.

So I think it is good that we are outside today. The church has left the building. The church is not that structure of bricks and mortar and cracks and leaks and broken doors and terrible plumbing. The church is people. You and I are the church.

The word church is the most common translation of the Greek word “Ekklesia” and it literally means the “called out ones.” It is not used of a building, but of the people that have been called out of this world to be disciples, believers, followers of Jesus. We have been brought together by the assurance that God loves us. He demonstrated that love with a cross and an empty tomb. We know that Jesus is our Savior from sin and death. We rejoice in sin forgiven and life eternal. We live in confident victory. And that is true even if we are not able to build the building we thought we needed right now.

We need to remember who we are and what we should be doing. The church needs to be busy outside of the building. Don’t get wrapped up in the facility. That is not the church. You are. And today, THE CHURCH HAS LEFT THE BUILDING. What should the church be doing outside the building?

One thing we should be concerned about is customer service. Have you ever had that person “waiting” on you who just doesn’t seem to care. We had that happen at a Dairy Queen recently. We were the ones doing the waiting. The fellow inside the store could not have cared less that we were sitting at the drive through window long before the person went to the walk up window or the people inside the store arrived. We were simply being ignored. He didn’t seem to care about us at all. We had the impression that we didn’t matter at all to him.

Have you ever had a server like that? Have you ever BEEN a server like that? Something we tend to forget is that in the church, we are not the customers. We are to be the servants. Jesus tells us that repeatedly. He gives us the example to follow, like He did during the Last Supper when He washed the feet of His disciples and said…

John 13:15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.

That same evening, when the disciples were jockeying for position, arguing who was most important among them, Jesus said:

Luke 22:27 For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.

This same thing had been addressed earlier when the mother of James and John asked if one of her sons could sit on Jesus’ right and one on His left in His kingdom. Jesus puts everthing back into proper perspective saying:

Matthew 20:26–28 … whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ²⁷ and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— ²⁸ just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

The one who came to offer Himself as payment for the sins of the world also came to show us how to be servants to the world. The problem we have is that having a servant sounds so much more appealing than being a servant. We want to be the ones who are served, not the ones who serve others. But that is not the life to which you have been called. When Jesus gets a hold of you, you belong to Him. You want to follow Him because you know what He has done for you. And that means you take on the role of a servant.

One way you can serve is to serve each other here at Grace. We have an immediate need for Sunday School and Mid Week help of all kinds. This is necessary, and very few are stepping up to help. Only you know why you are not volunteering. I don’t know why so few are stepping up to help.  Is it the mindset that you want to be served rather than be a servant?

As I said that is one way you can serve, but we don’t want to have just an inward focus. Now that the church has left the building, let’s look around out here. Look across the street – that’s Sherman. Now look to the north – that’s Denison. We can’t see Howe or Pottsboro or Tom Bean or Bells or Oklahoma from here, but those are all part of our sphere of influence. The members of this congregation, the church assembled here today, come from those places. That is where you are to serve.

One of the most common objections people raise is “I don’t have any special gifts” or “I can’t do anything.” God would beg to differ with you. Listen to what he said through Peter:

1 Peter 4:10–11 ¹⁰ Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. ¹¹ If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

It is all about having an attitude that recognizes who you are as a redeemed child of God and wanting to respond. Jesus died for me. I live because of Him. So now what should I do?

I am in the process of trying to make service through this congregation more intentional. Last week I attended a meeting about partnering with a school in Sherman for the next school year. It might be providing classroom readers or mentors of doing teacher appreciation or providing classroom supplies. And I’ve inquired about doing the same thing with a school in Denison. I want to provide you, the church, opportunities to serve not just each other, but the people around us in our communities.

I have also set a goal for our congregation to be involved in at least two servant events in the coming year – one for the youth and one for any adults who want to participate. It is time to stop talking about being servants and time to start doing it.

I believe this is a big part of being good stewards, using what God has entrusted to our care.

1 Peter 4:10  Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.

God’s not asking you to do anything for which He has not already equipped you. Use the gifts, the talents, the abilities you have to serve others. In serving others you find joy.

I attended two high school graduations this week. One of the commencement speakers told the graduates that all they had to do was make themselves happy. Don’t listen to what anyone else tells you – do what you want to do. It was all very self-serving. That is the message of the world. Make yourself happy, serve yourself. But you and I are called to be something different in Christ Jesus. We know there is joy and peace and happiness in serving others. 

In the church, at times there will be disappointments and setbacks. Perhaps our building program is like that dead horse I mentioned earlier. Let’s not concentrate all our focus and energy and attention on that. Instead, let’s remember who were are, the redeemed and forgiven children of God who make up the church, the church Jesus promised to build, the one of whom He said  “The gates of Hades will not overcome it.” (Matt. 16:18) Jesus was talking about His Church. Not buildings. Not facilities. He was talking about the Holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, all true believers in Christ. In spite of disappointments, the Church goes on. The ministry goes on. Let’s remember who we are, and let’s think about how we need to serve others.