Discover Baptism

John the Baptiser

This is how it all began!  For thirty years Jesus had lived a life of obscurity as the son of Joseph the carpenter.  He had been like all the other boys, had grown into a man and took over his father’s business.  And now his ministry was about to begin in earnest.  But it would be really hard to just show up and start preaching. 

People would want to know “Who is he?”  “Where did he come from?”  “Why is he here?”    People would want to know “What qualifies this man to say what he is saying?” 

And so 800 years before Jesus would be born in a manger the plan was already taking shape.  In the opening words of Mark we read  Mark 1:1-2 This is the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. It began just as the prophet Isaiah had written: “Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, and he will prepare your way.”

Most of us don’t stop to think that Jesus, the son of God came to this earth as a newborn infant  in just the right place at just the right time.  It wasn’t by chance that Jesus was born where he was born and when he was born.  It was part of a plan, part  of the plan.  Five hundred years before Alexander would conquer Asia the plan was in place, seven hundred years before there would be a Roman Empire the plan was in place.  A plan that would rely on the language of Alexander and the infrastructure of Rome.

And God didn’t just throw a dart at the time line of human history to determine when and where Jesus would make his entrance.

I’ve talked about this before, it is really really important.  God could have chosen any time in the scope of history for his Son to come to earth and for the church to be born, and yet he chose a specific spot on the time line of history.  Why?  Why at that particular point in time?

According to historians there was no better time for the church to flourish than the two hundred year juncture of history known as The Pax Romana.  E. J. Goodspeed notes: "This was the pax Romana. The provincial under Roman sway found himself in a position to conduct his business, provide for his family, send his letters, and make his journeys in security, thanks to the strong hand of Rome."

The Roman Peace had spread across the known world, providing one of the few windows of opportunities for the land and sea to be travelled safely without the threat of warring factions. For the first time roadways connected points across the known world.  But it went beyond simple transportation and incorporated communication as well.  Instead of having to learn a multitude of languages and dialects it was only necessary to know one.  Greek was the common language, a reminder of Alexander’s conquests, allowing the written word to be sent to encourage and correct the growing churches in diverse cultures.   

It was not a coincidence that the Creator chose this point in time to interrupt history William Barclay writes in the Daily Study Bible: “It was no accident that Christianity came when it did. It came in God's own time; all history had been a preparation for it; and the circumstances were such that the way was open for the tide to spread.”

Matthew begins his telling of the story of Jesus 1500 years before Mary would meet Joseph Matthew 1:1 This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of David and of Abraham: John begins his story of Jesus before the very beginning of time itself.  John 1:1 In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Luke begins his story not with the birth of Jesus but with the birth of Jesus’ cousin John.  Luke 1:5-7 When Herod was king of Judea, there was a Jewish priest named Zechariah. He was a member of the priestly order of Abijah, and his wife, Elizabeth, was also from the priestly line of Aaron. Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in God’s eyes, careful to obey all of the Lord’s commandments and regulations. They had no children because Elizabeth was unable to conceive, and they were both very old.

And in many ways that should have been the end of the story.  They were good people, they were righteous people, but they had no children, not for lack of trying but very simply written because Elizabeth was unable to conceive and they were both very old.  And 2000 years ago there really were no options.   But God had a plan and one day when Zechariah was serving in the temple God interrupted their lives and their plans with his plans.  Luke 1:11-13 While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar. Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he saw him. But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John.

And then we don’t hear from or about John for 30 years and then his story begins another Gospel  Mark 1:1-4 This is the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. It began just as the prophet Isaiah had written: “Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, and he will prepare your way. He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the LORD’s coming! Clear the road for him!’” This messenger was John the Baptist.

John 1:6-7 God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony.

John was sent to prepare the people of Israel for the ministry of his cousin Jesus, and by all accounts he did a pretty good job of it. And it was a remarkable story, John should have been teaching in the temple, remember who his father was.  Instead we discover him preaching in the wilderness and apparently doing an awesome job of it.

 And his ministry had two parts, the first part was where he derived his nickname from,  Mark 1:5 All of Judea, including all the people of Jerusalem, went out to see and hear John. And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River.   By all the accounts that we read in the four Gospels, people were flocking to hear John preach and they were responding to his ministry.

 The entire baptism thing is kind of interesting.   For us as Christians we see this as the beginning of the ritual which we call baptism but baptism had been happening for hundreds of years in the Jewish faith.  When a gentile, someone who wasn’t a Jew wanted to become a Jew it required a number of steps, one of which was baptism.  But for the person who was already a Jew the thought of being baptized would be a pretty difficult concept to grasp.  The question would be “why?”  after all they were part of God’s chosen people by default, they had been born into that family. 

William Barclay wrote in the Daily Study Bible,   “The Jew knew baptism; but the amazing thing about John's baptism was that he, a Jew, was asking Jews to submit to that which only a Gentile was supposed to need.”

And so John preached a message of repentance, and it would appear that he was a powerful speaker because the story records that people were being baptized in droves.  And as a part of his message John continued to point to another, he would tell the people; “There is one coming who is even more powerful than I am, the one who was promised is coming.”

And you know the story, how one day as John preached and as people responded Jesus showed up.  While we do know that Jesus and John were related, somehow, we don’t know how close they had been up to that point, we don’t know whether they had played together as children or hung out together as teenagers.  Whether they had ever shared their dreams and aspirations with one another.  The only other account we have in the bible of the two being together is found in Luke’s gospel and happens shortly after the Angel Gabriel has told Mary that she will conceive and carry the son of God.  Mary leaves her home travels to stay with her relative Elizabeth, and we read this Luke 1:39-41 A few days later Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, to the town where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth. At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

The next time was see them together is in Mark’s account and his telling of the story is pretty simple and concise Mark 1:9 One day Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and John baptized him in the Jordan River.  

But John knew who Jesus was, if we read the account in the other three gospels we get the entire story, how John objected that he wasn’t worthy to baptize Jesus, but his cousin insisted so John complies.

And I shouldn’t have to tell you the rest of the story, because you are very familiar with what happened next.  Mark 1:10-11 As Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the heavens splitting apart and the Holy Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.”   You get the picture right?   It’s a clear picture of the Trinity.  The Son is standing on the river bank, the Spirit descends and the Father speaks.

For the next six weeks we are looking in the Gospel of Mark.  This Gospel was written by John Mark, a young man whose mother’s home was a meeting place for the early church.  Those in the know tell us that Mark was probably recording the events of Jesus’ life from Peter’s perspective. 

Interestingly there is an incident toward the end of Mark’s account that takes place during Christ’s arrest that is recorded only by Mark.  Mark 14:50-52 Then all his disciples deserted him and ran away.   One young man following behind was clothed only in a long linen shirt. When the mob tried to grab him, he slipped out of his shirt and ran away naked.  

Many scholars feel that this young man was none other than Mark Himself. 

The Gospel of Mark was the earliest gospel written, perhaps as early as A.D. 50 and was written primarily to non-Jewish believers.  The reason it was written?  To show that Jesus was the Saviour of the entire world.  More than forty percent of this book takes place during Christ’s last week.

This morning more than focusing on whom John was I want to look at what John was doing.  He was baptising.  Now understand that John wasn’t baptising people in the sense that we baptize people today because this was before Christ’s death and resurrection and offer of grace.  But John’s baptisms set the stage and provided a pattern for the baptism that would become an integral part of Christianity. 

When John called people to repent and then to be baptized as a sign of that repentance,  people were thinking that baptism was about the here and now, something I am doing right now.  And today when someone decides to be baptized they see it as a “right now” decision, something they are doing today. 

But two thousand years ago baptism wasn’t simply about one point in time for those being baptized, whether they realized it or not their baptism wasn’t simply limited to the present it encompassed all of their life.  Baptism was in effect a statement about their past, it is was a statement about their present and was a statement about their future.  Because two thousand years ago baptism was as it is now a line drawn in the present that separates the past from the future.

Matthew 3:1-2 In those days John the Baptist came to the Judean wilderness and began preaching. His message was, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”

Baptism is a Statement of Regret for the Past  As long as you think you are doing all right and there’s no need for a change in your life there is little chance you will change. The scriptures tell us that John’s message was “Repent of your sins and turn to God”  the word that is translated repent in the bible simple meant “to think differently about”. 

For many people their behaviour before they meet God is irrelevant.  For most they have narrowed the ten commandments down to “thou shalt not kill” and figure as long as they aren’t a murderer they are doing all right.   It’s almost like they feel that is the starting point now, that it reallyis a slippery slope, two hundred years ago Thomas De Quincey wrote, "If once a man indulges himself in murder, very soon he comes to think little of robbing; and from robbing he comes next to drinking and Sabbath-breaking, and from that to incivility and procrastination."  

It’s only when we come to realize that sin is disappointing God with our behaviour, it is when deliberately and consistently choose to please ourselves instead of God.  There is a description of the sinful behaviour of the people of Israel in Judges 17:6 In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.   And proverbs 21:2 tells us the problem with that Proverbs 21:2 People may be right in their own eyes, but the LORD examines their heart.

So repentance is when we choose to leave the path that we had been following to follow the path of God.  When we turn away from what was yesterday and turn toward the tomorrow that God has in store for us.  So baptism is a statement of the past.

Matthew 3:5-6 People from Jerusalem and from all of Judea and all over the Jordan Valley went out to see and hear John. And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River.

Baptism is a Statement of Decision for the Present  In the bible the act of baptism wasn’t something that you thought about and prayed about and planned.  It was something you did.  When they confessed their sins he baptised them.  Right then and there. 

Read the book of Acts, when Philip led the Ethiopian Eunuch to the Lord in the middle of the desert we read Acts 8:36 As they rode along, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look! There’s some water! Why can’t I be baptized?”

When Paul was in Philippe  speaking to a group of people along the side of the river we read this account.  Acts 16:14-15 One of them was Lydia from Thyatira, a merchant of expensive purple cloth, who worshiped God. As she listened to us, the Lord opened her heart, and she accepted what Paul was saying. She was baptized along with other members of her household . . .

When Paul and Silas were in prison and the earthquake caused the prison doors to be opened and the guard thought they had all escaped and was going to kill himself.  But Paul and Silas were still there and they shared the gospel with him,  listen to what happened. Acts 16:32-33 And they shared the word of the Lord with him and with all who lived in his household. Even at that hour of the night, the jailer cared for them and washed their wounds. Then he and everyone in his household were immediately baptized.

Some people ask “well isn’t it enough that I believe?”  Well apparently not because Christ tells us in Mark 16:16 Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved.   And in the first sermon ever preached by Peter after the resurrection of Christ on the Day of Pentecost we read Acts 2:38 Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins, turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ to show that you have received forgiveness for your sins.”  Not just repent of your sins and turn to God but you need to be baptized.  Why? To show that you have received forgiveness for your sins.  It was their testimony.  In effect they were saying, “Look this has happened in my life.” 

And just before Jesus left the disciples he gave them their marching orders, so to speak.  Matthew 28:19-20 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.”  It wasn’t enough to make disciples and teach of all nations, they were supposed to be baptized. 

Baptism wasn’t something that people put off until another day it went hand and hand with their decision to follow Christ.  It’s not something that happens somewhere down the road of our Christian Journey it marks the beginning of our Christian journey.  It is our first act of obedience to Christ.  It is saying “there is some water, why can’t I be baptized?”

So baptism is a Statement for the Present

Luke 3:7-8 When the crowds came to John for baptism, he said, . . . “Who warned you to flee God’s coming wrath? Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.”

 Baptism is a Statement of Belief for the Future Baptism is driving a stake in the ground for all to see and for you to remember.  Baptism is that milestone that you can look back to as the beginning of your journey.  John was warning them that baptism without a change in heart and behaviour was simply getting wet. 

It doesn’t mean that we are saved by the way we live, Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:8-9 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.   You can’t earn your way into heaven, but once you have accepted his grace and decided to walk his way it should be evidenced in your life. 

When John baptized people he expected that they would change their behaviour.  When you chose to follow Christ you are choosing to live as a Christ follower and that is following his directions and guidelines.  And those directions and guidelines are found in his teaching and they are for the purpose of making us better people, who love God and love others. 

So now I am going to speak clearly and plainly.  If you have chosen to be a Christ Follower and you have not been baptized you are being disobedient.  And the question is why?  What are you waiting for? 

And when I ask people that I get a variety of reasons.  “There is still stuff I need to take care of in my life.”  From the scriptures the only thing you need to take care of in your life before you get baptized is accepting God’s grace in your life.

Others are afraid of how they will respond to being immersed, or afraid of how they will look when they come up.  I have never dropped anyone or drowned anyone in a baptism service. 

And part of the baptism service is that it is a humbling experience, most people don’t look good wet, that’s just a fact of life.   And vanity shouldn’t be what stands in the way of obedience. 

I am sure that there were people who stood on the side lines and felt like they should respond to John’s call but they question that overrode their desire to be obedient was “what will people think?”  And there are people today when we talk about baptism who wonder “what will people think?”  But the overriding question has to be “What will Jesus think about my being disobedient?” 

In two weeks we are going to have a baptism, that is October 30^th what is keeping you from being baptized?  Remember the words of Christ Mark 16:16 Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. 

The Body and the Head

Interesting word “instead”!  It is a transition word that cannot stand by itself because the question is begged to be asked “Instead of what?”   The past couple of weeks we have been parked here in Ephesians 4 and today our focus begins with Ephesians 4:15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.

 Most of us have heard the admonition to speak the truth in love, often it comes right after we have acted like a jerk.   Or probably have spoken like a Jerk.  Whatever the words were that came out of our mouth they may have been truthful but apparently they weren’t considered to have been loving and there is always someone there to remind us to “speak the truth in love.”  And that is great advice, it is akin to “you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar” although I’m not sure why you are trying to catch flies. 

 And if the truth was known most of us could probably benefit from that advice, the bible abounds with advice about how we speak and being careful of the words we use.  Solomon reminds us in Proverbs 12:18 Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing. Or as my Daddy use to tell me  “Keep your words sweet, you never know when you may have to eat them.”

And in most cases it’s just a matter of stopping to think before we speak.  It might be the truth but is hurtful?  Why are you saying it?  Is it necessary?  And don’t just flippantly say “But it was true.”  That is only half the equation and in most courses 50% is a failing grade. 

And then there are other times that we are so mushy and loving that we never speak what is true because we are afraid of hurting someone’s feelings.  And that isn’t useful either. 

If you are speaking love without the truth you might as well be working for Hallmark for all the impact it will have.  We are told that the Rabbis were so concerned with this concept that they went so far as to decree “All brides are beautiful on their wedding day.”  That way people could speak in love about how beautiful the bride was and regardless of how she really looked they would be speaking the truth. 

Because really what is the solution when you are in this situation  (Video clip from Seinfeld Ugly baby).  So to absolve you of that difficulty I have decreed that “All babies are beautiful”.

And taken in isolation these words would mean simply what we often use them to mean, they are great advice and more of us would benefit from putting that advice into practice.   If Paul had simply written Ephesians 4:15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.  Then it would mean no more and no less than “Speak the truth in love.”  But those words cannot be read in isolation because they are preceded by that pesky word “Instead”. 

It is a great verse but we often take it out of context.  In this case that’s not a bad thing and I’ve met a lot of Christians through the years that really need to take that sentiment to heart, but it wasn’t what Paul was trying to convey to the early church. 

And you are thinking, “What does it matter?” or “what does it mean?”  and those are great questions, they go back to that question that I said we all ask or should ask every time we hear a sermon and the question every preacher should ask as he writes a sermon.  “So what?”  What is the take away? What is the message for today?

So to find the truth of this passage we need to answer the question “Instead of what?”  And we do that by simply reading the verse before this verse.  Ephesians 4:14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.

Instead of being immature like children, instead of being tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. Instead of being influenced by people trying to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.  Instead of those things we will Ephesians 4:15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.  A couple of things to remember.  This letter was not written to an individual.  There are letters like that in the bible, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon those letters were addressed and written to a person.  This letter was addressed and written to a church.  There are things that we can and should apply to our personal lives but it was first written to a collective group of Christ followers. Like us.  So it was advice to the church. 

The past two weeks I spoke first on Ephesians 4:11-12 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.  And I spoke about how Christ gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers as gifts to the church.  And the purpose of that gift was to equip God’s people to do God’s work.  And part of equipping you is helping you mend the brokenness in your life.

Last week we looked at what that work was:  Ephesians 4:13-14 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children. . . And I told you that the work of God’s people was to be God’s people.  As Christ followers our primary responsibility is to be like the Christ we follow, and that happens as we grow and mature in our Christian faith. 

So week one was kind of my responsibility as your pastor, Christ’s gift to you, week two was kind of your responsibility as followers of Christ and week three is our collective responsibility as a church. 

So as a church we have a responsibility to speak the truth in love.  And that truth is God’s truth.  It is the message of repentance and the message of forgiveness.  It is the message of grace and the message of judgement.  It is the message of heaven and the message of hell. And sometimes churches are good at one side of that coin or the other.  They do a really good job of the repentance, judgement, hell side of the message.  They feel compelled to preach the truth.  But they aren’t so good at the forgiveness, grace, heaven side.  Or there are churches that flip that coin over and they want to tell you all about the forgiveness and grace of God and how heaven will be a wonderful place, but they forget about repentance, judgement and hell. 

And 50% still isn’t a passing grade.  But the world is looking for both sides of the coin, they want to hear the truth but they want to hear it spoken in love.  People don’t want to hear you say “Have you heard the good news?  You are going to hell!”  200 years ago  Adam Clarke wrote “Scolding and abuse from the pulpit or press, in matters of religion, are truly monstrous.”

Case in point.  On Thursday while the world was mourning the passing of Steve Jobs, the response from Westboro Baptist Church was the news that they would picket his funeral. Why?  Because by their account “He had a huge platform; gave God no glory and taught sin.”    Now by all accounts Jobs had been raised Lutheran and converted to Buddhism later in life.  Didn’t profess to be a Christ Follower and that has its own consequences.  There was a pressing need in Jobs’ life to meet Jesus.  But as far as we know he didn’t.  So while he will have to deal with the consequences of that decision, he had no moral obligation to give glory to a God he did not serve.  However, the followers of Westboro Baptist Church profess to following Christ, therefore they are to be like Christ, to demonstrate Christ Likeness  and part of their obligation is recognize an follow the teaching of Ephesians 4:15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.

So were they speaking the truth?  Probably, for all people can say and write about Steve Jobs and he was certainly a culture changer, nobody has indicated that he gave Glory to God.  Were they speaking the truth in love.  Nope, not at all.  These are people who picket the funerals of American soldiers because they disagree with American policy and who host the website godhatesfags.com I’m kind of thinking they are going to have a lot to answer for. 

On the other hand churches that claim there is no hell, and that God loves everyone and therefore everyone will go to heaven may be speaking in love but they aren’t speaking the truth. And they are going to held account for that.  Jesus’ brother James wrote in James 3:1 Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly.

And 50% still isn’t a passing grade.

And it all goes back to our responsibility in the second part of Ephesians 4:15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.

There are two thoughts there.  The first is that we are to be more and more like Christ.   To teach as he taught and to love as he loved.  And we can’t cherry pick, you know only focus on the parts of Jesus’ teaching that we like.  We can’t pull out the lovey dovey things that Jesus taught and forget the warnings he gave about judgment and the harsh condemnation he made of sinful behaviour.

Nor can we simply teach the parts about Judgement and condemnation and forget all he taught about grace and forgiveness and love.  Nope they go together and to separate them is to change the meaning of what Jesus was saying.

And we can’t say that we follow Christ and not follow him.  Would Jesus picket the funeral of Steve Jobs?  I think not.

The second part of that verse tells us that Jesus is the head of his body, the church.   Paul goes on to expand on that thought in the next verse Ephesians 4:16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.   And I could preach an entire sermon on what it means to be the body of Christ.  Oh right I have. 

Almost a year ago I spoke on being a part of the body, and I’m sure that there are some here who remember that.  You are probably thinking “Oh yeah that was on January 2.”  And you probably remember the main points that were 1) We have something in common, 2) We are all different, 3) We Need To Be Heading In the Same Direction  4) When One Part Of The Body Hurts, The Whole Body Hurts. 

So I don’t need to go there again.  At least not today.  But what does it mean and what are the implications of Christ being the head of the body?

1) He is the Head of the Body  That should be pretty self-explanatory.  I saw a lady shopping the other day who only had one leg; she got out of the car she was driving and using crutches went into the store and did her shopping, she had challenges but she was able to function without the leg she is missing.  A friend of mine in New Brunswick only has one arm, he lost his other arm in a fishing accident 40 years ago.  And sometimes you will see Stan mowing his lawn or riding his bike, he has some challenges but he is able function without the arm he is missing.

In extreme cases you will hear of someone living with an artificial heart or having a kidney transplant or even a lung or heart transplant.   

But missing your head, not so much.  Sometimes we will ask  “do you even have a brain?” in which case perhaps you need to go back to the first part of this message.  But the truth is that the body cannot function without a head.   So what happens when the head is separated from the body? 

You ever wonder where the term “capital punishment” came from?  No?  Too bad.   You see the term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally meaning "regarding the head".   And so a capital crime was originally a crime that was punished by removing the head from the body.  And while it offends our modern sensibilities when done properly it was a much more humane method of punishment than hanging, the gas chamber or the electric chair.  Just saying. 

We know that the body cannot function without the head.

In the same way the church can’t function without Christ.   And by that I mean Christ in his proper place, as head.  When a church denies the deity of Christ, when a church refuses to acknowledge the virgin birth, the death and the physical resurrection of Christ they have removed him from headship and they are no longer a part of his body.  They aren’t really a church they are just a group of people who meet on Sunday.  And you can connect the dots on that yourself.

You say  “that’s a little harsh Denn.”  Yes it is and I’m so glad it wasn’t my idea it’s very clear in the scriptures.  Time and time again the concept is taught that Christ is the head of the church and the church is the body of Christ and they can’t be separated. 

And if you thought that was harsh listen to this: A few years ago we saw a whole angel cult going on listen to what the bible says about that:  Colossians 2:18-19 Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things. Their sinful minds have made them proud, and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For he holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it.

Interesting “those who worship angels are not connected to Christ, the head of the body.”

Here is the second thing we know about the head:  The Head Gives the Body Direction the body cannot move the way it was created to move without direction from the head.  Oh there can be spastic movement without the head but it is without purpose and without direction.

When I was about six my dad was in the forces and we lived in Germany.  Now instead of living in the Canadian married quarters we lived in what was known as the economy.  That meant that we lived in a German village, in our case we lived in a village called Herzfeldt and rented from a local family.  And that family raised chickens, and from those chickens they got eggs, and sometimes I would wander down and watch them sort eggs, because when you were six in 1966 you were allowed to wander.  And one day when I was down with the chickens I discovered they also used their chickens for meat.  And at a very impressionable age I saw several chickens have their heads removed, and yes the phrase “run around like a chicken with its had cut off” is grounded in truth.  An interesting experience for a six year old.  But even though the chickens were moving they weren’t moving with purpose or direction.

The church should get its direction from Jesus, his message should be our message and his purpose should be our purpose.  And what is that?  Luke 19:10 Jesus said “For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”   Sounds like he came to help depopulate hell.  If Christ came to extend God’s grace to a world that needs it kind of sounds like that is what we are supposed to do. 

And his church may seek to do that in different ways but that really has to be the bottom line, not what is the church doing but why is the church doing it?  And so the question has to be: is the church as concerned about the lost as Jesus was?  And does that dictate our direction?

Because if the body isn’t taking direction from the head then it is getting its direction from the wrong source.  And it is only when the body of Christ takes its direction from Jesus that it will ever be all that it’s supposed to be and will accomplish all that it’s supposed to accomplish.  Earlier in Ephesians Paul had written   Ephesians 1:22 God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church.   Why is Christ the head over all things?  For the benefit of the church. 

Ephesians 4:16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. The Head Makes the Whole Body Work Together  The last point referred to the body as a whole, in the case of this analogy the Church as a whole but verse 16 breaks that down to tell us that the head makes the whole body work together.    The only way the body is healthy is when all the parts are working together properly.  If I want to walk across the stage I don’t even think about it but the brain is calling upon all kinds of body parts to make it happen.  My feet are being picked up and put down, my legs are moving in a forward direction, my arms are moving, my eyes are seeing, my inner ear is keeping everything upright and balanced.    And that is done in the brain.  The brain makes all of those things happen, and makes them happen in the right order. 

When we as Christ Followers allow our lives to be controlled by Christ listen to what happens Ephesians 4:16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. If you are a Christ follower than the Christ who you say you follow has a special work for you to do.  And when you do it, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. 

Conversely when each part doesn’t do its own special work, the other parts don’t grow and the whole body is not healthy and growing and full of love. 

Try walking with a sore foot, or with tired legs or blurry eyes or when you are suffering from vertigo.  Doesn’t go nearly as smoothly does it?

So what are the take aways?  Well even though it’s out of context it certainly wouldn’t hurt us individually to speak the truth in love.  As a church we have an obligation to present the truth of God, the entire truth from grace to judgment with love.   As a church we must take our direction from Jesus and finally as part of the body we need to find our place and fill it.