Wednesday
in 3 Lent;
Sermon
based on Discipleship, chapter Ten
Pastor
Maurice Frontz
Though
he is alive, we no longer have the body of Jesus with us.
The
church confesses that he bodily ascended into heaven
and
‘is seated at the right hand of the Father,’
which
means that he has been given all the authority of God.
We
also confess that he will come again from heaven
to
judge the living and the dead;
his
authority, which now we acknowledge by faith,
will
be seen by all.
Those
who have rejected the rule of God,
who
have done evil and loved falsehood,
will
continue in that rejection,
and
those who have sought God
will
find his mercy in the glorious and gentle rule of Christ.
But
still, his disciples are called –
and
they are called to be in community with Jesus.
How
can this happen,
when
Jesus’ body is ascended into heaven?
For
to be in community means to be in bodily community.
To
understand this,
we
must understand that when Jesus ascended,
he
did not withdraw his presence, but transformed it.
He
ascended into heaven ‘that he might fill all things.’
He
did not leave his disciples alone
but
made it so that they might be in his bodily presence continually
and
that his presence might be available in every time and place.
‘We
gain a share in the community of the body of Christ
through
the two sacraments of his body,
baptism
and the Lord’s Supper.’
Bonhoeffer
says that sacraments exist only because there is a body of Christ.
Baptism
incorporates us as members into the unity of the body of Christ.
The
Lord’s Supper keeps us in community with Christ’s body.
Indeed,
the body of Christ should not be seen as an ethereal reality,
or
as mere metaphor explaining the different gifts of Christians.
Rather,
Bonhoeffer insists that the community of the baptized
‘becomes
a body which is none other than Christ’s own body.’
‘Since
the ascension, Jesus Christ’s place on earth has been taken by his body, the
church.
The
church is the present Christ
himself.’
When
the word ‘Church’ is said,
we
are still used to thinking of a congregation,
or
an institution.
But
the Church is not an institution.
It
would be more proper to say that the Church has
an institution.
We
ought to think and behave as if ‘the Church were a person with a body.
Every
week when we confess the Creed,
we
say that we believe in the holy Catholic Church.
We
are confessing that Christ left for himself a body on earth
into
which he incorporates us physically.
That
body does what he did,
or,
better, he does what he does now through his body now,
proclaims
the coming of the kingdom of God
and
forgives sins
and
serves others.
It
is written ad nauseam by people who
ought to know better
that
‘Christ did not come to found a church,’
when
in fact that is exactly what he came to do.
Or
at least, that’s one of the things he came to do.
He
may not have intended every detail of the institution
the Church has,
but
he did call a people to follow him and to be his body in the world
until
he should be revealed to all people.
That
body is called the holy Church.
He
intended us.
Those
who are baptized have one Spirit, the Spirit of Christ.
They
have one will, the will of Christ.
The
body has one mind, the mind of Christ,
All
of this is summed up in Colossians
by
the phrase ‘Christ is the head of the body, the Church.
But
this does not mean that the Church is some sort of collective hive-mind,
like
the Borg from Star Trek.
Rather,
our God-given individuality is not used for self,
but
in the following of Jesus.
This
individuality is not self-centered, but God-centered.
We
can see this united individuality reflected in the Holy Scriptures.
Unlike
the Koran, which is written in one style only,
and
that one which shows no individual voice,
the
Christian Scriptures are full of distinct voices,
Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Amos, Matthew, John, Paul, Peter, James.
But
it is the one God who is proclaimed,
the
one Christ exalted.
And
we are one because in our individuality
we
proclaim one Christ.
When
Christ is not proclaimed,
whatever
unity people have is not unity in Christ.
When
he is proclaimed,
then
radically diverse individuals are made one.
There
is more that could be said.
Indeed,
Bonhoeffer goes on in chapter ten to discuss the idea of the temple;
the
temple of Christ’s body
and
the dwelling of God the Holy Spirit in the temple, which is the Church.
But
we don’t have time for that.
Indeed,
it can be exhausting to hear such a succession of declarative sentences.
I
feel that way about John,
and
sometimes I feel that way about Bonhoeffer.
But
perhaps we understand more about the body of Christ.
In
this faith family,
we
are not simply individuals coming together because we all have an interest in
religion.
As
those who are called,
we
gather in Christ’s name
to
be in Christ’s bodily presence,
indeed
we are Christ’s body,
filled
with his Spirit to give praise to his Father,
bearing
witness to his love and mercy.
