Covenant Life in the Church

                Ephesians 4: 1-7, Acts 22:16, I Cor. 11: 23-26, Matt. 18: 15-20

 

 

          This week we continue in our introduction to the Essential Tenets of ECO. We have previously looked at God’s Word and its authority, the doctrines of the Trinity and Incarnation and the doctrine of God’s grace in Christ. Today, we will look at a number of long standing Reformed doctrines including adoption, preaching of the Word, administration of the Sacraments and practicing mutual discipline. All of these are part of what ECO calls covenant life in the church.

          Adoption is the first item on the menu. I am an adoptive parent, so I have a very personal view of adoption. During my career as an attorney, I did many adoptions. I had a ringside seat to what adoption means as a legal term. What I can share with you is that legal adoption comes about as close to lining up with theological adoption as mankind is likely to get in lawmaking. In American law in every state of which I am aware, adoption is parenthood. In a legal adoption, the adopted child stands in exactly the same position legally as does a blood child. There is no difference. Even birth certificates are amended in adoptions to reflect the parentage of the adopted child as that of his or her adoptive parents. Whatever differences might exist genetically or emotionally, there are none legally. In my case, I can truly say that the bond I have with my adoptive child is every bit as strong as it is with my genetic children. In fact, it’s just insulting to put the word “adopted” in front of child with me. She is my daughter, plain and simple.

          Compare that status with what the apostle Paul tells us in the book of Galatians: “…for in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God, through faith...For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ”[3: 26, 27]. He goes on to say that “because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” [4: 6]. In Ephesians, Paul comments to that church on what it means to be in the body of Christ: “There is but one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all…” [Eph. 4: 4-6]. ECO says correctly that we share one Father. We are all brothers and sisters in God’s family.

          Covenant life in the church among those brothers and sisters adopted into the family can be identified by the occurrence of several things, the first of which is the preaching of the Word. Nearing his life’s end, Paul writes to Timothy, his “son” in the faith, and charges him to preach the word, to be always ready to teach with complete patience[2 Tim 4: 2]. He challenges Timothy to continue espousing the sacred writings, the Scriptures, breathed out by God, and able to make us “wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ” [3: 15, 16]. Where does Paul get his belief? In the book of Acts, he tells a tribune arresting him and the people who gather to listen that he has been appointed to be a witness for God to everyone of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He ends his speech saying that God called upon him to “Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name” [Acts 22:16].

          As important as the preaching of the Word is the rightful administration of the Sacraments. ECO’s form of government charges the Session with the responsibility to “provide for the regular celebration of the Lord’s Supper, authorize the administration of Baptism,” and to “exercise due care and provide sufficient education to the congregation and to new believers that the Sacraments may be rightly received as means of grace” [Polity Ch. 1, Sect. 1.0603 b]. Think about that. Our Sacraments, the Lord’s Supper and Baptism—are to be rightly received as means of grace. Jesus received his baptism as a commission from God, and then instituted Holy Communion as a continual reminder of our own baptism—not just into the rights and privileges of the kingdom, but also into the duties and responsibilities attendant to it. Baptism is not only a remembering. It is an immersion, sometimes literally and always symbolically into both the life and death of our Savior. We put on his stripes and try to walk his walk. Yes, we will always fail, but may we fail well and less often as we become sanctified in our journeys.

          Look back at some of the Scriptures we have noted. We talked about adoption, and we quoted Paul in Galatians: “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”  In Ephesians we are told that there is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” We are called to witness, to preach the Word, as was Paul by God, and in Acts, God tells him to “Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name” Clearly, we should come to the celebration of the Sacraments recognizing the power that lies in these symbols of God’s grace.

          A few minutes ago, one of our own, a ten year old young man, underwent his own baptism. In our denomination, many if not most of us are baptized as infants. Some youngsters miss that for one reason or another. Their parents are not churchgoers at the time, or belong to another denomination with different practices, or somehow life just gets in the way. There are many reasons. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that each of us, body and soul, comes to a saving belief in the gospel. When that happens, whether for parents who offer their infant child in dedication to the Lord or young persons who come to the baptismal font of their own volition and free will, God is there waiting. And God is there to give to us a generous helping of that thing we call grace, that life changing, living water where belief collides with Sacrament and we are washed with the truth of the gospel. At the Last Supper, Jesus offered a cup as the new covenant made by his sacrificial blood. He tells us that as often as we eat the bread and drink the cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes [1Cor. 11-23-26]. Blood, water, Spirit, body, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. We are his. We are the children of God. The Sacraments are our regular reminder of this truth.

          Covenant life in the church is also the faithful practice of mutual discipline. We may come to God alone, but we do Christian life together. It is God’s plan. We are not meant to be alone. God started that in Genesis 1. Nor are we meant to walk through this life in accountability to only ourselves. With or without God, we are well aware that society governs itself through a system of laws. In such way, we are reminded of the helpful fences that we erect. There are lines that must be observed, if not for our own benefit, then for the benefit of others. The New Testament is replete with examples of those who could not get it right without help, from Paul to Peter.

          In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells his disciples what to do when a brother sins against them. First, we are to engage him one on one, in dialogue and not just in accusation. If that fails, then we are to take one or two others to confront him.  If that also fails, we are to tell it to the church. If he still refuses to listen to the church, then he risks being treated by his own church as a stranger. Where in this advice do we find the words gossip or lawsuit? And Jesus closes with a promise: that if we follow this pursuit of settlement, then he will be there with us. This is an idea so foreign to the western church that it is almost forgotten. We are reminded that it is the advice of Jesus himself for dispute resolution.

         Luke describes the early church for us in Acts 2: “And they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common.”  

          Covenant life in the church. It is indeed a way of life. The Greek word for church is ecclesia, or gathering. Christians gather to celebrate the gospel, to take comfort in one another, to worship in Word and proclamation and Sacrament, and to be accountable to one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. That’s a covenant that we can live with. That’s what the bride of Christ is supposed to look like. A body of believers working together!