Getting connected

[Puzzle image showed on screen, shows puzzle with one piece left to complete it, that piece sitting alongside rest of puzzle].

What do you see in this image?

A puzzle, some puzzle pieces, a board that the puzzle is resting on, a lone piece on its own, a puzzle that’s missing one piece!!

How does this help us understand the church, what it means to be connected, how God calls us to be and to do church? Something to think about…

We’ve been wandering through the book of Acts since Easter > amazing stories of early church!

Today we might say it’s the BIG ONE, where it all started, where the Holy Spirit comes to be among the disciples, in the image of ‘tongues of fire’ > we talk about it as the birthday of the church, happy birthday church!

At the night service at the end of last month we talked about what church is, what it means to us, why it’s a thing, why it matters, what matters about it… So today it seems appropriate to cast another eye over some of that, for those who were there will already know what’s coming but it’s important stuff for us to continue coming back to as we do church, as we are church here in this place

So we’ve got a few resources to help us know what church is: our foundational documents in Lutheran tradition of faith, what our church says about itself today, and of course what Jesus has to say. 

And today we can think about what this means for us, this event of the Holy Spirit being with the disciples, of tongues being heard and spoken, of God doing what he says he’s going to do.

So here are some aspects of what our foundational documents have to say about church:

• Church is the ‘congregation of saints, where the Gospel (good news of Jesus) is taught & sacraments (Baptism & Holy Communion) are administered’ (Augsburg Confession, Article VII). These things = where the church gets it’s unity.
• It’s NOT necessary that every church has to do things exactly the same way, ie ‘human traditions’ will be different from place to place, and that’s ok!
• Word & Sacrament are only ‘effectual’ by the ‘institution & command of Christ’ ie they only matter because Jesus makes them matter. Not about how nice the building is, how wonderful our events and programs are, how good it all looks on the outside > what makes it church is Jesus and what he has to give us. Good news there, it DOESN’T depend on us!
• What the church is can be understood by a ‘7-year-old child,’ it’s where ‘lambs hear the voice of their shepherd’ (Smalcald Articles XII). Beautiful image there.

Some interesting notes there, not a full picture of the whole history of our tradition of course, but a snapshot of what has been said about church. Some things we might expect, and some we might be a bit surprised by. We can see here church is not meant to be complex, difficult to understand and uniform in practice across the board, but most importantly about the simple truth of the presence of Jesus with his people.

This next quote is from the Lutheran Church of Australia website, talking about what worship is:

“Lutherans believe that worship is not so much about what we do, but about what God does for us. Whether individually or together, we respond to the God who made us through worship and prayer. Something particularly special occurs when two of more Christians gather together in Jesus’ name, in this public gathering of God’s people as a remembrance of the first Easter morning (what a lovely image!), we meet Christ and receive his gifts of forgiveness, hope and life. We meet with others who need God’s gracious help.”

I love that beautiful Easter morning image, where Mary sees Jesus in the garden by the tomb but she doesn’t recognise him, until he does something: he calls her BY NAME. Jesus knows your name, he is talking to you, he is with you, he has done this for you, and that’s what we’re on about at church.

And this one is from one of our church’s leaders today, our QLD bishop:

“It is important for us, as we ponder our evolving role within society, that we recall our first and foremost reason for being as Church: To be engaged in Christ’s mission to the world. Our purpose is not simply to survive, but to serve the world in the name of Christ.”

Important to remember the outward-facing part of our purpose as church > this is not just for us, just a space to make exactly how we would like it. We are called into God’s work in the world, which goes beyond what we like or don’t like, into the church and also out into the world around us.

Couple things Jesus says that we can use to help us understand what church is (Matt 6:33, 18:20, 28:19):

‘Seek first the kingdom of God’  /  ‘where two or three are gathered’  /  ‘Make disciples of all nations’  

Succinct words from Jesus, among other things these are about acknowledging/recognising God’s presence with us & in our lives, a reminder it’s not about our big show or amazing efforts, and it’s not just for us but for all!

So we can understand this, we can grapple with all this content, we’ve got plenty of resources to go along with our own stories, experience, the way we come at church individually and as a community – but how do we really GET CONNECTED, how are we GETTING CONNECTED to our God, to each other, to the mission of the church in the world?

Think about the coming of the Holy Spirit > there we see external appearance resulting in internal transformation! 

Anything we’re seeing and doing on the outside is to serve the purpose of the church, and reflect what’s happened (and continues to happen) in our own hearts and minds! 

External appearance on its own is no good, without the inner transformation. And we can say inner transformation compels us towards external appearance, what’s gone in our hearts cannot be contained! It looks different, someone who’s heart has been changed shows up differently to someone who does not know the love and the hope of Jesus. Might be subtle but it is different!

We let it out, we thank God, we praise him, we call out to him, we point others to him, we share the good news that’s changed our lives with those around us. That’s what God calls us to do and to be together as his community, living in community with each other with God’s love flowing in us, through us and out of us so the good news can be made known.

If we aren’t hearing the word, if we aren’t seeking out the presence of Jesus, if we aren’t connected or looking to get connected, we have to ask ourselves what are we doing?? 

Church is NOT something to remember, observe, consume… it’s something to LIVE, to DO and to BE!

The Holy Spirit comes to us, who God is and what Jesus has done for us are revealed through the work of the Holy Spirit, who is our connection to the source of life and the source of our new life as children of God!

Back to the puzzle image we looked at before > How does this help us understand the church, what it means to be connected, how God calls us to be and to do church?

If we’re trying to finish this puzzle, we need to be looking out for the missing piece! If this puzzle is the church, the missing piece could be someone who isn’t part of it yet, who doesn’t feel part of it, who might’ve distanced themselves from it in the past. WE might feel that way at times.

And what is the puzzle to them? Could be many things, maybe somewhere they used to fit but don’t any more, they might feel like that. WE might feel that way too.

From God’s perspective, when he’s building his church, from the shepherd’s perspective when he looks at his sheep, there is a ‘you-sized hole’ in his puzzle! He has a place for each of us, perfectly designed for us, as his own dearly loved child. That’s why Jesus died for us, so we could be NOT left on our own, but joined together with him as part of his family.

We might be different shapes and sizes, we might say and do different things, we might come from different backgrounds and experiences if life, but of that last puzzle piece slots in with the others, it goes from hole to whole… 

This is the Holy Spirit’s work, working on us – if we’re lucky enough to have a sense of belonging and community as part of our church, what a great thing we can share in, a great thing we can share with others – and working on those outside and on the edges, those who don’t yet know him, those who we know and who we can represent the love of Jesus to in our everyday lives. 

So we might feel a bit puzzled by what goes on in church at times, we might be a bit puzzled by what goes on in the world around us, we might be puzzled about how God’s working and how we can reach others. Good reasons to be puzzled, good things to be puzzled by!

But despite that, and within all that, God says he pours out his spirit on his people. He says come to me, I have a place for you. Whatever’s going on, whatever has gone on, I am with you and I am for you. That’s what church is about. Come and be with me, be at home in a place that is carved out for you, where God’s love can cover you and carry you through.

Lord we ask your Holy Spirit would be with us. Thank you for reaching us, for connecting with us, for getting us connected with you. Change our hearts and our minds to be less about ourselves and more about you in all we do. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.