READING CHURCH IN SCRIPTURE
In a previous post on March 13, I explored the idea of reading the church back into the story of Joseph and his brothers. I suggested that if the Bible is God’s inspired word about God’s work in the world and particularly through the community of faith, we should insert the church into the story and see what it says to us. While not denying that the Bible speaks to individuals about their journey of faith, I think we often neglect to focus our attention on God’s word to the community of faith or the church.
GOD CHOOSES THE IMPERFECT
I am particularly interested in the fact that God almost never works through perfect communities of faith. Most of the biblical stories are about the dialogue between God and God’s chosen people who continually exhibit the strengths and weaknesses of the rest of the world. As an aside, perhaps that means if we can show how to incarnate the Good News in our lives, it will be a breath of fresh air that the rest of the world can breathe also.
The story I used in the last post was the story of Joseph and his brothers. The process we used was to talk about the story as a community and identify the human characteristics, good and bad, that are exhibited. Then using what we have identified from the story, apply that to the contemporary church and listen for what God is saying to us.
IN GOSPELS AND EPISTLES
Let me suggest that you build on that example and reflect together on more of the biblical stories both in the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament. For example, you might ask people to identify as many of the disciple’s responses to Jesus and his ministry, both good and bad, as they can recall. Then, replacing the word “disciple” with “church,” talk about when the church might reflect the same behavior and what that means. What was Jesus response to the disciples behavior and what does it mean that Jesus responds the same way to the church? Or, moving into the Epistles, look at Romans 12 and re-read the passage substituting the word church where appropriate. EG, “I appeal to the church, by the mercies of God, to present the church as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
As you read this revised Scripture before the group, ask them to speak to how the local churches or presbytery can incarnate that word and what it would look like. You can design a variety of brief religious experiences for your gathered community in reflecting on the call of God in this manner.
