THE CHURCH IS MORE THAN A RELIGIOUS INSTITUTION

THE TRUTH OF THE CHURCH

The words of scripture were shaped by the language, culture, and time period in which they were written and yet, when that is understood, they can also speak freshly to each new age and communicate through new languages and cultures. While God can address humans through many sources, the Scriptures are God’s gift to the church through which God can speak to us as a community of faith.

          All of the above leads to the conviction that the church is more than a religious organization. The church is the Body of Christ and the instrument by which God addresses the faithful. The scripture, and in this case the Gospel of Matthew, is a means by which God can call God’s people to faithfulness in the church.

In the last twenty-five years, scholars have spent an enormous amount of energy in focusing on the sociology of the church in an attempt to understand what the church must do to adapt to the rapidly changing culture around it. That same sociological emphasis which focuses on what humans can and should be doing is reflected in the fact that the major debates about the church in recent decades have centered on ethics rather than doctrine as it was at the time of the reformation. Yet the emphasis of the Gospels would indicate that the heart of the church was neither on doctrine or ethics but on relationships. They clearly report Jesus as saying that the great commandment was to love God and to love neighbor as yourself. “One these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22:40) While Jesus did not reject the importance of right belief or right ethics, neither could take precedence over right relationships.

YEARNING TO HEAR GOD

People come to the church with at least an unfocused yearning to hear what God wants them to do as they live their lives. The question that hovers behind their attendance is whether God can speak to them and give them some clarity of purpose and meaning in their lives. In the midst of the changing context of our lives, the Gospels proclaim that true meaning and purpose is found in the relationships with God and neighbor. The Scriptures shared within the community of faith provide the opportunity for the faithful to hear themselves addressed from beyond their immediate circumstance in a way that addresses their present needs.

          In recent years there has been some attempt to produce some biblical commentaries that move beyond the historical-critical commentaries and speak more directly to the life of faith. This commentary on Matthew continues in that direction but also emphasizes the corporate nature of the church. The issue for Matthew is how the life and ministry of Christ reveals God’s intention for Christ’s body, the church. In contrast to the consumer mentality of asking what the church must do to attract new members, Matthew raises the question of what we must do to be obedient to God and how we can do that in a manner that is loving towards our neigbor.

          A particular emphasis for Matthew is the consistent nature of God’s unfolding revelation as seen in the way in which the life of Christ fulfilled that which was spoken of in the Hebrew Scriptures. In one sense, we might almost say that the life of Jesus was a commentary, or Midrash, on the Hebrew Scriptures. The pattern of Jesus life embodies in one person the life of Israel. For example, like Israel, Jesus was affirmed as God’s only child. In a similar manner to Israel, Jesus went into Egypt in order to ensure his survival. Like Israel Jesus had his wilderness experience in which he was tempted and had to decide whether he would trust God for his survival. The twelve disciples reflected a similar pattern to the twelve tribes of Israel. The list could continue, as it will be in the commentary. The question for the early church was what would it mean for Israel or the church if they were totally obedient to God in a world that didn’t honor such obedience.

          The issue for Israel and the church was whether faithfulness was possible in a world that didn’t honor God. Their fear was that you could be too faithful and it would threaten your very survival. The disturbing response in the Gospels was that they were right. But the Gospels proclaimed that God, not death, had the final word. The continuing question for the church, which continually wrestles with the issue of survival, is whether they can trust such a truth.           The intent of this commentary is to engage you in a conversation with God as to the meaning of your life as it shares in the living Body of Christ. It approaches the scripture from a “figural” perspective that suggests that the pattern of Christ’s life, which reflects the patterns of the life of Israel, reveals the pattern for the church in our day and time. My hope is that it would challenge the church to reflect on the nature of the church and the manner in which we can listen to the spirit of God addressing us. It is based on the assumption that the word of God has been “incarnated” or fleshed out in time first in creation, most concretely in the life of Jesus, and continually in the life of the church.

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