Who Are We?

Hebrews 12:1–29 ESV

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears. For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

Scripture Lesson: Hebrews 12:1-29

Belgic Confession Lesson: Article 27

Message Title: Who Are We?

           This afternoon I’m starting what I guess you would call a series within a series. We are at a point in the Belgic Confession, from Article 27 to Article 35, where our focus is on a lot of things related to the church. Obviously, everything in the Belgic Confession and our other confessions and creeds is related to the church—from God’s word to creation and sin to salvation—it all affects what it means for us as Christians in the church, but as you see the topics of the articles, I think you’ll get it as we go along. A title for this series of messages is “Being the Church.” Pastor Gary has graciously allowed me to preach a little more frequently so that these can tie together. Today we start with Article 27—The Holy Catholic Church—not the Roman Catholic Church, but the big universal church. We’ll read this together, and then hear God’s word from Hebrews 12.

           Brothers and sisters in Christ, have you ever found yourself asking the question, “Who am I?” Maybe what comes to mind is that that’s a question that needs to go back to the philosophy classroom, but entertain it for a moment. Who am I? Each of us could say: I’m a human being. I’m male or female. I’m a dad or mom, a son or daughter, a grandparent, an uncle or aunt. I’m a farmer, a retiree, a teacher, a pastor. I’m a Christian. I think we could keep giving words that describe our lives, our actions, and our interests. Perhaps we could ask someone else though to answer the question for us—I could ask my wife, “who am I?” and maybe she’d give me a somewhat different list of characteristics, and I for her. 

           What if we take the same question and apply it to the church? Who are we? What is the answer then? I imagine we’d get different responses and different perspectives—some of us may focus on being obedient and devout for the Lord, others on the community of believers and showing love and kindness. Maybe some people would get specific about their tradition or denomination. All of these things feeding into what we see as making the church. 

Essentially this is the task that was before Guido de Brès, the author of the Belgic Confession. How do you sum up our identity as the Christian church? He gives it, this is me paraphrasing a bit, “There is one single catholic or universal church—a holy congregation and gathering of true Christian believers awaiting salvation…The church [always has and always will exist with Christ as its king and preserved by God, no matter the size. It is not restricted to any limit, and it ought to be found everywhere], still joined and united in heart and will, in one and the same Spirit, by the power of faith.”

Is that how we describe ourselves? In a world with so many different denominations, and with other churches taking that label of “non-denominational,” are we up to the task of saying, there is 1 single church? We can take it a step further, are you and I willing to say, the church really is God’s? He gathers it, we are his people, his congregation. Our local churches or congregations are just one part of the welcoming and nurturing committee that exists in countries around the world, in other languages, in other tribes? We are part of a group that God has called and claimed and preserves. According to this confession, we don’t preserve the church; God does.

At least for me, but I’m guessing for many of you too, this is challenging. To think outside of our CRC and RCA contexts and recognize God has something far greater going on here, in the world, and he has graciously included us in that.  It’s easy to talk about the global church, and say there are Christians everywhere and throughout all of time, but do we often live that out? Going forward this afternoon, we’re going to look at three of the characteristics of this big holy catholic church and consider what Hebrews 12 has to tell us.  

So first, who are we? It’s maybe what first comes to mind: we are one, united and joined; we are a people of unity. You can think of songs that have been sung for generations, “Blest Be the Tie that Binds,” “They’ll Know We are Christians by Our Love,” and a little more recent “Build Your Kingdom Here.” Each of these speaks of the church being together, not separate, not divided, but bound.

The author of Hebrews talks about “the church of the firstborn” in this passage, and he’s referring to what Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 12, “the body.” Everyone having a part, Paul says in verse 25 “There should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” Who is in this body and church? We hear in Hebrews 12 verse 1, “We are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses.” That verse often gets applied to brothers and sisters in the Lord who during our lifetimes have encouraged us—and that’s fine, but the original context is chapter 11—the heroes of the faith. Just like Article 27 named the church going all the way back to the days of Ahab, so too was the church around during the days of Abraham and Moses and Rahab. God wasn’t doing a different thing back then, those men and women are brothers and sisters in the faith—they, too, are part of the church, people who have experienced God’s faithfulness and sought after him.

So, when we think of unity, we can think of believers in the church supporting one another. That’s the easiest way to talk about unity, but it’s not the only way. Let’s look at deeper at what’s being described in verses 14 and 15, “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” Our unity isn’t just for when we’re experiencing bliss and everyone getting along. Unity is also connected to discipline and struggle. When sin is present and visible and needs to be dealt with in the church, those are times when we have to make an effort to be united. We don’t just chop people off of the body and move on; no, we’re called to go forward dealing with things—and to do so in the virtue of love. 

We are a united people, that is an essential part of our identity in the church. A second piece of who we are, according to the confession and scripture is a saved people. This is what we were looking at here in Corsica this morning, Jesus came to provide freedom, salvation from sin and death and the decay of this world. Why are you and I part of the church? Well, hopefully it’s not just the social part of things or the moral standards part of things, but what we read in article 27, “True Christian believers, awaiting their entire salvation in Jesus Christ, being washed by his blood, and sanctified and sealed by the Holy Spirit.” There is an ongoing work that God is doing in his church, this body, and it is the work of cleansing and redemption. 

Is this theme, this story, this hope primary to you and me as believers? That God is doing the primary work that the church is recipient of? We have vital roles and actions that we get to be involved in—the regular expression of love, the opportunity to teach and equip others in the gospel, but do we keep sight of the most important thing that’s being done for us? Our salvation. 

If we look at verses 18 through 24, this is where the author is comparing the gathering at Mount Sinai—a people under the law, who lived in such great fear that they did not even wish for God to talk to them, comparing that to Mount Zion, which is where the redeemed assemble. Verses 23 and 24, “We have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood.” Hebrews is a beautiful book in its instruction of what Jesus does for his people, how the cross and the resurrection have fulfilled the law, but here we see these things being applied. These aren’t just actions that Jesus did and now we wonder if we receive them; no, as members of the church, the grace and mercy is delivered to us.

We might have looked at this earlier in the series, but how do we view ourselves in light of what Jesus has done and offers? Are we living with a sinners’ mentality—the old self? We’re not really saved yet, we’re still guilty? Or are we living in light of redemption—that there really is a new self that we can be clothed with right now? That’s not to say that we’ll never sin again, but if we are claimed by Christ, and under his lordship, receiving his forgiveness, can we see that to live with awe and reverence is right and it is different from living in terror of God? We who are the church are a saved people called to resist sin.

           We could look at many other things, but we’ll end with this, we are a dispersed, a spread-out people. Sometimes we might think of that as a bad or negative thing. Going elsewhere, being away from home—we don’t always like that, and yet in terms of our Christian identity, it’s a wonderful thing. It reminds us that nothing in all creation separates us from God’s love, but also nothing, including God, keeps us from experiencing his creation. 

           Being spread out and dispersed also teaches us what God desires to be the foundation and draw of his church. We are drawn together not by our pride for country, not by our skin color, not by personal preferences regarding music styles, but we must truly be fixed on Jesus, and his kingdom. There is one race to run in this life, and it’s not one that we have to determine the goal for—it is presented to us—the kingdom of God. There are hardships in being different and being in different places with different circumstances—and yet we have a call to endure. Our separations in the church are not pleasant, but are we being trained for the enjoyment of that day to come, when the holy gathering is all together?

           Do the differences that exist within the body show us the uniqueness of God? When a brother or sister has spent time in Mexico, in part of Africa, in the Caribbean, even just in a different city, are we willing to learn from them what God is doing there and how the church is flourishing in that setting? If the identity is the same—true Christian believer, and the Savior is the same—Jesus Christ, and the goal is the same—the kingdom of God when Christ comes again, how do our differences benefit us, not just on a community level but a global level? What do we have to share with other believers that God might be calling us to?

Brothers and sisters, are we willing to live out of this identity? What changes can we make and what encouragements can we give that seek to break down some of the barriers and distinctions that we, sinful human beings, have put up in God’s church? May God use us to glorify himself in the holiness he works in us, and may we be growing towards the gathering, the assembly, the congregation that he is preparing. Amen.