Do Not Forsake

Intro

There is no doubt about it, as Americans we are consumption kings. While we only make up about 5% of the global population, we produce about 40% of the planets waste each year.

A study done in 2010 showed Americans to have had a 430 billion pound bounty of food (available food), yet wasted 31% of it.

We use 1/3 of the world’s paper and 25% of its oil, coal, and aluminum.

The average American over the course of their lifetime will consume 53 times more goods and services than someone from China.

And I don’t say this to make anyone feel guilty or to try and shame anyone. I’m as big a consumer as anyone.

I bring this up to point out the fact that we live in a world where we see things as a resource to be used.

Everything is made for our consumption, and not only our consumption but everything is made in a way that makes our consumption as convenient as possible.

You can have any and everything delivered to your door.

Everything from groceries, to meals, to clothes, appliances, furniture, and even cars and in some cases a whole building.

And we expect these things to be there in 2 days or less.

And so with this mindset, we see things that traditionally weren’t viewed as a consumable now being viewed through the lens of what can I get out of it, and how quickly can I get it.

Unfortunately, Church is no exception. Gone in a lot of ways are the days when Church was viewed as a place to connect with God in the company of other like-minded people.

Gone are the days where Church was viewed as a place to serve my fellow man or woman.

Gone are the days where Church was viewed as a place to meet our social needs by meeting with other people and just learning to live life together in community with others.

Instead, Church so like many other places is viewed as a place where I can get something from others.

I can get someone to watch my kids for an hour or two while I sit in a service.

And hopefully that service will include the kind of music I want to sing, and the Pastor’s sermon better knock it out of the park and make me feel good about my life the choices I have made.

I can expect to get gift cards for showing up and free coffee and even meals, and hopefully the food is good and they make something I like.

Hopefully the service isn’t too early in the morning so I can sleep in or too late so I don’t have to miss any parties or get-togethers.

If there is a mid-week, hopefully it doesn’t interfere with all the things I have going on. If it does, no problem I will see everyone the next time I’m available.

I love my Church, it is so great, the people are so nice, the pastor is really down to earth, and the music is awesome, it has everything I want… Wait, what do you mean you need help with kid’s Church?

You need me to help with what? I can’t make that kind of commitment? That message was too harsh. Worship has grown stale. Don’t they know how busy my life is right now. I feel called somewhere else.

In other words, I have consumed all can from this place and its time to move on.

And this cycle repeats itself because for some reason we have lost sight of what Church is supposed to be about.

So for the next couple of weeks I want to answer the question, Why Church? What is the point of it all. Why do we exist and what is our purpose. Because how you answer that question will determine how you engage the Church you are a part of.

Power in the Text

The book of Hebrews is one that is rich in its theology. It really draws the connection between the Jewish Old Covenant and the Christian New Covenant.

Hebrews 10:19-25 NLT 19 And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. 20 By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place.

21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, 22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.

23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. 24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

The author of Hebrews uses terms that were familiar to a Jewish audience. He establishes Jesus as our high priest (v. 21).

He says we have confidence in our relationship with God. Through Jesus, we can commune with God one-on-one (vv. 19–22).

This was mind-blowing for the Jewish people. Prior to Christ, communing with God happened most often through an appointed priest.

Corporate worship happened only a few times a year through feasts and festivals: “For Israel, corporate worship was a special, few-times-a-year occasion. Worship, understood as exclusive devotion to the Lord, was something that Israelites were called to practice around the clock (Deut. 6:13–15).

But in the sense of having intimate access to God’s presence, worship was restricted to specific people, places, and times.

God dwelled among his people, yes, but that presence was restricted to the tabernacle and guarded by the priests”.

Jesus changed how we meet with him, individually and corporately.

When we realize the beauty of being able to draw near to God through Christ, the author then calls us to “hold tightly” (v. 23).

“Drawing close to God thorough Jesus is how we persevere”.

We hold fast when we are close to the Lord and when we are close to one another.

When we “motivate one another to acts of love and good works” (v. 24), it is not for the sake of feeling good about ourselves for doing a good deed, it is about reflecting the nature of the one who has our heart and our devotion.

This is why gathering together is so important (v. 25). If we neglect being with one another, we miss out on a vital part of our faith life.

Big Idea/Why it Matters

Why Church? Because it is a privilege to be a part of one.

It is not the thing we do to be a Christian. It’s not a prerequisite to salvation or a mandatory reparation, post-salvation, that we need to pay in order to keep our salvation or somehow earn God’s love.

Gathering is a gift, and one that God’s Word says we ought to partake in.

In fact, without the gathering it is impossible to do as the author of Hebrews says we ought to do.

Hebrews 10:23 NLT 23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.

Standing firm in the faith is a group endeavor.

For many of us, we don’t have to work very hard to imagine why people might not have been in “the habit” of gathering with other believers (v. 25).

In fact, the word church might cause an instant reaction for us or someone we know.

Gallup reported in March 2021 that “Americans’ membership in houses of worship continued to decline last year, dropping below 50% for the first time in Gallup’s eight-decade trend”.

The idea of church can bring up images or experiences of sharing, encouraging, and belonging.

It can also bring up devastating images of abuse, greed, and misused power.

Full of imperfect humans, the church is destined to be messy, and yet Hebrews reminds us that it is important.

Is it still a place where you can be stirred up to love and goodness?

Do not stay in an abusive church environment, but don’t give up on church altogether.

Sometimes the best place to heal your church hurt is with a church that shows you a more loving way as they follow Christ.

Application/Closing

We have a lot of preconceived notions when it comes to church, don’t we?

Consider the contrast between these two painting of Church life. Ernie Barnes’s Family Friendly Baptist Church and Richard Hall’s Gathering at Church Entrance.

We all have expectations and ideas about what it should look like, how it should serve us, and what we get out of the experience, but it’s important to disentangle what we think church should look like from what the Bible reveals to us about church.

The New Testament example of church is characterized by a few things:

“Reading and preaching Scripture (1 Tim. 4:14);

singing Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs together ( Col. 3:16)

praying (1 Tim. 2:8);

celebrating the ordinances of baptism and the communion (Matt. 28:19, 1 Cor. 11:17–34);

and stirring one another up to love and good deeds (Heb. 10:24–25)”

That’s it.

It isn’t a place where we come to consume; it’s where we come to commune.

It isn’t a place that should satisfy us but one that helps sanctify us.

We go to church, and we are the church.

Church is not confined to a building, nor does it have to be formal, liturgical, casual, or over or under a certain number of people.

There are many ways to gather together, but it is the gathering that is the most important (Matthew 18:20).

There is a lot of room between the goalposts for different methods of church programming and systems.

There might be times when being part of a large congregation with a lot of programs is the best place for you to gather and grow; for others, a small church with a few trusted people might be the place you need to strengthen your faith.

But to answer the question, why Church? Well for starters, going to church is more than just consumption; it’s a connection point that is vital to all believers.

But that is just the beginning, and so come back next week to find out the important role that each of us has to play a member of Christ’s Church.