August 22-26, 2022
Reflections on the Church
Priesthood
August 26, 2022 • Ed Green • Revelation 1:5–6, 1 Peter 2:4–5
Priesthood When I was young most of my friends were Catholic. I was the token protestant (lol) in a Boy Scout troop sponsored by St. Al’s Church. The idea of priesthood always fascinated me. (“Dude, what’s with the white collar?”) Honestly, I didn’t quite get it (I was a protestant after all). Then I learned about the reformation (biblical) concept of the priesthood of all believers. The role of a priest is to serve as a sort of mediator between God and humanity, representing each to the other. There were priests in the Old Testament, and Jesus himself is our great high priest (Hebrews 2:17; 3:1; 4:14-15). The story of Israel provides the backdrop for much of how we understand this whole Christianity thing. It began as a sect of Judaism and grew (by God’s intention) to include Gentiles. The priesthood of Israel provided a template for how the Church was to understand part of her role in the world. This is the way Peter describes the Church in his first letter, combining the metaphors of temple and priesthood: “As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ… you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (2:4-5, 9). And this from John’s introduction to Revelation: “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen” (1:5-6). A kingdom and priests. I don’t know what that does to your sense of identity. But what are some ways that you can serve as a priest of the Lord in the world? What can you do to represent the world to him, and him to the world?
Temple
August 25, 2022 • Ed Green • 1 Corinthians 3:16–17, Ephesians 2:20–22
One of these days I would like to travel to the cities we read about in New Testament. Not just the Holy Land, but some of the cities we read about in Paul’s letters and Revelation. The city of Ephesus (in modern-day Turkey) was home to the Temple of Artemis, which was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was to the people in this area that Paul wrote: [You Gentile believers are] “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit (Ephesians 2:20-22). Twice in his letter of 1 Corinthians, the apostle speaks of us being the temple of God. Once he refers to us as individual bodies (6:19) being his temples. The other time he refers to us collectively as the Church: “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple” (3:16-17). We are not our own. We belong to him. God the Holy Spirit dwells in us—both individually and collectively. As the Church we are being built together into a beautiful Temple of the living God. What does this truth imply about how we are to understand both our identity and our activity? About holiness? Sacrifices? Prayer and worship?
Body
August 24, 2022 • Ed Green • Romans 12:4–6, Ephesians 1:22–23
The older I get, the more I realize I have taken for granted the ability of my body to do things. Especially when I have to be careful how I put on my socks in the morning and notice how much slower I get out of my truck. Now, despite what you may think, I am not the poster child for living healthy (news flash: the attached pic is NOT of me…). Ice cream, donuts, pretty much anything sweet is my weak spot. And I’m not real consistent with exercise. I recognize the need for me to take better care of my body. In the New Testament one of the dominant metaphors for the Church is that of the body. Paul consistently points out that (1) we are the body of Christ, and (2) we actually function like a body. His letter to the Ephesians focuses more on the first point. He writes: “God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way” (1:22-23). We, as the church is the body of Christ, of which he is the head. In Romans and 1 Corinthians Paul develops the idea that we, as the Church, function like a human body: “For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us…” (Romans 12:4-6). How would you describe being physically healthy? Now take a few minutes and transfer those criteria to the body of Christ—whether it is BCC (our own church locally), or what I call, the “big-C” Church (the universal Church all over the place). Are we a picture of health?
Family
August 23, 2022 • Ed Green • Galatians 3:26–29
Going way back, the opening line of Steve Martin’s 1979 movie “The Jerk” is, “Okay. It was never easy for me. I was born a poor black child.” The funny thing is, obviously, Navin Johnson was adopted. I, too, was adopted. My dad passed away when I was very young, and when my mom remarried, after a few years he adopted me. At that point, a lot changed. I became part of a new family: new name, new history, new traditions. The same can be said about the Gentiles who were adopted into the family of God, and grafted into the olive tree, which represented Israel itself (Romans 11:13-24). But the wonder is that the apostle Paul uses the same imagery of adoption and applies it to Israel as well (Romans 9:3-4)! “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:26-29) Think about that today. What does this mean for you, that you are loved enough to be adopted into God’s very own family?
Born
August 22, 2022 • Ed Green • Acts 2, Joel 2:28–32
I had the privilege of being in the hospital room when both of our children were born. It was an incredible experience to witness to experience a new life born into the world. There was excitement, tears, joy. For the Church, that moment was at Pentecost. Luke describes the event in the second chapter of Acts. The followers of Jesus who were together experienced the fulfillment of hundreds of years of promises. The Spirit was poured out on those gathered and, in a moment, everything changed. Not just for those gathered but for everyone who would follow. Peter stands up in front of the crowd and, quoting Joel 2:28-32, says “the Spirit has come!” I love these lyrics to the last verse of the song “King of Kings” by Hillsong, which we sang on Sunday... And the Church of Christ was born Then the Spirit lit the flame Now this gospel truth of old Shall not kneel shall not faint By His blood and in His Name In His freedom I am free For the love of Jesus Christ Who has resurrected me Chorus: Praise the Father Praise the Son Praise the Spirit three in one God of glory Majesty Praise forever to the King of Kings