God's Intention for the Church

Introduction

A. My words are inadequate to fully express what I want to say this morning. Let me assure you at the outset that I am trying to convey to you the impact my study has made on me this week. I think our trust is enough that you know my heart and I yours. Here is the main point --- the only thing that matters is that God looks good. Whatever else may be said today or you think I am intending, rest assured that the main point is really all that this is about. The only thing that matters is that God looks good. In the process of trying to communicate that point, my lack of communication ability may get in the way. Now that I have your attention, let’s look briefly at our text.

The Text

A. Our section is really a parenthesis. Paul begins in verse 1 with a prayer for the Gentiles, but quickly moves into a discussion about his role as a minister to the Gentiles. The prayer resumes in verse 14 which we will look at next week. Recall that at the end of chapter 2, Paul demonstrates that through the death of Jesus, both Jews and Gentiles are now brought together into one body. No longer are they Jews and Gentiles. Now they wear the name of Jesus only. The wall which divided them has been brought down by the blood of Jesus. Jesus has made the law inoperative through his death. No longer are the demands of law necessary for us to keep.

B. Paul then wants to offer a prayer for the Gentiles but as he begins that prayer in 3:1, he is reminded of his own role in bringing the gospel to the Gentiles. Paul understands that his role is to bring the mystery of Christ to these non-Jewish people. The mystery is not the gospel itself. But as seen in verse 6, the mystery is that through the gospel Gentiles and Jews are co-heirs. They are one body. This is the mystery. The Jews never could have imagined the Gentiles enjoying the position that they enjoyed with God. And the Gentiles could not imagine ever associating with Jews who too often appeared prideful and arrogant in their relationship with God.

C. The mystery was that Gentiles did not have to become Jews in order to share in God’s inheritance. Nor did the Jews have to maintain law in order to share in God’s inheritance. Both became sharers in the promise of Christ. Paul goes on in describing his role as preacher to the Gentiles that he was the least qualified for this privilege. But God chose him and Paul responded.

D. Then in verse 10, Paul gives us a glimpse into the mind of God. He describes that the plan of God in revealing this mystery through preaching was to allow the church (both Jews and Gentiles together) to be a testimony to the wisdom of God. Paul highlights that the testimony was intended to convince the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms that God was indeed wise. Paul says that from the beginning God’s purpose was that through Jesus the church would be established and then those associated with Satan would see that God is all wise. When the church functions as it is intended then God looks good. Paul then ends this section by calling on the Gentiles to remain encouraged because his sufferings are for them. He is in chains because of his preaching the gospel which resulted in their being a part of God’s family.

Lessons

A. Last week I mentioned that we need to remember that we are the church. That the idea of church is not a building or a place to go, but it is the demonstration of God’s unity, love, and peace in this world. I think on some level we understand that. But if we don’t have an appreciation for what Paul is saying in 3:10 then we stick there without really understanding that our calling is to make sure that God looks good.

B. Sometimes we assume congregation and church are the same thing. They are not. A congregation is a group that has formed for a reason --- to be a physical representation of a spiritual truth. Congregations have organization and structure. And because of that organization and structure, members get the impression that we are a business and that we exist in order to maintain the business. And in many ways this appears to be the case. We have budgets; individuals who are responsible for spending monies. We have employees, committees, and programs. It is very easy to view ourselves from a business model.

C. And with this model in mind, we function as a business. People are put in charge of things and everyone is encouraged to be a part of something. What may happen is that with this model in mind and the reality that certain “business” must be conducted, we become unbalanced in how we think about ourselves. We may see ourselves as a business where everyone is a general partner. We reduce the congregation to a democratic deliberation where the least offensive course of action is pursued or worse where power resides in a select few who make all the decisions. Either way the result is the same --- the lowest common denominator of spirituality prevails. The congregation is reduced to a social institution where the needs and preferences of the members are its focus. But that is not Church! It is safe, but it isn’t the church.

D. Paul says the church --- those whom God in his infinite grace and mercy have reconciled to himself through Jesus --- is revealing the manifold wisdom of God to rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms. There is a spiritual realm that is watching us to see the wisdom of God. The mystery revealed only through Jesus, these powers now wait to see if God knows what he is doing. Paul calls it the beautiful complexity of God’s wisdom. Only God could conceive a plan as he did for bringing people together.

E. We do a good job of getting focused on a building or location and then we fall into the trap of believing the church is a place rather than people. But this is not God’s plan. God’s plan is that the church will exist in this world to reveal his wisdom. That means it isn’t about us; it is completely about him. The heavenly realm is watching. We are actors on a stage. We are revealing to unseen spiritual beings that God knows what he is doing. Unless we understand who we are, we will focus primarily on the organization and structure thinking we are the church. Toscanini, the great maestro was talking to the orchestra in a rehearsal of a Beethoven symphony. He said: “Ladies and gentlemen, I am nothing --- you are nothing --- Beethoven is everything.” Saying that didn’t diminish their skills or their confidence in the least. He simply reminded them that their responsibility was not to draw attention to themselves, but to let Beethoven flow through them.

F. This is what the church is to be. This is what we are to be. We are to live in a community of believers who are interested in what others think --- not about us, but about God. William Temple reminds us rightly that the church exists for the sake of its non-members. This text is about a number of things not least of which is to remind us that the way we grow is each person reaching out to those who do not know Jesus and telling them the great mystery. Our job is to demonstrate to the powers of evil that God is wise. When we do not live in hope and unity then we say God is unwise.

G. So let’s get practical. How can we fulfill this text?

1. First, be in prayer and begin even now working for a racially mixed congregation in which other races serve as elders, deacons, and ministers. We live in a racially diverse world. Let it be seen among us who believe that God has destroyed the wall of hostility and brought all together in one new nation to wear his name.

2. Second, organization and administration and budgets are not the final end to why we exist as a congregation. We exist to reveal God’s wisdom. We exist to share a message of great importance --- Jesus is Lord. The color of skin doesn’t matter; style of dress doesn’t matter; gender doesn’t matter; economic and social status do not matter. God calls us to lay down our lives. He calls us to do things that are impossible to do without his power. We are called to lay down our individual preferences, not simply for the preferences of the majority, but for the will of God. We’re called to submit to one another in the Lord. We are called to forgive one another, to love one another, to serve one another, to support one another, and to encourage one another. None of this can be done by our power, or wisdom, and it certainly cannot be done by employing worldly strategies. And when He is allowed to be in charge, then we see what He had in mind.

3. Invitation.

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