September 13, 2009
Mt. 18:15-20; Romans 12:1-13; I Pet. 2:9-10
We are continuing this morning our series on “What is an Anabaptist/Mennonite Christian?”
For those of you newer to the church the name Anabaptist was given to some Christians in the 16th century who wanted to renew the Roman Catholic church. They believed that a person had to make their own adult confession of faith in Jesus – so instead of baptizing infants they baptized adults.
Those opposed to the practice of adult baptism called them Anabaptists – which simply means re-baptizers.
As a Mennonite Church, our roots go back to Anabaptists and so, in these couple of weeks we are taking some time to reflect on how this Christian tradition has shaped us and continues to shape us today.
For this series of sermons I am drawing from Harold S. Bender’s booklet – The Anabaptist Vision. He identified three core values that were central to Anabaptists and I am suggesting that these same three core values need to be central to us today as well.
The three core values Bender identified are:
- Jesus is the center of our faith.
- Community is the center of our lives
- And Reconciliation is the center of our work.
As I was thinking about these core values I realized that our congregational vision statement has all three in it.
Our vision statement is in your bulletin each Sunday as a reminder of who we are and what we are about. We don’t often read it aloud but this morning I would like us to read our vision statement together. You will find it at that top of the second page.
Let’s read it together:
“Pittsburgh Mennonite Church exists to encourage and equip people to be followers of Jesus and, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to grow as a community of grace, joy, and peace, so that God’s healing and hope flow through us to the world.”
These three core values are right in our vision.
- Our congregation exists to encourage and equip people to be followers of Jesus Christ.
- The Holy Spirit helps us grow as a community of grace, joy and peace.
- And we grow as a community so that we can be agents of healing and reconciliation in the world.
Since these core values are in our vision statement, I guess we must be Anabaptist!!!
Well, last Sunday I talked about the first core value – Jesus is the center of our faith. I said then that the Anabaptists not only emphasized Jesus death and resurrection – but also his life.
For many Christians, even today – the primary focus is on Jesus dying for our sins and they forget about how his life is an example of how we are to lives in the world.
One of the oldest creeds of the Christian church – a creed that is repeated every Sunday by many Christians – the Apostles Creed – doesn’t even mention Jesus’ life at all. It only mentions Jesus’ birth, his death, and his resurrection.
We see this same focus in the movie a few years ago by Mel Gibson – “the passion of the Christ” focused almost exclusively on Jesus’ death and how much he suffered for us.
Jesus certainly suffered a terrible death for us – but in Gibson’s film it was like Jesus’ life didn’t matter. It was like all he had to do was be born, die, and rise again.
The problem is that when we leave Jesus’ life out – we end up with a Christianity that doesn’t look very much like Jesus.
So Anabaptist Christians are those who believe Jesus’ life is just as important as his death and resurrection and that the Holy Spirit will give one power to live like Christ in the world.
The second core value for Anabaptists that Harold Bender identified, and the one I want to talk about today, is that “community is the center of our lives.”
In reading the NT, the Anabaptists came to see that Jesus didn’t just call us to follow him by ourselves, all alone, but to follow him in community. The first thing Jesus did when he began his ministry was to form a community around him. He invited them to follow him and learn from him.
So, for the Anabaptists, church was seen as a “learning community”. In the Greek, a disciple is a “learner”. A Christian is someone who is learning to live like Christ.
Anabaptists said this growth in Christlikeness only happens in community. Christian growth doesn’t come from reading a book. It doesn’t come from listening to a TV preacher. It doesn’t come from sitting under a tree. It doesn’t even come from memorizing bible verses.
All of these things may be good things to do and can be very helpful, but that isn’t the primary way we grow.
Growth in Christlikeness – learning to be kind, loving, generous, patient, gentle, forgiving, and compassionate only comes from being in relationship with other believers.
Without some form of mutual accountability in church we really won’t learn what it means to be Christlike.
One of the key biblical texts for Anabaptists was always Matthew 18:15-20. In this passage Jesus talks about the church being a community of mutual accountability.
I think Jesus knew that we would hurt each other from time to time. He knew we would offend each other. He knew we would get on each others nerves and that forgiveness would need to be a central practice of the church.
So, Jesus tells his disciples that when someone sins against them – they are to go directly to the person involved and to work it out.
They aren’t to tell their best friend to pray about it. They aren’t even to go to the pastor to solve the problem. They are to go directly to the person involved.
You see going directly to the person involved is an act of mutual accountability. That is where learning takes place. That is where growth in Christlikeness can happen.
I often wonder how the culture of a church would change if we really practiced this first step of Matthew 18.
I mean, what would happen if when I came to you and started telling you some nasty things about Karen Howard – you immediately said to me – I will let Karen know exactly how you feel?
Do you think I would keep telling you things about other people if you always responded to me that you would tell them what I said? I think that practice would stop me from talking about others and stop me from gossiping.
You see, the Anabaptists saw the church as a place of accountability and growth in Christlikeness. The church was a “fellowship of saints who could be identified by the quality of life they lived.”
Church wasn’t a building people went to. Church wasn’t about hearing sermons. Church wasn’t the act of receiving the sacraments.
For Anabaptists, church was a place of learning and mutual accountability in becoming more Christlike. Church happened whenever 2 or 3 gathered in Christ’s name.
Now, we have to remember that in the 16th century there was only one church – the Roman Catholic Church. And, we have to remember that in those days church and state were one. When you were baptized as an infant – you became a member of the church and a citizen of the state.
For Catholics, even to this day, the Mass is really the center of their worship life. It is where one receives the body and blood of Christ.
For Catholics church happens whenever the Eucharist is served.
The Reformers came along and changed some things, but they continued to practice infant baptism and they kept church and state together.
In the Reformed tradition, they not only practiced the Eucharist, but they emphasized preaching the Gospel. John Calvin said the church is “where the word of God is purely preached and the sacraments are administered according to the institution of Christ.”
In Europe this summer we visited some Reformed churches and to this day the pulpit is elevated above the congregation. The pulpit is up high above the people because preaching the Word is where church happens.
In the Reformed tradition, the proclamation of the gospel is really at the center of church life.
Anabaptists, on the other hand, came along and challenged the view that church and state should be one and they challenged the practice of infant baptism.
But most of all, the Anabaptists tried to be a learning community where they were accountable to each other for following Christ in life.
Preaching the gospel and having communion were very important for Anabaptists too, but most of all they saw the church as a community of believers seeking to follow the way of Jesus and to embody his life in the world.
The Anabaptists took seriously the biblical call – to serve one another, to love one another, to honor one another, to pray for one another, to encourage one another, to forgive one another, and to even lay down their lives for one another.
So, for Anabaptists, church wasn’t an optional activity. To be Christian meant being a part of a local body of believers somewhere.
When a person got baptized or joined a church they were always asked – are you open to give and receive counsel in the church?
In other words, the openness to keep learning and growing in Christlikeness was always at the heart of Anabaptism. Church was always seen as a place where real growth in the Christian life came from.
Now, the weakness of this practice has at times led to unhealthy forms of legalism and perfectionism in the church. Accountability has often become associated with punishment, instead of growth or renewal or encouragement.
There is no question that this practice has been abused by overzealous members or power-hungry pastors.
The practice can certainly be abused, but at that same time we also know that without any accountability in following Jesus we will grow very little in our faith.
I think this practice will always be somewhat messy, but as we learn how to remove the logs from our own eyes we will become more gentle and patient in removing the specks from each other’s eyes.
And hopefully, we will also learn to see accountability as standing with one another, listening to each other, encouraging each other, and as Paul says here in Romans 12 – “learning to outdo one another in showing honor to each other”.
Again, what would happen to us, if we really tried to outdo one another in giving honor to each other? Wouldn’t that transform our relationships? Wouldn’t that change how we viewed each other?
I think it would.
So, for the Anabaptists they saw the church primarily as a learning community – a place to grow in becoming Christlike. Church membership was not seen as having arrived at some spiritual achievement but as a life-long commitment to follow Jesus and to be a learner.
I hope that we too can continue to see the church today as a learning community. A place where young and old learn together, where women and men value each other’s perspective and where honesty and mutuality in all relationships is encouraged.
In the book of Acts we see that the Early Church had large group and small group gatherings.
In Acts 2:46 it says – “they followed a daily discipline of worship in the temple – followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God.”
There is an important place for larger group gatherings, but we also need the smaller settings if we really want to get to know each other well. Most healthy churches today are networks of small groups where people know each other well and have some form of outward mission.
If you are not in a small group and would like to be please let me know. In the next few weeks Pastoral Team will be working on reorganizing our small groups and possibly setting up some new ones if there is interest.
These small groups don’t have to look alike or even be organized in the same way.
But I do think each one of us needs to have a place – whether it is with 2 or 3 other people or whether it is a group of 10 or 12 people.
I think the best way to give encouragement, to test decisions, to discern gifts, to support each other, to interpret scripture together, and to give and receive counsel is in smaller group settings.
It is really difficult to be known well and to really get to know other people well in a larger gathering like we have here on a Sunday morning.
So if you have interest in a small group please let someone on Pastoral Team know.
One word of caution is that sometimes when we encourage intimacy and developing close relationships in the church – one of our tendencies is to focus on our inner life and to forget about serving others.
The temptation we all face is to be church for ourselves and to take care of our own needs. The church certainly needs to be a place where own lives are nurtured, but the reality is that we also exist for those who are not yet here.
Whether in our larger group gatherings or in our small groups – we always need to look at how we are preparing a place at the table for others.
In Romans 12 Paul writes – “always be ready to extend hospitality to strangers.”
The Anabaptists believed that just as Jesus lived to serve others, so the church exists to serve others in love.
So, I want to encourage even our small groups to think seriously about some form of outward focus. Many times, it is in service to others that we learn the most about ourselves and each other.
Involvement in community, as imperfect as it is, is still the way Jesus designed us. It is the way we grow. It is the way we learn. It is how we serve others.
Jesus is the center of our faith, but our faith is meant to be lived out in community for others.
May we continue to grow as a community of grace, joy, and peace. Amen.