Today marks a day of remembrance and celebration for when Jesus founded the Church.
Us ’emerging’ types often rail against the Church without a healthy measure of thanksgiving for Jesus establishing the Church in the first place. Yes there are problems and yes we oftentimes do a horrible job at stewarding the Bride of Christ. Let’s drop the criticism, though, for one day and focus on thanking God for intensionally creating an alternative, messianic community built upon Jesus.
Because the Church through Christ is the hope for the world, let’s join in with the great cloud of witnesses from ages past and present in reciting this prayer:
Almighty Father, who inspired Simon Peter, first among the apostles, to confess Jesus as Messiah and Son of the living God: Keep your Church steadfast upon the rock of this faith, so that in unity and peace we may proclaim the one truth and follow the one Lord, our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
This is a great reminder for us cynics. Sometimes it’s easy to dismiss the importance of the community because of all of the things we think are wrong with it. It seems that most people are on one side or the other- either they buy into church completely, or they constantly criticize the church’s practices. If only we could maintain the perspective of the Middle Way (from Buddhism).
Nice blessing. I’m doing a sermon tomorrow on thanking God for the faith community. I found this quote from Bonhoeffer –
“If we do not give thanks daily for the Christian fellowship in which we’ve been placed; if, on the contrary, we only keep complaining to God that everything is so paltry and petty, we hinder God from letting our fellowship grow according to the measure and riches which are there for us all in Jesus Christ.”