Word and Sacrament March 23, 2015
What’s thedifference between a church and a gathering of random Christians? Could we callit “church” when we gather with others in a small group? Is the youth groupsort of a little church? We could probably discuss these questions endlessly,but for the purpose of this column I want to use church history as my referencepoint. Christians throughout history have used two primary marks to identify atrue church: 1) biblical preaching and 2) proper observance of the ordinances(i.e., baptism and the Lord’s Supper). If a group of believers gathers forpreaching and the ordinances (aka, “sacraments”), chances are that group viewsthemselves as a church.
At ParkerHills, we want to keep preaching and the ordinances at the center of our lifetogether. Why? Well, in addition to the fact that these are the historicalmarks of a true church, the New Covenant also compels us. The New Covenant,you’ll remember, is God’s millennia-old promise to offer us forgiveness of sin,adoption into God’s family, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. In short,it’s God’s promise of the gospel! Preaching is central to the New Covenantbecause this offer from God is such good news, it demands to be heralded (i.e.,preached) to the ends of the earth. And the ordinances are central to the NewCovenant because they are the signs God has given us to symbolize and reenactthe gospel in our life together as a community of God’s people.
If youthink about it, these two marks are very closely related. To be precise, theordinances make the results of preaching visible. How so?
God always createsand grows His people through the proclamation of His word. He createsHis people via conversion, calling lost souls to Himself through thepreaching of the gospel (cf. Rom 10:13-17). Likewise after conversion, Godcontinues to grow His people through the preaching of the word (cf. 1Tim 3:16-17). So the question arises: how can we tell if God’s word is creatingand growing spiritual life in our church? Through our repeated observance ofthe ordinances. Since baptism symbolizes the beginning of our new life inChrist, it helps us to see that God’s word is creating spiritual life. Andsince the Lord’s Supper symbolizes our ongoing growth in Christ, it helps ussee that God’s word is continuing to sustain us in our spiritual life.
Next week:Why we want to keep word and sacrament together.