Rev. Nick Cheek
Isaiah 61:1-3, 7-11 and Mark 1:14-20
“Why does the church exist?”
This question has been asked by the church over and over again throughout the generations. It’s an important question and one that we should regularly return to. Back in the early 20th century…. as the nation went through deep cultural shifts, national division, and growing disagreements within denominations, Presbyterians found themselves asking some fundamental questions: In a changing world, what is the church actually here to do? Who are we? What’s our point?
They prayerfully searched the Scriptures, wrestled with ideas, and sought to discern pillars to guide the church. Out of that discernment, they came up with the “Great Ends of the Church.” Six core reasons that explain why we exist.
- “The proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind”
- “The shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God”
- “The maintenance of divine worship”
- “The preservation of the truth”
- “The promotion of social righteousness”
- “The exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world”
Throughout this sermon series, we’re going to unwrap these one at a time and rediscover what it means for us to be the Church today. Amen? The Scripture basis for the first great end of the Church can be found at the start of Jesus’ ministry, at the beginning of the first gospel ever written. Hear now the word of the Lord from Mark.
The proclamation of the Gospel for the Salvation of Humankind.
“Proclamation.” A proclamation means that you have something important enough to say that it needs to be said out loud…. It is a deliberate outcry into the space around you.
In our passage this morning, Jesus is walking through the Galilean countryside…. Proclaiming: “Listen… I have good news for you… the Kingdom of God has come near… stop what you’re doing…turn around… and believe the good news.” The first Great End of the Church poses a question to us as people of faith…. And it is this: “What are we proclaiming?” Are our words saving people? What are we telling the world around us about God… ourselves… and what we value as Christians? What kind of Gospel are we preaching? Is it good news or is it bad news?
If the Church has Good News to share, you would assume more and more people would choose to make the Church a significant part of their lives. But every year, more folks are walking away from the pews. And there are certainly many reasons for that. But one reason is that the world is receiving some very mixed messages from the Church.
We may all use the word Gospel. We may all claim the name, Christian. We may all talk about Jesus. But when you listen to what is actually being proclaimed, the messages can sound remarkably different. Some hear a Christianity centered on grace, mercy, forgiveness, acceptance, and love. Others hear judgment, fear, exclusion, and condemnation. Christian author Pete Enns writes, “The Good News was never meant to be a tool for behavioral control or an engine of religious anxiety. If the message you’re hearing leaves you terrified of God, it isn’t the Gospel of Jesus Christ—it’s just bad theology.”
Friends… When Scripture is used as a weapon to shame, silence, exclude, or harm another human being, that is bad news.
When racism is affirmed or excused by people in power who claim to know their Bible, that is bad news.
When violence is justified in the name of God and when immigrants and refugees are spoken about with fear and contempt rather than compassion…. That is bad news.
When the poor are blamed for their poverty while their suffering is ignored…. That is bad news
When the LGBTQ community is told that who they are makes them unacceptable to God…. That is bad news.
When folks who claim the name Christian are more interested in judgment than mercy… more interested in drawing lines than loving neighbors… more interested in growing their wealth than serving others, that is ALL bad news. And…. that kind of news won’t save anyone. Not a single soul. It’ll do the opposite. It will make people run for their lives from any steeples they see.
The Proclamation of the GOSPEL for the Salvation of Humankind.
Theologian Karl Barth once described the Gospel this way. “The Gospel is not a degree of moral perfection, nor a system of doctrine. The Gospel is the news of a reality—the news that God is for us.” The Gospel is the news that God is for us – the Gospel is GOOD news. It is an announcement of liberating grace. The gospel is about freedom… The gospel proclaims that light shines out of darkness… it proclaims restoration to the brokenhearted… it proclaims love to the unlovable… it proclaims acceptance of the outcast, release of the captives, and welcome to the foreigner.
If you were to journey through the Gospels in our Bible, you won’t have to work hard to find an example of good news to proclaim. Listen to Jesus himself, who said:
Love your neighbors as you love yourself
Seek reconciliation when someone harms you instead of revenge
Welcome outsiders like they’re part of your family
Love your enemies, repay evil with goodness
Sit down and have a drink with sinners
Protect the widow and the orphan
Stand up for the weak
Speak up for the oppressed
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you
If you are burdened and weary… come and find rest for your soul
Forgive others… and then forgive them again… and again… and again
Share your food, share your clothes, share your money with those who need it on and on the Gospel goes, sharing GOOD news to those in our midst who desperately need to hear it… sharing the Good news that a God of mercy as come near to them
I want to end with a story about a young person named Jeremy.
Jeremy grew up surrounded by a Christian culture where faith was an important part of life. He went to church every Sunday. He loved the music… youth group… helping usher. Church was home for Jeremy. But some of the messages Jeremy absorbed along the way from family and the church culture were difficult ones to hear. There were certain expectations about what a faithful Christian looked like… how you were supposed to live… who you were supposed to be. As Jeremy grew older, he began to realize that he didn’t always fit neatly into those expectations.
Somewhere along the way, he began to believe that parts of who he was disappointed God. That something about him needed to be fixed or changed before he could truly be loved. For years, Jeremy carried shame… fear… and even some depression… related to his relationship with God… that was, until a new pastor came to his church. Week after week, Jeremy began hearing something different from the pulpit. He heard about a God of grace. A God who comes looking for the lost. A God who welcomes people others have pushed aside. A God who knows us completely and still loves us.
In other words, Jeremy began hearing Good News. And slowly, those words helped him realize that the parts of himself he had spent years being ashamed of weren’t something God hated at all. He realized he didn’t have to become somebody else for God to love him. He realized he was already known… already loved… already beloved.
Jeremy eventually went off to college, and years later, that pastor received a letter from him… that read, “I don’t know if you ever realized what your sermons were doing for me. I was in a really dark place when you came to our church. I had spent most of my life believing that God was disappointed in me and that I needed to change who I was in order to be loved. But week after week, you kept telling me that God loved me… that I was uniquely and wonderfully made… that grace was for me, too. Slowly, I started to believe you. And I started to believe in a different God. I don’t know if you knew it then, but you saved my life.”
Isn’t that the Gospel? Richard Rhor reminds us that “The Gospel is the announcement that grace is not a system of rewards and punishments, but an infinite ocean of unearned, unmerited love. It is the Good news that you cannot make God love you any more than God already does.”
Friends, invite you to open up your bulletin to the title of the sermon…. Let us read the first great ends together. The Proclamation of the Gospel for the salvation of humanity.
Let us be a church that proclaims the good news… In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.