Difference between revisions of "Sermon for April 23rd, 2023"

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The Second Helvetic Confession, which is part of the constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA), teaches that the one and ONLY head of the church is Jesus Christ, from whom all other leaders derive their authority.  This is supported by scripture, in Paul's letter to the Ephesians and to the Colossians, both of which name Jesus as the head of the church.
 
The Second Helvetic Confession, which is part of the constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA), teaches that the one and ONLY head of the church is Jesus Christ, from whom all other leaders derive their authority.  This is supported by scripture, in Paul's letter to the Ephesians and to the Colossians, both of which name Jesus as the head of the church.
  
For the 16th century Reformers who gave birth to the Presbyterian movement, when they said that Christ was the ONLY head of the church, by implication they were sending a clear message to their followers that the Roman Catholic Pope was NOT the head of the church, nor any Cardinal, Bishop, or even any Priest of Pastor.
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For the 16th century Reformers who gave birth to the Presbyterian movement, when they said that Christ was the ONLY head of the church, by implication they were sending a clear message to the world that the Roman Catholic Pope was NOT the head of the church, nor any King, Queen, Bishop, Knight, or any of the other pieces on a medieval chess board! 
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Just Jesus.  So where Jesus speaks to us through the words of Scripture, we as the church, cannot follow any other voice.  Of course, the problem with this is that Jesus, in the Bible, is pretty silent about what date and time would be most appropriate for our monthly potluck luncheon, or what the check-in procedure ought to be for children's programs, or how many times a year should we have the church rain gutters cleaned out?  And while those may not be the MOST important things, they are still reasonably important things in the life of any local church. 
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In the medieval Catholic church, the Pope appointed the cardinals, the cardinals appointed the bishops, the bishops appointed the priests, and the priests made the decisions for each local church, or else delegated them to others.  But the Presbyterians of the 16th century took a different approach:  They turned to the scriptures, and asked the question, "How were decisions made in the early church, by the earliest followers of Jesus?"
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And they found this story in the Book of Acts, which is our scripture passage today.

Revision as of 20:22, 21 April 2023

Exodus 17:8-13 (O.T. p. 64)

8 Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some men for us and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” 10 So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses’ hands grew weary; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; so his hands were steady until the sun set. 13 And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the sword.

Acts 6:1-7 (N.T. p. 123)

1 Now during those days, when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. 2 And the twelve called together the whole community of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Therefore, friends, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task, 4 while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word.” 5 What they said pleased the whole community, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 6 They had these men stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

7 The word of God continued to spread; the number of the disciples increased greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

Who's in Charge Here?

Recently, a large corporation hired several cannibals to increase their diversity. "You are all part of our team now," said the CEO during their welcoming briefing. "You get all the usual benefits and you can go to the cafeteria for something to eat, but please don't eat any employees." The cannibals solemnly promised they would not. Four weeks later their boss remarked, "You're all working very hard and I'm satisfied with your work. We have noticed a marked increase in the whole company's performance since your arrival. However, one of our secretaries has disappeared. Do any of you know what happened to her?" The cannibals all shook their heads, "No." After the boss had left, the leader of the cannibals said to the others, "Which one of you idiots ate the secretary?" A lone hand rose hesitantly. "You fool!" the leader continued, "For four weeks we've been eating managers and no one noticed anything. But no, you had to go and eat someone who actually does something."

In most churches, if you asked the question, "Who's in charge here?" you would probably be directed to the church secretary. Coming in at a distant second, someone might answer, "the pastor." And while both of those answers are certainly understandable, in a Presbyterian church neither one is correct.

Well, who is it then? Is it the church officers? The elders, the deacons, the trustees? We are going to talk about them today, and all the things they do...but still, no. By now you've probably guessed where I'm going with this, but just in case you're still wondering, it's a pretty simple answer:

The Second Helvetic Confession, which is part of the constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA), teaches that the one and ONLY head of the church is Jesus Christ, from whom all other leaders derive their authority. This is supported by scripture, in Paul's letter to the Ephesians and to the Colossians, both of which name Jesus as the head of the church.

For the 16th century Reformers who gave birth to the Presbyterian movement, when they said that Christ was the ONLY head of the church, by implication they were sending a clear message to the world that the Roman Catholic Pope was NOT the head of the church, nor any King, Queen, Bishop, Knight, or any of the other pieces on a medieval chess board!

Just Jesus. So where Jesus speaks to us through the words of Scripture, we as the church, cannot follow any other voice. Of course, the problem with this is that Jesus, in the Bible, is pretty silent about what date and time would be most appropriate for our monthly potluck luncheon, or what the check-in procedure ought to be for children's programs, or how many times a year should we have the church rain gutters cleaned out? And while those may not be the MOST important things, they are still reasonably important things in the life of any local church.

In the medieval Catholic church, the Pope appointed the cardinals, the cardinals appointed the bishops, the bishops appointed the priests, and the priests made the decisions for each local church, or else delegated them to others. But the Presbyterians of the 16th century took a different approach: They turned to the scriptures, and asked the question, "How were decisions made in the early church, by the earliest followers of Jesus?"

And they found this story in the Book of Acts, which is our scripture passage today.