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7/20/22 Glenda Simpkins Hoffman
In the course of ministry over the many decades, I have encountered people who say they have their own relationship with God that is personal and private. Our relationship with God is very personal, but it is not meant to be private. In our individualistic and independent Western culture, we can be misled to think it only matters what we believe about God. But the truth, is we are not meant to be lone ranger Christians. Yes, we believe, but we also belong. We belong to God, and we belong to the one holy, apostolic church. We need each other.
The people of Israel and followers of Jesus would have considered it unfathomable to live apart from the community of faith. We were created by God for God to live in relationship with him and with others. We are meant to live our relationship with the person of Christ within the body of Christ with other believers.
Another often expressed thought is this: “I wish I knew God’s will, his purpose for the world.” Since the fall of humanity in the Garden of Eden, God has been working out his redemptive purposes. God has continued to reveal himself and to pour out his love and goodness to show us the way back to him. The Bible is the story of God’s purpose.
The Renovaré Bible explains: “The aim of God in history is the creation of an all-inclusive community of loving persons with God himself at the very center of this community as its prime Sustainer and most glorious Inhabitant. The Bible traces the formation of this community from the creation in the Garden of Eden all the way to the new heaven and the new earth.”
We see in the Old Testament that God was working out his purposes in the nation of Israel. In the fullness of time, God sent his Son into the world. It is his life, death, resurrection, and ascension that have made it possible for us to be restored to a relationship with God and to receive an abundant life that begins here and now and never ceases.
How did Jesus go about creating “an all-inclusive community of loving persons with God himself at the center”? Mark 3:13-15 (see also Matthew 10:1-4) is a key passage in this regard: “Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.”
Jesus called those whom he wanted, and his intention was that they would be with him. Jesus wanted those who followed him to experience the “with-God life” through his incarnational presence. They spent a lot of time together as a community listening to Jesus’ teaching in private and public, talking and asking questions, watching him heal and perform many miracles.
After his ascension and the coming of the Spirit, we see how the first disciples began to obey his Great Command given in Matthew 28:18-20. I like the way Dallas Willard translates the passage: “I have been given say over all things in heaven and in the earth. As you go, therefore, make disciples of all kinds of people, submerge them in trinitarian Presence, and show them how to do everything I have commanded. And now look: I am with you every minute until the job’s done.”
Instead of using “baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,” Willard’s translation says, “submerge them in trinitarian Presence.” Many associate baptism with water being poured on someone’s head, but the word baptize actually means to immerse or submerge. And it’s not actually referring to the water at all. Remember that a sacrament is a visible, physical sign that points to an invisible, spiritual reality.
Whether we are conscious of it or not, all of us are living a life that is immersed in something. Most of us are immersed in the values of the busy, frenetic, noisy, demanding, and high-expectation culture. And be sure of this: those cultural realities and values are shaping us and shaping our children all the time.
But God’s heart is that we would be immersed in the trinitarian Presence. We are to experience the love of God washing over us, the grace of Christ accomplishing for us what we can’t accomplish on our own, and the Holy Spirit renewing us to a new and different kind of life characterized by the fruit of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).
In baptism, we are reminded that because of Jesus, we belong to God and to the body of believers. Baptism marks a transition from life outside the Christian community to discipleship or apprenticeship within it.
What does this look like? Pastor Connie suggested on Sunday that we read Acts 2:42-47. After 3000 people believed the good news and were baptized, this is how they lived: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Awe came upon everyone because many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”
What an amazing picture of the people of God living a life submerged in the trinitarian Presence. Being an apprentice is not an individual thing! Community is central to spiritual formation in Christ and living the mission of God as we spend intentional time together, hearing teaching, enjoying fellowship, worshiping, sharing meals, giving generously to care for those in need, and witnessing boldly.
Every believer is a part of the one holy apostolic church by virtue of believing in Christ. But we are also called to belong to a local congregation. But it’s much more than membership; it’s about living in deep, life-changing relationships with others. Many experience the joy and sense of belonging to the body of Christ by connecting to a small group or class or as a part of team that serves together. In this smaller setting, we can know and be known, love and be loved, serve and be served, and celebrate and be celebrated. Being immersed in the trinitarian Presence is experienced through intentional relationships in Christian community. And together, God uses us collectively to have a bigger impact on the world around us.
We believe in and belong to our great Triune God. But we also believe in and belong to his church. What a gift to know we are not alone. We are to live in community with others here and now, and we will enjoy eternity with our Savior in the company of all those who have trusted in him.
