Chapter Two - The Church in History
Chapter Two – The Church in History
I appreciate Moltmann’s reminder that the church’s first word is not the church but is always Christ. This is a challenging reminder to any pastor who is given the charge to “grow the church”. What this really means is the minister is supposed to grow the congregation’s numbers. Ambrose said, “The church is like the moon, which has no light of its own or for itself. If it is the true church, the light that is reflected on its face is the light of Christ, which reflects the glory of God, and it shines on the face of the church for the people who are seeking their way to freedom in darkness.”
I have always struggled with paradox and Moltmann deals a lot with it talking about the essence of the church and the form of the church. I will do my best to unpack this. Do we look at the church as top – down or bottom – up? The church is both a historical entity and something that is completely out of time that looks and hopes for the completion of all things. In this way, it mirrors the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and the hope of his coming glory. “The remissio peccatorum liberates men from the power of the past and therefore opens up the new future of righteous and eternal life.” The author talks a great deal later on about transformation of the individual and the church. It is interesting to note all the times “creative” is used in describing God. It is a concept lost on me for the most part and I wonder why we don’t focus on it more. The God who creates, who recreates, must be creative. I had a friend who mentioned God must have a sense of humor because he made the porcupine. God’s creative power goes beyond the creatures called forth in Genesis.
The musician Bruce Hornsby rose up the charts with his 80’s diddy, “The Way It Is.” He sings that many things in this life – injustices, inhumanity, etc will never change. The church cannot accept itself as simply “what it is” as long as the promise of Christ’s Kingdom goes unfulfilled. We must take on the Christ who was crucified, the Christ who was resurrected, the Christ who is with us and the Christ who will come again in glory. When we ignore any of these, we miss the mark. Of course, we will never completely be who we are called to be. However, this is not an excuse to do nothing with weak resignation assuming any efforts amount to Sisyphus. We are called to keep on working, even if the true mark is always outside of our grasp.
Moltmann talks about our “sacramental identity” throughout the book. Rememberence of the past and a hope for the future is linked together in the sacraments we participate in the present. “This definite event which ‘makes the church the church’ is a sacramental event. We mean by this the preaching of the Word of God in the human word, the presence of the coming of Christ in bread and wine, and the coming of the Sprit in baptism. To such an extent the church is what it is in the light of this event.” The history of Christ always points to eschatology.
When we talk about any part of Christ’s earthly ministry, we are also making a soteriological statement as well. History is important, but so is the promise to which that history points. For the Apostle Paul, all of Christ’s history points to the justification of sinners. “In the eschatological thanksgiving of the new creation the destiny of all created being is fulfilled.”
“The church as the community of justified sinners, the fellowship of those liberated by Christ, who experience salvation and live in thanksgiving, is on the way to fulfilling the meaning of the history of Christ.” History passes into eschatology and eschatology passes into history – the work of the Holy Spirit. Liberation from sin is an entrance into a new life and leads to a new creation.
I don’t know if I read Moltmann using the word “perichoresis” but the concept seems to be present throughout his writings. Christology and Pneumology must be understood in the movement within the Trinity. Likewise, any movement in the church must be seen in this triune movement.
We are a part of the church that has always been influenced by the signs of the times. This language appears to echo many of our intro readings in the Gospel and Culture sequence. We exist as a part of the culture, but cannot be ruled by that which surrounds us. I loved Moltmann’s writings comparing the Mosaic understanding of “signs and wonders” with the prevalent end time approach to “signs and wonders.” I am wearied by all the religious talking heads proclaiming the impending coming end of world on television shows, radio programs and internet articles. The coming end times will be announced through earthquakes in Haiti, tsunamis in Japan and wars in the Middle East. I appreciate his discussion of “signs and wonders” as a call to look back to the God who led God’s people out of Egypt and into a land flowing with milk and honey. “The modern orientation of the church towards ‘the signs of the times’ really follows both biblical traditions, arriving at diametrically opposite notions, depending on whether the present is read in accordance with the apocalyptic timetable of in remembrance of the exodus tradition.”
How should we view revolutions around the world? Are they signs of the end of time or a steady moving forward of God’s plan for God’s kingdom on this earth? Moltmann argues for a messianic orientation to everything going on around us. I don’t know if that will “Play in Peoria” but it certainly resonates with me as someone who is wearied by apocalyptic overload. “God ultimately desires the state, the perfected sate, the moral kingdom of God on earth, because he wants people who have arrived at full maturity. Once this is achieved the church will have become superfluous, since it was a transitional institution, designed for the education of men. Its goal has been reached, for it is there not for its own sake or for its own expansion but for the sake of the kingdom of God.” This quote resonates with me as the goal of our whole being. The church should do so well that there is no longer a need for the church because the world was transformed. This is a utopian view, but it is still our goal.
Christ remains our hope as the signs of the times continue to change rapidly around us. The church lives in the today of Christ’s presence, remembering his life and looking forward to his future glory. “For it is not world crisis that leas to Christ’s parousia; it is Christ parousia that brings this world with its crises to an end.” These are signs of history, not signs of the end.
“Without an understanding of the particular church in the framework of the universal history of God’s dealings with the world, ecclesiology remains abstract and the church’s self-understanding blind”
Does the salvation of the world come through the church or does the church come out of the salvation of the world? We stand in the middle of this movement – not at its beginning and not at its end. We are like a ship on the ocean that must look to God as a set star in the heavens guiding our path.
Ibid p. 19
Ibid p. 22
Ibid p. 27
Ibid p. 33
Ibid p. 33
Ibid p. 41
Ibid p. 46
Ibid p. 50
Ibid p. 51
I appreciate Moltmann’s reminder that the church’s first word is not the church but is always Christ. This is a challenging reminder to any pastor who is given the charge to “grow the church”. What this really means is the minister is supposed to grow the congregation’s numbers. Ambrose said, “The church is like the moon, which has no light of its own or for itself. If it is the true church, the light that is reflected on its face is the light of Christ, which reflects the glory of God, and it shines on the face of the church for the people who are seeking their way to freedom in darkness.”
I have always struggled with paradox and Moltmann deals a lot with it talking about the essence of the church and the form of the church. I will do my best to unpack this. Do we look at the church as top – down or bottom – up? The church is both a historical entity and something that is completely out of time that looks and hopes for the completion of all things. In this way, it mirrors the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and the hope of his coming glory. “The remissio peccatorum liberates men from the power of the past and therefore opens up the new future of righteous and eternal life.” The author talks a great deal later on about transformation of the individual and the church. It is interesting to note all the times “creative” is used in describing God. It is a concept lost on me for the most part and I wonder why we don’t focus on it more. The God who creates, who recreates, must be creative. I had a friend who mentioned God must have a sense of humor because he made the porcupine. God’s creative power goes beyond the creatures called forth in Genesis.
The musician Bruce Hornsby rose up the charts with his 80’s diddy, “The Way It Is.” He sings that many things in this life – injustices, inhumanity, etc will never change. The church cannot accept itself as simply “what it is” as long as the promise of Christ’s Kingdom goes unfulfilled. We must take on the Christ who was crucified, the Christ who was resurrected, the Christ who is with us and the Christ who will come again in glory. When we ignore any of these, we miss the mark. Of course, we will never completely be who we are called to be. However, this is not an excuse to do nothing with weak resignation assuming any efforts amount to Sisyphus. We are called to keep on working, even if the true mark is always outside of our grasp.
Moltmann talks about our “sacramental identity” throughout the book. Rememberence of the past and a hope for the future is linked together in the sacraments we participate in the present. “This definite event which ‘makes the church the church’ is a sacramental event. We mean by this the preaching of the Word of God in the human word, the presence of the coming of Christ in bread and wine, and the coming of the Sprit in baptism. To such an extent the church is what it is in the light of this event.” The history of Christ always points to eschatology.
When we talk about any part of Christ’s earthly ministry, we are also making a soteriological statement as well. History is important, but so is the promise to which that history points. For the Apostle Paul, all of Christ’s history points to the justification of sinners. “In the eschatological thanksgiving of the new creation the destiny of all created being is fulfilled.”
“The church as the community of justified sinners, the fellowship of those liberated by Christ, who experience salvation and live in thanksgiving, is on the way to fulfilling the meaning of the history of Christ.” History passes into eschatology and eschatology passes into history – the work of the Holy Spirit. Liberation from sin is an entrance into a new life and leads to a new creation.
I don’t know if I read Moltmann using the word “perichoresis” but the concept seems to be present throughout his writings. Christology and Pneumology must be understood in the movement within the Trinity. Likewise, any movement in the church must be seen in this triune movement.
We are a part of the church that has always been influenced by the signs of the times. This language appears to echo many of our intro readings in the Gospel and Culture sequence. We exist as a part of the culture, but cannot be ruled by that which surrounds us. I loved Moltmann’s writings comparing the Mosaic understanding of “signs and wonders” with the prevalent end time approach to “signs and wonders.” I am wearied by all the religious talking heads proclaiming the impending coming end of world on television shows, radio programs and internet articles. The coming end times will be announced through earthquakes in Haiti, tsunamis in Japan and wars in the Middle East. I appreciate his discussion of “signs and wonders” as a call to look back to the God who led God’s people out of Egypt and into a land flowing with milk and honey. “The modern orientation of the church towards ‘the signs of the times’ really follows both biblical traditions, arriving at diametrically opposite notions, depending on whether the present is read in accordance with the apocalyptic timetable of in remembrance of the exodus tradition.”
How should we view revolutions around the world? Are they signs of the end of time or a steady moving forward of God’s plan for God’s kingdom on this earth? Moltmann argues for a messianic orientation to everything going on around us. I don’t know if that will “Play in Peoria” but it certainly resonates with me as someone who is wearied by apocalyptic overload. “God ultimately desires the state, the perfected sate, the moral kingdom of God on earth, because he wants people who have arrived at full maturity. Once this is achieved the church will have become superfluous, since it was a transitional institution, designed for the education of men. Its goal has been reached, for it is there not for its own sake or for its own expansion but for the sake of the kingdom of God.” This quote resonates with me as the goal of our whole being. The church should do so well that there is no longer a need for the church because the world was transformed. This is a utopian view, but it is still our goal.
Christ remains our hope as the signs of the times continue to change rapidly around us. The church lives in the today of Christ’s presence, remembering his life and looking forward to his future glory. “For it is not world crisis that leas to Christ’s parousia; it is Christ parousia that brings this world with its crises to an end.” These are signs of history, not signs of the end.
“Without an understanding of the particular church in the framework of the universal history of God’s dealings with the world, ecclesiology remains abstract and the church’s self-understanding blind”
Does the salvation of the world come through the church or does the church come out of the salvation of the world? We stand in the middle of this movement – not at its beginning and not at its end. We are like a ship on the ocean that must look to God as a set star in the heavens guiding our path.
Ibid p. 19
Ibid p. 22
Ibid p. 27
Ibid p. 33
Ibid p. 33
Ibid p. 41
Ibid p. 46
Ibid p. 50
Ibid p. 51
Labels: Dave Burgess, DMIN, First Presbyterian Church, George Stroup, Gospel and Culture
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