14I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, 15if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. 16Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:The last two readings, elders and deacons, helped us understand what qualities are needed in the leadership of the church, and the reasoning behind it. Hard things to understand sometimes. Today's reading talks about why Paul wrote these things and speaks to the mystery of godliness.
He was manifested in the flesh,
vindicated by the Spirit,
seen by angels,
proclaimed among the nations,
believed on in the world,
taken up in glory.
So why did Paul write about church leadership?
He wrote about it, so that just in case he was held up somewhere, these folks under the care of Timothy would know how to behave in the household of God.
Consider this. It's the church. It's not the larger world. One would expect God to have different rules for his church as it's the one place that is focused on HIM! Not on what we want or how we want it or what we can do. It's to be focused on him and the things of him. It makes sense that he'd have some rules for the running of HIS place. He's not absent, he's an active part of his body. He is our pillar and the buttress of the truth.
That word buttress...what does that mean? Answers.com tells me that a buttress is " Something that serves to support, prop, or reinforce". So what that tells me is that God is our support. In God, with God, leaning on God we learn what the truth is.
It's one of the things that I struggle with in today's church. People expect the church to mirror the world. We have to have this program and that program, we have to allow women into all offices of the church because that's what is there outside of the church. We can have it all, do it all, and so forth. It's not the world folks...it's the church! It's God's place.
And yes, God is in control of everything, he is part of, and active in the world around us, BUT the church itself is special. It's a place where we go to worship and glorify God and to enjoy him. It is SO very God-centred, why would we want to take away from that? Makes no sense to me.
It is where we learn more about the mystery of Godliness. Here again is how Paul put it:
He was manifested in the flesh,God (through his son Christ), became flesh (Mary had a baby born in Bethleham), freed from any question of guilt by the Spirit (died for us), he was seen by angels, proclaimed by the nations (Christians scattered throughout the word), believed on in the world, and was taken up in glory (rose again).
vindicated by the Spirit,
seen by angels,
proclaimed among the nations,
believed on in the world,
taken up in glory.
This is the mystery to which we hold. This is what we live for. Not for ourselves, but for God. We live for God. That's it. That's what we hold to. Let us then live out the mystery of godliness in our lives. Let me then show the world what Christ means to me.
No comments:
Post a Comment