The Other Book

The Rev. Dr. Skip Ferguson

Manassas Presbyterian Church

Manassas, Virginia

January 25, 2015

The Other Book

Selected Texts

It is a book that is often ignored,

and when it is not ignored,

it is often mocked and disdained.

But it is a book I know well,

a book I’ve worked with quite a bit

over the last few decades.

It is a book filled with history,

a book filled with wisdom,

a book filled with faith.

It is the second book of the two books

that make up the constitution of our church,

the constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA):

It is the Book of Order.

The Book of Confessions,

with its 11 Confessional statements

that inform and shape our faith,

is paired with the Book of Order

as the constitution of our church.

The Book of Order is often dismissed as

“the rule book,”

a book loaded and

even larded with petty rules

about this or that,

a book only the Clerk of Session

ever needs to read.

But the Book of Order isn’t just a rule book.

Within its pages you’ll find history,

theology,

guidance,

faithfulness,

all bound up in collective wisdom

gathered over centuries.

                 

We operate rather independently here in Manassas,

but the reality is that we are

part of a larger church,

our body of Christ

part of a larger body of Christ

that is the Presbyterian Church (USA).

The first Presbyterian church in this country

dates back to the 17^th century,

and the first Presbytery was established 1706.

The formation of our federal system of government

in the late 18^th century

was based on the structure

of the Presbyterian Church

with its presbyteries and General Assembly.

I tend to return to the opening pages

of the Book of Order

each year as we prepare to

ordain and install new officers.

In the first few pages of the book

there is much wisdom

to guide us on the mission we are all called to

as disciples of Christ within the church.

Many churches have mission statements.

Last week I cited a version of a mission statement

that I like,

a statement written many years ago

by the theologian H. Richard Neibuhr

brother of Reinhold Neibuhr,

I like the statement

for its simplicity grounded in Scripture:

The mission of each church, Neibhur wrote,

is to, “increase among men [and women]

the love of God and neighbor.”

Neibhur based his statement

on the two great commandments

our Lord Jesus Christ gave us:

to love God and to love our neighbor.

(Mark 12:28ff)

The Book of Order reminds us, though,

that the question isn’t,

what is our mission as a church;

the question is, what is God’s mission?

What is God’s mission

that we are called to be part of,

that we are called to participate in.

The Book of Order tells us that God’s mission is

nothing less than,

“the transformation of creation and humanity.”

That’s God’s mission.

That’s what we are called to be part of.

The Book goes on to explain,

“In Christ, the church participates in God’s mission

for the transformation of creation and humanity

by proclaiming to all people

the good news of God’s love,

offering to all people

the grace of God at font and table,

and calling all people to discipleship in Christ.

Human beings have no higher goal in life

than to glorify and enjoy God now and forever,

living in covenant fellowship with God

and participating in God’s mission.”

(F-1.01)

We carry out this mission

within the church,

making our church a place of grace and hospitality,

and by going out into the wider world,

“to bear witness

to the good news of reconciliation with God,

with others,

and with all creation.”

(F-1.0205)

“The Church’s life and mission

are joyful participation

in Christ’s ongoing life and work….

The Church is sent to be Christ’s faithful evangelist

sharing with others a deep life of

worship,

prayer,

fellowship,

and service;

and participating in God’s mission

to care for the needs of the sick,

the poor, and the lonely;

to free people from sin,

suffering, and oppression;

and to establish Christ’s just, loving

and peaceable rule in the world.”

(F-1.0302d)

That’s the mission we are called to be part of,

to participate in.

If we do it well and faithfully

then our church will “bear witness in word and work

that in Christ the new creation has begun,

and that God who creates life

also frees those in bondage,

forgives sin,

reconciles brokenness,

makes all things new

and is still at work in the world.”

(F-1.0302d)

God, at work in the world,

through our ordained officers,

and through all of us,

each of us filled with the Spirit,

and called by the Spirit

to use the gifts given us by the Spirit,

to do God’s work,

to give life to the risen Christ

by reflecting his presence

within the church and in the world around us.

We do this, all of us, not just officers,

through lives of service

marked by, “energy, intelligence,

imagination and love.”

(W-4.4003h)

The Book sums up:

“The Church is to be a community of hope,

rejoicing in the sure and certain knowledge

that, in Christ,

God is making a new creation.

This new creation is a new beginning

for human life and for all things.

The Church lives in the present

on the strength of that promised new creation.”

The great biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann

put it this way:

“The world for which [we] have been

so carefully prepared

is being taken away from [us]

by the grace of God.”

(as quoted by Barbara Brown Taylor)

Taken away from us as God creates a new world,

a new reality,

based not on earthly things

that we think are important,

but on what matters to God,

what matters to Christ,

things like love, reconciliation,

peace, hope, and justice.

“The Church is to be a community of love,”

the Book tells us,

“where sin is forgiven,

reconciliation is accomplished,

and the dividing walls of hostility are torn down.”

And, “The Church is to be a

community of witness,

pointing beyond itself through word and work

to the good news of God’s transforming grace

in Christ Jesus its Lord.”

The letter to the church at Ephesus tells us,

 [We] are no longer strangers and aliens,

but [we] are citizens with the saints

and also members of the household of God,

built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets,

with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.

In him the whole structure is joined together

and grows into a holy temple in the Lord;

in whom [we] also are built together spiritually

into a dwelling-place for God.

(Ephesians 2:19)

The dwelling place for God is our hearts and minds.

Hearts and minds working together,

but with the heart leading

for as our Lord has taught us,

“By this everyone will know

that you are my disciples,

if you have love for one another.”

(John 13:34-35)

We begin our participation

in God’s mission with small steps;

we start, as the letter to the Colossians teaches us

by “clothing ourselves with love”

(3:14)

and “letting the peace of Christ rule in our hearts”,

 (3:15)

And letting “the word of Christ dwell in us”,

(3:16)

all so that we learn to

“seek the things that are above.”

(3:1)

All so that we can participate in God’s mission

beginning with the Word of God we find in Scripture;

and then expanding our learning

with the wisdom of the saints

who’ve gone before us

all so we can follow ever more faithfully

the Living Word,

the Word that is the first and the last,

our Lord Jesus Christ.

AMEN