2 Corinthians 3:4-6 (The Message)
We couldn’t be more sure of this—that you, written by Christ himself for God, are our letter of recommendation. We wouldn’t think of writing this kind of letter about ourselves. Only God can write such a letter. This letter authorizes us to help carry out this new plan of action. The plan wasn’t written out with ink on paper, with pages and pages of legal footnotes, killing your spirit. It’s a covenant written with Spirit on spirit, Christ’s life in our lives!
The last two or three times we were together here we talked about the very earliest beginnings of this concept we call “church” – this creation which grew organically from the people who had followed Jesus and learned from him and were left now to figure out “what next?” Granted, they had the Holy Spirit to guide them, but recognizing how God mostly works – at least in my life – this leading was likely more in the line of “nudges” than flashing neon signs.
We can’t live out our role in the church today if we don’t know at least where we began, some of the places we’ve gone over the centuries, and how we got to where we are now – especially as Disciples of Christ. We’ve already looked at some of the earliest beginnings of church, so over the next few weeks we’re going to be looking into the beginnings of this particular branch of the Christian faith – the Christian Church: Disciples of Christ. Some of this may seem somewhat dry, but I believe we need at least a passing acquaintance with where we’ve come from. I’m not planning on an in-depth history but just a swift overview. And I’ll try to keep it brief. It may even seem a little boring, but it is a necessary “prequel” to where I want us to go next. As I said, I’ll try to keep it brief.
In the 1700’s there was – in Protestant Europe and in North America -- an outburst of fervent religious piety that is commonly known as the First Great Awakening. In America as the populace began to spread out westward from the eastern seaboard small churches began to appear in every new settlement, mostly from the Presbyterian and Baptist denominations, each seeing themselves as the only “true” church.
At the start of the 1800’s, there began to be a back-lash against this strict denominationalism and small splinter groups began to break off from the parent denominations. Some objected to creeds, some practiced a strictly closed communion, others banned instrumental music of every sort – they had all sorts of differences and ways to separate themselves from one another. Two of the churches in this mix were the Christians and the Disciples of Christ.
In 1832, these two churches, having gone through several revisions and splits each, felt a call to unity, not further division, and merged as the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Other churches split off from them over the years but the unifying core remained.
One of the identifying features of this joint “denomination” was that it truly was not a denomination. It’s founders and members insisted on calling itself a “brotherhood” – viewing a denomination as a contractual relationship and a brotherhood as a covenantal one. The distinction between these two concepts would continue to shape this joint church through the years to come.
We’re going to spend some time on the similarities and, especially, the difference between these two words and the concepts they represent, because understanding this difference changes how we read scripture. The word covenant is scattered all throughout both the Old and New Testaments, beginning all the way back in Genesis with the Abrahamic Covenant between God and Abraham.
Covenants in the Old Testament often read like contracts but the consequences for breaking a covenant promise are not legal consequences, but spiritual – although that is not quite the right word either. Contracts are entered into because something of value is to be gained by the fulfilling of certain conditions and the only way of gaining that “something” is through this contractual obligation. A covenant is an agreement binding two parties together in a voluntary joining where both parties gain something of value to them if the terms are faithfully kept.
Sometimes the exchanged values seem woefully unbalanced to our eyes. Abraham, for instance, was promised long life and descendants in the hundreds and land and vast herds and security for generations – and all God wanted in return was Abraham’s faithfulness. Humans do not always value the same things God values...and vice versa.
In the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) we have a document called The Design which lays out how we operate as a church. Not just Rules of Order and who-does-what, but the whys and wherefores of what we do and believe. It also explains that we are a covenantal church – bound by covenant, not contract.
Rev. Teresa Hord Owens, our current General Minister and President, explains it this way:
This Preamble, though fairly brief, is what we are going to be looking into for the next few weeks because it tells us who we are called to be, why this is, who we are now, how we are called to be it, and how an understanding of it can carry us into the future.
I’m looking forward to the weeks ahead and to learning more about the Preamble and about this thing we celebrate together as church. I hope you join me.
We can’t live out our role in the church today if we don’t know at least where we began, some of the places we’ve gone over the centuries, and how we got to where we are now – especially as Disciples of Christ. We’ve already looked at some of the earliest beginnings of church, so over the next few weeks we’re going to be looking into the beginnings of this particular branch of the Christian faith – the Christian Church: Disciples of Christ. Some of this may seem somewhat dry, but I believe we need at least a passing acquaintance with where we’ve come from. I’m not planning on an in-depth history but just a swift overview. And I’ll try to keep it brief. It may even seem a little boring, but it is a necessary “prequel” to where I want us to go next. As I said, I’ll try to keep it brief.
In the 1700’s there was – in Protestant Europe and in North America -- an outburst of fervent religious piety that is commonly known as the First Great Awakening. In America as the populace began to spread out westward from the eastern seaboard small churches began to appear in every new settlement, mostly from the Presbyterian and Baptist denominations, each seeing themselves as the only “true” church.
At the start of the 1800’s, there began to be a back-lash against this strict denominationalism and small splinter groups began to break off from the parent denominations. Some objected to creeds, some practiced a strictly closed communion, others banned instrumental music of every sort – they had all sorts of differences and ways to separate themselves from one another. Two of the churches in this mix were the Christians and the Disciples of Christ.
In 1832, these two churches, having gone through several revisions and splits each, felt a call to unity, not further division, and merged as the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Other churches split off from them over the years but the unifying core remained.
One of the identifying features of this joint “denomination” was that it truly was not a denomination. It’s founders and members insisted on calling itself a “brotherhood” – viewing a denomination as a contractual relationship and a brotherhood as a covenantal one. The distinction between these two concepts would continue to shape this joint church through the years to come.
We’re going to spend some time on the similarities and, especially, the difference between these two words and the concepts they represent, because understanding this difference changes how we read scripture. The word covenant is scattered all throughout both the Old and New Testaments, beginning all the way back in Genesis with the Abrahamic Covenant between God and Abraham.
Covenants in the Old Testament often read like contracts but the consequences for breaking a covenant promise are not legal consequences, but spiritual – although that is not quite the right word either. Contracts are entered into because something of value is to be gained by the fulfilling of certain conditions and the only way of gaining that “something” is through this contractual obligation. A covenant is an agreement binding two parties together in a voluntary joining where both parties gain something of value to them if the terms are faithfully kept.
Sometimes the exchanged values seem woefully unbalanced to our eyes. Abraham, for instance, was promised long life and descendants in the hundreds and land and vast herds and security for generations – and all God wanted in return was Abraham’s faithfulness. Humans do not always value the same things God values...and vice versa.
In the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) we have a document called The Design which lays out how we operate as a church. Not just Rules of Order and who-does-what, but the whys and wherefores of what we do and believe. It also explains that we are a covenantal church – bound by covenant, not contract.
Rev. Teresa Hord Owens, our current General Minister and President, explains it this way:
- The Design of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the document that governs our common life together, begins with a Preamble that reads more like a hymn than a governing document. In it, we find an affirmation of our faith, an expression of hope, a call to service, and a reminder of “God’s covenant of love that binds us to God and to one another.”
- That covenant is written into the Preamble, but it is lived out through covenantal relationships in all expressions of the church. [We’re going] to explore the notion of covenant within our faith tradition, and to deepen our commitment to living in covenant with each other.
This Preamble, though fairly brief, is what we are going to be looking into for the next few weeks because it tells us who we are called to be, why this is, who we are now, how we are called to be it, and how an understanding of it can carry us into the future.
I’m looking forward to the weeks ahead and to learning more about the Preamble and about this thing we celebrate together as church. I hope you join me.
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