Do you have one of “those houses” in your
neighbourhood that everybody wonders what’s going on in there but nobody dares
to ask? People are coming and going all
the time, but for what? Are they drug
dealers? What if that house is a
terrorist cell, a community of treason that’s going to overthrow the world as we
know it? Well, I want you to use your
imagination for a moment and try to get a glimpse of what it may have been like
to live in a 1st Century Roman town about this size of this one and
you had some Christians in your neighbourhood.
You live just a couple villas down from one of the
most successful small business leaders in town.
In the past year people from all walks of life have started going into
his home particularly on Sunday for a feast; the wives of other businessmen, widows,
other peoples slaves, people you knew to be freed slaves, strangers from out of
town, and occasionally what looked like Jews.
You have even seen beggars and prostitutes going in and out of his
house!
You ask around and you find out that these people have
become followers of a Jewish sect who worship one of those Jewish messiah’s
known as Jesus of Nazareth. The story is
that he was a great teacher and healer, a prophet. Yet, he was betrayed by the Jewish
authorities and was crucified before he could even raise a rebellion. They claim he resurrected from the dead and
ascended into the heavenlies to sit at the right hand of the God of the Jews
and reigns the universe from there. They
also say his Spirit comes to be with them and lives in them and has and will raise
them from the dead too. There is also a
rumour that they believe they are eating his body and drinking his blood when
they feast.
You are curious about these neighbours, but you know
to stay away. The way they talk about
Jesus is treasonous and you have no intent of winding up on a cross for taking
part in a Jewish revolt against Caesar and the Roman Empire. They call Jesus Lord and Saviour as if he
were Caesar. Caesar has given the world Pax Romana. Never has the world known peace and security
as it does now because Caesar’s army is everywhere. Only a fool would believe Roman rule is not a
blessing from the gods. But, these
Christians seem to embody peace and practice justice and charity without having
to crucify people.
The Christians say that Jesus, like Apollo, was the
Son of God become human and this was proven they say when he raised from the
dead. So they say Jesus is Son of God with
power, a power that is greater than Caesar’s because he has been bodily raised
from the dead. You believe Caesar is the
Son of Jupiter and that when he dies he will become a god too. But they say Jesus was seen by hundreds of
people after he resurrected and not just by the high priest of Jupiter who says
he saw Caesar’s soul rise in glory from his body.
The Christians say Jesus is coming back to establish
his kingdom. When he comes all the dead
will be raised and the world will be made new and all the unjust powers will be
unseated. They say the whole world will
be filled with the glory of their God and healed of evil and the futility of
death. They also say that they all are
children of God too, just like Jesus, and are going to receive a wondrous inheritance
when he returns.
Something else about these Christians is that they
don’t worship the gods anymore and they don’t go to the feasts. They are weird that way and catch a lot of
grief because of it. It has cost many of
them their jobs. Occasionally, we hear
of them getting arrested because they won’t call Caesar Lord.
You don’t know what to make of all this, but you just
know these particular neighbours are the most compassionate and peaceable people
in town and would give a meal and the shirt off their back to any who needed it. They are enviable for this. Something even more odd about them is that
the men treat women and slaves as their equals.
Houses like these are springing up all over town; and, all over the
Empire. You wonder what kind of a
rebellion this is.
Christian households were communities of treason back
in the 1st Century. Jesus is
Lord and Caesar was not. They tried to
live according to the non-violent and just Kingdom they believed Jesus was soon
to bring. They had the power of love as
opposed to the love of power that undergirded the Empire (N.T. Wright). They didn’t just believe the Gospel that
Jesus is Lord and his kingdom is at hand. They were becoming it, living proof of it
(Michael Gorman). Church was
house-based. You opened you’re home to
all walks of life and everybody was equal.
Hospitality was key. A Christian
house-church was a mission base. Of
course, your neighbours wondered what was going on.
Last week I shared the quote of the day that the
Mainline churches like ours are no longer Mainline, but rather we are Sideline. Well, on the sideline is a good place to be. It gives a chance to regroup and decide what’s
important. We don’t have a “church”
image to keep up. We don’t have to do
those things, those programs we believe that people believe churches are
supposed to do. We just need to be the
people of God. So we can experiment, try
knew things, such as actually loving our neighbours. If one idea doesn’t, try something else.
But, I’m partial to believing that if we truly want
to talk about God-with-us, then we need to consider a church that will be
house-based and truly family-like. A few
months ago I shared an image of church in the neighbourhood that was based on
my grandparent’s front porch. I have
another image to share, my best friends home.
The Landis’ house was one of those that there were
always a lot of cars out front and people coming and going. It was a hub for Mom Landis’ extended family,
for her own adult children, and many other friends of the family. There was always food if you were hungry and
a bottomless pot of coffee. She went to
church; sometimes more regular than others.
There were times that she opened her home to have the church people over
for Bible Study or a meeting. I recall
that there was always a Bible laying around somewhere usually in the kitchen,
quite often open; and the picture of the old man praying over his bread. Her solution to life’s problems was “come on
and go to church.” Worked. That’s why I stand before you today. Mom Landis was never pushy about her faith,
but there are many people who can say that the example she has lived was key to
their own Christian faith.
It is nearing Christmas and we talk about Emmanuel,
God with us. The open-home way that Mom Landis has lived as a Christian is the
most profound way we can talk about God being with us. At her house the Kingdom of God has come
near. The Lord Jesus has sat at her
table and I don’t think there is anyone who has sat at that table who can deny
that. The power of the love of God in
Christ flows like a river there. The way
she opens her home is very much like the way they did church in the 1st
Century. Maybe it’s the model for the
Sideline church of the 21st Century.
Ponder that. Amen.
