Thoughts of a Ragamuffin

Thoughts of a Ragamuffin, Part 2: Support, Direction And Accountability

Last week we explored the value of a lineage, a heritage and a legacy

Your lineage, who you come from,

Your heritage, what they gave you,

Your legacy is what you pass on to others.

The focus was on you,

Today I want to focus on us,

As we continue this series Thoughts of a Ragamuffin.

The us is Believer’s as a group, the Church.

If you are wondering what exactly a Ragamuffin is,

a ragamuffin is a tatterdemalion.

just to clear things up for you.

Ragamuffin: a ragged, disreputable person especially a child.

We are considering the thoughts of a person who is bedraggled,

broken-down, dilapidated and just so happens to be a poet for God.

This self-proclaimed ragamuffin is Rich Mullins whose music feeds

my soul and challenges me to live out a holy life.

If you are follower of Jesus the scripture reveals that not only are you a new

creation, but you have a new lineage and a new heritage.

That lineage and heritage is something called the Church.

Believers are the church, the church is us.

I want you to leave here today knowing that Church

Is a whole lot more than a facility,

more than an option,

but rather Church is a life sustaining relationship.

If you have come to the place in your life that you

Acknowledge the fact that you are an orphan

Believe that Jesus has made the arrangements for your adoption.

Commit your self to living as part of His family

And then asked God to accept your faith,

The scripture reveals:

John 1:12 (NIV)

“…to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God…”

When God accepts your faith,

He reconciles you to Himself.

He forgives you of your sins,

Because the One in whom you believe has made atonement for

them. (Hbrews 2:17)

He adopts you as His own

He puts His Spirit in you.

Romans 8:15-16 (NIV)

“…you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." ¹⁶ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.”

The theologians call this faith transformation regeneration.

When God accepts your faith,

He forgives, reconciles and adopts you.

We call that justification by faith.

Its what God does for us.

When God accepts your faith

He also does something in us.

He gives us His Spirit,

In the church of the Nazarene our doctrine identifies this

as initial sanctification, the power to start our

journey in becoming more like Jesus.

The result is a regeneration of you, a new you.

2 Corinthians 5:17-18 (NIV)

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! ¹⁸ All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ…”

God grafts us into His family tree.

In the Apostle Paul’s reply to the questions and concerns of the believers in Rome

concerning the spiritual disposition of non-believing Jews,

he uses that analogy of being grafted into the family of the faithful.

Paul refers to Gentile Believers as wild olive shoots.

Romans 11:17-18 (MSG)

“…you wild olive shoots were grafted in. Yet the fact that you are now fed by that rich and holy root ¹⁸ gives you no cause to crow over the pruned branches. Remember, you aren't feeding the root; the root is feeding you.”

As a new creation in Christ you are grafted into a new family tree,

You have a new lineage.

Now these are the people you have spiritually come from.

Who are these people?

Now that is a question.

The answer is that these people are the Church.

In our Sunday gathering of the family, we recite the Apostle’s Creed.

The Apostle’s Creed is a dogmatic statement of faith.

Dogmatic means that it is applicable to every Christian,

Every where and in every time.

The last part of the Creed reads:

I believe in the Holy Spirit;
    the holy catholic church;
    the communion of saints;
    the forgiveness of sins;
    the resurrection of the body;
    and the life everlasting.

Those new to the Creed often have a question about

believing in the holy catholic church

immediately assuming that the line refers to the Holy Roman Catholic

Church

and all that Catholism stands for.

But that’s not the case at all, that word catholic means universal;

universal means: involving all.

It’s a statement that family is anyone who is a believer.

Ephesians 3:14-15 (NIV)

I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.

The Church is your spiritual family.

The righteous are the members of your lineage.

From Adam to Noah,

From Noah to Abraham,

From Abraham to Moses,

From Moses to the Prophets,

From the Prophets to Jesus,

From Jesus to the Apostles

From the Apostles to the

Church

The faithful are your people.

These are the people you have come from.

You didn’t make the Church, but rather the Church is making you,

Through the relationship the Church shares with you.

Because we also believe in eternal life for the saints,

those in your lineage that have slipped into eternity,

and those, who like you, are alive and remain,

are one group, one body, the body of Christ, the Church.

Romans 12:4-5 & 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, 27 (NIV)

Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, ⁵ so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others….The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. ¹³ For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body-- …Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

Here’s just a small glimpse—

Imagine the Cowboys Stadium, where the NFL Dallas Cowboys play

football.

It has seating for 80,000 people and room for another 30,000

standing, you can get 110,000 fans into the Stadium,

and just for fun lets cram in another 33,999,

for a total of 143,999 people (Revelation 7:4 J )

Now imagine that every person in the Stadium is one of God’s faithful.

The place is packed, and you’re standing center field.

You are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses

(Hebrews 12:1)

These are your people,

You are part of this community of faith,

And that community of faith is part of you.

It might be incompressible but you share a special bond with all 143,999.

The same blood that atoned for you, atoned for them.

They are all brothers and sisters—your spiritual family.

Hebrews 12:1 (NLT) & (MSG)

We are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith…Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on?

You are being cheered on by the Church to live a life of holiness,

The Church is making you into the image of its head—Jesus,

Through the relationship that you share with it.

I want you to see how awesome this living entity is we call the Church.

I want you to see that your life is inseparable from the group.

It doesn’t seem that way but we are all spiritually enmeshed in such a

way that every one of is vital to the well being of all.

1 Corinthians 12:26 (MSG)

If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.

Think about the implication—

That’s a good reason to be your brother of sister’s keeper.

If they are hurting, failing to keep up on this journey of

transformation or worse backsliding, it damages you.

Conversely your spiritual well being affects the entire Church—

The Church is us.

A lineage are the people you have come from.

Spiritually you come from good stock.

A heritage is what your lineage has passed on to you.

Unfortunately far too many believers are ignorant of their heritage.

They have no idea what has been gifted to them.

The heritage of the church is 2000 years of orthodoxy.

Ortho means right and correct

Doxy means glory or worship.

Put it together and you get right worship.

Your heritage in the Church is right worship.

The Bible, the theology, the creeds, the doctrines, a world view,

the hymns and songs, the prophets and preachers, teachers,

and of course your brothers and sisters,

are all given to you to sustain you—feeding your soul.

Supporting you—in all the tasks you encounter as you become more

and more like Jesus,

Directing you—on this spiritual journey you are on

Keeping you accountable—holding you to your vows,

Reminding you of your promises and the desires you said were

in your heart when you cried out to God to accept your

faith.

It’s through this heritage of the Church that God the Holy Spirit makes you,

shapes you, into the person He has always intended for you to be.

The Church gives you context, you have roots, you have a rich history,

you have a unique identity,

all mitigated through relationships,

all shared in such a way that its not You and I but rather US.

It’s the fellowship, the communion of saints,

It’s the Church, it’s a living relationship.

To be kind there is great diversity in the Church.

“Each denomination, like each of us, sees God through a glass, but only dimly.”

(Smith, An Arrow Pointing To God, p. 45)

Most of these various denominations resulted from movements within a

particular parent organization to bring it back to its original roots,

back to orthodoxy.

Our heritage comes from that ancient faith of the Apostles,

Through the Roman Catholic Church,

Through the Anglican Church,

Through the Methodist Church

Through the Church of the Nazarene

To Huntington Beach Community Church.

There is a vast body of spiritual wisdom that comes to us through this branch of the

Christian family tree.

The experience of generations of believers laid out so that you can

learn how best to live your life to the full.

Wisdom is to be found.

As a young person, full of pride, I didn’t pay much attention to heritage,

History or wisdom,

I figured I had it all figured out by myself.

It was like seeking admission into the university of hard

knocks.

The orthodoxy we have inherited is like a safety rail on a mountain high

way, it prevents us from going over the edge.

Those safety rails mark where we are safe to journey.

Unfortunately we often don’t take advantage of our heritage.

Its like living in Anaheim, CA all your life and never going to

Disneyland.

We take it for granted.

We ignore it.

It’s kind of like owning a great restaurant,

but never eating there.

Like owning a great sports car,

But never driving it.

Like having a ton of money,

But never spending it.

The restaurant, the sports car, the money,

What good are they if they are not used?

I think that’s a reason why people don’t value their spiritual

heritage, Church is just optional.

Church can be taken for granted.

Church is something to use when I need it.

Don’t be ignorant of your heritage.

As a believer you have been made a new person in Christ,

You have a new family tree, a new lineage of the faithful through the

generations.

You have a rich heritage in the collective wisdom of the

Church.

Being a member of the body of Christ, being part of the Church, being the Church,

there is a legacy that you are to pass on,

there is a job to do.

First as a follower of Jesus you are a Christ bringer.

That means “we carry Christ to one another”

(Smith, Arrow, p. 38)

If you recall last week I told you that Jesus has absolute identification

with His followers, such that Jesus is with you,

and through you with the others you are with.

Second the Church, you and I, and the saints before, reveal God to the

world.

Ephesians 3:8-10 (MSG)

And so here I am, preaching and writing about things that are way over my head, the inexhaustible riches and generosity of Christ. ⁹ My task is to bring out in the open and make plain what God, who created all this in the first place, has been doing in secret and behind the scenes all along. ¹⁰ Through Christians like yourselves gathered in churches, this extraordinary plan of God is becoming known and talked about even among the angels!

The Church reveals God’s plan,

The Church extends God’s invitation to salvation,

to righteousness and fellowship and communion and love.

God makes his offer of salvation through you the Church.

It is through your healing touch of love that the good news is preached.

(Smith, Arrow, p. 40)

A healing touch of love is seeking to meet the need of another at the

cost of a personal sacrifice.

Third because we are part of the branch on the Christian Faith Family Tree

Our denomination explains the legacy we are called to build.

“The primary objective of the Church of the Nazarene is to advance God’s

kingdom by the preservation and propagation of Christian holiness as set

forth in the Scriptures.”

“The critical objectives of the Church of the Nazarene are

‘holy Christian fellowship,

the conversion of sinners,

the entire sanctification of believers,

their upbuilding in holiness…”

(Nazarene Manual 2005-2009)

Fourth, drawing life and vitality of our heritage at Huntington Beach

Community Church we are creating path ways that leading people to

Jesus who can empower them to live their lives to the full.

That’s your job, that’s the role you fill in the Church,

That’s the legacy you are to be building.

Be a Christ Bringer,

Proclaim the Gospel through loving deeds,

Live a life of holiness,

Help others why you yourself live your life to the full.

Christian singing group Casting Crowns performs a song called

If We Are The Body

that serves as a call to accountability to be the church.

But if we are the Body
Why aren't His arms reaching
Why aren't His hands healing
Why aren't His words teaching
And if we are the Body
Why aren't His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way
There is a way

Poet and Prophet Rich Mullins in his song “Alrightokuhuamen” tells us—

“Now the Lord said Church you better love;

Cause it’s a wounded world that needs a healing touch.

And He gave us a promise and He gave us a job;

He’ll be with us but the work is up to us.”

To be effective as the Church, you have to put the work in.

You’ve got to reach out with a healing touch to others.

You have a legacy to pass on to others.

How you doing with that?

The Church is so much more than a building,

It’s orthodoxy, right worship,

It’s that communion of the saints that sustains our spiritual life,

It’s that holy fellowship that gives us direction.

It’s the love that holds us accountable to one another.

The Church is you and I living in right relationship together with Jesus.

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