February 8th, 2015

As you know, I am Lebanese by birth.

I grew up in Beirut, Lebanon, and came to this country

as a student to study in college.

I remember a very early experience

as a foreigner. I've been

naturalized since then, and I've served two years in the army during the

Vietnam era, so I am a naturalized citizen. But I remember

when I first came, some of my friends

wanted me to go to a baseball game. You realize

that in Lebanon, all that we saw was soccer. Soccer was

the only thing. And so if I went to a soccer

game, I knew what to expect. If I went to a concert,

I'd know what to expect. If I went to a library, I know what to

expect. But they took me to a baseball

game, and I had no idea what on earth

was happening. I mean, I was completely

lost. I mean,

I had no idea.

What are the rules? What are they trying

to accomplish? Why are they doing this?

Why aren't they doing that?

I had no idea.

Some of you may

feel the same way about church.

That is,

you know what to expect in a library,

you know what to expect in a movie theater,

you know what to expect in a concert,

you know what to expect in a class at school.

But what is it that happens in church?

What is church all about?

I also remember the first time I flew

in an airplane

from Lebanon to New York.

I had read about New York

and tried to learn something about the city,

but as we flew over it,

it dawned on me what New York was like.

So there is the Empire State Building,

and there is the Statue of Liberty,

and there is the Rockefeller Center.

And in the airplane,

because we were flying high,

we could see the larger picture.

Not just one block,

but the larger picture.

So what I'm going to do this morning,

Lord willing,

is to give you the larger picture,

a really big picture

of what this church is about.

So if you take out your bulletins at the back,

I wrote some things,

so hopefully you'll be able to follow

what I'm doing.

Ask yourself,

during a typical week,

what different activities happen in this place?

I mean, there are people who shovel snow,

there are people who unlock doors,

there are people who empty garbage cans,

there are people who cook food

for Sunday morning,

there are people who are greeters,

people who take the offering,

people who clean up at the end of the service.

How many activities and tasks take place

in a place like this during the week?

Over 50 activities.

Over 50.

And sometimes maybe one or two persons

do most of the work,

and sometimes if you're in a big church,

you could hire a larger staff.

But there are all these activities to do.

And of course,

if I gave you a list

of 50 things,

most of us wouldn't be able to remember.

They need to be somehow organized

or reflect some sense of order

to remember the 50,

but just an arbitrary list

of 50 people,

it's hard to do,

it's hard to remember.

So what has happened in the church

is that as we have been reflecting on this

for 2,000 years,

several approaches have been done,

and I want to walk you through some of them.

So if you say to yourself,

I can't remember all 50 activities,

is there some other way to organize the data?

Yes, there is.

One way of looking at it

is to ask yourself,

how does the New Testament

describe the church?

And there is no simple answer.

There is a scholar

by the name of Paul Meniere

who did the research for that.

He was paid by Yale University to do it.

And in a book called

New Testament Images of the Church,

he found out that the New Testament

describes the church

in 95 different ways.

95 different ways

of describing the church.

Well, I mean,

if memorizing 50 is bad,

memorizing 95 is a little bit more challenge.

So he asked himself,

can we organize,

can we group things together,

can we put them in different boxes?

And he came up with six very important ways

of looking at the church.

The church is the people of God.

The church is the flock of God.

The church is the temple of God.

The church are the called out ones,

the saints of God.

The church is the body of Christ.

The church is the bride of Christ.

So if I am thinking about the church

and I think to myself,

we are the body of Christ,

then the next thing I should ask myself,

well, what does that entail?

Well, a couple things for sure.

That we are different.

That there is diversity.

We're not all ears.

We're not all eyes.

I mean, be the weirdest looking body

if you had nothing but eyes everywhere.

You know, we're not all feet.

We're not all hands.

We reflect enormous diversity

and that we need each other.

If you don't believe me,

try to feed yourself through your ear

this afternoon.

You know, see how the cake goes down,

if it will.

We are diverse.

So we look at these various images

and we ask ourselves,

what is the church

and what activity goes with these metaphors

and pictures of the church?

There was a teacher

who was very, very influential.

Almost everybody who studied with her

became professors

in some important Christian universities.

Now, she had students

who were all single

and they were all studying Christian ministry

and they were all preparing

for the pastorate.

So this mean teacher

used to look at them

and used to say,

remember your wife.

Now, you can take that

in one of two ways.

One way it means

if you are single,

if you are single

and you graduate

and you think you're going to get a job

as a single pastor,

forget about it.

Unless you're married,

nobody is going to hire you.

So remember your wife meant

better start dating,

you know,

improve your prayer life,

ask God to bring Rebecca

into your existence.

because if you're single,

you're not going to be employed.

Churches are not looking for single youth pastors

or senior pastors

or lead pastors.

Well, that's not what she meant

with remember your wife.

I'm so delighted

that some of my friends

here at this church

who are either already pastors

or pastors in training

or hoping to become pastors,

I'm so glad that you're all married.

I mean, you know,

that's one prayer list.

I mean, I have to pray for you

in some other way

but not for that one at least.

You have lightened my burden.

But when she said,

remember your wife,

she really meant something else.

She said,

she is saying,

have a healthy church.

Look,

my doctor told me,

either you lose weight

or you're flirting with diabetes.

So the last few months,

I have been trying to lose weight

and I lost 31 pounds.

I won't tell you

how many I've regained

but I have lost 31.

And sometimes

when I become ambitious

or panic,

I think to myself,

the only thing I'm going to eat

is cauliflower.

You know,

eat 40 months,

morning,

lunch,

noon,

dinner,

cauliflower.

And then the doctor says,

come on, Samir,

we want balanced meal.

You know,

cereal,

meat,

you know.

So,

he wants me to lose weight

but do it in a balanced way,

not just broccoli and cauliflower.

She was saying to her students,

if you're going to become pastors,

then have a healthy church,

not a distorted church,

a church out of whack.

And the word that she used was wife.

W-I-F-E.

W,

worship,

I,

instruction,

F,

fellowship,

E,

evangelism.

It is not healthy to go to a church

that the only thing they ever do

is evangelism.

Now,

I am all for evangelism.

The Lord told us to do evangelism.

But he didn't say only evangelism

and nothing else.

That is not healthy.

Or just fellowship.

That's not healthy either.

Or just Sunday school.

Or just worship.

It is a combination of all four.

And so she was saying to her students,

have a healthy, balanced church.

Not some distorted church

with only one activity.

So remember your wife.

She was extremely influential.

She was extremely influential.

Her students are basically my generation

and we have occupied

every important position

in Christian colleges.

But

somebody noticed

that looking at wife

that

the idea of discipleship

is missing.

So where does discipleship go?

Well, you could try to find another word.

You know,

with five letters.

Since I love languages,

I came with a simple solution.

Make the word wife

a verb

rather than a noun.

And then we have

I wifed,

you wifed,

he, she, it wifed,

you wifed,

they wifed,

we wifed.

And we've solved the problem.

Regrettably,

nobody follows my instructions.

God hasn't given

the gift of wisdom

to the rest of people

that he has given me.

So nobody used wifed.

And,

consequently,

people continue to argue

in academic circles,

in my circles.

What is discipleship?

And some think,

well,

discipleship is a product.

Make disciples,

Jesus says.

Some say,

look,

discipleship is a fifth activity.

She left it out,

we put it back in.

And that's what it is.

It's an activity.

I know how to praise,

I know how to disciple.

And then,

some have thought

that maybe discipleship

is a style

of doing things.

I understand lectures,

seminar discussions,

paper presentations,

skits.

There are various ways

of teaching,

and maybe discipleship

is a style of teaching.

Well,

she never addressed

that issue,

but I did want

to bring it up

because discipleship

is important.

And if you want to know

whether discipleship

is one of the things

those three

or all three of them

or et cetera,

I have my wonderful friend,

Billy Nye,

who's an expert

at these things

and corner him

and,

but go gentle,

you know.

Go gentle.

Another way

to look at it

is to ask yourself,

when we do

all these activities,

who is the recipient

of these activities?

Who is our target?

And there are

three targets.

God,

believers,

and the world.

God,

believers,

and the world.

So you can take

something like wife

and say,

worship,

where does that?

To whom is

worship directed at?

Certainly not the world,

heaven forbid.

And certainly not us,

we're not worshipping,

we're not that conceited,

you know,

or grand,

you know.

worship belongs to God.

So,

in trying to think

of what we do,

when it comes to God,

there are two

main activities.

The first one

is to worship God.

When we come to church,

we are here

to worship God.

I was just so delighted,

I was just so

completely delighted

that two of the songs,

I don't mean only two,

but at least two of them

clearly,

helped us think about

praising God

and worshiping him.

that's just appropriate,

that's the right

thing to do.

This is not a restaurant,

this is a church.

And we worship God.

The other major activity

is the greatest commandment.

What shall I do?

Love the Lord your God

with all of your heart.

And Jesus says,

if you love me,

keep my commandments.

So when I come to church,

the least minimum

I expect

is that

I'll have a chance

to worship God

and I have a chance

to say,

Lord,

I really love you,

but you loved me first

and you've,

you know,

you have raised me

from the dead.

You have shown your light

on my life.

I really thank you

for that

and I'm grateful

and I'm learning

to love you.

That is bare minimum.

This is bare minimum.

Now,

we can be mediocre.

I was going to say McDonald's.

I'm sorry.

I don't mean to offend anybody.

We can be mediocre

or we can be good,

but we need to love God

and worship God.

We need to love God.

That is our primary activity

toward God.

So what does it,

what is it for believers?

Well,

English translations use

three different words in English,

but they all mean the same thing.

To strengthen

or

to

edify

or

to build up

and these are all

basically meaning

the same thing.

When we get together,

we are trying

to

edify each other,

strengthen each other,

build each other up

in the faith

and there are numerous

places in the Bible

that says so.

So how do we do that?

How do we edify?

What kind of activities

go on in a church

that are designed

to build up each other,

to strengthen each other?

Discipleship,

clearly,

fellowship,

teaching,

learning to lead

holy lives?

These are all

activities that are

aimed at

believers.

God doesn't need

to be holy.

I need to be holy.

And so

these activities

are designed

to

help

us

grow

so we can be

healthy

rather than

sick and weak.

and what

activity

is

aimed at

the world.

Traditionally,

if you read

about, you know,

100 years ago

textbooks,

they would say

evangelism

and missions

and you

evangelize

in your own

culture

and you do

missions

in

somebody else's

culture.

So if I am

witnessing to

an Arab,

because I'm

an Arab,

I am

evangelizing,

but if I am

witnessing to

a Chinese,

since I'm

not Chinese,

I am

doing missionary

work.

Well, it may

be helpful to

think of it

as outreach.

We are

reaching out

to the world.

Whether they

speak our

language or

don't speak our

language,

it doesn't

matter.

Whether we

are using

English or

a different

language,

that doesn't

matter.

What matters

is that we

are reaching

out to the

world.

and how

do we

reach out

to the

world?

By

proclaiming

the gospel

and by

showing acts

of kindness

and mercy.

Jesus

says in

Matthew 5

16 that

we are the

light of the

world and

they will

see our

good works

and glorify

our Father

in heaven.

So it

is worship,

edification,

and outreach.

Let me

try to

make this

manageable.

Here is a

passage that

does a good

job summarizing

what I'm

saying.

The reason

I haven't

stuck to one

passage is

because I've

wanted you to

see all of

Chicago,

all of the

forests,

not just one

tree.

But here is a

fabulous passage.

It's really

fabulous.

It's

fabulous.

New Testament

authors are

just brilliant.

You know,

they're just

fantastic.

I read it

and I think,

gosh, how

can anybody

be so smart?

Well, the

Holy Spirit,

obviously.

So, look

at Hebrews

13, 15.

If you have

a pencil,

jot down

13, 15

somewhere.

And then

13, 16.

So, in

Hebrews 13,

15,

through Jesus,

therefore,

let us

continually

offer to

God a

sacrifice of

praise,

the fruit

of our

lips that

confess his

name.

Let us

offer to

God the

sacrifice of

praise.

If you're

not sure

what praise

is, let

me recommend

a passage

for you.

The last

five psalms,

Psalms 146,

147,

148,

149,

and 150,

those last

five psalms,

every one

of them

begins in

Hebrew with

praise the

Lord, and

every one of

them ends

with praise

the Lord.

Five psalms,

five times.

And, of

course, praise

the Lord in

Hebrew is

hallelujah.

So, it

begins hallelujah,

and then a

discussion of

praise, and

then hallelujah.

Again,

hallelujah,

hallelujah,

hallelujah,

hallelujah.

So, in

case you're

wondering, oh,

what is

praise like?

Here are

five psalms

to start

thinking about

that.

And so,

the author of

Hebrews is

saying, when

it comes to

God, let

us offer

to God a

sacrifice of

praise, the

fruit of

lips that

confess his

name.

And then

verse 16,

and don't

forget to

do good and

to share with

others.

In the

first one,

we're offering

God.

In the

second one,

verse 16,

it is to

do good and

to share

with others.

For with

such sacrifices

God is

pleased.

Notice he

calls praise

sacrifice, and

he calls

doing good and

sharing with

others sacrifice.

It's the same

word.

That is an

act of

sacrifice, and

this is an

act of

sacrifice.

But one is

directed at

God, the

other one is

directed at

people.

So do

good and

share with

others.

I don't

think that,

I personally

don't think

that giving

somebody a

ride to

O'Hare is

a spiritual

sacrifice.

Maybe I

don't think

so, but

God thinks

so.

God bless

my next

door neighbor.

He has a

huge snow

blower.

I have

poor muscles

who are

getting weaker

as I lose

more and

more weight.

And when

it snows, he

clears, everybody

is on the

block, including

my driveway.

He is doing

good.

He is sharing

his lawnmower,

not lawnmower,

snowblower,

sorry, snowblower

with me.

He's being

kind to me.

But I want

you to think

deeper about

this passage.

Think this.

We praise

God, that's

an activity

directed at

God.

We share

and do

good, and

that's activity

directed at

people.

What is

behind God

and people?

The two

greatest

commandments.

Love God

and love

your neighbor.

So maybe

one way

I show

God that

I love

him is

by praising

him.

And maybe

one way

I show

my neighbor

that I love

him by

sharing and

doing good.

So we

minister to

God with

praise.

We minister

to each

other with

encouragement,

edification,

building up,

strengthening,

and we

minister to

the world

through our

outreach,

through our

good acts,

acts of mercy,

and through the

preaching of

the gospel.

They will

see our good

deeds and

glorify our

Father in

heaven.

Well,

but I'm

keeping the

best to the

last.

If I

worship God

and strengthen

believers and

reach out to

the world,

or I should

say it more

properly,

if our

church,

if we as

a body of

believers,

all of us

together as

believers,

if we

praise God,

strengthen each

other,

and reach out

to the

world,

what is the

result of

that?

Are these

three ends

in themselves,

or are they

means to

still one

more higher

end?

what?

Well,

they are.

I thought,

first of all,

I would check

how many times

that word is

used in the

Bible.

I stopped

after 400.

I thought,

you know,

there's other

things to do

in my life,

and my eyes

are not that

good,

you know.

I suspect

it's about

600 times,

600 times

in the Bible.

Where do I

begin?

You know,

shall I

just read

you all

600 verses

and say,

ah,

there it

is,

it's in

the Bible.

I can't

do that,

so I

thought I

would choose

two passages

that represent

as a

sample,

rather than

an exhaustive

list,

just as a

sample.

Turn to

1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 10:31

chapter 10,

verse 31.

1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 10:31

chapter 10,

verse 31.

chapter 11.

So whether

you eat

or drink

or whatever

you do,

whatever covers

fairly everything,

you know,

so whether you

eat or drink

or whatever

you do,

do it

all

for the

glory

of God.

Do it

all

for the

glory of

God.

whatever I

do,

putting on

a shirt,

I should

do it

to the

glory of

God.

Driving

to my

work,

I do

it to

the glory

of God.

When I

edify

believers,

I'm doing

it for

the glory

of God.

And

another

place where

you can

remember

that,

the very,

very,

very last

verse in

the epistle

to the

Romans.

Romans.

So turn

to the

end of

Paul's

epistle

to the

Romans.

Look at

the very

last

verse.

And

Paul

ends

his

magisterial

epistle

with these

words.

To the

only

wise

God

be

glory

forever

through

Jesus

Christ.

Amen.

To the

only

wise

God

be

glory

forever

through

Jesus

Christ.

Amen.

Whatever

we do,

the

ultimate,

the very

ultimate

purpose of

the church

is to

glorify

God.

It's

not about

us.

Even

though we

are important,

even though

he loves

us,

even though

he gave

his son

for the

world,

it is

not

about

us.

It

is

about

him.

And

I

think

these

are

indicators

of a

healthy

church.

I

know

that

as

one

of

the

elders

here,

I

am

committed

to a

healthy

church.

I

am

committed

to a

church

that

reflects

all of

these

things.

And

if

you

look

at

the

four

goals

that

we

have,

they're

all

there.

Fellowship,

holy

living,

burden

for the

unsaved,

prayer,

these

are all

activities

designed

to help

us grow

and be

healthy.

May God

give us

the grace

and the

strength

and the

wisdom

to do

it.

I want

to pray

for you.

You're

my family.

Lord,

Father,

thank you

for these

dear

believers.

Thank you

for those

who

belong

to you.

Thank you

because you

have saved

us and

showed us

your great

love.

I pray,

Lord,

Father,

that you

help us

as a

church

to walk

in this

way.

May you

give us

all the

wisdom,

the

godliness,

the

devotion,

the

desire

to

please

you

and to

glorify

your

wonderful

name.

Thank

you

for

the

many

people

who

are

here

who

contribute

to

these

tasks,

some

big and

some

small,

but all

important

and all

to your

glory.

I

ask this,

Lord,

with much

gratitude,

in Jesus'

name.

Amen.

Amen.