There have been a number of incidents over the ten years of New City Church that will be forever etched into my memory. They are poignant markers of who we are as a church. One such incident happened a couple months ago. A young woman was visiting the church. She has visited a number of times over the previous few years. During our prayer time—that is, in our worship service—she asked for prayer for her drug addiction. After some time successfully fighting against it she had relapsed but was once again clean and sober—and fighting desperately.

I am always surprised when visitors are willing to share prayer requests, and I am always delighted that they feel comfortable doing so. This speaks volumes about the culture of our church. That this woman could share about her drug addiction in our worship service demonstrates where our hope is as a church. We gather, after all, to worship the Savior who died for the sins of his people. If we cannot confess our sins while worshiping him then there is no hope for any of us. We have hope, and so we can confess our sins, and she confessed her sin and requested prayer.

What happened after she made this request and someone prayed for her is what will be forever etched in my memory, but first, a bit of the backstory. On the Thursday before this my City Group met. I’m in the same City Group as Quiana. She was sharing with our group that she had been praying that God would cause our church to grow and that we would be a beacon of hope in a dark world. (Those aren’t her exact words, but that’s what she was saying.) She then said—quite prophetically it turns out—that one day our windows would be open and someone trapped in drug addiction would hear the music and come inside to hear the message of hope, the gospel of Jesus.

That “one day” came just four days later. Our visitor showed up and confessed her ongoing struggle with drug addiction and asked the church to pray for her. I forget who prayed but I remember quite clearly that after the prayer Quiana got up and walked over to her to address her publicly. I don’t remember her exact words but she expressed joy that this woman could share publicly, and, speaking as much to the church as to this woman, she said that we’re all sinners, even if our sin shows up differently. She said it doesn’t matter who it is or what sins he or she struggles with, we’ll make room. She said each one of us in the church would scootch over so there’s a place to sit. To say this another way, New City Church makes disciples…by scootching over.

It is difficult to have a judgmental attitude toward the sins of others when we understand the depth of our own sin—and the enormity of the mercy and grace given to us by God in Christ through his Spirit. The truth is that others in the church have already scootched over so that we might find a seat in the presence of God as we worship him together, and we have scootched over for them.

Recently I received a letter from a woman who is same-sex attracted. She wondered whether there were a place for her at New City. In my response to her I pointed her to 1 Corinthians 6:9–11, which most definitely does NOT exclude her, any more than it excludes any of us. Paul wrote these words:

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

1 Corinthians 6:8–11 ESV

At first glance it might appear that these words exclude, but ask yourself this: why is Paul warning the Corinthians about these sins? Because they were still struggling with them! (Just read Paul’s letter!) Rather than excluding them for getting drunk or committing adultery, he’s telling them to stop doing these things because they are inappropriate for followers of Jesus. That is who the Corinthians once were, but that is no longer their identity. They are the people of God, those who have been washed clean and have been sanctified. They have been declared righteous in the name of the Lord Jesus who works in them by his Spirit. They must, therefore, live according to their true identity, which is found in Jesus Christ.

After receiving my letter in response, this woman graciously agreed to meet for breakfast so Erik and I joined her. She asked me quite directly why churches so often focus on this one sin while ignoring so many other sins. I told her that the gospel of Jesus prevents me from being able to focus on the sins of others, because the gospel of Jesus is the story of true justice.

I told her that when we think of justice we intuitively understand that the penalty must match the crime. If a person is convicted of a crime and sentenced to life in prison, you would expect the crime to be quite serious—that’s a hefty penalty. If you learned the crime was shoplifting, you would immediately recognize that life in prison is not justice. Six months of probation? Sure, that makes sense. If a murderer were sentenced to just six months of probation that’s not justice, either.

I told this woman that the just penalty for my sins against a holy God was this: the death of the Son of God. Whatever my sins are (and they are myriad), it took the death of the Son of God to achieve justice, that I might be forgiven them. How could I ever look at another person and think that his or her sins are too great for my God to save him or her? Whatever those sins are, it also took the death of the Son of God to reconcile that person to God.

Each one of us is involved in the struggle with sin. Some of us are proud and get angry at drivers who dare drive too slowly or who act as though they own the road. Okay; that one is me. Some of us are filled with envy or bitterness. Others struggle with pornography and lust. Still others struggle with greed or malice or laziness or gluttony or drug and alcohol addiction. Some cheat on their taxes and some are too self-righteous to even think of such a thing. Some are same-sex attracted. Some are filled with resentment or jealousy or have a divisive spirit. Wherever you are on the spectrum of sin we’ll make room for you. Here at New City we are all about making disciples, and one way we make disciples is by scootching over to make room for one more sinner.

We’ve been working our way through the Apostles’ Creed as a guide for what has been believed “everywhere, always, and by all” Christians. The core of our Trinitarian faith is contained in the Creed, yet the Creed does not contain all that we believe. Within our ancient, historic faith are broad streams that diverge on various matters, yet we remain united because of our common confession. One of these areas of divergence is the issue of baptism.

Last Sunday we were encouraged and exhorted to remember our baptism (in case you missed it, you may find it here). Baptism functions much like an adoption ceremony in a courtroom. It is the formal declaration that a child belongs to a new family, though that family has already embraced the child as their own. The formal declaration is important. So baptism is the formal declaration by a church that God has claimed the one being baptized as his own. I pointed out in that sermon that baptism is less that we are publicly identifying with God and much more that God, through baptism, is publicly identifying with us. It is the formal, visible, and public ceremony by which one is identified as God’s child.

One of the great difficulties with preaching is knowing what to cut. A given text says many things and the challenge I face each week is knowing what to leave out and what to keep in the sermon. (Prayer is absolutely vital for this.) In that sermon I focused on baptism as the instrument God uses to grant us a new identity in Christ. All other identities will fail; his identity given to us never will. We rest in who we are in Christ, come what may. While baptism does this, this is not all that is happening in baptism!

Dr. Michael Svigel, a Patristics scholar (early church fathers) at Dallas Seminary, points out six things that baptism is. Baptism is:

• a public confession of the Trinitarian faith (Matthew 28:19)
• a personal association with Christ’s death and resurrection (Romans 6:3–4)
• a repentance from a life of sin (Acts 22:16; 1 Corinthians 6:11)
• a pledge to live a sanctified life (1 Peter 3:21)
• a rite of initiation into the covenant community (1 Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:27)
• a mark of official community forgiveness (Acts 26:18).

On Sunday I focused on the personal association with Christ’s death and resurrection, and touched on baptism as a rite of initiation into the covenant community and as a mark of official community forgiveness. Through baptism the church declares what God has already determined to be true: the one being baptized has been forgiven of his or her sins through faith in Christ, thus indicating that he or she is a part of the body of Christ.

Throughout this series we’ve focused on the Apostles’ Creed, which began as a baptismal confession. This is why the Creed is Trinitarian in focus, with the three major headings being, “I believe in God… I believe in Jesus Christ… I believe in the Holy Spirit”. Baptism is merely the beginning of this public confession of Trinitarian faith.

What about the other two things baptism declares, that of repentance from a life of sin and a pledge to live a sanctified life? When we are called to remember our baptism, we are being called to remember these as well. This is Paul’s point in Romans 6:

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Romans 6:1–4 ESV

Baptism is a pledge to remain identified with Christ as one who has died to sin. The outcome of this is newness of life—a life no longer under the control of sin. Sin’s power has been broken in the life of the believer, for by union with Christ that power remains nailed to the cross. It remains buried, and sin’s power will never experience resurrection. We, however, have been raised with Christ, that we might walk in newness of life. However, in the very next chapter of Romans Paul expresses the struggle with sin that we all experience:

For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.

Romans 7:19 ESV

None of us is free of sin. Each one of us struggles with the ongoing pull toward it. When we remember our baptism, we resist this pull, but we must also remember that baptism is our repentance from a life of sin. Remembering our baptism means a life of ongoing repentance. (For more details see this article.) A life of repentance is a life filled with God’s grace and mercy. Consider John’s words in his first letter:

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

1 John 1:8–10 ESV

To deny that we sin is to lie to ourselves but to confess our sins to God is to receive his mercy! What a beautiful declaration! Notice the reason why God forgives: he is faithful and just. We get the faithfulness. We know God is good and merciful, yet John also says God is just to forgive us. He is upright and fair and righteous for doing so. Why is this? This is because if one is in Christ, his or her sins have already been dealt with at the cross! Remember that through baptism when Jesus died, we died, and when he was buried, we were buried, and when he rose from the dead, we were raised with him in newness of life. It is just for God to forgive us our sins because he has given us his identity as his people, and that means in his eyes we are already righteous. His ongoing forgiveness is his repeated declaration that this is true.

So let’s remember our baptism. Let’s remember that our public confession of our Trinitarian faith is our rite of initiation into God’s covenant community by which God unites us to Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection, which is also the church’s declaration that we belong to God and have already been forgiven by him. It is also our pledge to live as his people as we live in ongoing repentance and continually receive his mercy and grace.

The apostle Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome is one of the most widely-studied books of the entire Bible. Whether it’s the so-called “New Perspective of Paul” or questions about Paul’s primary purpose in writing the letter, the debates are far-reaching and, frankly, never-ending. It is one of the richest and most magnificent books of the New Testament, though the focus is often on the first eleven chapters. Through these eleven chapters Paul beautifully illustrates and proclaims the gospel of Jesus. Chapters 12–16 are often skimmed over, filled, as they are, with instructions that may not seem so very connected with chapters 1–11. This is a mistake for 12–16 are also filled with rich and wonderful theology as the foundation for the various instructions.

Chapter 12 begins with an instruction to offer to God our spiritual sacrifices, for the death of Jesus ended the need for God’s people to go to the temple in Jerusalem. When Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, he sat down at the right hand of the Father, indicating his work was finished—and so was the need for more flesh-and-blood sacrifices. Rather than bulls and goats, we now offer our lives to God. We are “living sacrifices” (Romans 12:1–2).

Paul then instructs the Christians in Rome to offer themselves as living sacrifices in practical ways by using their spiritual gifts in service to one another (Romans 12:3–8). These are gifts of grace, the very same grace that offers mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. We don’t often think of spiritual gifts in this way but spiritual gifts are truly grace gifts. The word for grace is “charis” and the word for spiritual gift is “charisma”—things freely bestowed by God. Just as Jesus Christ has been given for his church, so each one of us has been given to the church. While each follower of Jesus has spiritual gifts, these gifts are actually given to the church through the individual.

Then Paul describes the right behavior of those who follow Jesus:

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.

Romans 12:9–17 ESV

As I read through these various commands from the apostle, I understand why John Piper spent eight years preaching through this book and D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones famously (infamously?) took thirteen! Each one of these instructions is a rich demonstration of the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ! Let’s focus on just one: “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.”

The gospel of Jesus unites his people together in love in a way that nothing else can. A shared ethnicity can unite people, but it does not create love and commitment to one another. Being around those with similar interests or similar educational backgrounds or similar socio-economic statuses make for less awkward interactions, as it offers many shared perspectives, but these similarities do not produce commitment to one another. Our common confession does, in fact, produce love and commitment to one another: Jesus is Lord.

What does it mean to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep? Quite simply, it means that the joy of our brothers and sisters in Christ is our joy, and the sorrow of our brothers and sisters in Christ is our sorrow. We hurt with one another and we celebrate with one another. Because we are a transformed people, when our family hurts we hurt and when our family celebrates we celebrate. Let me offer a concrete example.

Recently the United States House of Representatives passed a bill to make “Juneteenth” a federal holiday. It now awaits the Senate and then President Biden. On January 1, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln’s “Emancipation Proclamation” became the law of the land and by executive order all slaves were freed. However, this legal declaration did not mean slaves were suddenly able to enjoy their new legal status as free men and women; a war was being fought over this very issue. Two and a half years later, Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas with his Union troops. He arrived on June 19, 1865 and issued General Order Number 3, which read in part,

The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired laborer.

Major General Gordon Granger, General Order Number 3

As news of their new-found freedom spread, so did the celebrations. The former slaves in Texas began to commemorate this day every year on June 19—often called “Juneteenth”. These original celebrations were often community celebrations as many would gather together to share dishes, with many get-togethers centered around barbecue pits. Just as many of Israel’s holy days centered around feasts, so Juneteenth is a celebration centered on feasting, and these celebrations continue today and are, in fact, growing in popularity.

So what does this have to do with Romans 12? We should rejoice with those who rejoice and we should weep with those who weep. We must acknowledge the injustices perpetrated both historically and presently and we must celebrate the advances in freedom. Romans 12:9 tells us to abhor what is evil. We must have a vehement dislike for—hate—what is evil, and chattel slavery and systemic injustice are evil.

It would be unloving to ignore the ignominies of the past and present and it would be unloving to fail to rejoice that all men and women are free to work and prosper as they are able. We must not rejoice blindly as many injustices are still being overcome, but we can and should as followers of Jesus be aware of and even celebrate days like Juneteenth.

A couple weeks ago I preached a sermon in our “Ancient Faith / Modern Church” series called “We Believe in the Holy Catholic Church”, for Jesus is present in his fullness in our gathered assembly, which makes us the whole church, or the catholic church. In that sermon I mentioned that since there are 10,080 minutes in a week and since we gather together for just 120 of those minutes, we only honor Jesus in that assembly. I said that we can and even should honor others for their service or for their sacrifice, etc., during those remaining 9,960 minutes. In our gathered assembly we observe Easter and Christmas and Pentecost, etc., but we reserve our national and cultural holiday observance for the remainder of our week.

What this means is that it is good for us to rejoice with those who rejoice, and that includes recognizing the significance of Juneteenth. There is no biblical requirement to celebrate the Fourth of July or Memorial Day or Labor Day or Thanksgiving Day, yet as part of our shared cultural heritage we often do. Slavery and the abolition of slavery and the struggle for freedom is also part of our shared cultural heritage, so it is good for us to celebrate the news of freedom.

Feasting is a significant part of celebration. Just as Israel feasted at Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Weeks, etc., we feast on our nation’s holidays such as Independence Day and Thanksgiving. For followers of Jesus feasting is a significant reminder of what is to come: the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”—for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

Revelation 19:6–9 ESV

The work for justice in this world continues yet we celebrate the justice that is already here, for slavery has long been abolished. So, too, God’s work of salvation continues yet we know we will celebrate its fullness when the Lord Jesus returns. The truth is that in this life we live in an “already/not yet” reality. Our salvation is already here, yet it is not here in its fullness. Jesus is already Lord but not everyone recognizes this—yet. We must celebrate both the already and the not-yet and for us as followers of Jesus, this means we celebrate the abolition of slavery and we recognize the fullness of freedom is not yet here. One day we will celebrate the Holiday of holidays when our Lord returns and we feast with him as he brings the fullness of our salvation, but let’s not forget the smaller celebrations along the way.

When Paul wrote 1 Corinthians he promised to send Timothy to them (1 Corinthians 4:17; 16:11). First Corinthians was a difficult letter for Paul to send as things in the church in Corinth were not well. There were divisions in the church threatening the unity the Spirit gives (1:10–17; 3:1–23). They were proud of sexual immorality in the church, thinking they were sophisticated and progressive for allowing it (5:1–13). They were taking one another to court (6:1–11). They were confused about marriage and human sexuality (7:1–16). They were insisting on their rights to the harm of their brothers and sisters in Christ, to the point of participating in pagan feasts (8:1–13). In addition to rebuking and correcting them for these things he answered a number of questions they had sent him, questions about culturally appropriate attire (11:1–16), questions about the Lord’s Supper (11:17–34), questions about spiritual gifts (12:1–31), about orderly and proper worship (14:26–40). They were confused about the resurrection of the dead, with some thinking it had already taken place (15:1–58)! In short, the church in Corinth was a mess and Paul sent a very frank and very firm letter to rebuke them and to teach them and to encourage them.

It is probable that when Timothy visited Corinth on behalf of the apostle, he returned to Paul with dire news: the situation had actually worsened. The details are a bit fuzzy but it seems that Paul interrupted his travel plans and visited Corinth to make the necessary corrections in person (2 Corinthians 13:1). Paul did not find this visit pleasant:

For I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you.

2 Corinthians 2:1 ESV

After this visit he wrote another letter to them, a letter that has not been preserved in the canon of Scripture:

For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.

2 Corinthians 2:4 ESV

Though he had written difficult things to them, and though he had delivered painful words to them in person, it is clear that Paul loved the people of Corinth. In chapter 7 of 2 Corinthians he wrote some truly beautiful words to them:

Make room in your hearts for us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.

2 Corinthians 7:2–4 ESV

Paul calls them to make room in their hearts for him and for Timothy. He says he did nothing wrong with his stinging words, yet he is quick to say he is not condemning them. That is, by calling them to love and affection he is not suggesting they have neither, and then he reminds them of his and Timothy’s love and affection for them: “you are in our hearts, to die together and live together”. What a beautiful proclamation! Though they had experienced painful moments, Paul declares he’s sticking with them no matter what! He goes on to write this:

But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more. For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.
For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

2 Corinthians 7:6–10 ESV

The same God who comforts the downcast—those who struggle to cope—has comforted Paul and Timothy. He’s saying that he and Timothy were struggling to cope with the pain and the pressure of caring for others. They felt the weight of spiritual leadership and they felt the sting of their own words to the Corinthians, yet when Titus had visited Corinth and reported back to Paul, they were comforted, for his report was of the Corinthians’ repentance. It had taken some time, as it often does, yet God granted repentance and though Paul’s words had grieved them, this grief led them to repent.

When he writes that “godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation” it is unlikely that he means salvation in the technical sense of eternal life with the Lord. The word was a common word that referred to deliverance from calamity. If your boat capsized and another boat rescued you, you received salvation from a savior in another boat. Here Paul likely means salvation in this sense: they were rescued from a life of anger and bitterness and un-repentance. Through their repentance they were experiencing a newness of life—salvation.

Too often we think of repentance as a thing you do when you first believe. You acknowledge your sins and perhaps confess them publicly, and then you move on. The truth is that a life of following Jesus is a life of continual repentance. When an airplane pilot plots his course, he must continually make course adjustments throughout the flight, and the longer the flight, the more and the larger the adjustments may be needed. Flying isn’t as straightforward as aiming a plane toward its intended destination. Winds are constantly changing and shifting so a pilot must respond in order to remain on target. So it is with following Jesus. It is easy to begin to drift and when we recognize the drift we must make a course correction. We do not merely say, “Oh, I’m off course! My bad!” and then continue on. Repentance is not simply apologizing or even confessing the sin. Repentance is a continual course adjustment. If you hurt someone, for example, an apology is appropriate, but true repentance seeks to change the behavior by seeking what is causing that behavior in the first place. To say this another way, repentance is first internal and then it becomes outward.

A while back Jim shared in a sermon about getting angry when coffee filters stick together. This story resonated with me as I find myself getting angry at little things: stubbing my toe or my hands slipping when trying to open a jar or when another driver dares try to pass me too closely or—and this one is a doozy—when something slips from my fingers and I am forced to bend down and pick it up. None of these things is worthy of anger! True repentance on my part is not merely acknowledging the sinfulness of my thoughts and often words spoken in frustration, but digging deeply to find what is happening in my heart that leads to these micro-outbursts. In my case, it comes down to pride: how dare life frustrate me. I should live a trouble-free life! I spend so much time serving the Lord, so why hasn’t my stupid lawnmower started after three pulls? Three pulls!

Genuine repentance seeks to change the outward behavior, but merely changing the outward behavior is not repentance. I must confess the sin in my heart and I must pursue the Lord to quell my pride that I might seek his face in those moments of frustration and only by trusting in him and seeing his glory even in the small difficulties life throws at me can I truly repent. As I grapple with the pride in my heart I find these adult temper-tantrums begin to come less frequently.

While the anger grieves me, the pride I recognize inside of me grieves me even more. Paul says godly grief is what produces repentance while worldly grief produces death. That is, a grief that is grief at getting caught or being exposed or failing to keep the facade up is a worldly grief that seeks to hide one’s sinfulness and seeks to repair one’s image in the eyes of others. Godly grief comes from the Holy Spirit and enables us to recognize the true source of our sin. While it may express itself externally through words or actions, it is always, first and foremost, a heart problem. True repentance acknowledges what lies deep below the surface, and submits it to the Lord. This is only possible because of the beauty of the gospel of Jesus. We never had righteousness anyway, save for the righteousness granted to us by Christ. Let’s all seek to own this for ourselves, to be freed to acknowledge our shortcomings and sinfulness, so that we may live lives of continual repentance.

We’ve been working our way through the Apostles’ Creed on Sunday mornings, examining what has been believed “everywhere, always, by all” Christians. (See here for more about that.) Last Sunday we looked at the Creed’s claim that “We believe in the holy catholic church, the communion of saints”. (You may watch or listen to the sermon here.) While many Protestants find themselves uncomfortable with the term “catholic” it is our word and we should reclaim it.

We saw on Sunday that when we assemble in the name of Jesus, Jesus is present fully, which makes our church the whole church. Each church that assembles in the name of Jesus is the whole church, the holy catholic church. Assembling in the name of Jesus is something a local congregation does which means that the church Jesus promised to build has always existed in local, concrete assemblies. Since each church is the whole church—having the full presence of Christ—what is the relationship between local churches? Miroslav Volf put it this way:

Confession of faith not only distinguishes the church from the nonchurch, it simultaneously connects every church with all other churches.

Miroslav Volf, “After Our Likeness: the Church as the Image of the Trinity”

Our catholicity is seen in our willingness to receive all who confess Jesus is Lord and in our connection with all churches that assemble in the name of Christ. A common argument against Protestant churches by Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox apologists is that Protestantism is “fractured” for having so many denominations and associations of churches. This does not deny our catholicity, however! Local churches may associate and identify with other churches as they see fit. A local church can even submit itself to the authority of a denomination or other church without giving up its essential nature as a true church. Submission to another church (for example, the one in Rome) or connection to other bishops (as in Eastern Orthodoxy) cannot be a requirement for ecclesiality, however. An assembly that assembles in the name of Christ is a true church and is, therefore, the whole church.

At New City we pray regularly for our sister churches in our immediate area. Some are Christian Reformed and some are Reformed. There’s a Baptist church and a Presbyterian church. I meet with the lead elders from these churches regularly to pray for them and their churches. This reveals the lie that having differing views on issues such as baptism demonstrates fracturing and disunity among God’s churches. Our unity is in the core of our faith (as contained in creeds such as the Apostles’ Creed), and in the presence of Christ in our assemblies, for these churches assemble in the name of Jesus.

This does not mean the differences are irrelevant. For example, at New City we understand baptism as being the public profession of faith by which a person is received into a church’s membership while most of our sister churches in the area have a different understanding of baptism and so they baptize the infants of believers. This does not destroy our unity with them, for our unity is grounded in Jesus Christ. Again, this doesn’t mean our differences are irrelevant. While we can engage in evangelism and outreach with our brothers and sisters at Fourth Reformed, if we merged into a single congregation, what would we do when a person comes to faith and repentance and wants to be baptized? Would we get a cup or a tub? What if this new believer has children? There are practical reasons to remain separate churches, but these practical differences do not divide us, for when that church assembles in the name of Jesus they are the whole church for Christ is present in their assembly, and when we assemble in the name of Jesus we, too, are the whole church.

Because we believe in the holy catholic church, we must welcome and receive all who confess with us that Jesus is Lord. These are no mere words that must be uttered, as if they were some sort of secret passcode. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 12:3, no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit. This means that only a Spirit-empowered life can live out this confession. We must welcome all who say by the Spirit that Jesus is Lord.

While many argue that Protestantism violates the unity of God’s church, the truth is that Protestantism actually demonstrates the unity of God’s church in all its diversity—provided we practice our catholicity by welcoming all who share our confession. It would be foolish to think that we at New City have every theological detail correct while any church who disagrees with us is in error. One day we will all have the details correct, but that day is the day the Lord returns, and so far that day is not yet today. God is simply too big and too vast for any individual church or group of churches—no matter the size—to claim it has all the details nailed down. All true churches that assemble in the name of Christ receive the faith that has been handed down, even as they disagree on secondary matters. As Vincent wrote in the fifth century,

Moreover, in the catholic church itself, all possible care must be taken, that we hold that faith which has been believed everywhere, always, by all. For that is truly and in the strictest sense “catholic”, which, as the name itself and the reason for the thing declare, comprehends all universally. This rule we shall observe if we follow universality, antiquity, consent.

Vincent of Lérins, “The Commonitory”, 2.6

To welcome all who share our faith requires humility, for many may disagree with us on finer points. We are limited in our understanding of God and his Word and so we have different views on things like baptism and communion and church governance and spiritual gifts and even the role of the law of Moses in the life of believers (we will cover these exact issues in this current sermon series!). Rather than our differences showing disunity, these differences demonstrate our unity, for our unity is in Christ. Because Christ is our righteousness, theological precision is not. We are going to worship with our brothers and sisters in Christ on the new earth for all of eternity. Why on earth would we not extend that fellowship to them now?