As you think about your tithe, we realize inherently that the tithe is a symbol of what Jesus Christ has done for us, but we also give because we believe that our mission is discipleship. Therefore we realize we have a need to give as an expression of gratitude for what the church is life and death.
Somewhere along the way, we in the church began to see the purpose of church as a rehabilitation center, ie. the church exists for me, as a place to be healed and be made well. While that’s a beautiful and a major fruit of the church, that’s not the purpose of the church. The purpose of the church is less rehab center and more emergency room.
The Church is a life saving, eternal hope giving, Mission Station.
A place where people are made new people through Jesus Christ. When it comes right down to it, do you believe that without Jesus there is no hope? There is no heaven, no afterlife? There are many Christians today, good people who say: “I believe in Jesus, He brings comfort to me and a certain amount of hope, but it’s not life and death! I can’t say the person in my office who isn’t a believer is not going to heaven.” It sounds so good and modern but it is not Biblical.
In Acts chapter 4 we find Luke saying: Salvation is found in no one else, There is no other name under heaven given to us by which we can be saved..
John 14:6 – Jesus says: I am the way, The truth, The life. No one can come to the father except through me.
That’s the reality of the cross, If there was more than one way to heaven, why on earth would Jesus have to have died?
Which means the church is a place of life and death. There are major differences between the rehab center and the ER. While both have an element of healing: In the Rehab, there is no urgency and it’s not a place seen as life and death.
In the ER, there is both chaos and urgency. People are coming into the ER to be saved, receiving hope out of their hopelessness. There is chaos and urgency because you also have ambulances going out from the ER. Ambassadors of life and hope saying let’s reach out beyond the corner of Meeting and Broad Street.
The ER is a Biblical vision of church! Less a building and more a people both receiving others and going out! This means each and every one of you is needed.
In fact, I see each of you as a critical spiritual ER Doctor, Nurse, Medic, Teacher, Lifter, Practitioner, Janitor, Cleaner, Ambulance driver, Tech, and/or Radiologist. All have a major role in this ER being hands, eyes, ears of the life saving one, Jesus Christ.
Do you see this? Does it change your image of the church as less a building, more a people deployed to bring life saving hope to those around the world!
If we think of church as only rehab, Church as comfort only and not eternal life or death then our vision of transforming hearts through Jesus Christ may not make sense to you! You may not understand why we have to spend money on missions, or the Alpha Course, or why we do what we do period! You may not understand why twelve St. Michaelites as you are reading this are serving right now in the Ukraine in a life and death mission.
Why we need our newly Commissioned ER coordinator Swain Marion as Action Team Leader.
As we see church as ER, we realize we are involved in the most amazing and exciting worldwide search and rescue mission man has ever known, and joy begins to overwhelm us at this purpose for our lives! We begin talking about hope beyond hopelessness! We find ourselves becoming new through the power of the Holy Spirit.
So our tithe is going toward this life saving mission station, an emergency room we call the church, the most important organization in the history of the world.