They MET

The single biggest vision and passion in my life is visible in the words of Paul in Ephesians.

First, in chapter 2:19-22:

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”

Then in chapter 4:12&13:

“…the equipping of the saints for the work of service, towards the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God; to a mature man; to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”

The way I see it – based on years of study, research and experience – the ‘building’ and the ‘body of Christ’ Paul is writing to the Ephesian disciples about is none other than the ecclesia of God.  This Ecclesia lives in the world as a Divine Mosaic – in which every individual piece is necessary and important (the chapter 2 reference) – and as a God-ordained Trapeza [banqueting table] – to which every believer brings spiritual food for the blessing and strengthening of the Body (the chapter 4 reference).

Purely because it makes it easy to grasp and remember, I bring the three words together: Mosaic, Ecclesia and Trapeza and take the first letter of each to form the word MET.  If English-speakers wants to grasp the heart and soul of God’s purposes in the world and a vision for the people of God today, all they need do is remember, ‘They MET’: Mosaic; Ecclesia; Trapeza; and commit to these two short sections of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.

Of course one can do much more than that, but this is a very fine start.  Indeed, I believe it is a start that all too few have made.  And – for what it’s worth – I believe it is THE start that must be re-made if we are to see what Paul was talking about become a living breathing reality in our communities today.

Bit by bit, we are working to see MET become a reality in our community in Brisbane.  The description – but definitely not the name – of what we are doing is mosaicSWB.  One day recently, I found a simple picture that illustrates this: Mosaic the City.

So often we kid ourselves that words like these from Ephesians are a description of ‘church’ life today; but we would be hard pressed to come up with something further from the truth than that.  The fundamental flaw is this: we equate what we call ‘the church’ with Paul’s ‘the body of Christ’.  The only thing the two have in common is some people.  But more on that later.  The bottom line, I think, is this: there are people in ‘the body of Christ’ who are not in ‘church’; and there are people in ‘church’ who are not in ‘the body of Christ’.  On the basis of Jesus’ words that you know a tree by its fruit, both these statements are painfully obvious.  What has gone wrong?

Much of what will follow in this blog grows out of this soil.  I hope and pray that all who read this will be enriched beyond measure – as I have been in looking a whole lot deeper into the subject of the ecclesia of God.

You may have noticed that I haven’t used the term ‘church’ very much.  That is deliberate, and I will spend some time of this subject.  For now, let me say that if you have any interest at all in one of the martyrs of a few hundred years ago – William Tyndale – you may be interested in one of the main reasons he was murdered.  And it might surprise you!

Tyndale was the man who did the foundational translation work for what we have today as the English bible.  He not only created the first English bible, but also the first English bible to be translated from the original language texts.  The political and religious institutions hated him, persecuted him and eventually strangled him and then burnt his body to remove all trace of him from the earth.  Why did they do that?

Cheers,

Kevin.

Trapeza

‘Trapeza’ is the Ancient Greek word for table.  It carries the implication of what is on the table, especially as it relates to a table spread with food.  By inference, trapeza can be a “banquet table” and that is the sense in which I use the term.

In Song of Solomon, the young woman rejoices that “He brings me to his banqueting table and his banner over me is love.”  I use the term trapeza in just this sense when I refer to a gathering of the New Covenant, In Christ, People of God as Trapeza.  It is a description, not a name.  Another description of the same thing is found in Paul’s writing to the Corinthians: “when you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All these must be done for the strengthening of the church” (I Cor 14:26).

I, for one, don’t believe Paul’s list of things to be done when believers gather is exhaustive – in much the same way as a food list at a banquet would not be exhaustive.  To the banquet, we bring what we make or prepare and we place it on the table for all to share, we don’t bring it with somebody’s name on it for exclusive consumption.  This honours the host.

Likewise, when we gather, all the things Paul lists are possible, as are many other things: things that the Spirit of God inspires us to prepare and put on the table for all to share.  For instance, there are the lists in I Corinthians 12, Romans 12 and Ephesians 4.  Our host, when we gather, has the honour of sharing the ‘food’ (what we have prepared and brought) as He pleases.  Our place is to trust a) the Spirit of God as He gathers and feeds His ‘flock’ and b) the Spirit of God in each other person present.  However, we do need to be reminded not to insult our host by “thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought” or by devaluing what He inspires and prepares in us to bring to the table.

In my view, that is the concept of Trapeza in reference to the gathering together of the Body of Christ in the New Covenant.  I believe it is also the basic model for ALL gatherings of the Body, through until the Second Advent, and not just for some of our meetings.  For me, Trapeza is the primary principle of how the Body of Christ should conduct and transact its mission on earth until Christ returns – its Missio Dei.  For me, that honours our Host.

A third part of my vision for local ecclesia is that when we meet [as often as we meet], we live out the story of full participation in the gospel of Christ; that we cooperate with God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – in creating and being a part of this glorious Divine Trapeza.

Cheers,

Kevin

Ecclesia

‘Ecclesia’ [ekklesia] is the ancient Greek word that was used in the First Century AD to describe a local gathering come together to transact the business of the realm.  The word is derived from the Greek word for ‘called’ with the prefix ‘ek’ [ex in English] which means ‘out of’.  Hence, these gatherings were not local town meetings that just anybody could participate in.  People were identified, ‘called out’ from among their peers, and called to gather for local public administration.

The early disciples of Jesus used this word to describe themselves [note describe, not name] because it very graphically fitted and suited their situation.  They were called ‘out of the world’; called to follow Christ; called to the fellowship of Christ; called to the Way of Christ; drawn together by the Holy Spirit to transact the business of the Kingdom of God according to the mission – and the commission – of Christ.  Everywhere a group of Jesus’ people met, they were a Kingdom ecclesia, so called not because they needed a name (to register for tax-free status or to own property!) but because it perfectly described them and what they took to be their raison dêtre (their reason for being) and the missio Dei (the mission of God).

The final part of 2 Corinthians 5:19 quoted above says, “And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.”  ‘He’ equals God.  Their reason for being and their mission was summed up by Paul in these words; then followed this: “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us” (2 Corinthians 5:20).

Apostle John wrote to the believers: “Do not love the world or anything in the world” (1 John 2:15).

Apostle Peter writes to “God’s elect, strangers in the world” and exhorts them as “strangers and aliens in the world”.

In His beautiful prayer before His trial and crucifixion, Jesus says, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.  If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you”.

In 2 Corinthians 6:14-18, Paul is quite clear and specific in what he is teaching his charges: “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?  Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?  Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols?  For we are the temple of the Living God”.  Then quoting the Prophet Isaiah, “‘come out from their midst and be separate’, says the Lord” (NASB).

In From Eternity To Here (David C. Cook 2005), Frank Viola points out a wonderful truth related to this.  The Israelites were ‘called out’ ones too: called out of Egypt; called out of Babylon; called out of the wilderness.  Egypt speaks to us of the world; Babylon speaks to us of man-made religion; the wilderness speaks to us of the temptation to settle and ‘make camp’.  In all these respects, the people of God in this age are ‘called out’ as we see here, called unto Christ, and called into the mission and the mystery of God.

Hence, it is still true today: “and to Him shall be the gathering (some translations say obedience) of the peoples” (Genesis 49:10).

A second part of my vision for local congregations of believers is that we know and understand who we are, where we’ve come from and where we are going and then cooperate with God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – in creating and being a part of that glorious Divine Ecclesia the local ‘gathering/ obedience’ unto Him.

Cheers,

Kevin.

Mosaic

As I mentioned in an earlier post, a ‘Mosaic’ is a work of art historically and traditionally made from shards – pieces of pottery and glass items broken and cast aside either through normal use or deliberately smashed for the purpose.

In the bible, Jeremiah 19:2 refers to the ‘potsherd’ gate which is where the shards of pottery were dumped.  Luke records, concerning Jesus, that He referred to Himself as the rejected stone of Psalm 118:22 and then said these words: “Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces... but he on whom it falls will be crushed” (Luke 20:18).  I take falling on this stone (which is Christ) to refer to those who cast themselves onto the mercy of God out of desperation and glad submission.

Anyone of us who has genuinely done that knows the truth of Jesus’ words: you will be broken to pieces.  These are the shards of God’s mosaic.  Broken pieces all – different in many aspects of appearance, but precious to the Divine Artisan.  And our place in the glorious mercy (and indeed the glorious future) of God – His ‘Mosaic’ – is determined not by ourselves, not by our ‘pastor’, not by our mentor, not even by our friends, but by the Master Craftsman.

The scriptures affirm this using the concept of the potter, the clay and the various vessels the potter wishes to make for his house.  (See Isaiah 29; Isaiah 45; Isaiah 64; Jeremiah 18; Romans 9:20.)

In Romans 12:5, Paul canvasses a closely related idea when he says, “so, in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”  It doesn’t take much to see the idea of a mosaic in this revelation from Paul.  Bear in mind that Paul was the one vessel chosen by the Potter to be the revealer of the ‘eternal mystery’ that God had hidden (even from the angels) from eternity past.

And Paul doesn’t stop at telling the Roman disciples about it, he also takes the message to Corinth: “But in fact, God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. As it is, there are many parts, but one body” (1 Corinthians 12:18 & 20).

But even before Corinth and Rome, Paul was revealing the mystery and this same truth to the local congregations in the region of Galatia: “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:26-29).  And here he is a bit more specific, identifying the fact that there are many variations among the family of Jesus, but THEY ARE ALL SONS, ALL ONE BODY, ALL ONE IN CHRIST, ALL CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM AND ALL HEIRS OF THE SAME PROMISE – a glorious mosaic by the Divine Artisan in the gallery of the world to depict, reveal and unravel the mystery of God’s mission: “God was, in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not counting men’s sins against them” – not differentiating on any grounds (2 Corinthians 5:19).

One part of my vision for local ecclesia is that we cooperate with God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – in creating and being a part of that glorious Divine Mosaic.

Cheers,
Kevin.

mosaicSWB

There are two parts to this title: mosaic and SWB.  Let me first deal with the SWB.  This is simply a geographic locator.  It stands for south-west Brisbane where my wife and I live.  Brisbane is the capital city of Queensland, the north-eastern state of Australia.  It has a population of around 1.2 million and is very much a sub-tropical city with hot wet summers and cool dry winters.  The Tropic of Capricorn cuts through Queensland at Rockhampton, around 7 hours drive north of Brisbane.

The more important part of course is mosaic.  A mosaic is a work of art historically and traditionally made from shards – pieces of pottery, tiles or glass items broken and cast aside either through normal use or deliberately smashed for the purpose.  I use mosaic as a motif in a number of ways.

In one sense, it is a motif for my own life.  I'm sure I share with many of you a certain sense of broken-ness as a human being.  Sometimes it seems that my life is made up of pieces - pieces held together somehow by a power that I don't fully understand or appreciate.  But the Master Artist has managed to not just put the pieces together, but to do so in such a way that it makes a work of art - loved by some and shunned by others.  And, like any work of art, different people see different things when they look into my eyes or observe my life.  Personally, I think that's true for all of us.  Part of my view of life is that every person is a work of art - more or less broken pieces uniquely arranged, with more or less help from a Master Artist.

In another sense, it is a motif for my family - both the family I was born into and the family I have made with my wife and our children.  Every person has a unique and valuable place in the mosaic of family life.  Every person has a unique relationship with every other person in the family, from mum and dad, to sisters and brothers.  As an adult son, I eventually came to see my uniqueness with my brothers and sisters and my very individual relationships with my mum and my dad.  As a husband and father, I have had to learn that I need to relate to each of my children uniquely and individually and that they individually relate to their mother differently again.  Me with my brothers and sisters and mum and dad is one mosaic.  Me with my wife and children is another very different mosaic.  And they may be shabby or chic.

In yet another sense, it is a motif for a local community or a nation: south-west Brisbane or Australia.  It is a kind of motif for any multi-racial or multi-lingual neighbourhood, society or nation.  If you live for any reasonable time in Australia, you will hear us use these expressions: the first Australians; white Australians; new Australians.  These refer to the indigenous Australians who were here for many thousands of years, the early waves of migrants to come here based on our 'White Australia Policy' after the British claimed the land in 1788, and the later waves of migrants who have come from just about every nation on earth - some as business or lifestyle migrants, others as refugees.  As Australians, we are, at many levels, a mosaic nation.  Some love the work of art that we have become, others don't like it at all.

But I also use it as a motif for a very different purpose.  I am one of those strange people who believe that God exists and that he is actively engaged with this world and the people in it.  In fact, for me, he is the Master Artist.  I will even go one step further and say that, for me, his interest in and active engagement with us, is as that Master Artist, making a mosaic out of me, out of my family and, I believe, making a very different mosaic within our various communities.  One of the ancient writers said, 'anyone who comes to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who diligently seek him.'  Those who believe that he exists and, on that basis, diligently seek him, he is making into a most amazing mosaic.  I am part of that mosaic in south-west Brisbane - and the top priority for my life is to cooperate with him in that work and - hopefully - come to see a very large and very beautiful work of art that is, effectively, his family.

[Mosaic is one of three words that form the core of what I do with my life and, when taken together, they are my 'mission statement' and my 'core values'.  The other two words are 'ecclesia' and 'trapeza'.  Over the next few days, I will take a look at each one and construct a word picture of how it all comes together]