Every time Veteran's Day rolls around I cannot help but think of the boy who went off to war in 1967, not because he had to, but because he joined the effort.  Walde, my step father, ended up in 2nd platoon 3rd squadron 4th calvary 25 infantry division.  He was on a tank and did all the jobs associated with it.  During his first tour he would end up saving a commanding officer, and being injured so badly that he would end up needing to be rehabilitated to walk again. His service was not just about bravery, but duty!  His duty was not celebrated upon his return home.  His duty left lingering health issues, the loss of friends, and a lifetime of nightmares.  I appreciate his service, his bravery, his duty!  I appreciate his love for country!  I appreciate the ways in which he allowed the experiences (or horrors) of Vietnam to shape him into a man that works hard, loves his wife, and serves others in many different ways.  Chances are most of us, if not all of us know a veteran of a foreign war.  Chances are that half of you that read this abhor war.  Chances are we don't agree on politics or war.  The point today is not to weigh down others with our views and frustrations regarding government.  Today is a day to celebrate the fact that men and women all over our country honor us by serving our country in a special way.  Today I celebrate my step-father and his service, bravery, and duty.  I wish for his sake that he didn't have to face the horrors of war.  I wish there was no need for such sacrifice.  However, I'm proud of who he was, is, and will be.  I'm happy that my boys have met and will get to know such a wonderful man.  To all of those who have served our country, THANK YOU!  Happy Veteran's Day!

The focus of the gospels is pretty plain...Jesus' life, teachings, death, burial, and resurrection.  The focus of Paul's letters seems obvious...church.  Acts seems to focus on the actions of those who were following Jesus over Judaism for the first time since Jesus' ascension.  The pastoral letters, James, Petrine epistles, Johanine Epistles seem to focus on those that are doing their best to follow Jesus or exhortation to follow Jesus.  Jude and Revelation focus on what it may mean for those who suffer for Christ and briefly say something about His return.  Hebrews...now Hebrews focuses on Jesus being the ultimate high priest.  When it comes down to it all, the entire focus is Jesus Christ.  Paul is sharing what it means to be church through the lens of being a follower of Christ.  Acts is giving examples of what it looks like to follow Jesus.  The pastoral letters are how to use Jesus as your leadership model.  The other letters constantly are pointing back to Christ.  The apocalyptic literature is framing martyrdom, and suffering as a grace act of relentless faith in Jesus.


If you go back through the Old Testament with your Jesus goggles on you will see also how the entire story of God is seeking His son, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  The church must not be the thing.  It is a thing, but not the thing!  The church is the living of of the rest of the story.  The Old Testament to the New Testament to our current Testament the focus is Jesus Christ.


What does this mean?  Does this mean we don't worry about the budget, carpet color, missionaries, staff salaries, ministry to neighbors, fellowship meals, or worship on Sunday.  Not at all!  We shouldn't really worry over those things, but they aren't precisely evil things for us to pay attention to.  It means that the focus, the mission, the vision, the call should all be out Christ and living out our redemption through him into the world.


When we worship it should be because of Jesus. 
When we take communion it should focus on the Messiah.
When we sing it should be songs of the Savior.
When we preach it should point to the Lord.
When we pray it should not just be in His name, but all about His name.
When we leave and go out into the world, we should be sent with the Christ call.


Church is only what it is, because of Christ.

To make it anything else is to miss the point of church and Christ!


Church shouldn't make us want more church.  It should make us want more Jesus.

As we continue this series about church again I want to share what church was never intended to be that sometimes we make the mistake of making it.  Church is not escape from the world.  This idea is different from church being a sanctuary.  The Sunday assembly should be a place where people who have been engaged in the world during the week can come together to have some respite and be recharged for another week to come.  That's not all it should be though!


However, the idea that the church should be disengaged from the world does not line up with Christ.  It may line up with the proverb about bad company corrupting good morals, but not with Jesus' story.  Jesus sat and ate with tax collectors and sinners.  He touched lepers, talked to women, Samaritan women, touched the dead, a bleeding woman, and defended an adulterous woman.  In fact as far as scripture goes, the people he hung out with the least were "church people."  


So as a church what do we do?  Do we spend time with only our Christian, safe friends?  Do we spend time only with those that are "like" us?  Unlike Jesus we are sinners just the same as anyone else we could interact with in this world.  Are we using church to guard ourselves against murderers, thieves, liars, cheats, prostitutes, homosexuals, wiccans, muslims, buddhists, and atheists.  If so, maybe we have missed part of what church should be today.  


Church is not an escape from the world.  This is what the Pharisees were all about.  They held tightly to the rules and regulations and kept those who didn't fit the mold out of the temple.  They rebuked Jesus, the Christ, for mingling with the wrong people, breaking the sabbath, and forgiving the unforgivable.  Jesus healed people on the Sabbath.  He touched the eyes of the blind.  He commanded the lame to walk.  He forgave the immoral.  He convicted Zacchaeus to stop cheating people and give his money away to those in need.  There is no way that Jesus could have taught his disciples "the way" without mingling with the destitute of society.  Remember it is not the well who need the physician, but the sick.


Church would be more of what is should be if we did become a silo for the worldly behavior of others, but rather a place of refuge for the worst of sinners, a place of healing for the rejected, and a place of hospitality for the least of these.


We can be a refuge from the world and be the church of the Pharisees or we can be a welcome mat for all and be the Church of Christ!