Ministro Laico

CONTEXTUAL ECCLESIOLOGY
Emphasizing the Church in Word and Sacrament
Tammy Sharp – August, 2011

Ask the question of a group of people on the street; “What is the church?” and you will get some very basic answers. Some will point to a particular building and say that is the church. Some will go so far as saying that it is a group of people who gather together to worship. It is a questionthat has been examined and picked apart since the disciples first went into the communities preaching the Gospel.

It is important to distinguish between the “church” with a lower case “c”, and the “Church” with a capital “C”. The “church” with a lower case “c” is what first comes to mind for nearly everyone; that is except those of us who are studying theology. This church is the building.It is the place where people gather together to worship. The word church is usually reserved for Christian places of worship, while Jewish communities have synagogues and people of the Muslim faith worship in a mosque, and Buddhist worship in a temple. While it is the first thing most people consider when asked what the church is, it is not what needs to be considered when one studiesEcclesiology.

“Church” with a capital “C” is far more broad than just a building for worship. The Apology to the Augsburg Confession, says this about the church:
However, the church is not only an association of external ties and rites like other civic organizations, but it is principally an association of faith and the Holy Spirit in the hearts of persons. It nevertheless has its external marks sothat it can be recognized, namely, the pure teaching of the gospel and the administration of the sacraments in harmony with the gospel of Christ. Moreover, the church alone is called the body of Christ, which Christ renews sanctifies, and governs by his Spirit as Paul testifies in Ephesians 1:22-23 when he says, “And God has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body,the fullness of him who fills all in all”.
The emphasis for the Church for Melanchthon was the Holy Spirit acting through people. Søren Aaby Kierkegaard went even further and emphasized the communion of saints. This emphasis supports the Luther’s theology of the Priesthood of all believers. The point in all of these is that the “Church” cannot be confined to a building. The “Church” must belived out. It is what the people of God do, through the power of the Holy Spirit, which expresses the unconditional love and grace found in Jesus Christ. It is this understanding of the church that will be wrestled with, as I look at the 21st Century global world in which we live emphasizing Word and Sacrament as expressions of this Church. This is Contextual Ecclesiology that emphasizesChurch in Word and Sacrament.
When the Catechism talks of the “pure teaching of the gospel” it is talking about the Word. But ultimately what is the Word? If asking a group of Christians what the Word is, they will be quick to talk about the Holy Bible. This is most certainly true, the Holy Bible is the Word, but it is the Word only in part. The Word also is Jesus Christ. The gospel of Johnbegins with “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” The Word is Jesus Christ. So the Word is the Holy Bible, and Jesus Christ. Does that then mean that as Christians we believe that God has stopped revealing himself to us in new ways? My answer to that is no. God continues to share His word with the world through the prompting of the Holy Spirit. As thepeople of God begin to understand the vary character of God, and then begin to live out their lives according to God’s character, God speaks. Whenever, and wherever the will of God is being lived out in its most pure form, the Word of God is shared.

Let me pause for a minute and share a concern that I feel is intrinsic in this new way of hearing God’s Word. By its very nature, contextual...