Monday's follow-up (on Tuesday) to Sunday's message: The treasure of the church

“The true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God.”—Martin Luther

What’s the true treasure of the church?  What is the thing that makes church truly special?  Is it the fellowship we enjoy with one another?  Is it the sense of unity, of belonging?  Is it the treasure of shared memories of good times and happy days gone by?

Those things are good, to be sure.  But they are not the true treasure of the church.  They are not the thing that binds us together, that causes us to gather every week.  They are a gift from God, but not THE gift from God to His church.

The true treasure of the church is God’s Gospel.  His message of the enduring, faithful love He has for you.  The love that endures despite your sin.  The love that endures despite the sin of your fellow church members. 

But that Gospel treasure demands we take our sin very seriously.  It demands that we admit it, that we own up to it, that we confess it.  We are not an almost-perfect people who gather together every week to get some advice on how to be just a little bit better . . . we are sinners who come to agree with God once again that we deserve nothing from Him but punishment, but instead through Jesus Christ we receive nothing from God but forgiveness.

It’s a hard thing to admit, this thing called sin.  We’d rather play at being holy.  We’d rather listen to the advice of some spiritual-sounding teacher who tells us how to get holy.  But when we simply stand and agree with God that sin is sin, that sin is ours, and that only His Son—and not us!—can pay for sin . . . that is when we realize what a treasure we have in His church.

So enjoy your church friends.  Enjoy the memories you share.  Enjoy the fellowship you have with one another.  But treasure the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for only it can make you right with God.  Only the Gospel can truly make a church.