In Christ?
OK, the rubber meats (no pun intended) the road next Sunday. I'm preaching on the Second Coming and judgment from 1 Thess 4:13-18. I'm pointing out that those who are "in Christ" are those who will be raised with Christ just as Paul says in v16. So if this isn't explaining what a Christian is, then I don't know what is. Who is "in Christ" and who is not "in Christ"? How do I summarize that briefly in a way that a bunch of lay people can understand? Wilson? Others?
posted by Tom Arthur at 7:59 PM
2 Comments:
I like the way Sam Wells talks about "in Christ" in his recent "God's Companions." He says "God has given his people everything they need to worship him, to be his friends, to eat with him. He has done this by giving them the body of Christ. He gives his people the body of Christ in three forms - Jesus, the Church, and the Eucharist....People may turn away from his gifts and strive to make a life on their own resources. This is sin. They may reduce God to a manageable size and deal only with the gifts they can comprehend. This is the poverty of moral imagination. Or they can open heart and mind, body and soul to discovering and receiving this gifts and shape their lives and the lives of their communities accordingly. This is what it means to be transformed by Jesus, molded by the Church, and sustained by the Eucharist. This is what is means to be God's companions." I'd argue this is what it means to be "in Christ." Note that this depiction incorporates Scripture (Jesus), community (Church), and the key habit of that community by which we renew our baptism (Eucharist). I hope you will consider talking about all three together when you talk about what it means to be "in Christ" because I think Sam has it right. And I think a layperson can understand these well.
I wonder whether a broader description might work: to be in Christ means to be both justified and sanctified (or being santified) within the context of the Christian Community (or Church).
I just wondered what Wesley might say on this so I looked up his sermon the Almost Christian (http://gbgm-umc.org/umhistory/wesley/sermons/serm-002.stm). A great sermon by the way. He suggests three things:
1. Love of God
2. Love of Neighbor
3. Faith (a sure trust and confidence) in Christ.
The order is curious to me. But he is Pope Wesley and his word is infallible. I think I may quote this sermon to answer this question.
Tom
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