Essay 77 (6-11-05)

THE BIBLE AS DIVINE DRAMA (2)

Act 3 of the divine drama, which we have identified as The Christian Community of Faith: Its Ongoing Witness, unfolds from Acts of the Apostles to the rest of the New Testament, except Revelation. It is different from the first two Acts of the drama in that it continues on to our time and beyond, even to the consummation of all things. It might be called "the Church age," which began at Pentecost and continues until the church militant on earth becomes the church triumphant in heaven.

Act 3 is especially exciting to us because we are part of it. Not only are we blessed with a heritage that reaches all the way back to father Abraham and beyond, embracing Acts 1 and 2, but we move upon the same stage as the patriarchs, the prophets, the apostles, and even the Christ himself. In his grace God has called us to be part of the drama, part of the ongoing community of faith.

By faith we understand that the curtain will one day drop on Act 3, and a new age will begin – "new heavens and a new earth" – but until then we are the body of Christ on earth, an Act in the divine drama that has been going on for 2,000 years. And it could well extend another 2,000 years, or several times that. Let modern-day soothsayers prognosticate about "the end is near" as they will, it may well be that the church age is yet in its infancy. No one knows of course, for only God has the script. But since a thousand years are but as a day to the Lord – and since he is infinite in longsuffering – there may well be several "days" yet for Act 3.

Act 3 had an auspicious beginning. If we think of Pentecost as the church’s birthday, we can think of the Holy Spirit as its birthday gift. The primitive churches, in spite of their problems and failures, were Spirit-filled and Christ-centered. While harassed and persecuted, it grew by the thousands. One historian could aptly describe it as "The Spreading Flame." In three centuries it had "conquered" the Roman Empire, with the emperor himself claiming to be guided by a Cross in the sky. (Or was it the Empire that "conquered" the church?)

As tragic as Acts 1 and 2 may have been, Act 3 has been grossly tragic, even violent. The persecuted church eventually became the persecutor of its own dissidents, a.k.a. heretics. If at the outset "the blood of the martyrs became the seed of the kingdom," the church at last, amidst all its arrogance, shed the blood of its own. One "Christian" nation was at war with another "Christian" nation. And in the Crusades Christians were in mortal combat to destroy another faith which sought to destroy it.

And in time the Cross that brought unity, peace, and brotherhood became "the shattered Cross" of division, legalism, fratricide. The church, by and large, became institutional and authoritarian, as well as morally and doctrinally corrupt. It was on a collision course. By the tenth century it was a body cut in half – Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism. A few centuries later it fractured even more with the rise of Protestantism with its numerous sects.

In a world that became more and more secularistic and materialistic the church, itself driven by pride and selfish ambition, became increasingly ineffective, if not irrelevant. There was often, century after century, not all that much difference - - in terms of values – between the church and the world.

It may not seem all that different today. It is arguable that we are in another "Dark Ages" in this postmodern, post-Christian world of ours where materialism and secularism are as rampant as ever. And the church – even though often rich and powerful – appears to be retreating as often as advancing. Part of its riches – over a billion dollars – has recently been paid to help atone for the sins of its clergy against innocent children.

And yet the church has left its mark upon the world for much more good than evil. In terms of social justice it has often been the light of the world and the salt of the earth. Amidst its apostasy there has always been "the remnant," and amidst its corruption there have always been reformers. The church has always had within it resources for its own renewal. It has been, for all its shortcomings, a redemptive community.

In these few, short years of what is likely its infancy, the church has had an impressive presence upon the world’s stage. Throughout Act 3 the church has displayed faith, courage, saintliness, sacrifice. Millions of lives have been redeemed, light has displaced darkness, and hope has overcome despair. In spite of its failures, the church, in the name of Jesus, has had impressive victories – over ignorance, superstition, racism, injustice, prejudice. After all, we are not the church apart from the world, but the church in the world.

All through Act 3 the church has proclaimed its faith to a pluralistic and disbelieving world: "For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), yet for us there is one God the Father, in whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live" (1 Cor. 8:5-6).

Today’s Christian thinkers, scholars, and reformers, for all their virtues, have created nothing new. The faith inflamed on Pentecost 2,000 years ago has been their inspiration and guide. They have revised and reinterpreted, but they have not come up with any new revelation. That faith will sustain the church until "the end of the story" – until the curtain falls on Act 3.

What the church has always called The Apocalypse of St. John the Divine, a.k.a. Revelation, forms the Epilogue of the Divine Drama. It comes on stage after the curtain has dropped on Act 3. It speaks to a disturbing question that surfaces in Act 3: Is there any assurance that the efforts of the church through the ages will in the end – whenever that may be – make any real difference? As Act 3 unfolds, and we are witness to an often passive church in a mass of indifferent humanity, we might wonder if the Bible has given us false hopes of a glorious millennium, and if there is really a God’s tomorrow for both the world and the church.

The Epilogue makes clear that the Divine Drama has indeed been the Acts of God in an ongoing struggle between the forces of good and evil. Discouraged and disheartened as we might sometimes be because of the disunity and ineffectiveness of the church, Revelation gives us comfort and renews our hope that God will be there at "the end of the story" to make it all turn out right, even if it remains a mystery just how that will be. Ultimate victory for the community of faith is assured, and even the promise of "new heavens and a new earth" is not only renewed but in the offing.

A breathtaking feature of the Epilogue is that God is continually referred to as sitting on his throne. But he never speaks. Angels speak, elders speak, four living creatures speak. Voices come from around the throne. But God is silent – until at last, at the end of the story, "He who sat upon the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new’" (Rev. 21:5).

This means that the end of the story is really the new beginning.

Personal Notes

The "2005 Stone-Campbell Dialogue Sunday Evening Worship" June 5 at Skillman Church of Christ in Dallas was an exciting experience. It was in fact a joint-service of all three streams of the Stone-Campbell tradition – Disciples of Christ, Christian Churches, and Churches of Christ. We praised God together, we broke bread together. It was special to me – Dallas being my old home – for this to be sponsored by a "mainline" Church of Christ. a Dallas Church of Christ, one with a longstanding reputation – a good reputation – of conservatism.

Two other things especially impressed me. First, that things like this are taking place in our churches rather than on college campuses. To restore our Movement’s unity – and the efforts are multiplying – it must happen among the churches. The churches must take the lead, as in this case. Second, with a surprising turnout of some 500, it showed that we are beginning to gain support at the grassroots level. The rank and file in the churches must catch the vision of unity.

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