LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2001, Page 348

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348 THEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTS—COMMISSION ON THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS

notion that we should serve the poor and hurting as a way of gain-
ing eternal merit with God, Jesus stresses the perplexity of those
who served the poor and hurting: “‘Lord, when did we see thee
hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? And when did
we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee?
And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?’” (vv.
37-39). The focus here is how those who are truly right with God
by grace through faith serve others without any further thought of
how it may serve them. So it is that one of the church’s post-com-
munion prayers asks that God would strengthen us “in faith toward
you and in fervent love toward one another” (Lutheran Worship,
174).

The Communal Dimension of the Church’s Life:
Organizing for Loving Service

We have now examined the vocational dimension as a manifes-
tation of the church’s Christian care in the world, and we have re-
viewed how the church by its very nature focuses on Word and
sacrament ministry as its central concern. Both of these aspects of
the church’s life are discussed also in the 1995 report Render Unto
Caesar'*

We turn now to the communal dimension of the church's Chris-
tian care in the world. The CTCR’s 1995 report speaks of how the
“church participates as an institution of the society in which it ex-
ists” (Render, 92). We must now explore what this means for re-
flecting “on the role of Christian care in the overall life of the
Christian community.” Adapting the language of the 1995 report,
we will discover a place for direct and intentional communal action
on the part of the church in faithful service."

We first examine some examples from Scripture and from
church history, and then we will reflect on what this means in our
contemporary setting.

Christian Care in the New Testament

In Acts 6 we see the apostles guiding the church to organize it-
self for the Christian care of its members.

Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in num-
ber, the Hellenists murmured against the Hebrews because their
widows were neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve
summoned the body of the disciples and said, “It is not right that
we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. There-
fore, brethren, pick out from among you seven men of good repute,
full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this duty.
But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the
word.” And what they said pleased the whole multitude, and they
chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip,
and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nico-
laus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and
they prayed and laid their hands upon them. And the word of God
increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in
Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith
(Acts 6:1-7).

The apostles know they must stay focused on the church’s cen-
tral concern to preach the Gospel that creates faith in the hearers.
But they also show that as a social organization the church can or-
ganize to help its members effectively express the energetic love
and hope that accompany a true living faith.

Perhaps the most powerful articulation in the New Testament
of how the Spirit can energize the church’s Christian care is found
in 2 Corinthians 8.

We want you to know, brethren, about the grace of God which
has been shown in the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of
affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have
overflowed in a wealth of liberality on their part. For they gave ac-
cording to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of
their own free will, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part
in the relief of the saints—and this, not as we expected, but first they
gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God. Accord-
ingly we have urged Titus that as he had already made a beginning,

2001 Convention Workbook

he should also complete among you this gracious work. Now as you
excel in everything—in faith, in utterance, in knowledge, in all
earnestness, and in your love for us—see that you excel in this gra-
cious work also.

I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of
others that your love also is genuine. For you know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he be-
came poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. And in
this maiter I give my advice: it is best for you now to complete what
a year ago you began not only to do but to desire, so that your readi-
ness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of
what you have. For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable accord-
ing to what a man has, not according to what he has not. I do not
mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a
matter of equality your abundance at the present time should supply
their want, so that their abundance may supply your want, that there
may be equality. As it is written, “He who gathered much had noth-
ing over, and he who gathered little had no lack.”

But thanks be to God who puts the same earnest care for you
into the heart of Titus. For he not only accepted our appeal, but
being himself very earnest he is going to you of his own accord.
With him we are sending the brother who is famous among all the
churches for his preaching of the gospel; and not only that, but he
has been appointed by the churches to travel with us in this gracious
work which we are carrying on, for the glory of the Lord and to
show our good will. We intend that no one should blame us about
this liberal gift which we are administering, for we aim at what is
honorable not only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of men.
And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often
tested and found earnest in many matters, but who is now more
earnest than ever because of his great confidence in you. As for
Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker in your service; and as
for our brethren, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of
Christ. So give proof, before the churches, of your love and of our
boasting about you to these men (2 Cor. 8:1-24).

Here St. Paul encourages the Corinthians to participate gener-
ously in the offering that he is gathering for relief of the poor in
the Jerusalem church. The motivation for such giving is clear: “For
you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was
rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you
might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9).

An equality should be established within the church, though not
necessarily an equality based on common ownership or equal shar-
ing. The goal is not merely sharing but giving and receiving:

I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but
that as a matter of equality your abundance at the presen! time
should supply their want, so that their abundance may supply your
want, that there may be equality (2 Cor. 8:13-14).

C. S. Lewis offers a captivating image of such giving and re-
ceiving while commenting on the Arthurian poems of Charles
Williams: “The courtesy of the Emperor has absolutely decreed
that no man can paddle his own canoe and every man can paddle
his fellow’s....°""

A life marked by giving and receiving, by countless exchanges
and burdens borne—‘“We share our mutual woes, our mutual bur-
dens bear, and often for each other flows the sympathizing tear”
(Lutheran Worship, 295)—is a life lived on the basis of the exam-
ple of the great exchange by which Christ takes the sinner’s place:
“He serves that I a lord may be; A great exchange indeed!” (The
Lutheran Hymnal, 105). The life of the Triune God is one of giv-
ing. From eternity the Father gives His all to the Son in the gener-
ation of the Word; from eternity the Son offers himself back to the
Father, and this exchange takes place through the bond of the
Spirit. We see this giving above all in that gift which is the great
exchange of our sinfulness for Christ’s righteousness (Jn. 3:16;
2 Cor. 5:21)."°

The life that the church as Christ’s body seeks to live and is
called to live resembles this giving and exchanging that we see in
Christ. A believer’s giving does not atone for sin. Our exchanging
does not create new life. But in assuming the burdens of others and
exchanging our comfort for their affliction, we live out a life under