Few for the many

[AI translation] In this part of the Bible that I have just read, the apostle Paul writes about the specific task of the Christian church. He tells us what a world-wide ministry the church of Christ has in this world, for this world. Let all the churches be inspired by him! And I would like to speak about this today, on New Year's Day, because in this new year, God willing and living, I would like to focus the light of the Word on this task of the church in Bible studies and church services.1) So first, what is ministry? I saw two photos side by side the other day. One of them was of the open door of a beautiful, large Gothic church. You can see in the picture that the service is just over and people are streaming out, very few of them! For those who think in terms of numbers or physical dimensions, this is not a very impressive sight: apparently few are attracted by the Word! - Next to it, another photo, also taken on Sunday morning, shows the morning sunrise in the same town - a bathing resort - with a lot of people waving up and down, every seat on the terrace of the restaurant occupied, the spring sun shining on the faces. The mood of the two pictures is so different, as if they were taken at two different times. However true it may be that far fewer people go to church than to the cinema, however far fewer there are who respect, love and follow Christ than those who do not: yet those few have far more in common with the many than at first sight appears. Because those many, many people in the streets and in the stadiums and in the jungle and everywhere else - in general - do not believe in God, do not thank God for his goodness and love, do not beg God to forgive them their sins. All this was done and performed by the few people there in the church - for them, for the many!
I have heard someone say to his wife on a Sunday morning, in a jocular and jovial way, "Go to church, I'm busy, and then pray for me! Well, it's much more than a joke, it's deadly serious: every person who comes to church to hear the Word and pray does so for all those who don't come and pray. Through the Apostle Paul's writing, the divine command is this: make supplication for all people. So, obviously, first of all, for those who do not pray themselves, because they do not believe in the possibility and the effect of prayer. The many do not know what the will of God is, that there is a God at all, and that there is a will of God that applies to them, the many, the non-believers. This is how the Apostle Paul describes it: "Who wills that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all, a witness in his own time" (1 Timothy 2:4-6).
So God wants not only the few of us who are here and in the other churches this morning, but all people to share in salvation and all people to come to the knowledge of the truth that he has revealed. For there is one God, who is not only our God, the God of the few, of those who go to church and worship, but Lord of all men and of all peoples; and there is one Jesus Christ, who gave Himself not only for us, but for all, as the atoning sacrifice. However, this saving will of God, this precious Gospel of Jesus Christ, is heard again and again in church, read in the Bible, by those few - and so it is those few who preserve, keep and pass on the knowledge of God on earth to others, to future generations.
What, then, is the Church's specific mission in the world and for the world? To serve God's will that all men may be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. The Church as a whole and its members individually have an apostolic mission to the world. The Church is the apostle to the world, as Paul says of himself, "For our sakes I have appointed you preachers and apostles (speaking the truth in Christ, not lying), teachers of the Gentiles in faith and truth." (1 Timothy 2:7)
2) How does the church fulfil this calling? First, as the apostle says: "I pray before all things, that supplications, prayers, supplications, thanksgivings, may be made for all men, for kings, and for all that are in dignity, that we may lead a quiet and quiet life, in full fear of God and in all honesty." (1 Timothy 2:1-2) Here the apostle Paul gives much greater importance than we do to the prayer of the church. For us here in the church, prayer is a necessary liturgical component with which we begin and end the other, main component of our worship: the preaching of the Word. And here, in the Word, it is a separate and distinct part of worship. It is as if the apostle were saying: carry out the ministry of prayers in the congregation with the knowledge that the world needs it, that much depends on it in the world! He links the prayer of the congregation with the quiet and peaceful life of the people. It is not only a devotional practice when a congregation prays, but a service that influences the reign of kings, the work of authorities, the life of peoples, the destiny of all people. Such is the importance Paul attaches to the prayer of the congregation!
It is astonishing how much God includes in his work of world government the prayer of believers, the supplication of the few. There are some things God does not do until He is asked, because He does not want to extend His rule like a dictator. Yes: prayer makes things possible that would not be possible without it. That is why it is important for the church to take upon itself the care of others, for the few to pray, to beg, to give thanks for the many! God wants to help not only us, the few, but everyone, the whole world, and he gives this gracious help to others through us, through our prayers. That is why the many need the few, that is why the responsibility of the few for the many is so great! So let us practice prayer as a serious service for the good of the world. We know this word from the Letter to the Romans, "For we know that the whole created world groans and groans together until now." (Rom 8,22) Well, it is the prayer of the church that gives this unconscious groaning, this groaning in agony of the world, a clear voice and conscious expression! In our supplication we have all men behind us. That is how our prayer becomes a service.
In this new year, let us take on this service much more, much more responsibly! Whenever we gather for worship, for Bible study, let us make such prayers for the world. But whenever we come together in a friendly way for an afternoon or after dinner to have fun, to talk to each other: let us also have such prayers, let us not let the gathering pass without them! Believe me, it would be of more use than all the vain things we say to each other at such times. And in the same way, daily at home in families: let such supplications be made for all men, for kings, and for all men of dignity. Let us include in our prayers and supplications our people, all their problems, all the affairs of the world, expressing our gratitude to God even on behalf of those who do not know that they owe thanks to the Lord for His blessings!
Believe me, it would be very visible in this world if we, the few, could in faith undertake and carry out the ministry of prayers for the many, for all people, for the world!
3) The church, then, is already carrying out its apostolic ministry by praying for the world in its worship in the church, or among friends, or alone in private at home! But when it has done this, it has not yet fulfilled its apostolic mission. On the contrary: in prayer, in worship, in the church, the members of the congregation only gain new strength to continue their apostolic task among the many. In the prayerful silence, we are always given a new mandate to be God's ambassadors to others at home and at work, to serve God's will that all people may be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.
How? In words? Yes, with words! Let us not be ashamed to tell others very simply and very humbly that God has reconciled the world to Himself in Jesus Christ, and that it is therefore pointless and unnecessary to continue to live as God's enemies! Where you are, seize every opportunity to draw the attention of people, of many people, to the God who, in Jesus Christ, came into the earthly world, filled human life. So: with words! But not only with words, but also with deeds! Yes: by deeds! Let us not be ashamed to serve others in a very simple and very humble way, and in this to show that Jesus Christ did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many! Also on Calvary: one, one for many, for all! The Christian life too: the few for the many! So: with convincing deeds pointing to Christ! And something else: simply by our being, by our way of life! Let us not be ashamed to bear witness, very simply and very humbly, that our way of life is not determined by our milieu, our political or economic situation, but by the Gospel. The greatest weakness of our Christianity today is precisely that it is almost indistinguishable from its environment. The distinctively Christian traits in the lives of most believers have become blurred, assimilated to the world. The Christian life blends in with its surroundings, it does not break away from them, it does not rise above them! Well: our way of life cannot be determined by our social situation either, nor can it be shaped at will, according to worldly laws, but only by our situation of faith, in which we live through our redemption with the Lord of the world, Jesus Christ!
The Church, the few, are therefore for the world, for the many! We must break out of our isolation, our introversion, and meet the world as believers! God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to redeem it! Without the gospel the world is meaningless, but without the world the gospel is unreal! The church's mission to the world is not just to win souls to eternal life, it is wider than that! Let me try to illustrate with an image: imagine an old water mill. Once upon a time, such a mill did a great service for the whole neighbourhood: it ground the wheat for the people, it sawed up the wood for them. Today, after much faithful work, it lies quietly on the shore, a romantic sight for tourists who photograph it as a beautiful old memory from the past. Is it not sometimes the same with our church? A piece of romance, an interesting remnant of a bygone age, now only tourists are enthusiastic about it. It is like an old water mill: its wheels have stopped turning, with the rust of centuries of tradition standing there in some idyllic spot, but out of the traffic of the modern age. Now imagine a modern hydroelectric power station in the bed of the same river. It supplies the whole area with electricity. It sends the power generated in its generators through a network of wires across the country, bringing light and warmth to homes. Why shouldn't this be the image of the church instead? Why can't the Church be so useful in a changed world? Once in service according to the possibilities of the time, today in service adapted to a changed world! Isn't this the task of the Church - like a power station, transforming the flow of the Word into power, into light, into warmth. It spreads it, it sends it out through a network of wires of the ministry of the faithful throughout the whole country, among the people, in their homes, in their factories, among the nations! Times are changing! The water mill is slowly becoming a museum piece. Water itself remains the same throughout time, only the way in which the energy it contains is used has been modernised into a power station.
The Church too must renew itself in a changed world! The living river of God's Word is as powerful today as it was in the past. The Church's vocation is to spread this power of the Word in all aspects of human coexistence! And it is also the vocation of each of us individually in our own place! If we really took it seriously: it would not only be the beginning of a new year, but a whole new life!
Amen.
Date: 1 January 1956 New Year.