God and the Church
What is the Church? And what is God’s relationship to it? If we realize this relationship, we would live in a life of joy and reassurance. This is what I would like to speak to you about today…
God and the Church
Some define the Church as the congregation of believers. But this expression is incomplete, because the congregation of believers is the body, which has a head who is Christ.
The head of the Church is the One who leads and directs it, and we cannot imagine it without Him! We cannot imagine a body without its head.
The head of the Church has never been separated from it at all. Wherever the Church exists, God is present. And without God, the Church would not be a Church.
The beautiful image presented to us by the Scripture is this: God in the midst of His people. Thus was the Tabernacle of Meeting, and inside it the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies, or carried by the priests with the cherubim upon it…
If you say that God has abandoned the Church, it is as if you say that the head has left the body. This is logically impossible.
In the Church, “God is in the midst of His people,” Emmanuel, which means: God with us…
God is the One who established the Church, and He is its cornerstone. As the Psalm says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.” The Lord built the Church from precious stones which He Himself chose, from those whom “He foreknew”; He appointed them as stones in His building. And those whom He foreknew, He also appointed as pillars in the Church, namely our fathers the apostles.
The phrase “God is in the midst of His people” is also affirmed by the words of the Lord Christ: “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Also, “Where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of them.” Therefore, if He is not with us and in our midst, then we are not a Church!
If the Church thinks that God does not work, these verses rebuke it: “in the midst of His people,” “in their midst,” “with you always.” Also His saying: “I have engraved you on the palms of My hands,” “No one can snatch anything out of My Father’s hand.” The Book of Revelation depicts Him in the midst of the seven lampstands (the churches), and in His right hand seven stars, that is, the angels of the churches and their shepherds.
How beautiful it is to see Christ walking in the midst of the churches, and in His right hand their shepherds, carrying them in His palm from place to place, moving them according to His will…
The greatest problem facing the Church is its lack of awareness of God’s presence within it! Like a body that does not feel its head, living in confusion… We want nothing more than to feel that Christ is the head of the Church, and that He is ثابت in it continually.
God, then, is the founder of the Church, its builder, its leader, its teacher, and its guardian. He is also the Shepherd, and He is everything to it…
The Church is also the dwelling of angels. Wherever it exists, angels are present: “The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them.” They are ministering spirits for the Church: “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:8)… We also speak about the angel of the altar and the angel of the sacrifice. Thus, the Church is not merely a group of humans, but with them also angels.
It is the Church in its broad meaning: God the head, with humans and angels.
We cannot live without angels. Out of our love for angels, we call the shepherd of the Church “the angel of the Church.” The Church is a gathering of angels: earthly angels or heavenly humans whom God loves…
Out of God’s love for the Church, He called Himself its Bridegroom… When the apostle spoke about “the two becoming one” and “they are no longer two,” he said, “This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church” (Ephesians 5:32).
Indeed, there is no mystery greater than this: the mystery of great love and unity between the head and the body, between Christ and the Church…
This love between God and the Church is portrayed in the Song of Songs. The angels look at the Church and say, “Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?” (Song 8:5).
Truly, I cannot imagine the Church without God, nor God without the Church… even in eternity. God existed in eternity, but the Church was in His mind and in His heart. He created every individual in it according to His image and likeness.
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If the Church knows its position with God, it lives in constant joy, peace, and reassurance…
The weakness of the Church’s faith does not weaken God’s promises… Even if the Church loses its faith, God’s promises remain strong.
The peace of the Church does not depend on its faith, but on God’s promises and His love for it.
Peter, when he walked on water: did he depend on his faith, or on the hand that held him? His faith weakened, so he fell, but the hand holding him lifted him and kept him alive.
The safety of a small child in the house does not depend on his own management, but on the loving bosom that embraces him and the caring hand that holds him… Thus is the Church’s relationship with God.
Some spiritual people say that the Church’s peace depends on its prayers and its connection with God. But I want to correct this statement and ask: if prayers weaken, does the Church perish?!
The peace of the Church does not depend on its prayers, but on God’s love for it—even if it does not pray…
Sometimes you read in the Holy Scripture: “God looked upon the affliction of His people and sent them a savior…” It did not say “when He heard their prayers”; it was enough that He looked.
God, as the Lord of all, saw and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before Him. He sees what happens to the Church and descends to save it, even if its faith weakens or its prayers grow faint…
Even if we sleep, the ever-watchful eye that never sleeps guards us.
Peter was sleeping in prison, and the angel struck him, woke him, and saved him. Was Peter praying while asleep? Certainly not, but the ever-watchful God saved him—not through prayer, but through love…
If God’s salvation depended on our vigilance and prayers, we would have perished long ago. Even if we neglect, He cares for us…
God guards His flock from every wolf and bear, and His protection does not depend on their cries or pleas, but on His care…
Care does not depend on human request, but on God’s love.
It is enough for me, in God’s love, to remember the Scripture: “Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end” (John 13). And “to the end” means perfect love without limits…
He did not say He loved those who completed their faith and departed, but “those who were in the world.”
Thus, you can sleep in peace, reassured by God’s care.
A person may feel secure if a soldier or officer guards his door—how much more if the One guarding it is “the Lord of all.” Truly, “Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” He trusts not in a human arm, but in the mighty arm of the Lord…
We trust in the right hand of the Lord that made a path in the sea, brought water from the rock, and overshadowed travelers in the wilderness with a cloud.
They did not ask for this, but God gives above what we ask or think… He gives generously. He opens the windows of heaven and pours out until we say, “Enough, enough.” The Lord does not give by measure…
Blessed is the Church that leans on the arm of her Beloved and on His promises: it is enough that He said, “The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it,” and also, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper.”
If any weapon wishes to destroy itself, let it be directed against the Church… which is guarded by a God whose love and power have no limits…
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Just as God guards the Church, He also purifies and sanctifies it, so that it may be worthy of His indwelling—of His Holy Spirit dwelling in it.
He said, “I will not leave you orphans,” therefore He sent to us His Spirit to work within us. He is the Paraclete, the Comforter, who abides with us forever.
The Church is the being that enters into communion with the Holy Spirit. It shares in work with Him, and thus we become “partakers of the divine nature,” and in blessing we receive “the communion and gift of the Holy Spirit.”
If you rely on your own strength, you may doubt it. But if you are a partner of the Holy Spirit, you will not doubt His power.
If the Church does not live in the fellowship of the Spirit, it is not a Church.
The Church continually lives in the miracles of God’s work with it… If we try to count God’s works with us, we cannot.
The Church enjoys the Scripture: “The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace” (Exodus 14:14).
If we are silent, God fights for us. And if we speak, we speak to God. What needs hours with people is accomplished in a moment with God.
There is no harm in the Church fulfilling its duties in all fields, for faith without works is dead. But reliance is on God.
Article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – El-Keraza Magazine – Year 8 (Issue 36) – 9/9/1977
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