THE CHURCH'S PURPOSE

Being a lover and reader of old sermons, I came across this one that is as timely today as it was when it was written almost 70 years ago. It is timely because the truths in it are TIMELESS!
Please enjoy !!!

THE CHURCH'S PURPOSE
It happened so many years ago that to us it seems shrouded in the dim mist of an unreal antiquity. You all know the story well. Two figures are toiling up the side of a mountain. One is the figure of age, and he fingers a sacrificial knife and shields a bit of fire. The other is the figure of youth, and on his back he carries a load of firewood. Their purpose is to build on the mountain-top a rude altar of stones and to offer on it a burnt offering. And there, on the mountainside, the son asks of his father a question. And the question which young Isaac asked that day of Abraham on the mountainside of Moriah suddenly puts into a sentence the theme of the entire Old Testament, the need of the children of Adam, the continuing question of all the unenlightened and bewildered ages. He says: "But, Father, where is the lamb?"
"Father, where is the Lamb?" Up from the valley of the Nile the children of Israel, making bricks under the lashing whips of Egyptian taskmasters in slavery, to a Pharaoh who knew not Joseph, send this wondering prayer for deliverance: "Father, where is the Lamb?"
In the wilderness for forty years the despairing wail ascends like incense to the throne of a seemingly silent grace: "Father, where is the Lamb?"
Even in the golden age of the kings, the burden of the songs of the sweet singer of Israel is: "Where is the Lamb?"
And when they hanged their harps on the willows by the waters of Babylon and wept, the undercurrent of their songless tears was this constant refrain: "Father, where is the Lamb?"
And so the days melt into years and the years into centuries, and in the fullness of time two other figures confront each other by the waters of the Jordan: the one dressed in the rough camel's hair coat of the perpetual Nazarite, the other with hands hardened by the carpenter's tools so recently laid aside and in His eyes a vision of eternity.
The Nazarite lifts an unwavering arm and points an undoubting finger at the Nazarene, and he answers the question of the centuries: "Behold the Lamb - the Lamb that is to be the final and complete sacrifice to conquer the sins of the past and the sins that rise threateningly on the horizon, the last Lamb, the perfect Lamb, the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world!"
We are the Christian Church. We are the representatives, the witnesses, of that same Christ in our little circles, in our communities, in our world.
Into our hands has been placed the tremendously important, the all-surpassing task of doing the work which must be done before the heavens are rolled up like a scroll that is read.
That work, that purpose in our life, is definite, single and distinct, - a purpose given to us by the God who created, redeemed, and sanctified us. And that purpose is to answer, even as John the Baptist answered, the first and final question of the ages.
For man has always sought a lamb to atone for his sin, but in vain.
To the neighbor who, in ignorance, is seeking after the Unknown God by the road of personal merit, while his soul cries out in mortal terror, "Where is the lamb?" your Church, you, must show the Christ and say without reservation: "Behold the Lamb! No man comes to the Father but by Him."
To an age that has displaced Father, Son, and Holy Ghost with the terrific trio of Moloch, Mars, and Mammon and finds at the end of the road ashes and bitterness and defeat, your Church, you, must show the Christ, at whose name every knee must bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth.
To the Hindu who has drenched his idol in milk to appease it and comes away still unsatisfied;
to the Chinese burning ineffectual incense before long dead ancestors; to the Buddhist at his prayer-wheel;
to the African at his witch-dance;
yea, to all men crying out from the spiritual night that covers them:
"Where is the lamb?"
"How can I appease the wrath of God?" your Church, you, must show - this is your supreme duty – “the Lamb of God”, in whom alone is salvation.
Obviously this is the one purpose of the Church?
Yes, but the obvious truth is the first forgotten. Other purposes will intrude themselves.
Perhaps the temptation lies in the direction of seeking members for an organization rather than followers of the Savior.
Perhaps in the direction of merely flattering or entertaining the masses.
Perhaps in the direction of substituting the Law for the Gospel.
Perhaps to conduct the business of the King as though it were 'just another business of man among many others.
Lest any or all of these cross-purposes blot out the supreme purpose, listen again to the mandate of your Master, who has charted your course and promised success only when His way is followed. St. Matthew has recorded it in the 16th chapter of his gospel account, it reads as follows:
“Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Matt 16:13-18 (ESV)

Prayer
Lord, Holy Spirit, as we seek a clear light to guide us through the deepening shadows of the world's twilight hour, we come, of necessity, to You, the only Source of Light. Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom, Lead us on, O blessed Spirit. Pierce the natural darkness of our minds with the knowledge of the justice of the Father, which demands holiness of His creatures. Enlighten the night of our souls with the glorious revelation of the mercy of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Propitiation for our sins. And do rescue us from the burdens of our fears, the faltering of our steps, the hesitancy of our cowardice. Help us to do the work of the Father as true soldiers of the Cross - running not as uncertainly; fighting not as one that beats the air; warring not entangled with the affairs of this life; striving for the mastery, but striving lawfully, that we may please Him who hath chosen us to be soldiers. For Jesus' sake we ask it. Amen.

By Walter Kraemer MEDITATIONS ON THE CHURCH pp. 412-414 The Concordia Pulpit 1940 MCMXL