| A |
God's Kingdom and the Mystery and
Purpose of the Church |
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Our times demand something new of us as
churches. Our agreement, as set out in this text, about the nature
of the Church and its unity has implications for the ways in which
we respond to the challenge of our age. We have come to see more clearly
that we are not strangers to one another, but `fellow-citizens
with God's people, members of God's household... built on the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone'
(Eph. 2: 19-20 REB). By the gift of God's grace we have been drawn
into the sphere of God's will to reconcile to himself all that he
has made and sustains (II Cor 5: 17-19), to liberate the creation
from every bondage (Rom. 8: 19-22) and to draw all things into unity
with himself (Eph. 1: 9f). God's ultimate purpose and mission in Christ
is the restoration and renewal of all that he has made, the coming
of the Kingdom in its fullness. |
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To bring us to unity with himself, the
Father sent his Son Jesus Christ into the world. Through Christ's
life, death and resurrection, God's love is revealed and we are saved
from the powers of sin and death (John 3: 16-18). By grace received
through faith we are put into a right relationship with God. We are
brought from death to new life (Rom. 6: 1-11), born again, made sons
and daughters by adoption and set free for life in the Spirit (Gal.
4:5, Rom. 8: 14-17). This is the heart of the gospel proclamation
of the Church and through this proclamation God gathers his people
together. In every age from apostolic times it has been the purpose
of the Church to proclaim this gospel in word and deed: `It is
this which we have seen and heard that we declare to you also, in
order that you may share with us in a common life (koinonia), that
life which we share (koinonia) with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ'
(I John 1.3 REB). |
| 16 |
Faith is the God-given recognition that
the light has come into the world, that the Word was made flesh and
dwelt among us and has given us the right to become children of God
(John 1: 1-13). Faith, as life in communion with the triune God, brings
us into, and sustains and nourishes us in, the common life of the
Church, Christ's Body. It is the gift of forgiveness which delivers
us from the bondage of sin and from the anxiety of trying to justify
ourselves, liberating us for a life of gratitude, love and hope. By
grace we have been saved, through faith (Eph. 2: 8). |
| 17 |
Into this life of communion with God and
with one another (koinonia), we are summoned by the gospel. In baptism
the Holy Spirit unites us with Christ in his death and resurrection
(Rom. 6: 1-11; I Cor. 12: 13); in the eucharist we are nourished and
sustained as members of the one Body by participation in the body
and blood of Christ (I Cor. 10: 16f). The Church and the gospel are
thus necessarily related to each other. Faith in Jesus, the Christ,
as the foundation of the reign of God arises out of the visible and
audible proclamation of the gospel in word and sacraments. And there
is no proclamation of the word and sacraments without a community
and its ministry. Thus, the communion of the Church is constituted
by the proclamation of the word and the celebration of the sacraments,
served by the ordained ministry. Through these gifts God creates and
maintains the Church and gives birth daily to faith, love and new
life. |
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The Church, as communion, must be seen
as instrumental to God's ultimate purpose. It exists for the glory
of God to serve, in obedience to the mission of Christ, the reconciliation
of humankind and of all creation (Eph. 1: 10). Therefore the Church
is sent into the world as a sign, instrument and foretaste of a reality
which comes from beyond history the Kingdom of God. The Church embodies
the mystery of salvation, of a new humanity reconciled to God and
to one another through Jesus Christ (Eph. 2: 14, Col. 1: 19-27). Through
its ministry of service and proclamation it points to the reality
of the Kingdom; and in the power of the Holy Spirit it participates
in the divine mission by which the Father sent the Son to be the saviour
of the world (I. John 4: 14, cf. John 3: 17). |
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The Holy Spirit bestows on the community
diverse and complementary gifts. These are for the common good of
the whole people and are manifested in acts of service within the
community and to the world. All members are called to discover, with
the help of the community, the gifts they have received and to use
them for the building up of the Church and for the service of the
world to which the Church is sent. |
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The Church is a divine reality, holy and
transcending present finite reality; at the same time, as a human
institution, it shares the brokenness of human community in its ambiguity
and frailty. The Church is always called to repentance, reform and
renewal, and has constantly to depend on God's mercy and forgiveness.
The Scriptures offer a portrait of a Church living in the light of
the Gospel: |
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it is a Church rooted and grounded in the love and grace of the
Lord Christ; |
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it is a Church always joyful, praying continually and giving thanks
even in the midst of suffering; |
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it is a pilgrim Church, a people of God with a new heavenly citizenship,
a holy nation and a royal priesthood; |
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it is a Church which makes common confession of the apostolic faith
in word and in life, the faith common to the whole Church everywhere
and at all times; |
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it is a Church with a mission to all in every race and nation, preaching
the gospel, proclaiming the forgiveness of sins, baptizing and celebrating
the eucharist; |
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it is a Church which is served by an ordained apostolic ministry,
sent by God to gather and nourish the people of God in each place,
uniting and linking them with the Church universal within the whole
communion of saints; |
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it is a Church which manifests through its visible communion the
healing and uniting power of God amidst the divisions of humankind; |
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it is a Church in which the bonds of communion are strong enough
to enable it to bear effective witness in the world, to guard and
interpret the apostolic faith, to take decisions, to teach authoritatively,
and to share its goods with those in need; |
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it is a Church alive and responsive to the hope which God has set
before it, to the wealth and glory of the share God has offered it
in the heritage of his people, and to the vastness of the resources
of God's power open to those who trust in him. |
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This portrait of the Church is by no means
complete; nevertheless, it confronts our churches with challenges
to the fidelity of our lives and with a constant need for repentance
and renewal. |
| B |
The Nature of Communion and the
Goal of Unity |
| 21 |
The Scriptures portray the unity of the
Church as a joyful communion with the Father and with his Son Jesus
Christ (cf. I John 1: 1-10), as well as communion among its members.
Jesus prays that the disciples may be one as the Father is in him
and he is in the Father, so that the world may believe (John 17: 21).
Because the unity of the Church is grounded in the mysterious relationship
of the persons of the Trinity, this unity belongs by necessity to
its nature. The unity of the Body of Christ is spoken of in relation
to the `one Spirit..., one hope ..., one Lord, one faith, one
baptism, one God and Father of us all' (Eph. 4: 4-6). Communion
between Christians and churches should not be regarded as a product
of human achievement. It is already given in Christ as a gift to be
received, and `like every good gift, unity also comes from the
Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit'. |
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Viewed in this light, disunity must be
regarded as an anomalous situation. Despite our sins and schisms,
the unity to which we are summoned has already begun to be manifested
in the Church. It demands fuller visible embodiment in structured
form, so that the Church may be seen to be, through the Holy Spirit,
the one Body of Christ and the sign, instrument and foretaste of the
Kingdom. In this perspective, all existing denominational traditions
are provisional. |
| 23 |
Visible unity, however, should not be confused
with uniformity. `Unity in Christ does not exist despite and in
opposition to diversity, but is given with and in diversity'.
Because this diversity corresponds with the many gifts of the Holy
Spirit to the Church, it is a concept of fundamental ecclesial importance,
with relevance to all aspects of the life of the Church, and is not
a mere concession to theological pluralism. Both the unity and the
diversity of the Church are ultimately grounded in the communion of
God the Holy Trinity. |
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The maintenance of unity and the sustaining
of diversity are served by bonds of communion. Communion with God
and with fellow believers is manifested in one baptism in response
to the apostolic preaching; in the common confession of the apostolic
faith; in the united celebration of the eucharist which builds up
the one body of Christ; and in a single ministry set apart by prayer
and the laying on of hands. This unity is also manifested as a communion
in love, implying that Christians are bound to one another in a committed
relationship with mutual responsibilities, common spiritual goods
and the obligation to share temporal resources. Already in the Acts
of the Apostles we can discern these bonds: `Those who received
[Peter's] word were baptized... And they devoted themselves to the
apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the
prayers... And all who believed were together and had all things in
common' (Acts 2: 41ff). |
| 25 |
In the narrative of the Acts of the Apostles
this sharing in a common life is served by the apostolic ministry.
We are given a picture of how this ministry fosters the richness of
diversity while also maintaining unity. Through the mission of the
apostles Peter and Paul, the Gentiles also are baptized. In the face
of the threat of division, this radical decision is ratified by the
coming together of the Church in council (Acts 15). Here is illustrated
the role of apostolic leaders and their place within councils of the
Church. |
| 26 |
Such an understanding of communion has
been described in the following terms:
`The unity of the Church given in Christ and rooted in the Triune
God is realized in our unity in the proclaimed word, the sacraments
and the ministry instituted by God and conferred through ordination.
It is lived both in the unity of faith to which we jointly witness,
and which together we confess and teach, and in the unity of hope
and love which leads us to unite in fully committed fellowship. Unity
needs a visible outward form which is able to encompass the element
of inner differentiation and spiritual diversity as well as the element
of historical change and development. This is the unity of a fellowship
which covers all times and places and is summoned to witness and serve
the world.' |
| 27 |
Already in the New Testament there is the
scandal of division among Christians (I Cor. 1: 11-13, I John 2: 18-19).
Churches not outwardly united, for reasons of history or through deliberate
separations, are obliged by their faith to work and to pray for the
recovery of their visible unity and the deepening of their spiritual
fellowship. Set before the Church is the vision of unity as the goal
of all creation (Eph. 1) when the whole world will be reconciled to
God (II Cor: 5). Communion is thus the fruit of redemption and necessarily
an eschatological reality. Christians can never tolerate disunity.
They are obliged not merely to guard and maintain, but also to promote
and nurture the highest possible realization of communion between
and within the churches. |
| 28 |
Such a level of communion has a variety
of interrelated aspects. It entails agreement in faith together with
the common celebration of the sacraments, supported by a united ministry
and forms of collegial and conciliar consultation in matters of faith,
life and witness. These expressions of communion may need to be embodied
in the law and regulations of the Church. For the fullness of communion
all these visible aspects of the life of the Church require to be
permeated by a profound spiritual communion, a growing together in
a common mind, mutual concern and a care for unity (Phil. 2: 2). |
