Pastor Dan Eddy
Matthew 22:23-46
Your Neighbors’
Questions about God – Part 3:
“Why
are there so many denominations?”
“How is your church different from others?”
I.
Introduction – CLC Thespian Theatre
Andrea:
Good morning Cheryl.
Cheryl:
Good morning, neighbor.
What are you up to early on this Sunday morning?
Andrea:
My husband and I are taking
the kids and getting to the beach early. Where are you going all dressed up?
Cheryl:
My husband and I are going
to church.
Andrea:
Say that reminds me…I’ve been
meaning to ask you: if you Christians all believe in the same God, why are
there so many Christian denominations? You know Catholic, Anglican, Methodist,
Congregational, Presbyterian, Evangelical, Lutheran….How is your church body
different from others?
Cheryl:
Those are good questions.
So let me ask you “Why do you want to know?”
Pastor:
Let’s give praise to God
for our CLC Thespians.
This is part
three of our summer sermon series “Your
neighbors’ questions about God.” Last week’s question was “How do you know the Bible is the Truth or
is true? Can’t you interpret it anyway you like?” If you missed last week’s
sermon I can get you a manuscript or audio copy, or it will soon be on our
website.
Now after you
respond to their question with “Why
would you like to know”…listen for the real objections they have about
churches in general. For example, does the multiple number of church bodies get
them to question if there is really a true church? Or maybe they may be
thinking of coming back to the church and they just simply want to know what
your church professes? Or maybe they know they should be in some church but
they use these questions as a reason for not being there.
Whatever their
real objections are…listen to them and take some of what I am preaching on
today to offer a thoughtful response.
II.
If all Christians believe in the same God,
why are there so many Christian denominations?
So let’s take the first
question: “If all Christians believe in
the same God, why are there so many Christian denominations?”
Until the time of the
Reformation almost 500 years ago, there were mainly two church bodies or
denominations if you will. The Eastern Church was Greek Orthodoxy and the
Almost all the other church
bodies, known mainly as the Protestant churches, came from the Reformation,
starting with the Lutherans. Even more denominations have popped up throughout
the history of the
What’s interesting is that
Martin Luther did not want to split with the Roman Catholic Church. He was
trying to set up a Church Council to discuss the disagreements he had with the
teachings of the Church in his day. That’s the way the Church settled disputes
in the past using the model described in Acts 15. Luther’s council never came
about in the way he had hoped.
Now having divisions within
the Lord God’s faith community is nothing new. Our Gospel reading from Matthew
22 illustrates some of the divisions within the Jewish faith community of
Jesus’ day. You had Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes, and Zealots. And even within
the Pharisees there were three sub-groups.
And these represented the
Jewish branch…one tribe of the 12 original tribes of
So different divisions have
always existed in one form or another within those who claim to believe in the Lord
God. It’s not that you can’t have different traditions or Church bodies under
the banner of Christ…it’s why the divisions exist that becomes our teachable
moment.
Now what’s interesting
about our Gospel reading is the way Jesus addresses each of the two major
divisions within the Jewish faith community of His day.
The Sadducees question for
Jesus about who would be married to whom both showed their arrogant way of
thinking and their ignorance of God’s Word.
The Sadducees felt they had
come up with a “gotcha” question.
Like an ancient version of “Can God
build a rock so heavy He can’t lift it?” They were proud of their question.
But the Sadducees were
ignorant of much of God’s Word in that they accepted only the first five books
of the Old Testament, and were therefore did not understand and/or believe the teachings
about the afterlife…something more thoroughly taught in other Old Testament
books.
So they didn’t believe in
an afterlife. They didn’t believe in many of the miraculous elements of God’s
nature, including even the existence of angels. They were skeptics of many of
the spiritual dimensions of our Lord. They had sold out true beliefs in order
to gain political power, wealth and favors from the
The genius of Christ’s
response was he quoted a verse He expected the Sadducees to know. It’s from
Exodus 3:6…located within the first five books of the Bible…the Word of God
spoken to Moses from the burning bush: “I
am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
The idea Jesus is trying to
convey is that if God alone is God and He saved the Israelites from the death
of slavery and gave them a new life in Him…why would He not do that for His
Children after this life for those who have faith in Him?
Christ draws a sharp
contrast between death, and life with Him; A sharp contrast that would soon be
vividly illustrated between the events of Black Friday and Easter Sunday;
Between His agony, suffering, and death of one day…and His visible power over death
in the flesh a few days later.
Unfortunately today in the
Christian Church there are many denominations who only accept some of the Bible
as God’s Word and ignore the rest. There are churches today that question if we
will live in an afterlife. They don’t teach they we will rise on the Last Day
with our new bodies, and for those who have faith in Christ to live both
spiritually and physically in a re-created New Earth and Heavens.
When I served as an elder
at
There are church bodies
that are skeptical of many of the miracles spoken of in Scripture, including
some who really question whether Christ rose from the Dead in the flesh that
first Easter. They will water down God’s Word to an allegory when the context
doesn’t indicate that. These churches have sold out to the secular culture we
live in.
If our neighbors are
confused about these teachings…we have a message of hope. Christ Jesus is the
Great I AM. He is the only God…the God not of the dead but of the living. That’s
a message of hope for those who are dead spiritually and want to live, and a
message of hope for those dying physically and want to know there is life
ahead. Faith in Christ is the key to unlock the answers to their questions.
So divisions in the church
come over how much of God’s Word we accept. Remember what was said last week.
We believe the Bible is the Word of God from Christ who speaks the Truth and is
the Truth, the Whole Truth and nothing but the Truth. Therefore, the Bible
doesn’t contain the Word of God…it is the Word of God.
III.
How is your church body different?
So when the crowds were
astonished at the way Christ handled the Sadducees, the Pharisees lined up to
take their shot at Jesus.
The Pharisees accepted all
the Old Testament as God’s inspired Word. They believed in all of the spiritual
and miraculous elements of God. They knew their Scriptures well.
And while that may be good…they
were also quite arrogant about this. For
many Pharisees, their knowledge puffed them up with pride. Their focus was on
works righteousness. “Look how good I am
Lord. Look at what I’ve done.” And they wanted to follow all the Laws of
God…ceremonial, moral and civil. But a lot of times they majored in minors.
They followed the details of the ceremonial law and ignored much of the moral
law. They forgot the bigger picture, including reaching out to sinners so they
could receive God’s grace.
And one of their ongoing
debates was…what Commandments were greater than others.
So, Jesus sets the record straight by summarizing that
God’s Word says all the Commandments are important…one not greater than
another. He breaks it down to with the overall commandment: “You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your mind. And with the second commandment comes the
way we live the first: “You shall love your
neighbor as yourself.” A great verse for a sermon series on “Your neighbors’ questions about God.” Everything
in God’s Word utterly hangs on these Commandments. You can’t do one without the
other. They are the basis of the 10 Commandments.
And then Jesus throws in
one more thing to challenge the Pharisees. He said basically: “I am the Son of God. I am the Messiah
spoken of in Scripture,” using Psalm 110: 1 to make His point that what was
spoken of in the past through David has now arrived.
When you are talking to
your neighbors about what makes our church body different…I think you have the
option of saying the following: We here at
But that we, too, at times
act like the Pharisees. We major in minors. We follow the details and forget
the bigger picture. Because what was missing from the Pharisees theology wasn’t
a lack of knowing Scriptures, it was a lack of believing Jesus Christ as the
center of God’s Word. It was living those Scripture because we are God’s Children.
When you try to bypass Christ or take Him out of the equation…you’re trying to
earn to God’s favor for Heaven. It’s the difference between doing good because
God did the ultimate in good for you through His Son, and doing good to earn
good things from God.
We share many teachings in
common with other Church bodies who confess all of Scripture as the Word of
God. In fact I submit we have more in common than differences. And the difference within these bodies is a
subject for theological symposiums like we use to do once a year at Concordia
Seminary, where different church bodies are invited to engage in discussions with
us. Or, you can engage in a Bible study like we did in the winter and spring of
2010. However, to get that discussion started take them a church brochure where
it says we believe in grace alone as written in Scripture alone through faith
alone in Christ.
I’ll admit the history of
our church body shows that while Lutherans may teach a good game, at times we
have not lived what we’ve taught, because we forget, from a trusting-faith
standpoint, that Christ is at the center of those teachings. When we do that we
are no better than the Sadducees then or today. We are like what Paul described
in Galatians; we are to be accursed for turning to a different Gospel.
And when we forget that
Christ is not only in the first name of this congregation but is central in our
teaching and to our faith…then the gifts given by that faith at Baptism don’t
mean as much. The reality of Holy Communion is diminished. We minimize or
explain away our sin-fallen world, or our actual transgressions, and then
disregard or lessen the forgiveness that only Christ can give.
And yet despite that God still loves us and calls as Galatians 1:6 ESV says “into the grace of Christ.” That
humbles us to again realize that true unity can only come from God and not from
us. That’s what makes us one in the Spirit with Him, not ecumenical councils.
Faith in Christ, and the
maturity and wisdom it offers gives us a chance to discuss our differences…just
like the early Church did in Acts 15 to see if we can rectify them. I think
there is more unity in the church among the Scripturally based bodies by
continuing to discuss these matters than to merge and stop talking about them.
Ephesians 4: 4-6 ESV: “There
is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs
to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one
God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
IV.
Conclusion
Why are there so many denominations? Satan wants to divide and conquer Jesus’ lambs.
How is our church different from others? We proclaim Christ crucified…His victory over the
grave and the fact that we are saved…forgiven and given eternal life only by
faith in Christ.
God’s blessings
as you more thoughtfully answer your neighbors’ questions about Him, united by
faith in Christ through His Word, forgiven by Jesus suffering and death and
resurrection, so we can show our hope is different from the world’s. Amen.