What do people want in a church? As worship attendance in America continues to decline, church leaders are frantically trying to answer that question. Organizations such as the BARNA Research Group, Pew Research Center, Statista and the like have conducted numerous surveys in an attempt to answer the question. There are some slight variations in their findings but there are some general commonalities that emerge from the data that suggest there are three things people want in a church. Anyone want to guess what those three things are? … The third thing people want in a church is good sermons. That is a statistic that ought to both intimidate and motivate any preacher. Knowing people come to church wanting to hear a good sermon is why every week I strive for excellence, but more than once I have put an “Amen” on a sermon and thought to myself, “thank God for good hymns”. Thankfully, there is something people want in a church more than a good sermon. The second thing people want in a church is nice people. They appreciate your friendly smile and a warm handshake but what they really want is to make a connection with you, build a relationship with you, and become part of your group. For the most part I think y’all are pretty good at that, but sometimes I notice you are so friendly with each other that you fail to notice the person in the corner. Thankfully there is something people want in a church even more than nice people. The number one thing people want in a church is sound doctrine. There is a common misconception that what people want, especially young people is a cool church. But what people want more than cool is content. People, especially young people, want a church that is both authentic and accurate.
I think it is wise for us to understand what people want in a church, and I am pleasantly surprised that most people are not chasing after superficial things when searching for a church. Understanding what people want in a church might help us get more butts in the seats and slow if not reverse the decline of worship attendance in America. However, if we want to concern ourselves with more than attendance in our individual small “c” churches, rather, if we want to concern ourselves with the growth of God’s capital “C” Church, than the more important question we should be asking ourselves is not “What do people want in a church?” but rather “What does God want in a Church?”.
Over the next few weeks, we are going to concern ourselves with that very question and, thankfully, we do not have to decipher the data from the various research groups to answer the question. In the pages of Scripture God very clearly tells us what He wants in a church. Today we are going to take a closer look at Isaiah 56: 1, 6-8. There we will see that God’s capital “C” Church is an inclusive Church.
It doesn’t feel good to be excluded. It doesn’t matter if it is cake with your classmates or cocktails with your co-workers it doesn’t feel good to be excluded. At best you feel forgotten, at worst you feel unwanted, but either way, it doesn’t feel good to be excluded. But as bad as it feels to be excluded from cake or cocktails it feels even worse to be excluded from God’s Church. In chapter 56 the prophet Isaiah is writing to people who fear they have been excluded from God’s Church. I know it is not included in the verses I printed in our bulletin but in verse 3 these people lament, “The LORD will surely exclude me from his people.”
It probably doesn’t help that the prophet keeps referring to these people as foreigners; to call someone a foreigner is to say they are an outsider of your group. The word foreigner is almost synonymous with the word excluded. But, since they were not from the house and line of David; since they were not Jews, foreigners are what this group of people were. As a result, in Jerusalem, they were physically excluded from the church. If this building were to represent the church in Jerusalem only the High priest was allowed to stand where I am standing and only the priests would be allowed to sit where you are sitting. Jewish men would be permitted to stand on our porch and Jewish women would be permitted to stand in our parking lot, but again, if this building were to represent the church in Jerusalem, the closest a foreigner could get to the church would be the sidewalk that is on the other side of the fence that surrounds our property. Now, God had a very good reason for restricting access to the physical church. There was a powerful lesson about sin and grace that was being taught to the Jewish people. But for the foreigner, for the people standing on the sidewalk it had to feel like they were being excluded.
Have you ever felt excluded from the Church? After all you are foreigners; you are not from the house and line of David; you are not Jews. Now, honestly, I would be shocked if your status as non-Jew has caused you to feel excluded from the Church. Ever since Jesus declared our debt of sin to be paid in full and the temple curtain that barred access to the Holy of holies was tore in two, foreigners have been invited to leave the sidewalk, walk across the parking lot, pass the porch, enter the sanctuary, and even stand in the Holy of holies. I seriously doubt anyone here has felt like they are excluded from the Church because they are not a Jew. But I wouldn’t be surprised if you have ever worried that the LORD was going to exclude you from His people.
Sin has a nasty way of making us fear we are going to be excluded from God’s Church. Sometimes it is a specific sin that makes us feel that way. Sometimes there is a sin in our lives that seems bigger than all others either because it is a sin we just can’t seem to overcome or because it is a sin with consequences that spill over into every aspect of our lives. Sometimes it is a specific sin that makes us fear we are going to be excluded from God’s Church, but at other times it is just the sheer amount of sin in our lives that fills us with fear. I think this is especially true as you get older and you start to look back on your life and you realize, even if there were no “big” sins; even if your sins were the size of a grain of sand the amount of sin in your life would pile of like a dune of damnation. Sin, as I said, has a nasty way of making us fear we are going to be excluded from God’s Church. If you don’t know what I am talking about, if your sin has never made you feel unworthy to cross the threshold of God’s Church, if your sin has never made you squirm in your seat in God’s Church, if your sin has never caused you to questioned your right to stand before the altar in God’s Church than you can get up and go because this sermon is not for you. This sermon is only for those whose sin has made them fear they should be driven from, expelled, excluded from God’s Church.
It appears this sermon is for you. Therefore, allow me to direct your attention to verses 6 and 7. Listen to what God says to those who fear they will be excluded from His Church. God says, “6 foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to serve him, to love the name of the LORD, and to worship him, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant— 7 these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” Foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD; who confess salvation is found in no one else and there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we are saved, foreigners who love the LORD; who respond to the One Who so loved us that He gave His one and only Son by loving Him back, foreigners who worship the LORD; who declare the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His wonderful light, foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD, love the LORD, worship the LORD have nothing to fear.
You who have bound yourselves to the LORD, love the LORD, Worship the LORD are not excluded from God’s Church. God calls His Church a house of prayer for all nations, which means His Church is open for all people, including you people. God says He will bring you to His holy mountain. God the Holy Spirit does not wait for you to come to Him, rather in Word and Sacrament He comes to you, and He escorts you across the threshold of His Church and seats you among the saints. Once you are seated God says He will give you joy in His house of prayer. God the Son declares your sins both your specific “big” sins and the multitude of sins committed over a lifetime have been forgiven. After your forgiveness has been declared God says he will accept your offerings and sacrifices on His altar. God the Father invites you to approach His altar not to plead your case or present proof but to express your gratitude and show your appreciation. God has brought you to the mountain, God has given you the joy of salvation, and through Jesus God has accepted you, you have nothing to fear. God has included you in His Church.
God’s capital “C” Church is inclusive, and He wants Messiah our small “c” church to be the same. You see, there are what God calls “still others” that are yet to be brought into God’s Church. Sin has convinced them they are going to be excluded from God’s Church. It is our job to seek them out and bring them in. Which is why we open our doors to all people and welcome them to worship among us so that they too can be included in God’s Church.
It can be a little confusing to decipher the data, but it appears what most people want in a church is good sermons, nice people, and sound doctrine. It is important to know what people want in a church but it is more important to know what God wants in His Church and what God wants in His Church is people. He wants you, He wants me, and He wants still others. People that’s what God wants in His Church. Amen