Sometimes SHUTTERSTOCK
of those characteristics or a combi- nation entitles the bearers to God’s favor.
Consequently, the members of the church do not have the right to limit the boundaries of who might belong based on categories that are used in determining the parameters of other communities. The nature of the church and its mission form an essential unity, whereby through the Spirit the church bears witness to the gospel of the crucified and risen Lord, Jesus Christ.
By the very Spirit, the diversity
of believers across cultures and other marks that characterize human beings witnesses to the truth that this “community of saints” is the Spirit’s creation, even in the face of believ- ers’ own opposition, resistance and defiance.
our resistance and opposition derive from a fear of diversity. The hid- den reality of the church is its unity in Christ, a unity that is found not in uniformity but in diversity. The church as the body of Christ wel- comes the diverse gifts and callings given to its indi- vidual members. Just as we act and communi- cate in the world through our bod- ies, Jesus interacts with the world today through the church. The church as the body of Christ is both a reality in which we live and
a claim upon our lives. For there is often a tension between our fears and hatreds and the forgiveness freely given by Jesus Christ. As the new community that comes into being through the Spirit’s witness to Jesus Christ, and in the power of the Spirit, the church lives and is to live in the rhythm of con- fession and forgiveness of sins in Jesus’ name. The empirical church that has been known throughout the centuries to this day bears the marks of sin and brokenness and bespeaks the human condition that needs heal- ing and transformation. But in bearing the marks of sin and brokenness, it does not settle for those realities as being of its essence that is irredeemable. Rather, the church sees itself in need of forgive- ness and the transforming power of
the Spirit, who is at work remaking it into becoming the new creation for the sake of the creation. The church is where “forgive- ness of sins” happens through word and sacrament, which is always a communal happening. This state- ment is a challenge to individualism, and it reflects the close relationship between the Spirit, the church and the forgiveness of sins.
The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of life and creation, offers through forgive- ness (received through absolution and the sacraments of baptism and communion) new life and a trans- formed new creation. It’s easy to underestimate the transforming power of forgiveness. Forgiveness is more than an eraser wiping out our sins or God choos- ing to “forget” our sins and not hold them against us. God does not leave us or the church in our brokenness, but is at work through the Spirit transforming us into a new cre- ation. Forgiveness is more than an accounting tool. It is the life-giving, life-changing power of God. Why would I say “I believe in the … church,” which is evidently not holy when I think of the scandals that have characterized its history, and that people both within and without the church do not see its association with the Spirit of God but with sin and brokenness of the world? Because the church is never a neutral community that stands out- side God’s judgment. “[T]he church shares in salvation; the church shares salvation with oth- ers; and the church is a community shaped by salvation” (The Church as Koinonia of Salvation, Lutherans and Catholics in Dialogue – X). The very Spirit, who has called the church into being through the gospel, continues to make Christ present in the church for the salva- tion of the world.
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