The Marks of the Church

If an uncle of yours, whom you had never seen, was home from Australia and you had to meet him off the train at the station, you might wonder how you were going to pick him out from the other passengers.  But if you had a photograph taken of him in his early days, you would find it fairly easy.  You would look at his photograph and study his features.  You would see that he was tall, with thick black hair, bushy eyebrows, and a hooked nose.

So, when you went off to the station, you would know what you were looking for.  As the passengers came along the platform, you might see a tall man coming along, and you would think, “Ah, here he is”, but as he got nearer you would see that he had a snub nose, and you would know that he was not your uncle after all.  Then you would see another tall man and at once you would look for the features you had seen in the photograph.  “Yes, thick hair – going a bit grey now – bushy eyebrows, and a hooked nose”.  And you would know that this was your uncle.

Now we know that Jesus founded the Church and we know what it was like in its early days.  There are four Marks or features (the family likeness) by which we can recognise the Church.  They are: One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic.  Today we shall think about the second Mark.

The Holy Church

Set apart for God

In the Apostles’ Creed we say that we believe in the Holy Church.  ‘Holy’ is one of those words the meaning of which has grown during the years.  It began by meaning ‘set apart or separated for God’.  So the Jews of old had their holy days, like the Sabbath which was set apart from the other days of the week.

In the same way any place used for religious services was called a holy place.  The most famous holy place was the Temple at Jerusalem.  The innermost part of it was separated from the rest of the building by a curtain which was called the Holy of Holies.

Now just as places which were set apart for the worship of God were called holy, so also were the people.  Thus the people of Israel, whom God had chosen to work for him, were called a holy nation: “You shall be holy to me; for I the Lord am holy, and I have separated you from the other peoples to be mine” (NRSV, Leviticus 20:26).

So, when we say that the Church, or Society of God, is holy we mean that it has been set apart by Jesus himself as belonging to him in a special way.  Indeed, the Church is the only society which God himself has founded.

Separated from evil

When we call God holy we mean that he is separated from everything that is evil and wrong, and it is natural that those who belong to him should be holy in that way too.  That is why the word holy now means, not only belonging to God, but also separated as he is from everything that is bad.  Thus a holy person is one whose character is like God’s character. That brings us to the second reason why the Church is called holy, because it gives its members the power to become holy like God.

Helping people to become holy

Now let us take a swimming society as an example of what a society can do for its members.  As you know a swimming society devotes itself, as we say, to swimming and diving.  Its purpose is not only to get people interested in swimming, but to see that new members learn to swim really well.  Some who belong to it may not be able to swim very much, but if they are keen and are willing to be taught and to practise, they have every opportunity of becoming good swimmers.

In the same way, one of the purposes of God’s Society, the Church, is to help its members to become holy like Jesus.  No doubt there are some who have not made much progress in holiness.  If, however, they really want to be holy and are prepared to try hard, through the Church they will receive the power they need.  For in the Sacraments we receive the life and strength of God himself.

In our last session we saw how the Church fights to overcome evil, but that is only half of the matter.  Fighting evil is like rooting out weeds in a flower garden, and there is not much point in doing that unless we intend to grow some fine, strong plants instead.  So the Church’s other work is to help us to have fine, strong, holy characters like Our Lord’s.

Only the Church, then, can rightly be called holy because only the Church, which Our Lord Jesus Christ founded, has the means to make its members holy.

SUMMARY

1. The Church or Family of God which Jesus founded can be recognised today by its family likeness, that is to say, it is still One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic.

2. Holy means set apart for God and separated from all that is evil.

3. The Church is holy because it has been founded by God and has his power to help its members to become holy.