Pioneer Christian Monthly - September, 1994

Rejoicing In Heaven
Jonathan N. Gerstner

"I tell you, there is rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents. " Luke 15: 1 0

That beautiful text of Scripture has come to mean so much to me in my closing days of ministry for the Reformed Church in Canada. On behalf of the Reformed Church in Canada, I was called to defend that verse and all of Scripture against a lost person who claimed that God wouldn't be happy if all Hindus came to embrace Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. Of course the saddest part of that story and the reason it received national media attention was that the lost person in question was the President of the Canadian Council of Churches.

But I also had the chance as a volunteer chaplain to share that truth with two little girls at Camp Shalom, after they had just prayed with me to accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. I could point them up to heaven and say that even now there is celebration in heaven.

The first event received national press attention, including the front page of the Globe and Mail. The second event hardly made a ripple even at Camp Shalom, for it was in the midst of a week in which many young people gave their hearts to the Lord.

But we know that the Lord noted both of these events with joy. And also that he rejoiced the most about the two little girls who inherited eternal life.

You see the whole legacy of"prophetic ecumenism" which developed in the Reformed Church in Canada is not an end in and of itself, but a means to an end. Prophetic ecumenism developed in response to the classic ecumenical model of the Reformed Church in America (and the Dutch Reformed Church in the Netherlands) which affirmed that ecumenical councils were large gatherings of true Christians. We were all one big happy family, and it would be very wrong not to be part of such councils, for in doing so we would be rejecting other Christians. However, the radical drifting away from core Christianity in the so called main-line churches has rendered such a view of conciliar ecumenism untenable. No discerning person who has attended a meeting of the Canadian Council of Churches, the World Council of Churches, or the National Council of Churches in the USA can affirm that they are family gatherings of Christians. Indeed there are many Christians there, but it is equally clear that there are many who are no more committed to Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour than the early church heretics like Arius and Pelagius, or contemporary non-Christian groups like the Unitarians or the Mormons. Sadly more Muslims believe in the virgin birth of Christ than those professing Christians you will find in leadership of much of conciliar ecumenism.

In this context, the Reformed Church in Canada in faithfulness to the Spirit of God, developed the view of "prophetic ecumenism." Christian churches have a responsibility to call professing Christian bodies who are drifting from the Gospel back to the Lord. The prophets in old called Israel back from Baal worship, so Christians today must call professing Christians back from their idolatry. The lost in main-line churches and their leadership sadly do not even know they are lost, and we must loving call then home, as we boldly point out their sin. In addition to pioneering this as a national denomination, regionally the work of Rev. John Opmeer and other RCC pastors within the Vancouver Council of Churches gives a beautiful illustration of prophetic ecumenism.

As I reflect on the past five years of ministry, the improvement of the RCC in developing ecumenical integrity has been one of my greatest joys. I am convinced it will be a hallmark of our future ministry as well, and is a key to our developing seriousness as a Canadian church. We can thank the Lord that the RCC is ecumenically autonomous, as even the charter of the Canadian Council of Churches grants, and our US based denominational staff, including the general secretary, have no role to play except as friendly advisors.

I so hope the gift of prophetic ecumenism can be given to the whole RCA. When we look at our record, we must admit that our denominational presence in ecumenical gatherings has more often resembled Peter's denial than Peter at Pentecost. May the Spirit convert and convict so that prophetic ecumenism may be a hallmark of our ministry on both sides of the border.

But for all the joy of being able to present to the Lord a ecumenical ministry of integrity, this is not what pleases Him in and of itself. You see we defend the Gospel against those drifting away simply because the Gospel is the glorious news of what pleases our Lord. We preserve the Gospel, because we love Him, and want to glorify Him.

And the joy in heaven does not come from defending the Gospel in a vacuum. It comes when the Gospel is not only defended, but also shared. What rejoicing there is in heaven when children of all ages believe the Gospel and find eternal life.

I will remember the ecumenical role I was able to play on your behalf as RCC, and on behalf of our Lord, forever. It will be a part of ministry which I may never again be able to fulfil. But I will still rejoice more for the opportunities to use the Gospel which I have been allowed to defend ecumenically. The face of Vikki lighting up when she saw the glimpse of the angels in heaven rejoicing that she had come home through believing in Christ as Lord and Saviour will stay much closer to my heart than the look of stunned silence at the Canadian Council of Churches gathering. But how I hope and pray that God in His mercy will help Bruce find his way home, too.

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