August 18, 2019 – “Why the Church? Fellowship” by Rev. Cody Sandahl
Sermon begins at the 4:30 mark after the music
Lay Reader = John 13:31-35
31When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. 33Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ 34I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Introduction
We are continuing our series looking at the Great Ends of the Church – why does the church exist? What’s our job description? What’s on our report card from God? Last week we just looked at the big picture, and this week we’re going to dig into the first class on our report card from God: “the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God.”
First a quick note on the phrase, “children of God.” There are two ways to take that. On the one hand, we have examples like 1 John 3 that uses that phrase to talk about the faithful. Church-folk. But then you have Paul in Acts 17 reaching out to people in Thessalonica and Athens, and he says that these people who aren’t Christians yet are God’s offspring.
So on the one hand, “the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God” means the people in the church. And on the other hand, it also means expanding that sphere of relationships to include those from the community who are seeking something different in their lives.
Our text today is from Paul’s first letter to the church in Thessalonica. Whereas many of his churches started with a bunch of Jewish people who came to believe that Jesus was the promised Messiah, the church in Thessalonica was probably comprised of a bunch of Greeks who converted from their pagan religion. They didn’t share the same Jewish foundation. And Paul was run out of town pretty quickly by the Jewish leaders, so he had to send them some letters to these new converts fill in the gaps of their new faith.
I came to appreciate how different backgrounds can affect our behavior in high school. One of my friends worked in retail, and she was talking to a co-worker who had just been dumped by her boyfriend. And her first instinct, she told my friend, was wanted to go out and slash the tires on his car. Umm…that’s a crime! In some places you can go to jail for that! That would never occur to me as a potential reaction to getting dumped in a relationship. Or probably for anything whatsoever! I can’t imagine a scenario where I would say, “I should slash that person’s tires.” But that was the first thing that came to mind for my friend’s co-worker. Totally different thought-process.
This happens in computers, too. I remember being asked by someone if I could look at their computer. You see, the computer’s cup-holder was broken. You know, the cup holder that retracts back into the case? Otherwise known as the CD or DVD tray? Never would have occurred to me to put my coffee in the hole in the CD tray. Not recommended, by the way. Totally different thought-process.
So these new followers of Jesus didn’t have the same background, and so Paul was trying to show them this new thought-process. As you listen to Paul’s words on how to think about our relationships, our fellowship, ask yourself if this is your thought-process. Or is Paul talking about something that’s challenging even today?
1 Thessalonians 5:11-28
11Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing. 12But we appeal to you, brothers and sisters, to respect those who labor among you, and have charge of you in the Lord and admonish you; 13esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 14And we urge you, beloved, to admonish the idlers, encourage the faint hearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them. 15See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all.
16Rejoice always, 17pray without ceasing, 18give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19Do not quench the Spirit. 20Do not despise the words of prophets, 21but test everything; hold fast to what is good; 22abstain from every form of evil.
23May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this. 25Beloved, pray for us. 26Greet all the brothers and sisters with a holy kiss. 27I solemnly command you by the Lord that this letter be read to all of them. 28The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Admonishing
As every parent knows, there’s a go-to analogy that you use when your kids try to use the “everybody’s doing it” defense. What do you say to that? “If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you jump too?” Anyone used that?
But have you ever thought about that? Imagine that you hear this story on the nightly news: “Many fled their vehicles and jumped from the bridge. But those who stayed behind…” – as you fill in that news story, is something good about to happen to those who stayed behind? Are they going to find cookies?
If you think about it, is it more likely that all of your friends simultaneously suffered a breakdown and leaped from a bridge to their doom? Or is it more likely that your friends saw that the bridge was on fire? So maybe you should jump off the bridge if all your friends do it! It’s worth thinking about!
Returning to the girl who wanted to slash her ex-boyfriend’s tires, what would you have done if someone told you they were about to do that? Would you smile and nod and slip away as fast as possible? My friend actually told her it was probably a crime and maybe she should come up with something else.
So in a good community, in good relationships, should you point out that the bridge is on fire, or just hope the other person notices on their own? Should you point out that slashing tires is a crime and a really bad idea, or just smile and nod and hope they don’t really do it? Or let’s get even more nosy. What if someone is in a relationship that you think damages them? Should you say something or let it slide?
To get there, let’s talk about two words in this text. One is blameless. Our text says, “May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” So…about that. Does anyone here expect to be “blameless” when Jesus takes an all-knowing glance at your life? And remember, Jesus knows what you did and what you thought about doing.
So, while Jesus is the only one who was perfect, there are several people in the Bible who are called “blameless.” And here Paul hopes that the Thessalonians will be “blameless.” So what does that mean? When you look at the various ways it is used, it seems to imply that to be “blameless” means you are living in such a way that the community of faith doesn’t need to censure or confront you. And that’s different than God seeing bad things in your life. The community of faith only steps in when you’ve gone a noticeable way off the path. So “blameless” essentially means, “nobody’s perfect, but this person’s doing a pretty good job living out their faith.” So that’s blameless – there’s a gap between perfection (which we’ll never achieve) and blameless (which means generally living out our faith well).
Now the second word is “admonish.” This word was very intentionally chosen, because there are a lot of other options. This is like the difference between “assertive” and “aggressive.” Or “firm” versus “confrontational.” The Greek word implies gently steering someone in a better direction. Not blasting someone for being wrong. Gently steering them in a better direction. That’s “admonish.”
So let’s return to our friends all jumping off the bridge. Paul is telling the Thessalonians that they don’t need to point out every time someone in their community is taking a slower route across town. But they should tell each other when the bridge is on fire. We don’t need to tell each other, “you missed a spot,” but we might want to tell each other if we notice an untreated cockroach infestation. We don’t need to confront each other on every potential mistake, but if we think someone’s going to regret it for the rest of their lives we should probably speak up.
And when we do speak up, it’s to be done with a gentle spirit, with a humble spirit, with the spirit of Christ. It’s not about winning. It’s not about shouting them down. Gently steering someone in a better direction.
So Paul is saying that a good church fellowship has the ability to gently steer people in a better direction if they’re headed way off track. Have you ever had someone gently steer you in a better direction because you were headed way off track? Is there anyone in your life who knows you well enough to do that? Someone who knows how you look when you’re not in your Sunday best? Is there someone in your life who could tell you it’s time to jump off the burning bridge?
That’s one of the important aspects of Christian fellowship. If you don’t have that, it might be time to seek some deeper relationships.
Praying
Our text today gives us another hallmark of Christian fellowship: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
In the men’s Bible study I lead, we always start off with high’s, low’s, and prayer requests. Since we last saw each other, what can we celebrate in your life? What has been weighing you down lately? And how can we pray for you or for someone in your life? We’ve covered a lot of topics in the Bible – we just talked about heaven. We’ve been through Revelation. We’ve delved into the minor prophets whose names you can’t pronounce.
But when I think about the men in that Bible study, do you know what I think about? The high’s, the low’s, and the prayer requests. We know far more about each other from that than we do from all the Bible study we’ve done together. Don’t get me wrong – the Bible study is helpful, too. That helps us grow in our faith. But we find Christian fellowship because we have people who know how to pray for us this month. People who know how to celebrate with us, people who know how to mourn with us, people who know how to pray with and for us. That’s another important aspect of Christian fellowship. If you don’t have that, it might be time to seek some deeper relationships.
John Bunyan wrote that “prayer is a shield to the soul, a delight to God, and a scourge to Satan.” Do you want that in your life? Or would you rather go it alone? If you want a shield to your soul, a delight to God, and a scourge to Satan, you need Christian fellowship.
Caring
Our text gives another hallmark of Christian fellowship: “encourage the faint hearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them. See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all.” Caring for each other – doing good for all – that’s another hallmark of Christian fellowship.
One of the great blessings I know we’ve experienced from Christian fellowship is receiving meals after our kids were born. You don’t have a ton of energy left to think about eating. And we’ve had people on occasion just offer to bring us a meal when they know things aren’t going well with Charlie’s seizures. It’s a small but appreciated bit of caring.
Or we just heard earlier from Donna about how much we expanded the school backpacks this year. We’re only able to do that because you want to do good in our community. And we were actually able to add an extra family at the very end because we had a lot of extras and some people were willing to fill in the final gaps. That’s a family that didn’t know how they were going to afford school supplies just a couple of weeks before school started, and now they’re all good thanks to you! That’s caring!
We also heard from Kate this morning about our vision for children’s ministry. That vision came out of a conversation Kate and I had. I told her that the best children’s ministries I’ve experienced had one thing that was truly exceptional – not just good…exceptional. In one church it was the children’s ministry director who had been there for years and had one of the most magnetic personalities I had ever seen. Her personality and continuity were exceptional.
At another church I took over as the children’s director while the main director was on maternity leave. And in that church the kids dragged the parents to church, because the program was truly exceptional. The kids couldn’t wait to get to church! How’s that for an inversion of expectations? All of you dragged your parents to church when you were in 3rd grade, right?
At another church we experienced a nice bump in the children’s ministry because families absolutely loved our church’s worship services. The parents couldn’t wait to get to church, so the kids came along.
So Kate and I were trying to figure out what this church can do exceptionally well in children’s ministry. Because we didn’t think this church could replicate any of my past experiences and do it exceptionally well – not just good, remember, but exceptionally well. And suddenly it hit us – this church can be exceptionally loving toward children. I’ve seen it happen already, but maybe we can really lean into it and make it our calling card.
When a child comes to worship and you get down on their eye level (if your knees will allow it) and say hi or give them a high five – that’s loving. When a child is having an increased-decibel day and you extend grace – that’s loving. When we offer family movie nights and parent’s nights out and you volunteer to help – that’s loving. When you volunteer as a shepherd or teacher in Sunday school and you get to know the kids by name – that’s loving. When families are in worship and you greet them and talk to the kids – not just the parents – that’s loving. When families come here regularly and you get to know their names so you can pray for them by name – that’s loving. When a child comes back to the hospitality table a third time and you make a joke about it and try to encourage the fruit instead of another cookie – that’s loving. Everything we can do to help children know that they are fully loved and fully valued and fully encouraged – that’s loving.
I think we can do those small things exceptionally well – not just above average or even good – exceptional. That’s why we’re asking for people to sign the pledge. There are so many ways you can be loving toward children in our church. You don’t have to be a teacher – although we’ll take those! You don’t have to be able to run around and play – although we’ll take those! You don’t have to be young yourself. Every single person in this church can help us be exceptionally loving toward children and families. And if we add a few people going above and beyond on top of that warm base from everyone, then I think we will be exceptionally loving.
That kind of care is a hallmark of Christian fellowship.
Summary
Sisters and brothers, Christian fellowship is a very different kind of animal. Christian fellowship seeks out people who can gently steer us in a better direction, not just affirm what we already think. Christian fellowship goes deep enough to pray for each other specifically. Christian fellowship seeks to do good to all, to provide care exceptionally well.
Do you have that kind of fellowship? If so, fantastic! But is there anyone in the church you know who doesn’t have that kind of fellowship? Take them out to coffee or a meal or invite them to your group. Help them experience true Christian fellowship.
And if you don’t have that kind of fellowship and want it, just give something a try. We have a lot of groups that are getting rolling in the Fall. I’m going to get a list of all of them in September. So if you want that kind of fellowship, put it on your calendar: September is fellowship month. Let’s get you connected to some relationships that truly matter.
If you don’t have that kind of fellowship, maybe it’s time to realize what I did after I was separated from Christian community for a couple of years in college: the bridge is on fire – I need to jump in a different direction. Will you take the leap toward true Christian fellowship? Amen.
