Text: Romans 12:9-21, Title: Fellowship is More Than Food, Date/Place: 1/28/07, NRBC, AM
A. Opening illustration: talk about our family vacation to CA to see the country when I was about sixteen, talk about the Redwoods that crowd those coastal valleys vs. the Sequoias inland, and the network of roots interlocked together that hold them up through weather, time, and other assault. Teach koinonia.
B. Background to passage: After an extended teaching on the faithfulness of God to Israel and his plans for them and for his elect, Paul concluded with a wonderful doxology about the wonder of the wisdom of God, thus concluding his second theological section of the epistle. Then chapter twelve begins a section of intensely practical wisdom and commands from the Apostle. We all can quote v. 1-2, and that is where Paul begins—constant renewing of your mind away from the world’s things, and to Christ. Then he gives two applications of this thought in the church. First, he says to operate in the body of Christ with your gifts. Secondly he says to love without hypocrisy-warning about outward displays that don’t conform to realities inward or with God. There is no verb with the first part of verse 9, thus indicating that it is a topical heading for the next several verses. Talk about loving without hypocrisy. Speaking in a very authoritarian list, meant for effect, he gives a list of about 25 things that we should do in living the Christian life in practical way. And this is written to the church, so serves for a good example of real fellowship.
C. Main thought: It is beyond the scope of this message to deal with the entirety of the text, but we will stick with the heading, and pull out six things that we need to work toward for genuine biblical fellowship. We will do three this morning, and three more tonight.
A. Seek family type bonds (v. 10a)
1. Paul begins with a word that is only used here in the NT, it means to love with family like devotion and tender affection. He reminds us of a great truth, that those that are in Christ have been adopted into the family of God. The NT uses much language that was family titles in the first century. But the point is not really the language, as much as it is the feelings and the actions. And some of our families are not good examples. But bad examples not withstanding, we are commanded here to have a special affinity for other members of the body of Christ. It is the one thing that Jesus said would testify to the world that we are truly disciples. If we treat one another as family. In this church, half of you are related by blood anyway.
2. 1 Tim 5:1-2, Matt 12:49-50, Gal 6:10, John 13:35, 1 John 3:18
3. Illustration: by the late second century, even the critics of Christianity acknowledged that they had an extreme devotion and love toward one another, you have heard it said that blood is thicker than water, but Paul says unto you, church membership should be as thick as blood, one writer said that the family metaphor is “the most significant metaphorical use of all” biblical images of the church. Katie coming to live with us in Maine for a few months, think of the closest family that you know,
4. I don’t know if you have been in some of the churches that I have been in, but there are some really mean Baptists out there. And I believe the general opinion in our culture is that most of the time the church is more harsh and unloving in its relationships than outside the church. These things ought not be. Our culture contributes as we have email, instant messaging, cell phones, and palm pilots, but relationally, we are isolated. Most of you don’t know your neighbors well, much less the people in the pew with you. We used to have front porch swings, now we have privacy fences in the back yard. We should be about the business of caring for our brothers and sisters in Christ. If they need food, housing, shelter, love, a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on, money, advice. We do the same for our blood families. I see that in caring for aging relatives. Sons and daughters will go out of their way, build mother-in-law additions to their houses, go by and check, call, go to doctor visits, shop for them. And they do it all not because they feel compelled to by duty (b/c they could just send them to a home). They do it because they love them. Why don’t we treat those in the pew with the same kind of affection? When someone is going through a hard time, why not take them in your home, or at least under your wing. We call them brother and sister, but we neglect, gossip about, betray, backbite, nick-pick, slander, etc. I can’t tell you how many times in the last 8 weeks I have been told about a member of our church who has quit coming because of something that someone in the church has said or done! And I agree that people should be so sensitive, but if we had a family perspective, we wouldn’t give them that reason. How do we begin to fix it? Remember that it is a growing process, but we must take the initiative. First, we must ask God to soften our hearts, then cooperate with the Spirit of God to develop a consistent mind-set of love toward others, then we must take steps to kill isolation, show ourselves friendly (Pro 18:24), prioritize schedules for it, find needs by getting to know people, then meet them.
B. Strive to esteem (v. 10b)
1. The best translation for this phrase is probably “strive to outdo each other in showing honor.” Some translations say, “be eager to show respect.” It means to show genuine appreciation and admiration for other believers in Christ. And the way that Paul says it, he wants you to want it, be eager for it, and for it to be genuine. Paul is advocating humility, that we actually think this way, not just say it, or even act it.
2. 1 Pet 1:22, 4:8-9, Philip 2:3-4, Eph 4:2,
3. Illustration: Every morning at 8:30 the President would have a staff meeting. One day the mail clerk brought in a lavender envelope with a regal wax seal and flowing purple ribbons. Opening it, the President found a letter from King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia, whose salutation began, “Your Magnificence.” “Your Magnificence,” Truman repeated, laughing. “I like that. I don’t know what you guys call me when I’m not here, but it’s okay if you refer to me from now on as ‘His Magnificence.’” Truman subsequently sent a message to the United Nations supporting the admission of 100,000 Jews into Palestine. Soon afterward he received a second letter from King Ibn Saud. This one began: “Dear Mr. President.” Interfering with her happiness…These people had a four-year-old son of whom they were very fond. One evening the young man noticed his boy playing intently with some bits of wood and asked what he was doing. “I’m making a trough,” he said, smiling up for approval, “to feed you and Mamma out of when I get big.”
4. Respect is a value lost by our society; we don’t respect parents, authority, life, law, elderly, etc. We should be quick to show respect, acknowledge accomplishment, and give preference to other believers. The point is that because they are believers in Christ, they must be thought of as honorable. They are honorable because Christ has seen fit to set his love and salvation upon them. Regardless of how they act, the color of their skin, the amount of money they make, or kind of house they live in, or how they have treated you in the past. IT NEEDS TO STOP NOW! You don’t have to be avenged; all wrongs will be made right one day, but not necessarily in this life. We must stop seeking our rights! When we get right down to it, “I” am the most respected person in my life, and we must battle to change that. God really wants us to feel this way about others. And this is crucial to a church really having fellowship vs. eating together and looking down on others.
C. Sacrifice for each other (v. 13)
1. Paul uses the verb form of the word koinonia here in this verse, and it translated contribute or share. You can feel the love that should be present within the congregation. They looked about their congregation and saw needs, and met them. The same principle becomes a wonderful evangelistic strategy in the community. But the point is that the congregation took whatever steps necessary to make sure everyone in the body was taken care of. Then Paul says to “pursue” hospitality. Look for, beg for ways that we might shelter others, especially Christians, and especially those in ministry.
2. Acts 2:45, 4:35, Ps 41:1, 3 John 1:5, Luke 14:12-14,
3. Illustration: A Sunday School teacher was questioning her pupils after a lesson on God’s omnipotence. "Now children," she asked, "is there anything God can’t do?" The Pastors son thrust his hand into the air. The teacher, feeling certain that he had missed the point of the lesson, asked half-heartedly, "Well, just what IS it that God can’t do?" Replied the boy: "I heard dad say yesterday that even God can’t make EVERYBODY, at this church happy!" read the list of “one another” commands-p. 202 in When God Builds a Church, A Christian Martyr is one who: Chooses to suffer death rather than to deny Christ, or His work....Sacrifices something very important to further the Kingdom of God....Endures great suffering for Christian Witness. - VOM
4. There are over 30 statements in the NT admonishing us to do __________ for one another. But to do all these things, we are going to have to sacrifice. That means that you will not get some of the things done that you would have liked to get done, on account of others. When was the last time that you as a family gave us something so that someone else may have it? Have you ever had another family in our church over to eat or fellowship? Voddie’s church in Houston asks each family in the church to commit to two nights a month to inviting folks into their home for fellowship. One night a church family, then the next one an unchurched family. What about a family that is not like you? We live in a world that is so fixated on looking out for my four and no more, but that is inconsistent with Scripture. We need families that will take in a youth person or child whose parents don’t attend. We need people to call families in our church and pray with them. We need lay counselors who will be trained so that they can minister one to another. We need people to sacrifice time on the altar of the Kingdom to get the job done.
A. Closing illustration: Read the list in the text again, rapid fire. In 1997 Chris and Andrew were two young men serving the Lord in a church in Louisville, KY, when they were killed in a car crash. Thousands of people came to the receiving of friends, even though few actually knew the families. A young staff intern at their church who was from Poland stood in line for two hours to see the family, then was so broken, he couldn’t say anything. So he went back and got in line and waited another two hours to say what he wanted to say.
B. That is koinonia!
C. Invitation to commitment
