Sunday, November 4, 2007
Sermon Search Engine
Family
Ephesians 2:19-20
Special Note: The early portions of the introduction to this sermon were harvested from other sources. Special thanks to those who have gone before me!
Sermon Objective: Sermon preceding communion emphasizing the essential place of community within the Body of Christ.
19Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.
I like how the New Life Version translates this:
From now on you are not strangers and people who are not citizens. You are citizens together with those who belong to God. You belong in God’s family. This family is built on the teachings of the missionaries and the early preachers. Jesus Christ Himself is the cornerstone, which is the most important part of the building.
I have good news and bad news today. According to the Bible, the church is like a family. That’s the good news. Now the bad news—the church is like a family.
One day Linus and Lucy, the brother and sister of Peanuts cartoon fame, were quietly walking down the sidewalk talking.
Linus says to Lucy, “Charlie Brown says that brothers and sisters can learn to get along.” He pauses to make sure she is listening. “He says that they can get along the same way mature adults get along.” Again he pauses to let the words of wisdom sink in. “Charlie says that adults can get along the same way that nations get along.” This time the pause is a little longer. He begins to think about what he is saying. Finally Linus scratches his head and concludes, “At this point the analogy breaks down.”
I have good news and bad news today. According to the Bible, the church is like a family. That’s the good news. Now the bad news—the church is like a family.
Remember Winston Churchill’s immortal words at the beginning of WWII?—“We shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight on the landing grounds. We shall fight in the fields and in the streets. We shall fight in the hills!”
That sounds like some family vacations I have heard about"
1 Timothy 3:15 says:
15 if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.
According to the Bible, the church is like a family.
We recognize that here at the Naz. That is why your church board has been working on a way to describe us … an image to help us articulate what we understand our mission in the community to be. The image proposed is F*A*M*I*L*Y. It comes from the first community of faith in the New Testament – Acts 2.
Focusing on Christ and His Word
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. (Acts 2:42)
Affirming each other as we grow in grace
Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. (Acts 2:46)
Magnifying God through lives of worship
Praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. (Acts 2:47)
Imagining the nations won for Christ
And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:47)
Loving people
Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. (Acts 2:45)
Yoked together in love
All the believers were together and had everything in common. (Acts 2:44)
It is a beautiful image. It is also a challenging image.
For one thing … we do not entirely embody it. It is our goal. It is worth pursuing. But we are not the perfect image of “God’s household.” Yet.
My objective this morning is to share with you a few over-arching principles that underpin the F*A*M*I*L*Y image. When we take these principles seriously we will begin to embody God’s ideal of a F*A*M*I*L*Y more and more fully.
1. AS FAMILY WE WILL RESEMBLE OUR HEAVENLY FATHER.
We all understand the power of family characteristics don’t we? I don’t have to spend much time with any of the families in our congregation to see the family resemblance in the children – even the adult children. There are traits that we pass on … whether we like it or not.
So what sort of traits do we pick up from our Heavenly Father? Colossians 3 says:
12Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
I cannot think of more comprehensive passage in Scripture to describe the character of God as imparted to a believer than this passage. Take a look at the elements that reflect our Heavenly Father:
> Holy
> Gentleness
> Compassion
> Patience
> Kindness
> Forgiving
> Humility
> Bearing w/each other
> LOVE
> PERFECT unity
These traits are virtually impossible to adorn one’s self with apart from the presence and indwelling of God’s Spirit. These must come from the inside out. Not just anybody can look like the Heavenly Father … only a member of the family can bear his marks of identity.
It is only when we resemble our heavenly Father that we can embody F*A*M*I*L*Y correctly.
And that brings me to a second “big picture” type principle that F*A*M*I*L*Y assumes.
1. AS FAMILY WE WILL RESEMBLE OUR HEAVENLY FATHER.
2. AS FAMILY WE WILL BE COMMITTED TO THE HARD WORK OF RELATIONSHIPS
Did you notice the passage in Colossians 3 was talking about a plural entity not a singular entity? The apostle is saying that this is what will characterize not only individual Christians but the body of Christ collectively too. In fact, most of Paul’s letters are written to the body … most of his comments and charges are plural and must be understood in community.
In his book “The Body” Charles Colson says:
Many Christians have been infected with the most virulent virus of modern American life, what sociologist Robert Bellah calls "radical individualism."
They concentrate on personal obedience to Christ as if all that matters is "Jesus and me," but in doing so, miss the point altogether.
For Christianity is not a solitary belief system.
Any genuine resurgence of Christianity, as history demonstrates, depends on a reawakening and renewal of that which is the essence of the faith—that is, the people of God, the new society, the body of Christ, which is made manifest in the world — the church.
[The Body (Word, 1992), p.32]
The Bible’s use of the terms “Family”, “Household”, “Brother” and “Sister” assume the central place of relationships. An example of this is 1 Timothy 5:1 & 2: Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.
We were never meant to be a Christian all-by-ourselves. Being Christian ASSUMES you are in community. Acts 2 says:
41Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
42They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Relationships are difficult, but that’s what makes them interesting.
How is it that the church after two thousand years of the teachings of Jesus still has so little interest in loving each other?
My most fulfilling relationships are with my family.
The biggest relational fights I have ever had have been with my family
The most rewarding reconciliations I have ever had have been with my family
1 Timothy 3:15 is about “how you ought to conduct yourself in the household of God.” The Bible writers don’t say things like that unless it needed to be said.
In the book, “Blink”, Malcolm Gladwell tells about a study that began at the University of Washington on marriages. Among other things, the study discovered indicators that were near certain to show if a marriage was disintegrating to the point of danger. The single most important indicator was contempt.
What is contempt? It is the action of regarding someone as inferior, base, or worthless. It moves past someone’s actions and attaches a lack value to their person. My wife might say, “Honey, that purple shirt does not match those green pants.” She has kindly and appropriately helped be avoid an embarrassing faux pas. A marriage filled with contempt would respond to the same snafu differently. “You are such a moron that you can’t even dress yourself.”
The study shows that when a marriage reaches a place where one or both partners look at each other with contempt is has reached a slow but certain tailspin and eventually the seething will erupt and, almost without exception, the marriage ends.
The only way to solve it is to heal the contempt.
Most people will not do the hard work that is required to heal the contempt.
There are congregations that are filled with contempt for each other. And a house divided against itself cannot stand (Mark 3:25).
F*A*M*I*L*Y requires that we heal the contempt.
I am surprised at how little people are committed to relationships and how easily we let go of them. We neglect to practice forgiveness and follow the scripture that says, “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you” (Colossians 3:13). What about where the Bible says that love “is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs” (1 Corinthians 13:5)?
Many people cannot let go of their grievances; they keep a list of them in their head. A disagreement or disappointment comes and we are more than ready to let go of our friendship with other people. We just set off and look for new friendships which will last only as long as it takes for us to see that they are imperfect as well.
Relationships are hard work, but people are often not willing to do the hard work.
Wrap-Up
1. AS FAMILY WE WILL RESEMBLE OUR HEAVENLY FATHER.
2. AS FAMILY WE WILL BE COMMITTED TO THE HARD WORK OF RELATIONSHIPS
There is a third “Big Picture” style principle at work in the image of F*A*M*I*L*Y.
3. AS FAMILY WE WILL HAVE A MISSIONAL PURPOSE THAT REFLECTS THE FAMILY NAME
One of the biggest compliments we can give a brother or sister in Christ is to tell them we just caught them acting like their “daddy.”
Mercy Me recorded a song (long before they were popular) called “Just Like Your Father.” It is relevant to what we’re talking about now.
You’re just like your father
You got your daddy’s ways
You walk so close to him picked up his traits
You’re just like your father
Got your daddy’s ways
You’re just like the man I met when I was saved
You look like your father
You got your daddy’s eyes
You got your daddy’s hands
You got your daddy’s smile
You got your daddy’s plans
Before you speak, people know who you belong to
It’s how much it shows
I can see the love of God from the start
First thing I noticed he’s got your heart.
F*A*M*I*L*Y assumes we are about the work of our heavenly father.
When we have our Daddy’s heart – we will do our daddy’s work!
** That sounds like a great concept for us to meditate on during communion. **
1 Corinthians 11:17-34 is a very famous passage about the Lord’s supper. The same apostle wrote that as wrote Ephesians, Colossians, and 1 Timothy – all books we have referred to this morning.
He tells us in 1 Corinthians to examine ourselves before we eat to make sure we are not partaking in a unworthy manner. Do you know what the contecxt of that would suggest the “unworthy manner” is? BROKEN RELATIONSHIPS!!!! Just as with the first Eucharist so, here, it is communal.
Listen:
17In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 18In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. 19No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. 20When you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, 21for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk. 22Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not!
23For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." 25In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." 26For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
27Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. 29For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. 32When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.
33So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other. 34If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment. And when I come I will give further directions.
** Communion **
This sermon is by Dr. Kenneth Pell
Potsdam Church of the Nazarene
Potsdam, New York
www.potsdam-naz.org
