Introduction:
A. The story is told of an attorney who gathered the entire family for the reading of the will.
1. Relatives came from near and far, to see if they were included in the bequests.
2. The lawyer somberly opened the will and began to read:
a. “To my cousin Ed, I leave my ranch.”
b. “To my brother Jim, I leave my money market accounts.”
c. “To my neighbor and good friend, Fred, I leave my stocks.”
d. “And finally, to my cousin George, who always sat around and never did anything, but wanted to be remembered in my will, I leave my greeting, ‘Hi, George.’ ”
B. Most families have their share of unusual characters…like George in the opening story.
1. Rudy Carlson, my aged dear friend and brother in Christ, says, “Family is one of God’s masterpieces.” And family certainly is.
2. Family makes such a difference in our lives for our good or ill.
3. Because there are no perfect people, there are no perfect families.
4. Nevertheless, families can be very, very good.
C. I have been blessed to grow up in a very good family.
1. I’m the second oldest of 10 children.
2. As you know, we are a yours, mine and ours kind of family.
3. 4 Owens kids, 4 Grimsley kids, and then 2 Grimsley/Owens kids.
4. Needless to say, life in the Grimsley/Owens house was always interesting…never a dull moment.
5. Even though we were a blended family, we shared a deep and warm love for each other.
6. Of course, we experienced the usual knock-down drag-outs, disagreements, and selfish stages that all kids go through, but we were basically a close family.
D. Have you ever noticed how that within a family it’s okay to have some fighting within the family, or some complaining about family, or teasing about family, but it’s not okay for someone outside the family to do any of that.
1. In other words, let someone outside the family lay a hand on someone within the family, or say something negative about someone in the family, and you’ve got a fight on your hands.
2. Why is it that we often react so quickly and strongly to defend our family?
3. It is because of the devoted family love that develops within the family.
E. Today in our sermon, we want to, as a Church, learn something about being devoted to one another in brotherly love.
I. Devoted to One Another
A. As God inspired the writers of the Bible to address the development and growth of the church, He inspired them to use a number of analogies to illustrate the life of the church.
1. Those biblical writers frequently used the analogy of the human body to portray the life of the church (Like in Rom. 12; 1 Cor. 12; and Eph. 4)
2. And that analogy teaches us so many wonderful truths about the church.
3. We easily and clearly understand that the church as body means that all of us are members of the body, and that each member of the body is a necessary and important part of the body.
4. All of us can appreciate the need for all the parts of our bodies, and we like all of those parts to be functioning as they should.
5. And when a part of our body can’t do it’s job, we know it in a hurry.
B. Another analogy frequently employed by the biblical writers is the concept of church as family.
1. The family analogy gives us an even greater appreciation of what a functioning church should be.
2. The concept of family adds a dimension of warmth, tenderness, concern and loyalty that the body analogy lacks.
3. The family analogy adds the element of human emotion and devotion to our understanding of church.
C. The apostle Paul wrote, “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.” (Rom. 12:10)
1. The term “brotherly love” (philadelphia in the Greek) refers to the love that should exist between the closest of friends.
2. When we apply it to the church, it refers to the love Christians should have for each other as brothers and sisters in Christ – a close, dedicated love.
3. We are the family of God.
4. Paul wrote, “For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom the whole family of believers in heaven and on earth drives its name.” (Eph. 3:14)
D. The term “brothers” is used to refer to the Christian family about 230 times in the NT.
1. The word “brothers” literally means “from the same womb.”
2. It is distinctly a “family term.”
3. When it refers to Christians, it means “fellow believers,” “members of God’s family,” “brothers and sisters in Christ.”
4. It means that we have all been “born again” into God’s forever family.
5. We are related to each other through a common heritage.
6. Paul wrote, “In love He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ” (Eph. 1:5).
E. But the term “brotherly love” is not the only aspect of the verse “be devoted to one another in brotherly love” that has family connotations.
1. The phrase “be devoted” is translated from the Greek word philostorgos.
2. Storgos is the root word for the mutual love of parents and children, and husbands and wives.
3. The phrase could be translated “show loving affection” or “love tenderly.”
4. That’s why the King James Version reads: “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love.” (Rom. 12:10)
5. Paul’s point is clear – Christians are to be just as devoted to each other as are the individual members of a close-knit family.
F. We all remember the story of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.
1. These two young adventurers signed a pact with their own blood, committing themselves to each other and to their secrets.
2. As blood brothers, they would do anything for each other – even die for each other.
G. As Christians we are blood brothers and sisters as well.
1. The Bible says, “In him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” (Eph. 1:7)
2. We are God’s family, brought together by the blood of Christ.
3. Because we are God’s family, we must be devoted to one another with brotherly love.
II. How To Be Devoted to One Another
A. One of my favorite stories in the Bible is the story of Ruth and Naomi.
1. The story goes like this: During a time of famine, a Jewish man from Bethlehem named Elimelech, took his wife, Naomi, and their two sons and went to the country of Moab.
2. Naomi’s husband, Elimelech, died soon after they were in Moab.
3. Naomi’s sons married Moabite women.
4. After they had been there about 10 years, both of Naomi’s sons died, leaving her alone with her two daughters-in-law.
5. Since the famine had ended, Naomi had no reason to stay in Moab, so she told her daughters-in-law: “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the LORD show kindness to you, as you have shown to your dead and to me. May the LORD grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.” (Ruth 1:8-9)
6. The Bible says: Then she kissed them and they wept aloud and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.” (Ruth 1:9-10)
7. But Naomi replied: “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons- would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the LORD’s hand has gone out against me!” (Ruth 1:11-13)
8. The Bible says: At this they wept again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-by, but Ruth clung to her. (Ruth 1:14)
9. Naomi said to Ruth: “Look your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.” (1:15)
10. Here comes Ruth’s well-known response: “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.” (1:16-17)
11. And how did Naomi respond to Ruth’s devotion? The Bible says: When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her. (1:18)
B. Ruth’s commitment to Naomi stands as a perfect example of being devoted to one another.
1. Ruth didn’t have to make that decision.
2. It was potentially a costly one for her.
3. She was headed to a foreign land where she would have no rights, and a low probability of ever remarrying.
4. Nevertheless, she chose to devote herself to her mother-in-law.
C. If you know the rest of the story, then you know that God blessed her.
1. She would eventually be married to a man named Boaz, one of her former father-in-law’s relatives.
2. They would have a son, named Obed, who would later be the father of Jesse, who would later be the father of David – 2nd King of Israel.
3. And as you know, Jesus, the Messiah came through the line of David.
4. What an honor to be used by God to be a part of producing the ancestors of the Messiah!
D. But none of that would have happened if Ruth had not devoted herself to her former mother-in-law.
E. So how can we develop that kind of devoted love for others?
1. First, let me suggest that it begins with a DECISION.
a. We have to decide to be devoted to others.
b. It must become our ever-present goal.
c. The Bible says that we must “be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us…” (Eph. 5:1-2)
d. God is love, and Christ has demonstrated His love.
e. We should want to make it our goal to be like God and to follow Christ’s example of love.
f. So it starts with the decision to be devoted to one another in brotherly love.
g. Have you made that decision?
2. Second, let me suggest that developing devoted love continues with DETERMINATION.
a. We have to stick with it and follow through.
b. If we have made the decision and continue with determination, then God will supply the emotion and the energy for devoted love.
c. Are you determined to be devoted to others in brotherly love?
3. Finally, with the right decision and determination, then the result will be DEMONSTATION.
a. Being devoted to one another in brotherly love is seen in countless practical demonstrations.
b. But when I think of devotion to another I think of all out commitment – being “all in” – not holding anything back.
c. I think of being present and consistent.
d. I think of faithfulness and dependability.
e. Are you demonstrating devoted brotherly love in your relationships here in the church?
Conclusion:
A. If we are going to develop and experience real Christian community here at Wetzel Road, then we must grow in our devotion to one another.
1. For some of us that will be easier than for others.
2. But however easier or hard it might be, if we want to please God then we will make the decision, act with determination, and be consistent with demonstration.
3. That means that we will have to overcome the obstacles we face, whether they be internal or external.
B. Let me ask you a personal question – Do you find it difficult to express emotion toward others? Do you find it hard to be in relationship with others?
1. If so, you might want to try to understand what it is about that that is difficult for you.
2. Once you understand what the cause of the struggle is, then you can ask God and others to help you get beyond this “log jam.”
3. Some people who struggle with interpersonal kinds of things do so because they fear rejection.
4. Others struggle because they have had poor family relationships.
5. Negative experiences in life have left others basically feeling angry and resentful – and that can really get in the way of having positive relationships in the present.
6. Wherever these struggles started, they often become oppressive and cause us to think mainly about ourselves, leaving us unable to think about and be devoted to others.
7. That’s why it is so important to allow God to do His good work in us first, so that God can then do His good work through us to others.
C. Realistically speaking, relationships can be messy.
1. All of us have been hurt by others – whether it be family, friends, or people in the church.
2. But, at the same time, all of us have been the ones to do the hurting as well.
3. The truth of the matter is that the benefits of being devoted in brotherly love far outweigh the possible hurt and the cost of isolation.
4. Being devoted to others in brotherly love is risky, but it’s worth the risk.
D. So how do we get started demonstrating our devoted love for one another?
1. First of all, be present – it is hard to love from a distance.
a. How can we be part of the family, the body, if we are not regularly with the family.
b. If we are devoted to the church family, then we will be there when the family gathers.
c. What kind of message would be sent in the home if one of the family members rarely came home, or came to dinner?
d. It doesn’t make sense to say that we are devoted to the fellowship and then rarely show up for the fellowship, right?
2. Second, be attentive – watch, listen, contemplate.
a. Pay attention to others, what they are saying, how they are acting, what they might be needing.
b. Think about how you would be feeling or what you might be needing if you were going through what they are going through.
c. Then act on what you hear, observe and conclude.
d. It’s not that hard once you start to become other-focused.
3. Third, be expressive – communication leads to community.
a. Share your words, your experience, your affection.
E. Today is the third Sunday of the month, so that means it is our fellowship meal Sunday.
1. Fellowship meals provide the perfect setting for expressing our devoted brotherly love.
2. Ultimately, being devoted to the fellowship is all about “WE” not “ME.”
F. End with Prayer
Resources:
Building Up One Another, by Gene Getz, Victor Books, 1981.
