A young man took a short cut home through a cemetery late one night and fell in an open grave. He cried for help and tried to climb out, but it didn’t work. There was no one around to hear his cries or to lend a hand. So he settled down in a dark corner of the grave to wait for morning.
A little while later, somebody else took the same route through the same cemetery, taking the same short cut, and fell in the same grave. He started clawing and shouting, trying to get out just as the first guy had done. Then, the second guy heard a voice coming from a dark corner of the grave: “You can't get out of here.” Guess what? He did! (James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited, 1988, p. 385)
Sometimes we get stuck, and all we need is just a little encouragement. Fear works, sometimes. But an even greater encouragement is love.
Lee Iacocca once asked the legendary football coach, Vince Lombardi, what it took to make a winning team. Lombardi replied, “There are a lot of coaches with good ball clubs who know the fundamentals and have plenty of discipline but still don't win the game. Then you come to the third ingredient: if you're going to play together as a team, you've got to care for one another. You've got to love each other. Each player has to be thinking about the next guy and saying to himself ‘If I don't block that man, Paul is going to get his legs broken. I have to do my job well in order that he can do his.’”
The difference between mediocrity and greatness, Lombardi said, is the feeling these guys have for each other. (Iacocca, as quoted by Christopher Stinnett, Leadership Magazine, Vol. 15:3, Summer 1994, p. 49)
That’s also the difference between a mediocre and a great church. It’s the care we demonstrate for one another. It’s our commitment to “love one another,” just as Christ commanded us.
The question is: What does that look like in a church? What does a church, inspired to greatness by love, look like? How does it behave? What are the particulars? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Acts 4, Acts 4, where we see what it looked like in the first church.
Acts 4:32-33 Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul [or psyche in the Greek, i.e., they were of one heart and mind], and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. (ESV)
These people shared their hearts and minds with each other. They were united around one purpose. Their hearts were knit together, and they shared a common vision of the future, a common goal – and that was the world-wide proclamation of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Since 1995 when Toy Story was released, Pixar has created 14 feature films, all of which have become huge international successes. From its beginnings as a production company, Pixar has focused on the crucial value of teamwork and collaboration. Originally, the company planned to build three separate buildings with separate office spaces for the animators, computer programmers, and management. But Steve Jobs scrapped that plan and instead moved everyone into an old Del Monte canning factory that had one huge room with an atrium in the center. Jobs wanted to create a space where people throughout the company could bump into each other, deepen relationships, and share ideas.
But Jobs took it one step further: he moved everything – including mailboxes, meeting rooms, a coffee bar, and even the bathrooms – into the center of the atrium so people would be forced to interact. Initially, some of the employees complained that it was a waste of time to walk to the atrium every time they had to go to the bathroom or grab a cup of coffee. But Jobs kept telling Pixar employees, "Everybody has to run into each other." A Pixar producer called it "smooshing," and he added, "If I don't see lots of smooshing, I get worried."
Brad Bird, the director of The Incredibles and Ratatouille, said, “The atrium initially might seem like a waste of space… But Steve [Jobs] realized that when people run into each other, when they make eye contact, things happen. So he made it impossible for you NOT to run into the rest of the company.”
The Latin motto for Pixar says it all: Alienus Non Diutius, or “alone no longer.” (Jonah Lehrer, Imagine: How Creativity Works, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012, pp. 144-152; www. PreachingToday.com)
That’s what the first church in Jerusalem was all about: “Alone no longer”. They found ways to get their hearts and minds together, and that’s what we must do if we want to be more than just a mediocre church. We must…
SHARE OUR HEARTS AND MINDS WITH ONE ANOTHER.
We must find ways to come together around a common goal. We must unite around a common purpose – not of making movies, but of making disciples of Jesus Christ.
If we’re going to be all that Jesus wants us to be as a church, there needs to be a lot of “smooshing”; three needs to be a lot of just connecting with each other.
That’s why I’m thrilled about our big lobby area. It’s a great place for that “smooshing” to take place. That’s why I’m thrilled when so many of you go to Wendy’s or El Potrillo’s together after church. You are finding ways to connect with each other!
Keep up the good work and excel still more. In fact, look for ways to expand your circle of friends and invite others to join you for lunch. If we’re going to inspire each other to greatness, then 1st, we must share our hearts and minds. 2nd, we must…
SHARE OUR POSSESSIONS.
We must share our stuff. We must share our materials goods. That’s what the first church did.
Acts 4:32 No one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. (ESV)
They had a proper perspective of things: What I have is not mine. It all belongs to God – my house, my car, my property, and my money – It’s all His to use as He wants. And that’s the perspective we need. You and I both know that our stuff belongs to God, and God wants us to share HIS stuff with those in need.
Once, a little boy went to see Santa Clause at a busy shopping mall, where he had to wait in line forever. Finally, he was able to sit on Santa’s lap, and after the usual “Ho, Ho, Ho’s,” Santa asked the boy what he wanted for Christmas.
The boy responded, “I would like two toy trucks, and I want two teddy bears, two remote control cars and two video games.”
“Well, well,” said Santa. “That certainly is a tall order to fill. Do you mind telling me why you want two of everything?”
“Sure,” said the little boy. “So I can share.”
That little boy wanted to share the extras – like a lot of people. “Oh, I don’t need those old clothes anyway. I’ll just give them away.” So often, we share just the extras.
The first Christians shared the essentials. They shared everything they owned. It’s why their message went forth “with great power” (vs.33). It’s why “great grace was upon them all.” Their sharing, along with the miracles God performed through the apostles, gave them tremendous credibility.
Do we want to go beyond mediocre to great? Do we want our message to have credibility? Then, 1st, we must share our hearts and minds. 2nd, we must share our possessions. And 3rd, we must…
SHARE OUR MONEY.
We must give our funds. We must give cash to meet ministry needs. I know it sounds a little blunt, but that’s exactly what the first church did.
Acts 4:34-35 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. (ESV)
They gave sacrificially to meet ministry needs, and that’s exactly what we must do if we want to be a great church!
I don’t believe God ever intended for churches to be in the fund-raising business. I don’t believe God ever intended for churches to be running bazaars, raffles, garage sales, and soup suppers to raise money for ministry needs. NO! God intends for His people to give their own money to fund ministry needs.
Now, if you want to sell some of your own stuff to raise money to give to the church, that’s fine. That’s what the first church did here in Acts 4. But we, as a church, are NOT getting into the fundraising business. If our ministry needs are going to be met, they’re going to be met by the generous giving of God’s people – YOU! – just as it was done in the first church. And if you don’t give, then those ministry needs won’t be met.
It’s that simple, but It’s also the difference between a mediocre church and a great church! When God’s people give, it inspires greatness in a church, and it encourages everybody!
Years ago, a little girl was turned away from a Sunday School in Philadelphia, because it was overcrowded. But instead of complaining, she began, that day, to save her pennies to “help the Sunday school have more room.” Two years later, she died. They found a pocketbook by her bed with 57 pennies and a little scrap of paper with a note saying to help the church build a bigger Sunday school.
The pastor of that church, Dr. Russell Conwell, used that note to make a dramatic appeal to his congregation. People's hearts were touched. One Realtor gave the church a piece of land. He said he just wanted a down payment of 57 pennies.
The local newspaper picked up the story, and it was carried across the country. The pennies grew, and today in Philadelphia stands a church which seats 3,300 people and has a large Sunday School department.
But that’s not all! Temple University and the Good Samaritan Hospital also came about as a result of that initial effort. In fact, there is a room at Temple University where that little girl's picture is on the wall, along with the story of her initial 57 cent gift that started it all. (Bob Russell, "Take the Risk," Preaching Today, Tape No. 143)
That’s what happens when God’s people share, and share sacrificially. It doesn’t have to be a lot to have a huge impact.
What do you say? Let’s share our hearts and minds. Let’s share our possessions. Let’s share our money, and so let’s…
BE AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO ONE ANOTHER.
Let’s spur each other on to greatness. Let’s inspire the church to be all it can be for God. That’s what happened in the first church.
Acts 4:36-37 Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet. (ESV)
Joseph sold a field. He brought the proceeds of that sale to the church, and it was an encouragement to everybody. In fact, that’s how Joseph got his nickname – Barnabas (Son of Encouragement). His act of generosity was a real encouragement to the whole church, and your generosity can be an encouragement to the whole church, as well. Your sacrificial giving can inspire us all.
Now, I know, a couple of weeks ago, I said, “We don’t need money to minister.” Peter and John went to the temple, and Peter told a lame man, begging for money, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” (Acts 3:6). All they had was the name of Jesus, and the man walked and leaped and praised the Lord!
We don’t need money to minister, but that does not mean that money is not a ministry. Here, in Acts, chapter 4, it is very clear: Money IS a ministry. Money IS a great help. Money IS a great encouragement to the church. And if God has blessed you with money, He wants you to use it to encourage His people. He wants you to use it to help those in need.
Derek Redmond ran the 400-meters in his fastest time in five years in the preliminary rounds at the summer Olympic games in Barcelona. Four years earlier, in Seoul, a tendon problem had forced Derek to drop out. He had since undergone operations on both Achilles tendons.
Then in the finals in Barcelona, as he rounded the turn into the back stretch, a sharp pain shot up his right leg. He went down, struggled to his feet and began hobbling around the track.
High in the stands, Jim Redmond saw Derek collapse. He ran down onto the track and, catching up with his son, put his arm around him. "You don't have to do this."
"Yes, I do," said Derek.
"Then we'll finish together."
Defending Olympic champion Steve Lewis won the heat and headed toward the tunnel. So did the other six runners. Leaning on his Dad's right shoulder in intense pain, Derek began sobbing. An usher attempted to escort Jim off the track. But father and son continued, crossing the finish line to thundering cheers. (Ken Sutterfield, The Power of an Encouraging Word, 1997)
That’s exactly what “encouragement” is all about. The word, in the original Greek, literally means “to come along side and help.” It’s the same word used of the Holy Spirit – our Helper, our Counselor, our Comforter – in John 14:16. And it’s what happens when we share with one another. We finish the race, and all heaven responds with thundering cheers!
How about it? Share your hearts and minds. Share your possessions. Share your money. And so be an encouragement to the entire body of Christ. And so inspire this church to be all that God wants it to be.
