Good Morning, today we continue our series our entitled, “Jesus, I’m just not feeling it.” The premise of last week’s message was that by participating in a Christian group we realize the love of God in a very tangible way and in turn, we are able to re-connect to God. This week we continue finding our way to God or renewing our faith by asking, “What are the primary activities that keep us connected to both God and our neighbor?” As someone said yesterday, you can see the path, stand next to the path but until you step on the path, you will never experience where the path.
With that being said, I would like to begin with a great video of the back-up quarterback for the Chicago bears, Josh McCown. If you could please, give your attention to the screens on either side of me.
<Video - about josh and Jay cutler)
Every time I watch the video, I can’t help but want to see Josh succeed in the NFL. The love of the Lord just comes from him and it lines up with his live interviews. This season when the Jay Cutler the starting quarterback was out, Josh was continually asked about being the starting the quarterback and he kept saying, “I’m not. I’m the backup and Jay is the starting quarterback.” His words and his actions lined up as his humility went on display. Then, as I learned more about the man and his heart to use his talents to help a High School team, I became impressed with his willingness to serve out of his giftedness. Finally, what I really admired was his obedience to the Lord. I am sure he got discouraged and wondered why not me Lord. However, even as things went different than he thought they would he continued to have faith in God.
The apostle Paul knew what it meant not to have things go as planned. His life as a Pharisee, a Jew and Roman citizen were all about power in this world. And Yet, God had a different plan for Him which was revealed on that way to Damascus. He then becomes the church planter and coach of the first century. Today’s call to worship comes to us as he writes to one such community that he launched in a roman colony called, Philippi. He is writing from prison in Rome to this group of individuals who have funded his outreach and loved him unconditionally. In many ways, they were like Wheatland Salem: they were missional, the well off by world standards, relatively peaceful and striving to share the faith in very tangible ways. In this letter, he reminds the community to focus on the good news while holding one another accountable and unified to the ideals at hand. I just love the third verse of the second chapter. “Be like minded, with the same love, being of one spirit and of one mind.” The power of this statement is profound.
Paul knew nothing insures success than a unity and single goal.
Paul had heard the stories of when Julius Caesar landed on the shores of Britain with his Roman legions, he took a bold and decisive step to ensure the success of his military venture. Ordering his men to march to the edge of the Cliffs of Dover, he commanded them to look down at the water below. To their amazement, they saw every ship in which they had crossed the channel engulfed in flames. Caesar had deliberately cut off any possibility of retreat. Now that his soldiers were unable to return to the continent, there was nothing left for them to do but to advance and conquer! And that is exactly what they did. <Preaching Illustrations>
It’s rare to find such a group commitment in this life. Let’s face it: friends on Facebook or any social media are not real friends – you only see what they want you to see. Work friends have a vested interest in your success or failure. Neighbors are friends of convenience due to geography, stage of life and time available. Our school friends are similarly bound. All relationships lose their influence over time. The only place to find deep lasting connectedness comes when we establish a goal that is larger than any one person – a cause.
I have been a part of a group with a single goal only a handful of times in my life and I’ll never forget it. I also believe we are called to be a part of one here and now. Paul speaks to the church in Philippi and us in verses 4 and 5:
“Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,…”
AND lest you forget, he goes on to say in verses 6-8:
“Who, being in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be
used to his own advantage; (Humility)
rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very form of a servant, being
made in human likeness. (service)
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming
obedient to death— even death on a cross!”(Obedience)
Paul calls us all to this as our credo. Humility, service and obedience are mission critical for us as Christ followers. They are the three cornerstones of our shared creed. By definition, a creed is an idea(s) or belief(s) that govern the actions of the group and the individuals within (Merriam Webster). They become the cultural norms and feed our expectation of those associated with us. They also should create for us a bit of “Holy Unrest” as Henri Nouwen put it last week. They should force us to ask the question, “How? How do we, you and I, implement these ideals when our human nature and the world around us seems to yearn for just the opposite?” Let’s face it: we can’t hold a new year’s resolution more than 9 days on average, our diets fail after two weeks and we can’t even make our standing weekly appointment to worship the creator of the universe.
Seriously, how will we live our faith in humility, service and obedience? The simple answer is we can’t under our own power. However, we can access His power through the Holy Spirit by first remembering that the Lord’s love comes complete in us, and in the world, when we act as He would. His Spirit and ours meet, His intentions become ours and His will becomes all we long to do. Not out of a vain exercise of good but out of sheer wonder to fully come to know the Lord.
He calls us to live as one witness through our continual humility, service and obedience. Personally, the place I have seen this played out most significantly has been in my small group life.
I have countless stories of folks in my small groups over the years that others have helped or who have stood in the gap for me. As many of you know, I wrecked a motorcycle 3 years ago. It was a pretty tough time for our family. However, I will never forget the love shown our family with meals and visits. The biggest of which was a small group friend who stopped by almost every day for a while to check on me and make sure I had taken the right amount of medicine. Truthfully, I felt like I was imposing but every visit gave me a boost. The time in and out might have been less than 5 minutes but it forever changed me.
To experience the peace, joy, love and hope that only come as a part of living as He did, we must live in community who exercises these cornerstones.
www.communitycenter.life/rev-robert-butler-info
