OPEN: Centuries ago in Europe, a wealthy nobleman decided to build a church bldg. for the mountain village that he’d grown up in. Everybody, in the village was excited, but no one was permitted to see the plans, or the inside of the church building until it was finished. Finally, the day arrived, and people gathered on Sunday to marvel at the beauty of the new building.
But when they went inside… someone said, “Hey! Where are the lamps? It is dark in here. Where are the lamps?” Then the nobleman pointed to a line of brackets along the walls, and then he gave each of the families a lamp, telling them to “Bring your lamps each time you come to worship.” And he explained, “Each time you are here, the place where you’re seated will have light. But every time you are not here, your place will be dark. This is to remind you that whenever you fail to gather with the church, some part of the building will be dark”
APPLY: Now, I modified that illustration a little bit. The original story placed emphasis was on the idea that the Church building was the church. But it’s NOT! We (Christians) are the church, and this building is…well, it’s just a building that we meet in. This is not the church… you are the church! And so I modified the story so that you’d get my point. And the point is this: When Christians aren’t together in worship there’s something missing. It’s like there’s a bit of darkness that settles over our hearts.
Because WE NEED EACH OTHER!
In fact, the Bible is very clear about that idea that God’s people need each other. Back in the Old Testament God declared: “Two are better than one… If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no-one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)
WE NEED EACH OTHER!!!
Sometimes congregations forget that. Sometimes churches believe their total purpose in life is to show up the building for church for worship and let the Preacher and the Elders and the Singers do all THE STUFF of worship. And so they smile, they sing, they pray, they listen to the sermon… and then they go home. BUT they don’t need each other. They just need the folks up front during “church.”
But Paul tells the Church at Corinth “NO! That’s not the way this works. “You are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” I Corinthians 12:27
And Paul writes: “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have NO NEED of you,’ nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have NO NEED of you.’” I Corinthians 12:21
WE NEED EACH OTHER!
As Ecclesiastes reminds us - we’re in this together, and when we’re together - we have others around us to help us, to keep us warm, to protect us, and to keep us from being broken down by the hardships of life.
(PAUSE) Now, God deliberately uses the imagery of us being the BODY of Christ. And in Ephesians 5:29 we’re told “… no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church”
God reminds us that WE (who are part of that body) need each other and we need to nourish and cherish the BODY of believers that we’re part of.
So, think about this for a minute: How do you nourish/cherish YOUR physical body?
ILLUS: Well, you feed it (sometimes you feed it really well); You cleanse it (showers/baths/shaving, etc.); If you’re sick, you see a doctor; If your teeth hurt – you go see a dentist; You put clothes on body that (at least) you think makes you look good; And once in a while you even pamper yourself/ entertain yourself. Those are just some of the ways you and I nourish and cherish our mortal bodies. But now, God is telling you that you’re part of a huge SPIRITUAL body, and He’s asking YOU personally to help take care of that body.
How do we DO that? How do we nourish and cherish Christ’s body? Well first, we need realize that being part of the body of Christ means that God expects us “participate” with that body. Before the Covid crisis occurred, we did that a lot here. You were so involved with one another we deliberately scheduled a song we could sing to pull you back in because you folks just wouldn’t shut up and sit down otherwise.
But unfortunately, too often in too may congregations – that doesn’t happen!
ILLUS: Francis Chan observed that “It’s no secret that most people who attend church services come as consumers rather than as servants.”
In other words, folks often don’t come to be involved with others, they come only to consume/receive. They don’t want to get involved!
ILLUS: Years ago, Snoopy (in the Peanuts comic strip) broke his leg. Believe it or not, 100s of “get well cards” came in from fans across the world. In one of the frames of the comic strip, Snoopy (with his leg in cast) says this: “My body blames my foot for not being able to go places. My foot says it was my head’s fault, and my head blamed my eyes. My eyes say my feet are clumsy, and my right foot says not to blame him for what my left foot DID....”
And then Snoopy looks out at his audience and confesses, “I don’t say anything because I don’t want to get involved.”
Now, why is that funny? It’s funny because Snoopy WAS involved. It was his foot, his head, his eyes, his feet! He was already involved because he was part the body. And we’re part of the Body of Christ and the BODY needs you and I to be involved
Well, what can you do to involve yourself with the body?
Some of the stuff we already do: We pray for each other, we try to make people feel like they’re important, and we try take care of each other’s needs (financial needs/ food/ clothing/ etc.). There are people here who will regularly call the shut-ins and sick, and there’s others who will send out encouraging cards.
That’s especially important in this post-Covid world. We don’t have the opportunity to interact like we once did. That’s why I constantly emphasize your cell phones. Call people. Email people. Contact each other on Facebook. Send cards and letters. Contact one another and see how each other is doing. Pray for one another.
WE NEED EACH OTHER.
And even more than that, I NEED you. I don’t know if you realize this, but I make mistakes. I fail. I will suffer from tone deafness. Every preacher worries that they’ll miss something, forget to call someone, not contact a person who wants to hear from him… and I’m just as prone to fail as the next man. I NEED you to contact me if you think I should contact someone, or pray for someone. Without you, I’ll miss someone I don’t want to miss. I need your help. That doesn’t mean YOU shouldn’t be doing the same – calling, contacting, praying – but it does mean I need you to help me not mess up.
In addition, a lot of churches miss an extremely important part of the “nourishing/encouraging” that we need to do for each other. And the reason they miss out on this is because most churches are set up around the preacher. THE PREACHER is the center of the church and everything rises and falls with the preacher. In a lot of churches, the preacher does the work of the ministry, and everybody else is the cheering section. But that’s not how God set things up.
In II Corinthians 1:3-4 we read “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, SO THAT WE MAY BE ABLE TO COMFORT THOSE WHO ARE IN ANY AFFLICTION, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”
What those verses are saying is this: Each of US is comforted by God in our struggles/affliction, so that we can comfort others in their afflictions. God “TRAINS” us to minister to each other.
ILLUS: One preacher I spoke with told of an unusual thing that happened at church. They have a “open mike” prayer time… and one Sunday a man stood up and said “I need your prayers. I’ve been struggling with alcohol most of my life and I’ve made the decision that I’m going to quit. I’ve not had a drink for the past couple of weeks and it’s getting tough.”
There was a pause, and then another man stood and said: “I had the same problem. And I didn’t think I could quit, but I did. I’ve been off the bottle now for 5 years.” And another man stood… and said roughly the same thing. And then another. About 3 or 4 men stood up that day and confessed they’d struggled in this and they all pledged to help the first man overcome his habit.
Do you know what happened there? What happened was that there were 3 or 4 men who’d been comforted by God and they in turn comforted a struggling brother – saying they’d be there for him. They showed what it meant to need each other.
Now, one last thought – WHOSE body is the Church? Who does the body belong to? That’s right, the body belongs to Jesus! It’s the BODY of CHRIST.
Colossians 1:16-18 For by (Christ) all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And HE IS THE HEAD OF THE BODY, THE CHURCH. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.”
Christ is the HEAD of the church. It’s HIS body!
Now, why is that important? Because somebody has to be in charge! And if it ain't Jesus … who’s it going to be? Well, it’ll be me or the Elders of someone with influence, or a lot of money.
ILLUS: Every once in while, a kid from our JAM program will ask me “Do you own the church?” No, I don’t own it. “Well then, who owns the church?” they’ll ask. “Jesus does.” They can’t quite grasp that, but it’s non-the-less true. That’s why the name on the marquee out front says: “CHURCH OF CHRIST.” That’s who OWNS this church.
But (you know) it doesn’t matter what’s on the sign out front. Because, unless this church - not just the building, but the BODY - unless we as a body of believers belong to Jesus Christ WE’VE FAILED! You see, the marquee isn’t bragging about WHO we are. It’s bragging about WHO we belong to. It’s a proclamation that JESUS OWNS US: He’s our head; He’s our master; He’s our savior; and He holds US - the body of Christ – together.
And we call ourselves a Church of Christ because we love Him; because we belong to Him; and because we want to spend eternity with Him.
The question for you this morning is this – DO YOU? Do you love Him? Do you belong to Him? And do you want to spend eternity with Him?
You can do that this morning if you BELIEVE that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. If you are willing to acknowledge that you have sinned and that you need to REPENT of your sins. If you are willing to CONFESS that Jesus will now be the Lord and Master of your life. And if are willing to allow yourself to be BAPTIZED – buried in the waters of baptism and rising up a new creature in Christ.
INVITATION
