Series: “Bringing Back the Bands”
“Becoming as One”
John 17:20-23
A sermon for 1/24/21
Pastor John Bright
John 17 “20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who [j]will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.”
I will be taking time off from the Gospel of Luke to teach four weeks about Discipleship Bands. Let me start with a brief history lesson – All the Wesleyan denominations follow in the footsteps of John Wesley. Following his failed missionary journey to the colony of Georgia, it was May 24, 1738 John experienced the power of the Holy Spirit at a meeting on Aldersgate Street – “… I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.” (Works of John Wesley, 3rd ed., vol. 1) Then, that same year, on New Year’s Eve, he experienced the Holy Spirit again at Fetter-Lane – “At about three in the morning, as we were continuing instant in prayer, the power of God came mightily among us, insomuch that many cried out for exceeding joy, and many fell to the ground. As soon as we were recovered a little from that awe and amazement at the presence of His majesty, we broke out with one voice, “We praise thee, O God, we acknowledge thee to be the Lord.” (Works of John Wesley, 3rd ed., vol. 1).
After these powerful experiences in his own life, John Wesley began gathering folks in Class Meetings – which were required for those wanting to continue in the Methodist Societies. These were groups of 7-12 men and women. There was a main question to be answered in the Class Meeting – “How does your soul prosper?” Questions that arose would move participants to search the Scriptures for an answer. I have read before that the main source of pastors in Methodism in America were former Class Meeting leaders. There were also smaller group meetings of those who had experienced salvation, called Bands, that were about 5 men or 5 women meeting together to have a “safe place” to confess sin. Wesley believed this to be clearly commanded in God’s Word – James 5:16 “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed….”
Here are the five questions they were required to answer each week in every band meeting:
1 - What known sins have you committed since our last meeting? (SHOCK FOR US!)
2 - What temptations have you met with?
3 - How were you delivered?
4 - What have you thought, said, or done, of which you doubt whether it be sin or not?
5 - Have you nothing you desire to keep secret?
(John Wesley, “Rules for Band-Societies”)
Listen to Dr. Kevin Watson’s description of the purpose of this method and these questions: “The band meeting was a place of deep vulnerability and intimacy. It was a place where Christians were completely honest with each other about the ways in which they knew they had fallen short of who God was calling and enabling them to be in Christ. The purpose of band meetings was not to shame one another or heap guilt and condemnation on one another. On the contrary, in telling each other the truth about their lives, particularly where they had fallen short, Methodists brought each other to the bottomless wells of God’s amazing grace. They sought to drench one another in God’s healing grace so that they could experience freedom from all that kept them from complete freedom in Christ.”
https://wesleyanaccent.com/kevin-watson-the-methodist-band-meeting-confession-is-for-protestants-too/
Class Meetings and Band Meetings were a part of Methodism in America during the times of radical growth during the Second Great Awakening, the Camp Meeting Movement and the Methodist Holiness Movement. Then, at the beginning of the 20th century, we stopped directing all who wanted to be called “Methodists” to meet in this way. Christianity in America had become more and more about the personal relationship with God through Christ – at the same time it became more and more a private matter. We have become Churches full of “Lone Ranger Christians.” In that time, the Methodist Church has continued to shrink – example – between 1965 and 1994, membership in the UMC dropped 22.4%. (Christianity Today, 11 August 1997, 11)
We need to turn a corner and reverse this! I believe we are standing at the brink of God doing a new thing in our midst! I believe we are about to see another Great Awakening in the US and the World! But – and that’s a BIG but – but if we keep doing it the we have always done it – how can we expect a different result? That’s crazy talk. As we move forward, please remember – Discipleship Bands are part of our history that our great-great-great grandparents would have seen as normal AND Discipleship Bands are based on God’s direction for His Church – the Body of Christ – the Bride of Christ being prepared for the Rapture! Amen!
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Have you ever heard the old adage of leadership that “there is no ‘I’ in TEAM”?
Have you ever considered that there is also no ‘I’ in CHURCH?
In the days we are living, unity is a hot topic. I’m not going to even begin to imagine what could unite our deeply divided country. I see very little common ground for the current political landscape. I also fear we are ill-prepared to defend our religious liberties – but that’s a whole other sermon! I want to talk to you about unity in the church that is radically different than what we could ever believe is possible in this day.
Jesus wanted us to united – v. 20-21
“20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.”
Jesus prayed for the church in the future – you and me – all the Believers today and in the future – to be united in the same way that the Father and the Son – the whole of the Trinity – is united. Let that sink in for a second or two.
Are you a Believer? Have you been Born Again? Are you sure? Are you sure that you are sure!? If not, pray today for God to cleanse you of the stain of sin by the power of the Blood shed on Calvary. Believe that Jesus was raised on the Third Day so that we can experience both Life Eternal in the Heavenlies and life now in the Complete Freedom of His love and grace. Hey – God is crazy, in love with you!!!!!!
If you are a Believer, there is a unity with your Brothers and Sisters in Christ that God desires to be yours. A unity in which we can all lay down the masks we wear every day. Yes – we ALL WEAR THE MASKS LONG BEFORE THEY WERE REQUIRED BY THE GOVERNMENT. They were not worn out of fear of a virus. No, those masks were worn and are still worn out of our human fear that others will actually see the real me – warts and all. Each and every masked Believer carries around a fear of rejection.
We have all been rejected in the past – by family – by friends – by love interests – by folks in the Church – at work, at school, in the community. It has happened to us so many times that we wear the mask of “what we think they want to see.” If you stop and consider all the masks we wear with all the different folks in our lives – it’s exhausting! We get so used to wearing the masks and hiding behind the masks that we delude ourselves to thinking even God won’t love us if we take off the masks and show our true selves. Can I be blunt with you today – THAT’S A LIE STRIGHT FROM THE PIT OF HELL! GOD LOVES YOU MORE THAN YOU KNOW. HE LOVES YOU SO MUCH THAT HE EVEN LIKES YOU!!!!! (double-take)
Why would we even consider that a shocking word from the pulpit? You see, if that’s true – we can let go of the long-held fear and enjoy the loving embrace of God. It’s hard to even think about it… believe me – I know it’s hard! At least, for today, consider the possibility.
If we are willing, in small groups of men or women, to begin to let down our masks that are motivated by human fear, we are going to start looking different to the rest of the world.
Can the world see Christ in us? v. 21d-23
“…that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.”
Two times in these verses we have Jesus mentioning the world:
• “that the world may believe that You sent Me”
• “that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them”
In the Gospel and Epistles of John, “the world” is short hand for the humans and systems of humanity that oppose God. For the Jews, it was simply a group known as the Gentiles. In their religion, God had come to redeem the Jews, not the Gentiles. (Even though there are multiple Old Testament mentions of salvation of the Gentile - Genesis 12:3, Psalm 22:27, Isaiah 42:4, Isaiah 49:6, Isaiah 56:3-7, Isaiah 60:1-3, Jeremiah 16:19-21, Zechariah 2:11, Malachi 1:11) Now, with the coming of Jesus Christ into this fallen world, there is hope for all.
How does the world find out about that hope? Most of us found that hope by being raised in the Church. We heard the Gospel Message and responded. What about all those folks today who have not been raised in Church? What about all those folks today that have heard the false gospel messages in thousands and thousands of YouTube videos? How can we reach them? I believe that Discipleship Bands can help.
Pastor JD Walt of Seedbed Ministries (connected to Asbury Seminary and New Room Ministries), along with others, developed this modern adaptation of the Wesleyan Band Meeting. Several weeks ago, I shared a brochure to introduce this concept and pointed you to the purpose of Discipleship Bands: “A discipleship band is a group of three to five people who read together, pray together, and meet together to become the love of God for one another and the world.” I directed you to take notice of the last phrase that states the purpose - to become the love of God for one another and the world. I believe this is a really, really good purpose!
Let me share this little bit of background from “Discipleship Bands: A Practical Field Guide” (download a free copy at https://discipleshipbands.com/ ) -
“Jesus’ ambition is not to create a bunch of autonomous individual miracle workers. His mission is to create miraculous communities. This happens very simply through the arduous journey of people learning to love one another in the very same way that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit love one another.
We will see the greater things of the gospel in the world as the greater love of the gospel finds its way into our relationships. This is what banding together is all about. The first half of the gospel is about believing in the love of God for the world. The second half of the gospel is about becoming the love of God in and for the world. We stand on this conviction: the world will awaken to the first half of the gospel as the people of God awaken to the second half of the gospel. In a post-Christian world, the content of the gospel will have little impact on unbelievers if people do not see it actualized in the relationships among its believers.
There’s nothing new here. It’s actually quite ancient. From Jesus’ band of disciples to the present day, everywhere the church has flourished some manner of banded discipleship was at the heart of it. Most of us aren’t lazy in our faith. We are stuck. It is not that we lack commitment. We are simply arrested in our development. The way forward is as close as a few other people who are willing to band together.”
I believe we can do that – here and now. Will you join me in this? Amen.
