WELCOME & INTRODUCTION
- Speak on the goodness of our being together this morning
- This series called “We Are Better Together”
- Intentional in pointing our minds to unity as a church family and as part of the churches of Christ.
LOVE THY NEIGHBOR
The offense: A 24-year-old man Filo liked to drive his souped-up Ford Escort at high speeds through his neighborhood. The neighbors were not impressed and worried about an accident that could involve their own cars, home, or even people that lived there.
One morning in May of 2012, Filo went out to his car to discover that it had been hoisted 20 feet up a tree. None of Filo’s neighbors admitted to having done it, although one did say that someone had borrowed his crane.
It turns out Filo didn’t have a driver’s license to begin with so his complaint to the police was dropped. He had relented and said he would be more considerate in his driving in the future. His words were, “I got the message…but I think it was a bit harsh.” (This is a real picture by the way…)
Maybe you have someone like Filo that makes you mad. Maybe you’d love to retaliate like these neighbors. Perhaps these are people you know all too well: family, a friend, a church member… This morning, we are going to look at the way the disciples handled their situation following the betrayal of Judas and the death of Jesus.
In the closing of the Gospels, Jesus appears to his remaining disciples several times. Fear had gripped them and when they met, it was under lock and key. They feared they may meet the same fate as Jesus. If you recall last week, we read in Matthew 10 that Jesus actually warned them of this possibility and that is why they needed to go and do their miraculous acts and sharing the Gospel in pairs.
John tells us in his gospel that “On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” [John 20:19]
Until Jesus had appeared to them, it is possible they were gathering trying to figure out what their next move would be. Perhaps they should stay there until things settle down with the Jews. Maybe they should go back to their homes. It’s possible that Simon the Zealot was ready to rise up and attempt to overthrow the Pharisees. But what does Jesus do? He charges them with the mission:
Matthew 28:18-20
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
This must have been a boost for these men and even the women who met with them. Because as we will see the disciples needed some encouragement and a reconciliation to bring them back to what they had known from the beginning of their time with Jesus. Let’s read a portion of this passage in Acts and then we will draw some conclusions from what it teaches us.
READ ACTS 1:12-26
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away. 13 And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew,
James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
15 In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, 16 “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.
17 For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” [Lets skip ahead to verse 21 – It was prophesied that another should take Judas’ office of apostle…] 21 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.”
23 And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. 24 And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.”
26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
After the angels remind the disciples that Jesus will come again. This time it will not be a lowly birth, but he will come again in the way they saw him leave—from heaven above. Matthew records Jesus saying the time of his return is unknown by anyone but the Father, but it will be glorious.
MATTHEW 24:27
“For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”
LUKE 21:25-27
“And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”
REVELATION 1:7
“Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him…”
So these disciples go up again to the upper room which they were very familiar with, they return with joy. They are no longer gripped with fear and sorrow, but joy and peace. This leads them to be united under this mission of Jesus. As Luke puts it, “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer…”
Their first instinct is to pray. These that were gathered prayed together under what unified them to begin with—Jesus. If we are going to be a unified people, we need to be able to pray together. I have loved my first three Sundays here. The hospitality has been incredible. The help to get us moved in has been wonderful. Assembling with you has been so good. What has encouraged me is your response to my original call—that in our invitation, it is more than the typical response. You have come to pray and we have lifted up real people in prayer as a response to our messages of unity. And our prayers have been heard by God. What an encouragement! And it has changed the dynamic of the 29th and Yale church and many have noticed this change and told me about it. As the new guy, I have desired that we come together to pray.
David Young at the North Boulevard church of Christ in Murfreesboro, Tennessee talks about one of their values and that is to be a House of Prayer. This is a value that the Southwest Church in Tigard, Oregon added to the vision statement and we worked hard to become a house of prayer. I would love for the 29th and Yale church of Christ to become a House of Prayer. I would love to see us as a people where our first instinct is to pray, in any circumstance. As David Young puts it,
“I am personally continuing to grow in prayer, but I am not where I should be. North Boulevard’s prayer muscle is just beginning to grow. We still have a long way to go. Nevertheless, over the last 3 years, we have really put an emphasis on prayer, and we are beginning to see God responding to our prayers. Every Wednesday night, rather than having a Bible class in the auditorium, we have a house of prayer, filled with praise and prayer.”
He says more, but this is how the first disciples responded to Jesus, this is how the first church in Acts 2 responded and spent time together, and I believe this is how we should respond to what God is doing.
As they came together, we see a group who wanted to continue the work they began with Jesus. They increased the number back to 12 by adding Matthias (because they all needed to be able to have a buddy—we talked about this last week) and to fulfill what the Psalmist prophesied “Let another take his office.”
But these men saw a progression that taught them they needed to reconcile with one another as they began their ministry with the Holy Spirit as their guide. This new 12 would need each other in order to fulfill this Great Commission. It was no easy feat because they had seen how disunity divides the mission. So let’s look at this progression and learn a few lessons:
These men were betrayed by a brother.
This mission was for the 12. The ones who walked together heard Jesus tell them one of them is a devil and that devil would betray him. Judas was there and saw what Jesus could do. Yet, even being that close as a witness to the power of God, he wasn’t on board with the mission. You have to kind of wonder how someone could be there with Jesus in the flesh and still be selfish and not trust the mission.
We see that today too. Disunity in the body comes when people are tempted to do the wrong thing. When a brother in Christ wears a metaphorical mask and only pretends to follow Jesus it will eventually catch up with him, his friends, his family, his church, and hurt his relationship with Jesus.
It breaks that bond that we have with one another. It is true that we have people in the church who question the teachings. But they don’t ask questions aloud to find answers. They might sow discord among the brethren. They might make off-hand remarks and comments in class that sound nice but aren’t the truth. They say things to their sisters about their dress or clothing to make them feel inadequate. They poke fun at someone for something they do or say. And when it comes to faith, they contradict scripture with modern philosophy to make others doubt. Then they do things that are underhanded to take from others and become selfish.
This disunity will tear apart churches, especially unhealthy churches. Healthy leadership sees this and disciplines. Judas betrayed the other 11 men. He betrayed Jesus. Judas got the ball rolling for the crucifixion of Jesus by bringing the detractors to where he was and turning him in. He hurt his friends. Broke their trust. Made them fear the future. Which brings me to my next point. When we are betrayed, it can bring fear.
These men feared the possibility of death.
So much so that they survived behind a locked door. They didn’t know when they would be sought after next. Peter thought it could have been at the same time Jesus was being accused. He denied he ever knew the man three times as Jesus was being berated and beaten.
Maybe disunity today doesn’t make us fear death, but it does bring fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear that other friends, family, church members, and others are betraying us too. We lose trust in people.
We fear that we might be hurt over and over again.
I have had these fears:
1. A church that took legalism to the point of doctrine. It hurt when they said things that weren’t true about what God has called us to in our doctrine and teaching, our practices as a church, and how we fellowship with other believers.
2. A church that accused me and my wife of gossip, slander, and hatred of teens in the youth group.
3. A church that continually dwelled in progressive Christianity, embracing unholy things and when I wouldn’t go along with it, fired me to go in another direction. Their words.
4. Fear that every church of Christ was this way and made me distrust elders.
5. Fear of all manner of Christianity where I was overanalyzing every dot and tittle of doctrine to my own depression. I couldn’t trust ANY teacher of the Word no matter where they came from.
This fear robbed me in my faith and in my leadership. Thanks be to God and His people that helped me find my joy again! Thanks be to God that He gave me the freedom of worship back! I no longer feared what other people thought about me and my faith. I was going to live to His glory alone!
Finally, in this cycle the good news.
These men came together and reconciled for the sake of the mission.
They were unified again. They chose Matthias who was there during Jesus’ teachings, saw him crucified, and saw him resurrected and raised into heaven. These disciples were now apostles. Men who saw who Jesus was and what he accomplished and were now the teachers. They were able to come together and embrace each other and reunify as a group.
We need to be able to reconcile with our brothers and sisters who may have betrayed us. It might look different for everyone. Someone may have betrayed your trust beyond reconciliation. But there are those who maybe have repented, who have done what they needed to make restitution. These brothers and sisters should be able to come back together and unify especially for the sake of the Kingdom.
We need more reconciliation of relationships in the church. We are the ambassadors to the world and if the world only sees division in the place where we claim God dwells, they will not want to know us. The church needs to be a place where bitter enemies can become beloved family.
I have witnessed too many brothers and sisters in the faith divide over petty things. The way a church is decorated, the color of carpets and walls, the clothes worn by those presiding. I saw someone angry over an information desk that had been removed to make more space for fellowship before and after worship! The songs we sing, the way we sing them, the kind of song leader we have…the list goes on and on. And our kids are watching. Our children are seeing the way we divide over these things. Don’t you think that affects them and the way they view the church? How they view relationships—that you can throw away a relationship because you disagreed over someone raising hands during a song. Our kids are watching and this is one of the biggest reasons Churches of Christ are losing members. Our kids especially see us and say I don’t want that in my life and they go somewhere else or nowhere at all. It’s happening and it’s documented in some of our brotherhood books being published the last 20 years.
We have more important things like the Gospel of Jesus to put at the top of our list. Salvation is by faith through grace, not by our creation of new laws that go beyond Moses and Jesus.
I don’t like ending on a negative. I want us to see the positives that can come when we are united under the bigger mission of Jesus Christ. Let’s be people who make disciples not disfellowship disciples.
Let me tell you I saw this as a teen myself. But thanks be to God, we were able to reconcile and I spent the formative years as a teenager in a youth group that loved each other and grew to 70 kids at one point. I learned so much by the relationships in that youth group to where I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for that experience in the church of Christ.
Let me close this lesson with our benediction:
May we find hope when we have fears.
May we come together and be people who pray.
May we find peace through difficult betrayal.
May we trust in Jesus when the devil is trying to tear us apart.
May we have unity.
INVITATION
