This past Monday and Tuesday I attended the annual all boards¡¦ retreat for our state ministry at Waycross Retreat Center down in Brown County. I was there as a new member our state Board of Christian Education.
It was a time for getting better acquainted with other colleagues around the state. But, it was also a time for very profound and deep moments of personal as well as corporate worship.
During one of our worship times we sang the hymn, Open My Eyes and, as we sang that hymn, I saw my sermon/communion meditation for this morning develop right before my eyes.
As we did last month, we are going to intersperse my comments with the singing of each verse of this hymn before we celebrate communion. Each verse of this hymn has something important to say to us about the third of the five purposes of the church ¡V fellowship.
I am also going to try something new to include our kids. I am very glad that our kids are in worship this morning. And kids, I am going to ask you to help me with my sermon by drawing a picture of fellowship.
Now fellowship is a big word, but I am going to do my best to help you understand this word, okay? Now, if you willing to help me draw a picture, then come up and get two crayons and a piece of paper and return to your seats.
A couple of more instructions: 1. Don¡¦t start drawing until I tell you to, okay? 2. You will be drawing several different scenes, or smaller pictures, so use your space carefully, okay? 3. Don¡¦t worry about messing up. 4. At the end of the service I am going to ask you to walk out with me and line up to show the pictures to the rest of us, okay?
Now, before we sing verse one of Open My Eyes, Lord there is a passage of scripture that I want us to reflect on. It has already been read this morning, but I want to read it again.
It is John 17:21: My prayer for all of them is that they will be one, just as you and I are one, Father¡Xthat just as you are in me and I am in you, so they will be in us, and the world will believe you sent me.
This is Jesus¡¦ praying to God the Father on behalf of not just the disciples gathered in the Upper Room that night, but also on behalf of you and me. This was part of Jesus¡¦ prayer for us, here, now, in Kendallville, Indiana on Sunday, November 4, 2001.
This is God¡¦s desire for the church, for you, for me, for us. Fellowship is a critical, a very, very, very critical purpose of the church. One of my commentaries had this to say about this passage:
Jesus¡¦ great desire for his disciples was that they would become one. He wanted them unified as a powerful witness to the reality of God¡¦s love. Are you helping to unify the body of Christ, the church? You can pray for other Christians, avoid gossip, build others up, work together in humility, give your time and money, exalt Christ, and refuse to get sidetracked arguing over divisive matters.
Fellowship is the result of an intentional decision to commit to the welfare of someone else. Fellowship doesn¡¦t just happen. It takes place when a group of people make the decision to create the conditions for fellowship to occur.
Let¡¦s now sing verse 1 of hymn 486 in our brown hymnal.
We create the conditions for fellowship when we individually make the decision to open our eyes and see the truth of God as we study the word of God together. Fellowship, that special and profound bond, comes as we read, study, and apply the Bible to our lives together.
The unity that Jesus prayed for in John 17:21 would be established as the disciples, and those who heard the disciples¡¦ words, paid attention to and sought to live out those words of truth that came from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. That listening and living out created the fertile ground in which fellowship would take root and grow because fellowship grows out of the decision to be one in Christ with one another no matter what.
Okay kids. We need you to help us draw a picture of some people studying the Bible.
For fellowship to take root and grow deep we need to ask God to help us open our eyes and see, truly see, one another.
Let¡¦s now sing verse 2 of Hymn 486
Open my ears, and let me hear Voices of Truth so sharp and clear.
Fellowship takes place when we make the decision to listen to the voice of God and one another by working at understanding what we have heard. That understanding comes through dialogue not monologue.
An Old Spanish proverb observes: ¡§Two great talkers will not travel far together.¡¨ Why is that? Maybe it is because they are so consumed by their own voices that they are easily distracted.
The area surrounding the retreat center that I have already mentioned was absolutely breathtaking! It was in a valley between some of those large rolling hills that Brown County is known for. Along the base of one ridge was a small stream.
I took a walk down to the stream for a reason that I will share in a moment. As I walked along the stream, do you know what I heard? Silence. Oh I heard the stream, and the wind, and other sounds of nature, but the silence was deafening!
Now, do you know why I was walking along the creek? To find a place to cross over so that I could climb the ridge and hopefully use my cell phone! One of the complaints that I heard from some of my colleagues was that they could not use their cell phones because the towers that transmitted the cell phone calls were blocked by the surrounding hills!
Now, you are probably saying, ¡§Jim, where is this place? That¡¦s where I want to be!¡¨ Why is that? Because the sounds of life are so often deafening to us that we cannot hear either the voice of God or the voice of one another.
Okay kids, ready? Now I would like for you to draw a picture of some who listens well, okay?
For fellowship to take root and make a difference in our lives, both individual and congregationally, we have to listen and understand what God and one another is saying.
Let¡¦s now sing, verse 3 of hymn 486
Open my mouth and let me declare words of assurance everywhere.
As it says in James 3:5, ¡§The tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do.¡¨
As I have said several times in the past couple of weeks, words have the ability to create worlds of hope or worlds of pain. I have to agree what the commentary on this verse says, ¡§Satan uses the tongue to divide people and pit them against one another. Idle and hateful words are damaging because they spread destruction quickly, and no one can stop the results once they are spoken. We dare not be careless with what we say, thinking we can apologize later, because even if we do, the scars remain. A few words spoken in anger can destroy a relationship that took years to build.¡¨
If there is one way in which fellowship is quickly built, and quickly destroyed, it is through our words. Pastor Brenda Snedden tells the story of trying to rid a mouse in her bedroom with the contents of a fire extinguisher. White powder goes everywhere in the bedroom but the mouse survives the attack.
Her husband finally arrives home and walks into the bedroom with a look of shock on his face. She orders him to kill the mouse. He grabs a machete that he got from a mission trip and prepares to do battle.
She scolds him for his selection because she does not want a mess. He of course, as she relates, looks around incredulously at the mess already made. Well, he ends up using the machete to shoo the mouse out of the bedroom through the patio door in the bedroom.
The point that Brenda was illustrating was about how we over use power to solve a problem and the result is a mess that takes hours, days, weeks, months, and even years to clean up. Such residue often comes as the result of words spoken in anger, fear, anxiety, exhaustion, and even hate. And fellowship is severely damaged.
Okay kids, draw us a picture of someone using caring words.
Open my mouth and let me declare words of assurance everywhere. Fellowship is enhanced; it thrives and grows, when assuring words ¡V of God¡¦s love, grace, and care ¡V are spoken.
But there is another part of this final verse that we need to pay attention to. Open my heart, and let me prepare, your loving kindnesses to share.¡¨
In the passage that is the Biblical base for this series, Acts 2: 42 ¡V 47 we note in Acts 2:44
And all the believers met together constantly and shared everything they had.
Please listen carefully to the commentary on this passage:
¡§Recognizing the other believers as brothers and sisters in the family of God, the Christians in Jerusalem shared all they had so that all could benefit from God¡¦s gifts. It is tempting¡Xespecially if we have material wealth¡Xto cut ourselves off from one another, concerning ourselves with only our interests and enjoying only our own little piece of the world. But as part of God¡¦s spiritual family, it is our responsibility to help one another in every way possible. God¡¦s family works best when its members work together.¡¨
Fellowship occurs as we work together toward a common goal on a common mission with a common purpose ¡V fulfilling both the Great Commandment to love God, one another, and ourselves and the Great Commission to ¡§go and make¡¨ responsible and growing followers of God who have an open life by allowing God to: open their eyes to see the need for fellowship all around them, their ears to hear, understand, and respect the voices of others that create a soil in which fellowship begins to grow, their mouths to speak words of love, respect, and assurance which creates a climate of fellowship in a time of great uncertainty, and their hearts that makes fellowship possible as they generously give of their time, money, and abilities.
Kids, I need one more part of the picture ¡V we need for you to draw us a picture of someone who loves.
All of us want and need to be loved and cared for. We want to know that we count. We need to be respected. We want to matter. We want to make a difference. We want to belong. Fellowship makes all of this happen.
Let¡¦s take a look at the chart from The Purpose Driven Church (page 119) and look at the right side of the fellowship segment. Notice what it says:
My relationships. Question: How good, how healthy are our relationships within this body of believers? Are they honoring to God?
People to live with. Question: How well are we living with one another? Is God being honored by the way we live together?
A family for living. Question: How well are we living together as the family of God? Are we honoring God in our fellowship, do outsiders see Christ at work within us?
Let¡¦s take one look at the diamond diagram as well. Notice that fellowship is at the first base location. Please also notice that it is between evangelism, which we have already spoken of and discipleship, which we look at next week.
Fellowship is a critical link between coming to God and following God. The purpose of fellowship is to enable us to live for God everywhere we go so that by doing so, others will begin to get interested in following God, too.
Now this morning is communion Sunday. Some may be asking what is the link between fellowship and communion. Good question to ask!
In the cross-references to fellowship in my Bible study software that I used for today, was the word communion. We commune with fellow believers and with God as we take time to reflect and remember what took place that night before His crucifixion as Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 11: 23 - 26
On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took a loaf of bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ¡§This is my body, which is given„T for you. Do this in remembrance of me.¡¨ 25 In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, ¡§This cup is the new covenant between God and you, sealed by the shedding of my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.¡¨
This morning we are going to take some time for communion. In your bulletins are two index cards. We are going to take a few moments to reflect and pray and ask God to reveal to us what we need to change or add or re-start regarding fellowship in our lives.
I am asking you to write on your card, no names please, one thing you believe the Lord is asking you to do in regard to your role in strengthening the fellowship of this congregation or, if you are a visitor from another congregation this morning, strengthening the fellowship of the congregation that you belong to.
As you come to take, at your readiness, communion this morning, I am asking you, as an act of commitment to the fellowship of this church, to come and lay your card on the altar rail. I will then collect the cards and use them as the basis of on-going personal and private prayer for us so that God will begin to strengthen our fellowship.
I conclude this segment of worship with this thought ¡V ¡§We all need support. We all need to belong. Let us, with God¡¦s help and power, strengthen our fellowship because it is our fellowship that is the strongest witness to our community that God is present in us and around us.¡¨ Amen.
