(Earlier in the service, I asked the congregation to be ready to respond to the following question when prompted by me during the sermon. (Overhead) If you were looking for a friend and you placed a classified ad either in the paper or on the Internet for one, what would it say?)
“A pastor saw Robert Schuller’s TV program “Hour of Power.” One of the things that impressed him the most during the program was watching everyone turning around to shake hands with and greet other worshippers seated near them. The pastor felt that his church was a bit stuffy and could use a bit of friendliness. So, at Sunday morning worship he announced that next week they would initiate this custom of greeting one another.
At the close of this same worship service one man turned around to the lady behind him and said a cheerful, “Good morning!” She looked back at him with shock at his boldness and said, “I beg your pardon! That friendliness business doesn’t start until next Sunday!”
As we continue to study things that are important to the Christian faith and life, we stop today at something that this humorous story hints at in a rather direct way. What is it?
Someone has called it the glue that holds the church together.
What is fellowship?
It is one of the five purposes that we have embraced in our new by-laws.
What is fellowship?
It is one of the ways we express love and respect for one another.
What is fellowship?
What is fellowship? (Overhead) Here are some suggestions from Dave Durey.
Fellowship means: 1. Truly loving one another. 2. Based on relationships – giving, sharing, and receiving. 3. Requires us to live in unity and harmony. 4. Assists us in mutual edification and spiritual growth.
Now, what does all that mean?
Our text for today, John 13:34 and 35, is Jesus’ speaking to the disciples about the centrality of love as evidence of His presence in their lives and, as He does so, He makes it clear that it is not an option, but a requirement, a command. How is this love nurtured and established? Through fellowship! Through an intentional process and choice that each of us must make to come together and care for one another and others.
The word “fellowship” is translated from the Greek word “koinonia” which means, “sharing in common.” (Overhead) Two questions come to mind that we need to ask and answer if we are to understand and practice this sharing in common which brings us back to our fellowship definition: (Overhead)
1.What are we to share in common?
2. How are we to share in common?
(Seek response)
We are to share in our relationship to Christ and we are to share in love and respect in an active way. That is the basis for our Christian fellowship. But, there is more to it than simply sharing.
It requires us to develop relationships with one another. It means that we take the time to intentionally get to know and understand one another as we give, share, and receive. But, what are some barriers to giving, sharing, and receiving? (Seek response)
These are barriers to fellowship. Fellowship is central to the continuing growth and development of our church, of any church, for that matter and when it is hindered, a church begins to flounder.
Now there is a third question on this overhead that we need to ask and answer. Who are we to share with?
Let’s look at verse 35 of our text, “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” We first of all share it with one another as proof that we are followers of God.
Last week I said that it is often easier to talk the talk than to walk the walk. Here is one area where that’s the case. There is a lot of talk in the church about love and fellowship but when it comes right down to it, it is harder to practice it, for the reasons just mention, right? But, there’s more to it than that.
Our love for one another is said to be proof to the world of our commitment to Christ. We then are also to share this with others outside our own fellowship. Why? Well for one, a very practical reason.
Those who have studied churches over the years and what makes some grow and thrive and others decline and even die have said that one of the common reasons for decline and death is called “koinonitis.” What is it?
It is what happens when the fellowship of the church stays exclusively within the current church body and is not extended to those outside the church body or those who seek to enter the church body. The focus becomes “us” and others are shut off from entering.
Now, for the most part, this is done unintentionally. Although in some cases, it is done on purpose. Conflict, trauma, preoccupation with the “business of the church,” in other words, committees and such, can create the conditions for koinonitis. But, koinonitis can be fatal to a church if there is not something intentionally done to expand the fellowship of the church. And Jesus makes it clear that the witness of fellowship is designed to bring people into the kingdom not keep them out.
So how do we fight against koinonitis? We keep working at creating more points of fellowship and keeping them open in different ways. Ways that I will share shortly.
Last Sunday night at the beginning of the Super Bowl, both teams were introduced. If you watched, the Rams were individually introduced. The Patriots were not. They were introduced as a team. They played like one to, didn’t they?!
They were making a point about who they were. They were the New England Patriots. My point is this: While the Patriots were a collection of individuals each with a different position to play and differing levels of skill and involvement, what was more important was who they were as a team.
Which brings us to the third point of our (Overhead) working definition of fellowship: unity and harmony. As I look out on this congregation, I see unity and harmony. There is unity in that we are, and we should be, working together with the same purpose: helping people find God and the life He has for them.
But, I also see harmony. When I think of harmony, I think of Barbershop quartet music. I think of some of the popular groups – N’ Sync, Backstreet Boys, and others. I think of some of the great gospel groups like the Gaither’s. Harmony deepens and enriches music.
The same holds true for us with regard to fellowship. While we are all working toward the same goal, which is unity, we do so in different ways and different directions, which is harmony. Sound Biblical fellowship, the kind that Jesus speaks of in our main text and this particular segment of John’s gospel, builds on and use both unity and harmony.
Just look at the remaining disciples on the day of Pentecost as stated in Acts 2. They were not all alike. They were different. Each would have his own calling and direction given to them by God through His Holy Spirit. But, their message and mission was the same – the Great Commandment to love and the Great Commission to make disciples. Those two commissions were their source of unity.
But, the fellowship they experienced with Jesus and with one another had an even greater purpose, mutual edification and spiritual growth. The three years they spent with Jesus they also spent with one another. Jesus would eventually leave, the Holy Spirit coming to take His place as He indicates in John 14, but they would still have one another and the time they spent together those three years were part of Christ’s plan to help them grow and mature as His followers.
Fellowship is not just about having fun and good times. Fellowship’s ultimate goal is to help us become more responsible followers of God.
This requires mutual edification. What’s that? Mutual means “common or joint.” Edification means “instruction and improvement.” Mutual edification means “joint improvement” for the purpose of spiritual growth and maturity.
That was Jesus’ goal for the disciples during and after His time with them. The Holy Spirit came to start the next, and final, chapter of that working as He empowered them to live and serve God like never before by filling them as part of God’s “joint improvement” plan, with His Holy Spirit.
Remember your ad for a friend? (Overhead) I would like two volunteers to quickly share their ad. We need friends. We need fellowship. We need to belong. And we do so as we make the intentional choice to fellowship with others in three key ways: (Overhead) 1. Worship celebration. 2. Small groups/class And 3. One-to-one
All three ways are necessary in order to develop a balanced and healthy life of fellowship personally and corporately.
I conclude with this speculative story. There is much speculation concerning what heaven and hell will be like. One contrast of heaven and hell tells of a man who had a dream that he was allowed to see both places. He was first taken to hell.
He was taken to a large room in the middle of which there was a large pot of stew. The stew smelled delicious. But all around this point there were people who were starving and in desperation.
They all held spoons in their hands that had unusually long handles that reached all the way to the pot, but because the spoon handles were longer than their arms, they were unable to return the spoons filled with stew to their mouths. Their suffering was terrible and continuous.
Then the man was taken to heaven. Heaven was identical to hell; the rooms were identical, the pot of stew in the middle of the room was the same, and the spoons were the same. But, the people in this room were well-fed and joyous.
The man was perplexed when first walked into the room. But as he watched the people in this room, he learned the difference. The people had spoons that would not allow them to feed themselves, so they fed each other.
Fellowship is feeding each other as we allow God to feed us. It is a “joint feeding.” It is helping one another experience the joy of not being alone through the good and the bad. It is the relief of helping someone find both their home and their life in Christ and in the church. It is helping people experience a taste of heaven in the midst of what sometimes seems like hell.
Fellowship is the bond that holds the church together and when the bond weakens the results can be tragic. How are our bonds of fellowship at this point in time? What do we need to do to strengthen our bonds of fellowship? Let us resolve to improve our fellowship as we need and must do. Amen.
