The Cross And Community
Galatians 5:13-6:3
The war in Iraq is over. It took only 28 days for Coalition Forces to completely dismantle the regime of Saddam Hussein. And while Hussein and a large number of his henchmen are still at large, the only opposition that remains is a scattering of ill equipped, rag-tag bands of guerilla forces.
After over 30 years of oppression, the Iraqi people have become free. After 30 years of people missing in the middle of the night, and stories of torture and mass killings, the Iraqi people are now liberated.
The dream is that Iraq will rise from the ashes of this war to take an important place on the world stage as a place where democratic principles are embraced, and a place where the government serves the needs of its people regardless of personal, societal and religious differences.
But the greatest fear is that Iraq will now only enter into a new era of oppression, a different kind of injustice. The fear is that those who have been oppressed will become the oppressor, that rival tribes will retaliate for years of abuse, or that Iraq will transform to a heavy-handed Islamic state, that they would trade their freedom for another kind of oppression.
We have like the Iraqi’s been set free from years of oppression. Through the cross of Christ we are now free. Galatians 5:24 says, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.” That statement is at the heart of Paul’s contention that starts the chapter, “Christ has really set us free.”
The battle was not fought by 100s of thousands of Coalition Forces, but by one lonely man on a lonely cross. It did not take 28 days to end the war, but the battle was decided in a matter of a few short hours. Scrimmages continue to be waged on a daily basis by guerilla forces that try to inflict our souls , but the outcome has been decided. We are free.
The times in which we live are a paradox. We are caught at the crux of the independent, individualistic spirit that doesn’t need anyone, and a cry for community. On one side, we have, as Newsweek magazine indicted the evangelical community for “Not a call to servanthood, but an upbeat call of what God can do for you.”
On the other side, Celia Copplestone, a character in a play by T.S. Eliot, called the Cocktail Party, when she is in the midst of all of these people who are supposedly her friends from society, yet she makes the observation that she has never been lonelier. Have you ever heard that about Sunday mornings? Maybe you have even felt it yourself.
When we encounter, the “Cross of Christ” our natural inclination is to think in term of “Jesus and me”. The emphasis is on the individual offering and benefits of salvation. It is a private, personal experience. It is the vertical beam of the cross that reconnects me in a loving relationship with a gracious God.
But nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, Jesus does save us individually, but it is not individualistic. And though it may be personal, it is not private.
God freed us to live in community. His design from the very beginning of the church was that the church would exhibit the kind of self-sacrificing love that he exhibited on the cross. It is the horizontal beam. But the realization of that beam can only be realized and exhausted in community.
Since God saves us in community, what does this community look like? Let’s look at a number of verses in Galatians 5 and 6, and explore what a community rooted in the cross is like. It is in these verses that we are offered a clear conception of the connection within the community of the cross.
13 “For you, dear friends, have been called to live in freedom – not freedom to satisfy your sinful nature, but freedom to serve one another in love. 14 For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love you neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if instead of showing love among yourselves you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.
24 “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passion and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. 25 If we are living now by the Holy Spirit, let us follow the Holy Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. 26 Let us not become conceited, or irritate one another, or be jealous of one another.
1 “Dear friends, if a Christian is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. 2 Share each other’s troubles and problems, and in this way obey the law of Christ. 3 If you think you are too important to help someone in need, you are only fooling yourself. You are really a nobody.”
How does Paul conceive Christians living in community? Here you go. The community of the cross is connected by love. It’s right there in the first two verses. Look at verses 13 and 14 again.
13 “For you, dear friends, have been called to live in freedom – not freedom to satisfy your sinful nature, but freedom to serve one another in love. (underline love) 14 For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Notice that our freedom is not so we can declare our independence. The result or purpose of our freedom in Christ is love acted, surrendering our own selfish interest so we can serve others. Paul further says that such a love is what the collection of all the Old Testament spiritual rules are about.
What these two verses say is simply what the church affirms in our purpose statement: “FCC exists to celebrate God as a loving community…” as a loving community.
God loved us so we ought to love one another is more than a high sounding Christian platitude – it is the living out of the implications of the cross. The whole tone, tenor, and identity of the church, as a body of people saved through the cross of Christ, is our loving relationships within the body. It is that love for which Christ prayed on the evening before his life was to be taken. It is this same love that John wrote of in his first letter saying that if we do not possess it we are still spiritually dead.
The community of the cross is connected by love. That is today’s sermon in one sentence.
Now before you grab everything and pack it all in we’ve got some clarification to do. “Loving one another” can be a slippery concept. We constantly prove that in the variety of ways we loosely use the word love. We corrupt it. We minimize it. We basically wash it clean of meaning.
But Paul helps us get a better grasp on the term. He does that by first defining what a community connected by love is not …
Look again at verse 15. “But instead of showing love among yourselves you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another. Are these people you want inviting you to dinner?
The picture that Paul is painting here, in horrific detail, is of wolves turning on one another. Teeth flashing, as they strike out at one another, while blood spatters these wild animals, only adding to the frenzy of their crazed attack. Isn’t that a lovely picture?
Have you encountered anyone like that? Someone who relishes the taste of chewing others up and spitting them out. It may be with spite-filled words of gnawing criticism, or biting sarcasm, but the wounds inflicted cut very deep.
Or the attack could be with attitudes and actions that hit with the sharpness of razor-like claws. Paul includes a list of such attitudes and actions in vs. 19-21:
“When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, your lives will produce these evil results: Sexual immorality, impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, idolatry, participation in demonic activities, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, divisions, the feeling that everyone is wrong except those in your own group, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other kinds of sin.”
Did you notice how many of those items are in clear violation of our identity as a loving community? Most, if not all, in some way tear away at others as people worthy of being loved.
He concludes telling us about what community connected by love is not with these words. Verse 26: “Let us not become conceited, or irritate one another, or be jealous of one another.
Conceit – proudly thinking that you are “all that” even when there is nothing to be authentically proud of.
Irritate – aggravating others with the result of provoking their worst response.
Jealous – feelings of ill will due to some presumed advantage that the other person seems to have.
Taken together we have this picture: If attitudes, actions, or words cripple and maim another in body, community connected by love is not being exhibited.
It’s like Amy Carmichael wrote in her poem IF:
If I belittle those whom I am called to serve, talk of their weak points in contrast perhaps with what I think of as my strong points; if I adopt a superior attitude then I know nothing of Calvary love.
If I take offense easily, if I am content to continue in a cool unfriendliness, though friendship be possible, then I know nothing of Calvary love.
If I feel bitterly towards those who condemn me, as it seems to me, unjustly, forgetting that if they knew me as I know myself they would condemn me much more, then I know nothing of Calvary love.
But Paul doesn’t just leave us with the negative picture. He defines for us what community connected by love is …
5:22-23 are the usually familiar verses about the fruit of the Spirit. We usually read those verses in a manner that suggests that there are nine differing fruits. However, taken in context of vs. 13ff, the best reading of the text would be “The fruit of the Spirit is love.” A Spirit-filled, Spirit-driven person who exhibits love.
The rest of the verse goes on to describe the attributes of love. Love produces a reason for gladness. It seeks out peace. It is patient with the weaknesses and struggles of others. It is kind. It is good. It is trustworthy. It treats others with gentleness. It demonstrates self-control.
These verses are thus understood as a description of Christian love parallel to the Love Chapter of 1 Corinthians 13.
Finally, in 6:1-2, Paul opens the window and allows us to look in and see how a loving community works. As we jump into these few verses, loving community begins to develop hands and feet. “Dear friends, if a Christian is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path (underline help that person back). And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself.”
“Help that person back onto the right path.” That is restoration, helping those who have lost their way find their way back into a loving relationship with God.
But we have to notice two additional things about this verse: First, there is an assumption that people are close enough to one another to be aware of each other’s struggles with sin. Sin can’t hide in a closet because of the closeness and intimacy of relationships.
Secondly, restoration is gracious. Circle the words gently and humbly. Restoration is not the result of a heavy-handed, strong word, or a sharp, critical comment. Restoration happens only in the context of loving supportive community that demonstrates the graciousness of Christ. The issue of humility is so important that Paul returns to it again in vs. 3: “If you think you are too important to help someone in need, you are only fooling yourself. You are really a nobody.”
Vs. 2: Share each other’s troubles and problems (underline that phrase), and in this way obey the law of Christ, gives us a second glimpse at how loving community is lived out. Again we are talking about getting close enough to one another that authenticity and vulnerability are an option, and that we are able to drop the masks because we know we live in loving community. It’s a lesson that this familiar song from 20 years ago taught us.
“Making your way in the world today takes everything you’ve got
Taking a break from all your worries sure would help a lot
Wouldn’t it be nice to get away?
Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name
And they’re always glad you came
You wanna be where you can see our troubles are all the same
You wanna go where everybody knows your name
You wanna go where people know people are all the same
You wanna go where everybody knows your name
The tragedy of this song is that it took a Boston pub to preach the need for connection in loving community to the church. Out of that Boston bar we learned that people need a place to be vulnerable and authentic, a place they could be themselves with all of their rough edges and blemishes, yet still find support and encouragement.
This verse brings to mind a few lines of a poem by T. S. Eliot, in reference to the lose of community in the churches:
You neglect and belittle the desert
The desert is not remote and southern tropics
The desert is not only around the corner
The desert is squeezed into the pew next to you
The desert is in the heart of your brother.
How is this connection in love built? Is this kind of loving connection lived out on Sunday mornings? Is it fostered as we sit in our neat rows all facing the front? You can start the journey there, but it will only get you so far.
Connection is built within small groups. Groups of people who have spent time investing in their relationships, building authentic community founded on honesty and vulnerability secured by love and encouragement.
Over the last 14 weeks, several members of the church have been involved in a small group training to become small group leaders themselves. I have invited three to come this morning and share with you the impact small groups has had on them.
Questions for Tena:
Briefly tell us about the church in California you came from.
How was FCC different?
What part did small groups play in fostering that sense of connection?
Questions of Joann:
You shared with the group that this was really the first time you have let the walls come down, and you were able to honestly share with others the struggles you have had as a Christian. What made that possible for you?
What difference ahs that made in your spiritual journey?
Questions for Ron:
Why should people be involved in a small group?
What would you say to anyone who might say that this small group thing is not for me?
It was said several hundred years ago, and has been repeated many times since, “No man is an island.” That statement is never truer than when talking about the church.
God freed us. But our freedom is not a freedom of isolation or independence. It is freedom to love. Freedom to experience connection. Freedom to experience the loving unity and community for which Christ prayed and died.
