Being There

17 August 2008

The essence of life is relational because God is a relational God

-God—who is Father, Son, and Spirit—not only exists in community,

He is community

--on top of that, He made us for community

-as people created in the image of God, we are deeply relational

and interdependent creatures

--in contrast to God—who needs nothing—we have a built-in

need for community, a God-given need for each other

It’s odd at first to think of a doctrine—especially one as deep and

complicated as the Trinity—having anything to do with our

relationships with each other

-the doctrine, or teaching, of the Trinity holds that there is one God

who reveals Himself as Father, Son, and Spirit

--not three Gods, but one...three-in-one

-God the Father is truly Himself, Jesus is Jesus, and the Spirit is

the Spirit not because they “do their own thing” (if that were

possible), but because they work and they are one

--one of the early church leaders, Gregory of Nazianzus,

wrote à Each [member of the Trinity] is full selfhood

precisely in community, each one most itself in threeness

-God is Himself when the three-in-one are in community together

--early theologians used a special Greek word, perichoresis, to

describe the mutual indwelling of Father, Son, and Spirit

---we hear that truth proclaimed by Jesus in John 10:38 à

...the Father is in Me, and I in the Father

---in John 14:9-11 à ...Anyone who has seen Me has seen

the Father...I am in the Father and the Father is in

Me...The words I say to you are not just My own. Rather it

is the Father, living in Me who is doing this work.

---yet at the same time Jesus made clear in John 10:30 à I

and the Father are one.

----and just so you know, words like that’ll get a guy killed

-so what seems like stuffy old doctrine is actually the amazing reality

of the nature of God...the three-in-one God exists in, operates in,

and is community...yet it’s still mind-numbing to think our Creator,

Sustainer, and Savior God desires to have community with us

Out of that holy and divine community God extends His fellowship to

His creatures

-have you ever entered a room where love was flowing between

people, and then they invited you into that love?

--you know the situation...you enter their home and their family

gathering, but immediately you know you belong and you

know you are being enveloped by love

-when it comes to God and us, it’s kinda’ like that—but not quite

--it’s complicated beyond belief because God is holy and the

rightful judge of sin … and we aren't

---in a horrifying contrast to God, we are sinners—flawed,

broken, and rebellious creatures

How does God invite us into His community and His fellowship with

all the dirt and blood on our hands?

-that is the amazing story of redemption...and it’s a Trinitarian story

--Jesus, who is God the Son, comes to Earth for us and our

salvation, living the life we should have lived and dying the

death we should have died, paying the price for our sin

--the Father, who was and is in Christ, reconciles us to Himself

--Jesus asks the Father to send the Holy Spirit to fill and live in all

believers, giving us the very presence of God

Listen how that’s described à Read Hebrews 10:19-23

Thanks to Jesus’ death and resurrection, the work is complete

-the door has been opened

-the way has been cleared

-the debt has been paid

-the fellowship of community is already reality

-the three-in-one God stands ready to embrace you

The invitation stands open

-because of the shed blood of Jesus, we have the opportunity to

draw close to God Himself

-Romans 10:13 tells us that anyone who calls on the name of the

Lord will be saved...that can happen this morning for you

--but it’s only because of Jesus

-and if you’re already saved—if you’ve trusted Jesus to forgive your

sins and give you new life—you have an open invitation, as well

But there’s more good news...God does not save us for ourselves

-God saves us for one another

--He saves us to be a people who reflect the community that is

already taking place within the Trinity...and is already taking

place between Him and us

---He also saves so that we'll enjoy—for all eternity—hanging

out with one another

Read Hebrews 10:24-25

So here’s a question to assess your personal journey with Christ and

to evaluate how we are doing as a church: how well are you living

out the reality of community?

-these aren’t optional parts of the Christian life

--you can't say, “Well, I'm good at giving or doing things for God

or showing up on Sunday mornings, but I'm just not into

hanging out with other believers.”

Listen to this à Read 2 Peter 1:3-4

-we participate in God’s nature...that doesn’t mean we become

Gods, but it does mean that as the Spirit lives in us, we share in

God’s life and in the lives of others

--this holy community is the result of Jesus’ prayer just moments

before He was arrested...after praying for the disciples, His

attention turns to us à Read John 17:20-23

-we know it is God’s perfect will for us to enjoy unity and community

with Him and with each other

--needless to say, even in a perfect church—which we’re not—

this provides countless challenges

Doing community well—doing it God’s way—requires a commitment

to engage others

-it's so easy to disengage, to withdraw from the body of Christ

--people and relationships are messy, complicated, boring, risky

-the truth is other people can be so dull and live such petty lives

--other people have the capacity do such stupid things

--other people can be so mean and rude and insensitive

--other people can be such chronic complainers that you just

want to slap some duct tape across their mouths

-and that doesn’t even scratch the surface...because most of us (if

not all of us) can share stories of disappointment and rejection

-or perhaps you know the hurt of losing a friend

--people moving in and out of your life way too fast...and the

change, loss, and grief can be devastating

God understands and has compassion on the brokenhearted, but the

problem is, so often we respond to our hurts by hurting others

-we punish others (and ourselves) by disengaging and keeping our

distances...maybe even vowing: I will not be hurt again; I will not

open up again and make myself that vulnerable

-and whether you’re on the sidelines here or even if you are heavily

involved...you keep an emotional and spiritual distance...you

wear a mask in an attempt to protect yourself

--and if that’s the case, you’re probably asking, “So, what’s

wrong with that? It’s a perfectly legitimate and recognized

self-defense mechanism...and it works reasonably well, too!”

But did you forget the goal of the Christian life?

-the goal of the Christian life is for God to transform you and remake

you and shape you into the image of Jesus Christ

--and if I’m right (on that point I am), then we have to face facts

-God is not a hermit or a recluse...He is deeply involved in the lives

and the sorrows and the joys of His children

--it’s one of the reasons Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the Counselor

--it’s why Jesus goes to and comforts Mary and Martha after the

death of their brother

God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the community of three-in-one

who live eternally in a relationship of delight, trust, mutuality, and

giving and receiving

-to close yourself off, to stay on the sidelines because you've been

hurt or disappointed or disgusted, is to deny the nature of God

and the essence of your nature as a follower of Jesus.

-but you might say, "Yeah, but what about all those hypocrites;

what about all those boring, low-life, high-brow, mediocre,

disappointing, lukewarm, unpleasant, judgmental, uneducated,

overly-educated, incompetent, and insensitive people in the

church?”

--well...what about them? Read Matthew 7:1-5

So the first commitment is a change in our heart attitude, in which we pray: "God, I've been disengaged. I've been disappointed, and I've held on to my anger, my bitterness, my judgmental spirit, my hurt. And therefore I've pulled away. I've seen the sin of everyone else, but now I want to deal with my sin. So I commit to engage with your people. I may join a small group. I may get real about my spiritual journey. I may get real about my sin. But I will engage with the life of this body of believers."

The 2^nd commitment of community is a commitment to be together

-it's a commitment that goes beyond an attitude change; this

requires a commitment to share time and space together, a

commitment in which we say, “I will be with you”

--there’s an Italian saying: la dulce de far niente, or, “the

sweetness of doing nothing”

-it requires a commitment to just be together and enjoy it

--it’s fellowship for fellowship's sake

---there's no other agenda but to hang out together

--you know when we do our third Sunday of the month “Fellowship

Nights” I write a devotion and that’s shared in each group...but if

we didn’t do that—if we just shared snacks and laughter and just

hung out together it would be no less spiritual

---when believers are together we don’t have to have prayer

and Bible study to justify what we’re doing as spiritual

----God has no such checklist for what qualifies as

“spiritual”...when we’re together in His name, the

Bible says, He’s there...regardless of whether or not

there’s a theological discussion about the practical

ramifications of dispensational premillennialism on the

stewardship of the earth

Not surprisingly, this all flows from the life of God's Trinitarian love

-what was God doing before He created the world?

--just twiddling His thumbs?

-no, God existed in a fellowship of love from all eternity—and God

enjoyed it

--the early church did the same thing

---they loved being together, sharing time and space

--here are some descriptions of their fellowship from the story of

the early church as recorded in the Book of Acts

-They all joined together constantly in prayer (Acts 1:14)

-When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one

place (Acts 2:1)

-and, of course, there’s the amazing description of their sense of

community that we read earlier from Acts 2:42-47...they were:

--devoted to...teaching...fellowship...breaking of bread...prayer

--All the believers were together and had everything in common

--they gave to anyone as he had need

--Every day they continued to meet together

--They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and

sincere hearts

That’s what Fellowship Nights are all about

That’s what Golden Heirs is all about

That’s what Wednesday night supper is all about

That’s what Sunday School is all about

That’s what the FBC Family Tree is all about

That’s even what Noah’s Builders and A.C.T.S. and choir and student

ministry are all about

In our short passage this morning in Hebrews 10, we have five

exhortations, or invitations to join God in His work

-first and foremost, to draw near to God

-to hold unswervingly to our hope

-to challenge one another toward love and good deeds

-to meet together regularly

-and to encourage one another

How well we do that reflects the degree to which we’re allowing God’s

love and live to flow through us

-a fractured church—a bunch of grumpy, easily offended,

unforgiving, mutually discouraging, gossiping, griping, negative,

suspicious believers—reflects poorly on the character of the

three-in-one God

-a united church—a group of believers who truly loves one another,

honors one another, builds each other up, is patient with one

another, speaks the truth kindly to one another, and even submits

to one another in love—reflects the beauty of the community that

always exists in God

What is your part in the community?

-are you close to God?

-are you engaged with other believers?

-are you in vital fellowship?

Even though I believe you are the best church around, sometimes I

simply want to get away from you—no offense!—but sometimes I

have this urge to be alone

-and sometimes I’ll act on that urge...maybe it’s just an hour in the

pool...or driving to St. Luke’s...or perhaps it’s taking a couple of

days in seclusion (like we talked about last week)

--but it never lasts...I’m always drawn back here—not to this

place, but to you, God’s people, my community of fellowship

In her book Traveling Mercies, Anne Lamott shares a story her pastor

tells that captures this perfectly à When I was about seven, my

best friend got lost one day. She ran up and down the streets of the

big town where we lived, but she couldn't find a single thing that

looked familiar. Understandably, she became terribly frightened.

Finally a policeman stopped to help her. He put her up in the

passenger seat of his patrol car, and they drove around until she

finally saw her church. She pointed it out to the policeman, and then

she told him firmly, “You can let me out now. This is my church, and

I can always find my way home from here.”

Lamott concludes: “That is why I have stayed so close to [my

church]—because no matter how bad I am feeling, how lost or

lonely or frightened, when I see the faces of the people at my

church, and hear their...voices, I can always find my way home.”