Once upon a time a man named Fred decided he wanted a talking parrot to keep him company. So, he went to the local pet store and shelled out a small fortune for a parrot the owner guaranteed would talk-however, when he got the bird home, no matter how hard he tried, Fred could not get it to utter a single word. The next day he went back to the pet store and complained. But the owner said, “Don’t worry about it. The parrot will talk. He just needs a ladder to climb on.” So Fred bought a ladder but it had no affect and a second day passed without a word from the expensive bird. Fred went back to the pet shop to complain again. This time the owner advised him to buy a swing, saying that it was sure to loosen his new pet’s tongue.
So, he bought one but it had no effect-His feathered friend still remained mute. Well, this pattern continued for several days-every time Fred would complain the owner would suggest he buy one more gadget for the silent bird and each time Fred complied by purchasing things like: a mirror, then a miniature plastic tree, then a shiny parrot toy…but nothing worked. The bird still refused to speak. Finally one week later the bird died and when Fred returned all the gadgets to the pet store the owner asked, “Did the bird ever say ANYTHING…I mean, did he ever utter even ONE WORD?” Fred relied, “As a matter of fact, he did. Right before he died, he looked at me and asked, ‘Don’t they sell any FOOD at that pet store?'”
Sermon:
Now I’m sure there are several potential morals to this familiar story but the one I want to emphasize this morning is this: In life we must be sure to keep 1st things first! Otherwise there won’t be 2nd things! I mean parrots love toys but even talking birds have to eat! And this principle of priorities applies to us as well. If we are foolish enough to neglect those foundational things that are of primary importance in life we will suffer, just like the bird did. First things must indeed always come first. Well I don’t know if you’ve noticed but for the past three weeks-in essence that’s what we have been striving to do as a church-keep first things first. And I say that because we’ve been involved in a 40-day study designed to help us keep our priorities straight as Christians. You may remember that in Monday’s portion of this week’s study Rick Warren alluded to the priorities of life when he said, “Since God is LOVE, the most important lesson He wants you to learn on earth is how to LOVE…LOVE is the foundation of every command He’s given us…the best use of your life is LOVE. It should be your top priority, your primary objective, your greatest ambition.”
And Warren is of course right-the Bible clearly teaches that LOVE must come first because it is the basis of everything we do. Now-to review a bit, let me remind you that last week we learned that our FIRST purpose in life is to LOVE GOD. The most important thing we can KNOW is that God loves us. And the most important thing we can DO is love Him back. Remember? We also said that loving God is a great DEFINITION for WORSHIP-because that’s what the essence of worship is-it is expressing our love for our Heavenly Father. Well, as you know, this week we’ve been studying our SECOND purpose-which is to love PEOPLE. Now, of course God wants us to love ALL people-but the Bible teaches that He is especially concerned about the love we are to have for our fellow Christians-the people in His family. And, another word for this-loving our spiritual brothers and sisters-is FELLOWSHIP. I think this is a good time to remind you that the “A” in our GRACE acronym here at Redland stands for this second purpose. Remember? At this church we believe God has called us to be a “grace-driven church for a grace-needing world,” where people “AFFIRM in the body of Christ.” So we take this second purpose seriously. We believe it is important for us to obey God’s command in 1 Peter 2:17 where He says, “LOVE your spiritual FAMILY!” And you know as Christians, that is exactly what we are-we are a FAMILY. I think the churches in the south understand this because years ago when I served churches in Alabama, we always referred to each other as brothers and sisters. Someone would say, “Brother Mark can you stop by for lunch after church?” things like that.
Now, I’m not saying we should start that practice up here in Yankee land-I just share it to remind you that we are indeed RELATED spiritually. After all, if God is your Father and God is my Father that makes us brothers and sisters in Christ. And I want to point out another thing: the Bible teaches that God has always been what you might call, “family-oriented.” Hebrews 2:10 says, “God is the One Who made all things, and all things are for His glory. He wanted to have many CHILDREN to share His glory.” Ephesians 1:5 says, “God’s unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own FAMILY by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ.” This text and others like it tell us that God has always wanted a family. So write this down: FELLOWSHIP is loving God’s family. As Christians, that is our second purpose in life. We are to love God AND we are also to love His family.
Now why would God want us to do this? Why would He give us this particular purpose? Why would He want us to learn to love the other people in our spiritual family? Well, there are several
A. One is because like any parent, God wants His children to get along.
I’m sure moms and dads would all agree that it hurts us when our children fight and argue and also that there is a special joy that we feel when our children love one another and take care of each other such that they enjoy each other’s company-and God is the same.
B. But another reason God wants us to learn to love one another is because doing so makes us more like God, because God is love.
In his first epistle the Apostle John wrote, “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love….Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him…The person who loves God must also love other believers.” (1st John, 4:8, 4:16, 4:21) Well, God loves ALL people equally-even those who are hard to love and so He wants us to learn to practice this unconditional love as well. He wants us to be like Him-to love like Him.
C. And then, a third reason we are to keep our FELLOWSHIP strong is that our love for one another attracts the lost to God.
This pleases God because it helps GROW His family. You see, to the outside world, the way Christians like you and me relate to one another is a “litmus test” as to whether or not we actually know God. This is why Jesus commanded, “Love one another IN THE SAME WAY that I have loved you…by this will all men know that you are My disciples.” (John 15:34-35) You see, when we don’t do this-when we don’t embrace a loving fellowship we repel people.
Experience has taught us that disunity among Christians drives non-believers away. And this makes sense because who would want to be a part of a group of bickering and therefore hypocritical Christian people? Paul Billheimer was right when he said, “The continuous and widespread fragmentation of the Church has been the scandal of the ages. The sin of disunity has caused more souls to be lost than all other sins combined.” This is why I remind you at the conclusion of every Sunday service that, “as members of ONE Body, we are CALLED to peace.” You see, if we are to fulfill our great commission we can’t afford petty squabbles. We must preserve and nurture the “sweet, sweet, Spirit” that we enjoy here at Redland. In fact I would say that Christlike fellowship just may be the key to winning the world for Jesus. In his book Saints and Snobs, Marton Jacobsoen writes these strong but true words:
“If any group of Christians who claims to believe and practice all God has said in His Book will face up to their personal responsibility within the FAMILY of Christ, and to the real needs of Christians around them, their church will impress its community with the shining goodness of God’s love-to them AND among them. Such a transformation probably would do more to attract others to Jesus than any house-to-house canvass, evangelistic campaign or new church facility. People are hungry for acceptance, love, and friends, and unless they find them in the church they may not stay there long enough to become personally related to Jesus Christ. People are not persuaded-they are attracted…far more by what we are than by what we say.”
So fulfilling our second purpose: FELLOWSHIP is very important-for many reasons. But unfortunately, fellowship is a word that is often misunderstood. I mean, if I were to go out and ask people on the street, “What do you think of when I say the word ‘fellowship?'” well, some would say “a casual conversation,” some would say “eating out together,” some might say “going to church.” And, even Christians don’t fully understand the concept. As Bill Hybels has noted, the only kind of fellowship that most people have experienced at church has revolved around the fifteen or twenty minutes after the Sunday service is over as people stand around in the foyer and ask each other superficial questions. At that time each Sunday conversations like this take place in most churches. One man might ask,
“So how’s it going at work, Jake?” – “Fine, Phil. Say, you driving a new car?”
“Used,” Phil replies. “What do you have going on this week?”
“Not much.” – “Well, great FELLOWSHIPING with you Jake.” – “Same here.”
And that’s about it-until the next week, when Jake and Phil will give it another round. Now, were these two men experiencing fellowship? No! They were just chewing the fat. They were just talking and that’s NOT true fellowship. No, the Bible teaches that true fellowship is much deeper than that. It has the power to revolutionize a life. Hybels says TRUE community is when,
“…masks come off, conversations get deep, hearts get vulnerable, lives are shared, accountability is invited, tenderness flows and people really do become brothers and sisters.”
Okay-how do we experience true fellowship? How do we learn to truly love other believers? Well, fortunately, the Bible gives us crystal clear instructions. For example Paul wrote Timothy and said, “I’m writing so that you’ll know how to live in the family of God. That family is the church.” (1 Timothy 3:14-15) Now, if you have your Bibles-and I hope you do-I want you to open them to this text and circle the words “family” and “church.” Then draw a line that connects the two circles. I want you to do this to remind yourself whenever you read this verse that the church is indeed a family. It is not a building; it is not an institution; it is not an organization; it is not a club. It is a FAMILY. A church is not a place you go to. Church is a family you belong to. And this morning as we continue to follow Warren’s outline we’ll learn that within God’s family there are four LEVELS of fellowship. The deeper we go in these levels the more we experience true Biblical fellowship. Okay, the first level of fellowship is this:
1. LEVEL 1 – MEMBERSHIP: Choosing to belong.
This is the most basic level of fellowship because it involves simply finding a church family to get connected to. Now, I’ve met many Christians who don’t think church membership is all that important. They say things like, “Well, I’m a Christian, but I don’t want to belong to any church.” And, that just doesn’t make sense because the church family is where you live out much of what it means to be a Christian. I mean, saying, “I don’t’ want to belong to a church” is like saying, “I’m a football player, but I don’t want to be a part of any team.” or, “I’m a bee, but I don’t want to be a part of a hive.” This way of thinking is really nonsense because as Christians, we need each other!
You know, the Apostle Paul often compared the church to a BODY and each of it’s members as body parts. Well, no body part will survive long on it’s own will it? And it is the same with each of us. Cut off from the lifeblood of a local church body our individual spiritual life would soon wither and die. We need a church BODY to belong to!
Another way some Christians express their skepticism about local church membership is by hopping from church to church without any identity, accountability or commitment. I think Warren refers to them a “bunny believers” because they “hop” around between churches. They go to one church one week because they like the choir. The next week they hop over to another because they like the pastor. They periodically attend yet another church because they like their children’s ministry and another because they like the youth program. But they hop around and never really sink down roots and JOIN a particular church. They don’t follow God’s call and become intimately involved in a local body of believers. Well this is a mistake because the Bible teaches that not only do WE need a church family. A church family ALSO needs us. Our spiritual gifts…our talents…our insights are needed to help some church fulfill it’s purpose. In the same way that a human body would be weak and ineffective without one of its organs, a local church will be weak and ineffective without each of its parts DOING their part.
And by the way, the Bible teaches that the church is primarily manifested in local congregations like our own. I says this because of the 115 times in the New Testament that the Greek word for “church” appears-95 of those times it refers to local bodies of believers like “the church at Ephesus” or “the church at Corinth”… “or the church at Philippi.” And to me this says that the local church is where the rubber meets the road in the Kingdom of God. This is where things happen. So it is important for every Christian to take this first step and join a local church. We need to do this because as Paul says in Ephesians 2:19, “You are members of God’s very own family and you belong in God’s household with every other Christian.”
The Christian life is not just a matter of believing. It is matter of belonging.
Christians who shy away from this first level of fellowship and never join a church and get involved are not only missing out on much needed fellowship they are also depriving a local church of some of the strength it needs to do God’s will. Okay…that’s the first level of fellowship MEMBERSHIP…choosing to belong. After we do that we can move toward the second level and Warren refers to it as…
2. LEVEL 2: FRIENDSHIP: Learning to share.
And it is described in Acts 2:44 when it says, “All the believers met together constantly and shared everything with each other.” Now, if you have your Bibles, circle “met together,” as well as the word “shared” to remind you of two things that this text says we must do in order to develop true friendships: We must MEET together and we must SHARE everything. You see, this next level of fellowship occurs only when we meet together in such a way that we share-and when I say share, I mean we are to do so in two basic ways. First we share SOMETHING with another believer…something tangible. It could be anything from MONEY to a MEAL-but this kind of sharing helps us develop close friendships. And second, we share something WITH someone…some experience…a joy or a trial. We “weep WITH those who weep and rejoice WITH those who rejoice.”
Well, when we share in these two basic ways we move a little closer to experiencing true fellowship. Now, this second level of fellowship doesn’t just happen. No, it’s intentional. And I point this out because sometimes when we see some people who have a really deep friendship we think, “Those people are so lucky to have close friends like that.” Well the truth is LUCK has nothing to do with it. It is a CHOICE. People have close friendships because they CHOOSE to develop them. They choose to SHARE with each other and share WITH each other. Remember, the book of Acts says the fellowship the Christians enjoyed in the early church was a product of their: “…sharing everything.”
Okay, let’s get a little more specific when it comes to understanding the KINDS of things we are to share in order to enjoy this second level of fellowship with other Christians:
First, we are to share our EXPERIENCES.
This is what Proverbs 27:17 is getting at when it says, “People learn from each other as iron sharpens iron.” You see, the good news is we don’t have to learn from our own successes and failures-no, we can save time and energy by learning the things other Christians have learned in life. And I for one know that I have benefitted repeatedly from this kind of fellowship in my own life. God has taught me so much through the experiences of other people in the church families that I have been a part of down through the years. In my journal entry on Tuesday I wrote,
“Thank You God for Mr. Trap, my RA leader who taught me the things he had learned about patience. Thank You for my youth workers, David and Susan Norwood who taught me that the ‘coolest’ thing I could do in life as a teen was to truly make Jesus Lord. Thank You for the Christians at Leighton Baptist Church who taught me I could start over again after a time of personal failure. Thank You for my seminary pastor, Charlie Shields who taught me the importance of administration and long-range planning in a church’s ministry. Thank You for Shirley Shipley who taught me the importance of ministering to the needy people of this world. Thank You for Al Hillier who showed me that a good sense of humor has incredible encouraging power.”
I could go on and on-I’m sure you could make similar lists-thanking God in that way for all the Christians down through the years here at RBC who have shared their experiences and in so doing helped you to grow.
Well, second, the Bible says we’re to share our HOMES.
1 Peter 4:9 plainly says, “Open up your homes to each other.” Now, why share our homes? Well, I think the principle God wants us to understand here is that we can’t truly fellowship in a crowd. No, we can only fellowship in a small group or one on one. I mean we’re not going to do any fellowshipping in this service today with this many people present. We can worship together. We can celebrate together. We can learn together. But little or no fellowship will take place. You’re going to walk out of here not knowing anybody much better than you do right now because fellowship only takes place in a small group. This is why the Bible says we are to open up our homes to each other because that’s where we REALLY get to know people. By the way, did you know in the first 300 years of Christianity, there were no church buildings? All church meetings were held in homes. All of them. This was also the fastest period of growth for the church!
Now, the third thing the Bible says we are to share is our PROBLEMS.
This is what Galatians 6:2 means when it says, “Bear one another’s burdens.” You see, the truth is we were not meant to deal with the inevitable problems of life that come to each of us ALONE-so God gave us a spiritual family. He gave us spiritual brothers and sisters to whom we can bring our struggles, knowing they will stop what they are doing to help us when we need it. You know, like many of you, I’m a big fan of the Special Olympics, which features mentally and physically disabled athletes from around the world. Well, this week I read about one of the most memorable events that has ever happened during these Olympic games and it occurred in a foot race among a group of people, each of whom had Down’s syndrome. The gun sounded and the runners started and they stayed close together the entire race. But, then, as they came around the track toward the finish line one of them stumbled and fell and when that happened, the rest of the runners stopped. Then they all went back as a group and helped the runner who had fallen to stand up. When he was ready they all started running the race again. Isn’t that a beautiful picture of true fellowship?!
You know, we often describe people with disabilities like this as being mentally or emotionally deficient, but I must tell you-after reading this story I wonder if that is really accurate. I mean, it seems to me that these runners were VERY sound emotionally and relationally, very Christlike, whereas most “normal” athletes wouldn’t think of going back to help a fallen runner. No, these special olympiads obviously understood and practiced this principle of fellowship-sharing our problems with one another. Paul referred to it in 1 Corinthians 12:26 when he said, “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.”
So the second level of fellowship is FRIENDSHIP….and it involves learning to share: our experiences…our homes…our problems. But true Christian fellowship can go much deeper as Warren’s third level shows.
3. Level Three: Partnership-doing my part.
You see, partnership is realizing that each of us has a contribution to make in the family of God so God didn’t bring us to churches like Redland to sit and soak in some spiritual spa. No, as I alluded to earlier, each of us has abilities and gifts that a church family needs so He brought each of us here to serve. And over and over again the Bible teaches this principle. In fact, 58 times in the New Testament it says we are to do things with and for one another. We are to serve one another. We are to admonish one another. We are to encourage one another. We are to pray with one another. The Bible even says we have to put up with one another while we’re doing all of this. Well, all these “one-another” commands are in the Bible to help us realize that we each have a job to do. You see, it is great to share your HEART, that’s level two. But it is even greater to do your PART. That is what level three is all about. As 1 Corinthians 3:9 says, “We are partners working together for God.” We are a team of uniquely-gifted people working WITH one another for the cause of Christ.
Now, did you ever want to be a part of a winning team? I mean, have you ever dreamed of being a part of a team that was doing something big? Maybe some of you men dreamed of being on the team that won the super-bowl or the American hockey team that beat the Russians in the Olympics years ago. Well, “earthly” teams like that are great but they are soon forgotten where as the team we are on as Christians-the church-is still around after 2000 years and will last forever. Ever want to be a partner in a great business that went to the top of the Fortune 500?
Then hear this. In the church, we are part of the greatest enterprise that’s ever existed. It has never lost capital and pays ETERNAL dividends. That’s what it is all about, when we cooperate and participate together in the family of God. But in order to be a part this winning team, you’ve got to find your niche-you’ve got to find out where you I fit and how you fit. And the Bible tells us we all do fit…we all have a niche. Look at Ephesians 4:16:
“The whole body is fitted together perfectly as each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole Body is healthy and growing and full of love.”
You see?! Each of us has a part to play in the Body of Christ. And when we cooperate-when we PARTNER-we get more done together than we could ever get done by ourselves.
4. LEVEL 4: KINSHIP: Loving believers like family.
Now, the deepest level of fellowship in the family of God is what I call “Kinship” and when I say “kinship” or “kinfolk,” some of you think of this: (Theme music from The Beverly Hillbillies) But that’s not what I’m talking about here. No, kinship literally means your closest relationships. It means having a level of fellowship with your fellow believers that is so deep that you love them like family….you are as committed to them as you are your own physical family. Acts 2:42 talks about this in the early church when it says, “They were like family to each other.” Romans 12:10 says, “Be devoted to each other like a loving family.” Now, the word for fellowship in the Bible is the Greek word “koinonia.” And it literally, it means being as committed to each other as we are to Jesus Christ and that is true family kinship-that is the purest form of Christian fellowship.
Because its saying I’m willing to sacrifice for you. This is what John was talking about when he wrote in his first epistle and said,
“We know what real love is because Christ gave up His life for us. And we ought to give up our lives for our Christian brothers and sisters.”
This is the kind of fellowship Jesus was talking about when He said, “Greater love has no one than this-that he is willing to lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) And when this caliber of fellowship is present in a church it affects the entire church family. It deepens our fellowship because it inspires us all to lay down our lives for each other in various ways. I imagine most of you have seen the old movie Bridge Over the River Kwai. Well that film only tells part of the story of the thousands of allied prisoners who were captured by the Japanese during WWII and forced to work on the Burma-Siam railway line that the Japanese were constructing through the dense Thai jungle for possible use in an invasion of India. Against international law, the Japanese forced even officers to work at manual labor hacking their way through the jungle to build up a track bed through low-lying swampland.
In his latest work Philip Yancey refers to a movie entitled, To End All Wars that pictures the scene as one straight out of Dante’s Infernal. Naked except for loin cloths, the men worked under a broiling sun in 120-degree heat, their bodies stung by insects, their bare feet cut and bruised by sharp stones. Death was commonplace. If a prisoner appeared to be lagging, a Japanese guard would beat him to death, bayonet him, or decapitate him in ful view of the other prisoners. Many more men simply dropped dead from exhaustion malnutrition, and disease. Under these severe conditions, with such inadequate care for prisoners, 80,000 men ultimately died building the railway. That’s 393 fatalities for every mile of track laid. In the work camps themselves the men descended into barbarism. It was survival of the fittest….every man for himself. In the food line, prisoners fought over the few scraps of vegetables or grains of rice floating in the greasy broth. Officers refused to share any of their special rations. Theft was common in the barracks. In short, men lived like animals and hate was the main motivation to stay alive. But something happened that changed everything. One day as the Japanese guards were carefully counting tools at the end of a day’s work, one guard shouted that a shovel was missing. He walked up and down the ranks demanding to know who had stolen it. When no one confessed, he screamed, “All die! All die!” and he raised his rifle to fire the first man in line. At that instant an enlisted man stepped forward, stood at attention, and said, “I did it.” The guard fell on him in a fury, kicking and beating the prisoner, who despite the blows still managed to stand at attention. Then the enraged guard lifted his weapon high in the air and brought the but of the rifle down on the soldier’s skull. The man sank in a heap to the ground, but the guard continued kicking his lifeless body. Tragically that night when tools were inventoried again, the work crew discovered a mistake had been made: no shovel was missing after all.
Well after this incident of one soldier bravely giving his life to protect others, attitudes in the camp began to shift. Inspired by his sacrifice prisoners started treating the dying with respect, organizing proper funerals and burials, marking each man’s grave with a Cross. Prisoners began looking out for each other rather than themselves. Thefts grew increasingly rare. Men began selling their watches to the Japanese soldiers to buy medicines for the sick. The prisoners even built a tiny church and each evening they gathered to worship and pray for one another. In short, the men began to experience true KINSHIP as they followed the example of this brave soldier and began to love one another in a Christlike manner. Well, that is the way it is in the church-the more we truly understand what Jesus has done for us in dying on the cross, the more we treat one another with a sacrificial AGAPE love. And when we do, we come to learn that just as God’s Word says, “There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” We begin to enjoy the quality of fellowship that the first Christians did.
Invitation:
Okay, let me ask you a couple relevant questions: which of these levels of fellowship are you at right now? Have you made it to the first one, choosing to belong? Have you followed God’s will and joined a church family? That’s the most basic level. If you haven’t done that, you need to take that first step. Then if you have-if you are a church member-you need to move to the second step and learn to share by becoming active in a small group or Sunday School class where you can get to really know some other Christians. Then you need to not just share your heart, you need to do your part. You need to find your niche….your place to give back, to make a contribution. Finally you can move to this deepest level-as you commit to love other believers in the same way Jesus has loved you.
But before we close, here’s an even more basic question: Are you a part of the family of God? Now you may think, “Well, isn’t everybody a part of the family of God?” No. Everybody is created by God, but not everybody is a child of God. You see, you have to choose to be a part of God’s family. As Galatians 3:26 says, “You are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” Today, I would invite you to put YOUR faith in Jesus. Ask Him to forgive you of your sin and to come into heart and life as Savior and Lord. In so doing, you will join the family of God. Now, as we stand and sing, I invite you to make your decisions public. Won’t you come now as God leads?