Community

Community

We have heard from Eilleen, Jim and Sue that our responses to God’s grace are Piety, Study and Action. God’s love sets us free to relate to others freely. Our response to God’s grace is lived in the communities in our lives.

 

As Christians, we become aware of the importance of reaching to each other as sisters and brothers in a vital community of faith. And we focus on our participation, as part of the greater world community. This talk is about that community.

 

Often times I have a difficult time grasping a topic until I have looked at it from different perspectives, in order to determine not only what it is, but what it is not. So, as I often do, I would like to explore with you first, what community is not.

 

I was taken recently by what Joseph Stowell, of the Moody Bible Institute, had to say on the subject of “Intimacy with God” and remember him speaking of something that virtually all of us, I dare say, have to come to grips with, at one time or another. That one thing has a lot of different names. Some call it being alone, or abandoned (forsaken), or lonely (sad or depressed by being alone), or isolated, or separated (disconnected). The terms he used which had the greatest impact on me though are abandoned and separated.

 

All of mankind struggles with abandonment and separation, and we have since Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden. As a result of their original sin and our continued proclivity to sin, we have been isolated and separated from God and have been yearning every since for that lost sense of belonging. In our secular society we hear it refered to as a “having lost a sense of purpose.”

 

Along the same train of thought, Joe Stowell also spoke to the concept of hell. Many of us, myself included, have thought or commented that maybe, hell is really just life on earth, and in many ways, it is. As long as we are separated from God, we are experiencing, in small part, what it feels like to be in hell. For what is hell but an eternal separation from God. Let me repeat that. Hell is an eternal separation from God. What could possibly leave us feeling more lonely, or isolated, or abandoned, or forsaken. Christ used that word forsaken while on the cross. As it is written in Matthew & again in Mark, he said  “...My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”

 

In His feeling of being forsaken, just what does that mean? To me, it means that he was feeling totally and completely abandoned. Totally devoid of anyone else being there. Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever felt like no one cares, that no one knows how you feel?

 

If you have, you are not the first. This is a common feeling among man and appears throughout the Bible.

 

David felt that way and said so in Psalm 10;

“Why, O Lord, do you stand far off?

Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?”

 

And again in Psalm 13;

“How long, O Lord? Will you forget me, forever?

How long will you hide your face from me?”

 

And again in Psalm 83;

“O God, do not keep silent;

be not quiet, O God, be not still.”

 

Job, too, felt as if he had been forsaken as written in Job 30;

“I cry out to you, O God, but you do not answer;

I stand up, but you merely look at me.”

 

Job’s single biggest complaint was that God didn’t answer. For years God didn’t say anything to him. He just ignored Him. We have all been or felt we were being ignored. It is so aggrevating. Children are great at this, especially in the teen years. We ignore God and then have the tumerity to be upset with Him when he doesn’t answer, or maybe we just don’t hear his answer.

 

While we are separated from God, we are taught that God is really with us at all times, even when we are not aware of His presence. Try to imagine what it would be like to be totally and eternally forsaken by God. We have it so good, and with with so many blessings, that we don’t even count, that  it is beyond our ability to even imagine what it would be like to be totally forsaken by God.

 

Our sin has separated us from God, and through it comes a void like a giant chasm that is so far across that we can’t even see the other side, and so deep that we can’t see the bottom, and so long from end-to-end that we can never hope to navigate around it, let alone get over to the other side. It’s as if we have walked to the edge of the world and are alone there not even knowing that the other side even exists, except by our faith.

 

We are fighting to fill an immense void that has been left in our souls. A void in our soul that is created by our own sin, and only grows larger each time we sin against our God.

 

Isn’t this what we are constantly struggling with? A void in our soul the size of God? Attempting to fill a void that large by ourselves is futile. Only God can fill that void! Yet we constantly seek to fill that very same spiritual void with things of this earth?

 

We long to fill the void. As humans that is built into us. Even New Age philosophy is bent on providing the fulfillment that we all so much desire. They are just badly misguided as to how to achieve it. They know what they want and need, but not how to fill it. The answer is not from within, but from without! Not within this world, but from out of this world!

 

We are taught that our separation is only a temporary state, if we only but accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. What is the promise we all seek? The ultimate promise to us is that upon our arrival in heaven, we will be surrounded by the very presence of God. Imagine that! Never again will we experience separation from God. That really is our deepest desire, to be surrounded by the glory of God. Is that not what we are all seeking?

 

How does God provide for us in the mean time? He has given us community. He calls for us to be one in Him. To be unified in thought. Not uniform but unified. If we look to the Bible for the answer we will find many examples.

 

We think of the Israelite slaves in Egypt and during the Exodus. They were a community even in their separation ffrom their homeland.

 

The disciples were quite definitely a community, and they came together as such both during Jesus’ life, and after. The last supper was a celebration of their community with Jesus. After the crucifiction, the disciples gathered together to gain strength from each other, and to try to make some sense out of what had happened. It was during this community time, that Jesus appeared to them. The disciples continued to act as a community even into their ministries. The community in which they were involved was a significant part of their strength, and was an important part of their ministry.

 

How do we respond? We form communities. We seek out those with similar interests. We seek out those that have something in common with us. Why? Because what it really boils down to, is that we want, no - we need  - others in our lives. Even the likes of consummate hermits like Ted Kaczinski, the Unabomber, couldn’t exist without making contact with others...for truly no man is an island.

 

In a talk he gave at the Atlanta pastors conference a year ago, Max Lucado, observed  “my how we cluster.” And indeed we do. We cluster in any number of ways. We cluster with those of similar interests. We cluster with those that confirm our way of thinking. Community is not just an organization which we belong to, but a way of living. We cluster with those of like sex, denomination, political thought, ethnic background, sport, education, activities, employment, marital status, socio-economic class, gangs, pastimes, any number of ways which we as humans can think of to identify with others. Clusters or communities really, come in different shapes and sizes. Also, we can experience communities that are both positive in focus, and negative.

 

This point was brought home to me just a week ago, when one of the team members made the observation in our Sunday class, that we do not always form community based on common interests, but in fact sometimes we form communities first, and then develop that commonality. This became even clearer to me, through the realization that this is a part of the reason that I recently decided to change my place of employment. I was being dragged down by the community of my work environment, a community that was not positive.

 

We must from time to time evaluate what communities we are in, and make a conscious decision whether or not to continue in those communities. We decide whom we will associate with in community. We must ask the question whether we want to become a part of a particular community. We may then need to decide to join a new, more Godly community.

 

If we are currently a part of an unfavorable community we may need to remove ourselves and seek out more worthwhile community associations.

 

Are communities created or do they just happen? Both! This weekend is a good example of community creation. A significant proportion of us did not know each other before this weekend began, but look at us now. We have developed a community as a result of having been here, and experienced the same events, and many of the same emotions and feelings. We have also been touched in a very special and memorable way by the unifying love of our Lord. This love brings us together in a very special way.

 

What is the common thread in all of these? It is a word in that last sentence, the word common. We have something in common.

 

Let’s look at the root of that word.

The first syllable comes from the Latin, cum, which means - with, together

So from that we arrive at the Latin word communis, or  Com-mon which means - shared by all or many.

 

Next, if we add the Latin munio, munitum which means to build, fortify

We arrive at community - a group which builds/fortifies together

 

How do we arrive at community in Christ? First God calls us to Him. He invites us, as individuals, to come into community with Him.

 

In Luke 6:12-19, we see Christ’s example:

 

"Now it happened in those days that Jesus went onto the mountain to pray, and he spent the whole night in prayer to God. When day came, he summoned his disciples and picked out twelve of them and called them apostles: Simon, whom he called Peter; and his brother, Andrew; James; John; Philip; Bartholomew; Matthew; Thomas; James, son of Alphaeus; Simon, called the Zealot; Judas, son

of James; and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

 

"He then came down with them and stopped at a piece of level ground where there was a large gathering of his disciples. There was a great crowd of people from all parts of Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear him and be cured of their diseases. And people tormented by unclean spirits were also cured. Everyone in the crowd was trying to touch him because power came out of him that cured them all"

 

Author Henri Nouwen writes of a concept which Christ displayed in this passage, from Solitude-to-Community-to-Ministry.

 

Jesus started by spending the night in solitude with God. That is where He listened to God. In the morning, he gathered his apostles around him and formed community. In the afternoon, with his apostles, he went out and preached the Word and healed the sick.

 

Notice the order - from solitude-to-community-to-ministry. It begins by being with God, in solitude, then it creates a fellowship, a community of people with whom the mission is lived, and finally this community goes out together to heal and proclaim the Good News.

 

It is interesting that solitude-community-ministry pattern follows closely with the three legs of the stool of grace -- piety-study-action. Piety is sought in solitude; study develops in community and action results in ministry.

 

Solitude

 

Solitude is being with God and God alone. That is where we listen to God. In solitude with God we learn that we are His beloved. That we have received his unconditional gift of forgiveness through His grace. Think again about the story of the prodigal son. No questions were asked. He was simply forgiven. If you keep that in mind, you can deal with an enormous amount of success, or failure, without losing your identity because your identity is not based on what you are, but the fact that you are one of God’s beloved.

 

Community

 

It’s in the solitary communion with God, that we discover the call to community. It’s remarkable that solitude always calls us to community. In solitude you realize that you’re a part of a human family and that you want to lift something together. You gather around people with whom you want to proclaim the truth that we are the beloved sons and daughters of God.

 

Community is not easy. Someone once said, “Community is the place where the person you least want to live with, lives.” In Jesus’ own community of twelve apostles, the last name was that of someone who was going to betray him. That person is always in your community somewhere. In the eye of others, you might be that person.

 

Why is it important that solitude come before community? If we do not know and accept that we are the beloved of God, we’re going to expect someone in the community to make us feel that way. They can not. We’ll expect someone to give us that perfect unconditional love. But community is not loneliness grabbing onto loneliness, “I’m so lonely, you’re so lonely”; it’s solitude grabbing onto solitude: “I am the beloved, you are the beloved”.

 

Within the discipline of community are the disciplines of forgiveness and celebration. Forgiveness and celebration are what makes a community, regardless of the type.

 

Forgiveness is to allow the other person not to be God. Forgiveness says, “I know you love me, but you don’t have to love me unconditionally, because no human being can do that.

 

We all have wounds. We are all in so much pain. It’s precisely this feeling of loneliness that lurks behind all our successes, that feeling of uselessness that hides under all the praise, that feeling of meaninglessness, even when people say we are fantastic -- that is what makes us sometimes grab onto other people, and expect from them an affection and love they cannot give.

 

It’s so important that we keep forgiving one another - not once in a while, but every moment of life. Community starts to be created when we come together in a forgiving and non-demanding way.

 

Celebration, is the second discipline of community. If you can forgive that another  person cannot give you what only God can give, then you can celebrate the other person’s gift. Then you can see the love that person is giving you, as a reflection of God’s great unconditional love.

 

To celebrate each other’s gifts means to accept each other’s humanity. We see others in a way that God meant when He told us, “Love one another, because I have loved you first.”

 

Underneath a successful and highly praised career can live a fearful person, who doesn’t think much of him or herself. In community comes that mutual vulnerability in which we forgive each other and celebrate each other’s gift. There is healing in being known in our vulnerability and impatience and weakness.

 

By doing all of these things we move from a community into a ministry almost without knowing it

 

Ministry

 

All the disciples of Jesus are called to ministry. If you know you are the beloved, and if you keep forgiving those with whom you form communities and celebrate their gifts, you can not do other than minister.

 

You have to trust that if you are the son or daughter of God, power will go out from you and people will be healed. Trust in that healing power. Trust that if you are living as the beloved, you will heal people whether or not you notice it. But you have to be faithful to the call.

 

Jesus said, “What ever I do, you can do, too, and even greater things.”Our ministry is to help people to gradually let go of the resentment, to discover that, right in the middle of pain, there is a blessing.

 

Where there is pain, there is healing. To minister, you have to be where the pain is. It was the pain of a Son, that created a family of people known as Christians. That’s the mystery of God. Our ministry is to help people to gradually let go of the resentment, to discover that, right in the middle of pain there is a blessing. Right in the middle of your tears -- that’s where the dance starts and joy is first felt.

 

Ministry means to help people become grateful for life even with pain. The minister, the disciple of Jesus, goes where there is pain not because he is a masochist or she is a sadist, but because God is hidden in the pain. To minister, you have to be where the pain is.

 

A new world grows out of compassion. Be compassionate as your heavenly Father is compassionate. But, don’t be fearful, don’t be afraid. Don’t say, “I can’t do that .” When you are aware that you are the beloved, and when you have friends around you with whom you live in community, you can do anything. You’re not afraid anymore.

 

Those who have ministered to me, were those who were not afraid to be with me. Where I felt my poverty, I felt God’s blessing.

 

Our little lives are small, human lives. But in the eyes of the One who calls us the beloved, we are great -- greater than the years we have. We will bear fruits, fruits that you and I will not see on this earth, but in which we can trust.

 

Solitude, community, ministry -- these disciplines help us live a fruitful life. Remain in Jesus; He remains in you. You will bear many fruits, you will have great joy, and your joy will be complete.

                                                                                                                                                      

 

Matthew 18:20

“For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”

 

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

“Two are better than one,

because they have a good return for their work:

If one falls down,

his friend can help him up.

But pity the man who falls

and has no one to help him up!

Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.

But how can one keep warm alone?

Though one may be overpowered,

two can defend themselves.

A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”

 

 

 

1 Corinthians 1:10-11

“...that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.”

 

HPsalm 133:1

How good and pleasant it is

when brothers live together in unity!”

 

Ephesians 4:3

“Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”

 

Ephesians 4:25

“...for we are all members of one body.”

 

 

Job 30:20

“I cry out to you, O God, but you do not answer;

I stand up, but you merely look at me.”

 

Matthew 27:46 & Mark 15:34

“...My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”

Ephesians 5:21

“Submit to one another our of reverence for Christ.”

 

we give back grace (forgiveness)

we move from personal solitude with God to community with God

we must tear down walls that keep us from others so that they can tear down theirs

we all come from community (family)

we become vulnerable

we depend on others

we forgive because we are forgiven