Living in Unity
Notes
Transcript
Let us pray...Gracious and loving God, as we continue to bask in the glow of the resurrection this week, we come to you today with concerns in our hearts about how to live out the calling you have placed upon our lives. Sometimes we forget how-to live-in unity with one another, even though you have made us to be with and in unity with those who surround us. Remind us this day to always walk in fellowship with you so that we can be in community with others. Help us to show your love to the world outside so that your community and fellowship can continue to grow in this world. Guide us and lead us in the truth and to walk in the ways of your son as we continue to spread the gospel of his life, Amen.
Did You Know?
Did You Know?
On this beautiful, spring Sunday morning, my nose is telling me that spring is finally here and seems ready to stay, at least for right now it is. So, I thought a very spring-like topic might be appropriate for us to explore this morning. There are very few things in this life that I avoid like the plague, other than the plague of course and one of those is bees. One of the primary reasons is that my dad was allergic to them and the two times I have actually gotten stung in my life, my skin has swollen beyond belief. The most recent occasion last summer caused my ear to swell to three times it’s normal size and stay that way for nearly a month. So, I have good reason to dislike them…this also means that I am not looking forward to their arrival. And if the weather holds out, we will soon be enduring these essential insects. This made me wonder how many of us know about bees and all their relatives…so I thought maybe we could learn a little bit about them…and in so doing, maybe learn a little bit about ourselves as well…so here we go…it is “did you know” time…
Did you know that…one bee is always ready to feed another bee, sometimes even one of a different colony. Mutual feeding among bees, who are very social insects, is the order of their existence. The workers feed the helpless queen who cannot feed herself. They feed the drones during their period of usefulness in the hive. Of course, they also feed the young. They seem to enjoy the social act of feeding one another.
Did you know that…Bees cluster together for warmth in cold weather and fan their wings to cool the hive in hot weather, thus working for one another’s comfort and safety in times when there are extremes in the weather.
Did you know that…Bees swarm when a new colony needs to be formed. A new honey bee colony is formed by a queen bee who leaves the colony with a large group of worker bees. Now, when swarming time comes, bee scouts leave an existing hive to find suitable quarters where the new colony can establish itself. These scouts report back to the group, executing a dance by which they convey the location of the prospective home to the colony. As more than one scout goes prospecting and reports back, the bees appear to entertain the findings of all scouts and at last the entire assembly seems to reach a common conclusion on a choice. Thereupon they all take wing in what is called a swarm.[1] These bees then leave in a group to form a new hive and colony all of their own, which is how the colonies multiply and expand.
Bees and Us...
Bees and Us...
Now, since we have so many folks who do some home gardens and also who work on farms, we might be aware that bees are typically the mechanism by which our plants are pollinated and thereby can produce more fruits, flowers, and vegetables. They are an integral part of our lives as humans. They produce a product that is one of the most, if not the most, pure food items known to man and they help us to produce more food for ourselves in the process of collecting food for themselves.
Here is the most important thing to remember about all of these “did you know” statements…bees are social insects. They need to be in clusters to survive and they need interaction with other bees in order to live. In order for the queen to survive and grow and reproduce, she needs to rely upon the worker bees and the drones for food and safety. The workers and the drones have the responsibility to maintain order and continue the fellowship of the entire hive. Bees must work together to maintain the hive and its queen. Collectively, bees must be in constant communion with one another to survive and grow.
When it comes to being social, we really are not that much different from bees. We too are social animals and therefore need to be in communion with other people who share a similar belief or activity. We are social beings who crave the comfort and joy that comes from being with others. We have a basic desire to share our lives with others. Now this can be in terms of our chosen spouse or partner or in terms of the organizations in which we find ourselves belonging. Now that we are back in physical presence with one another, I wonder how many of us are feeling like we are more complete because we can be here socially with one another…
In this community of faith, we have joined, purposefully, to not only be social but also to live out the calling that God has placed in our hearts. To that end, we also come here to be with those with whom we share a common bond in the resurrection of Christ. We come here to hear God’s words and wisdom for us. We come here to share our common lot in life and to gaze upon the empty cross remembering and knowing that one person in this world gave up everything so that we can have life eternal. It is in that fellowship that we join this day.
The Greater Community...
The Greater Community...
But it is not only our community that we join today, we also have an opportunity to join the fellowship of those first believers who witnessed to the risen Christ. Those 11 disciples and all those who have gathered to mourn the death of Christ. These disciples were the witnesses to the risen Christ…they witnessed the crucifixion and the resurrection…let that sink in…they witnessed the crucifixion and the resurrection. Because of what they saw and heard, they carried the message of the resurrection on to others, which by extension, mean us. They told everyone they knew that God is good…all the time…and all the time, God is good.
The Word of the Day...
The Word of the Day...
I know I have said the word fellowship a few times now, but it is very important word in the latter half of the Bible. While the word fellowship appears most in the New International translation of the Bible, it is a concept that is mainly reserved for the New Testament. Don’t misunderstand, the word does appear in the Old Testament, but there, the concept of fellowship is purely related to burnt offerings for the community.
Considering how the word appears in the New Testament, the Greek word typically translated as fellowship can also translated as communion, communicate, partake, contribution, and common. For the most part though, it is used most frequently to represent a community of believers who share things in common. So, again this word is not much different that what we consider ourselves doing today, being in fellowship with one another.
How Fellowship Relates to the Story...
How Fellowship Relates to the Story...
It is this kind of communion, that John wrote about in his Gospel and in particular our story for this morning. He wanted the believers of the church, to whom he wrote, to know that it is extremely important to remember what they or their parents/grandparents had just witnessed. He wants them to share in the common loss of Christ but also the common joy they shared in Christ’s resurrection. He desired for them to be in fellowship with each other but more importantly to be in communion with the resurrection so that they can tell the story of Christ to others. I believe this is why he gives us this story of the disciples in the room, hiding from the religious authorities and the Roman Government, behind a locked door. For those who gathered, it was important to be together on such an important day.
Now, this story not only shows us what it means to love and support one another in a common loss but it also shows us how to accept the resurrection. I know that many times when we hear this story, we focus upon poor Thomas. Thomas really gets a bad reputation with this story and hence is nicknamed, “Doubting Thomas”. However, I want to point out something very important about this story...it really is not just Thomas who demands proof of Christ’s resurrected body. Listen carefully to this piece again...
After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
They were not overjoyed before they saw his body with the pierced wrists and ankles, it was only after Jesus showed him his body that they became overjoyed. Now, there is something else that we need to consider that is not part of the story I read this morning. And let me ask you, how many times did someone come to them and say that Jesus had risen from the dead before the events that just took place?
There are three instances that I can think of…and here they are in rapid fire...
Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
That is instance one of someone witnessing the resurrection…here is #2...
Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.
And finally...
They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
So, now there are three events taking place on the first morning of the resurrection and yet, when Jesus stood amongst the disciples (and the others gathered in community), he still had to show them his body. What does that say about us, who are not witnesses to the actual resurrection? Well, to be honest, we need to believe without seeing. The thing is though, and hear me clearly, when we are in community with others who believe, our voices become louder and more profound. Even though Thomas demanded to see it for himself, he is no different from any of the others gathered there. He just wanted to see what they saw. He wanted to know what they knew.
Being in fellowship with one another means that we trust each other to tell the truth about what we see and hear. Being in fellowship means that we share in everything. Like bees, we thrive off the community with whom we surround ourselves. Those disciples witnessed something profound and then shared it with everyone they met. Ultimately, if we are only focused upon living in the world then I would argue that we are not living up to the community that Christ created. Remember, he taught us that we are to live in the world but not be of the world. If we are only surviving behind locked doors, we may never know what great things we can do to change the world.
Challenges of Today’s World...
Challenges of Today’s World...
So let me challenge you with these words...Are we living in the fellowship of the resurrection? Are we promoting one another to the point of being able to commune with one another in a way that shows God’s love through us? This is what John is calling all of us to do…be in fellowship with Christ’s resurrection so that others can know and feel the love that God shares with us…for isn’t that who we come to worship in our own fellowship, right here? Amen
[1] Tan, Paul Lee. Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times. Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc., 1996. Print.