from the desk of . . . #626 Rande Wayne Smith 21 September 2014 D.Min., Th.M., M.Div.

We’re In This Together - 1

WE NEED EACH OTHER

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

How many of you watched the Bears play last Sunday evening? … Great game! They can win when they play as a team. Okay, transition … God intends life to be a team sport. God has designed us to thrive in relationship, in community, in connection with other people, to be a team.

We go to the very 1st chapter of the , & we discover that we’ve been made in God’s image. (Genesis 1:26- 27) And one aspect of His image is relational. Our God is a 3-in-1 God. He is Father, Son, & Holy Spirit. And so when God creates us in His image, He made us with a relational capacity, with a desire to be on the “team.”

This morning we’re starting a 2-week series entitled, “We’re In This Together.” And my goal is to motivate you & equip you to build strong spiritual relationships with other people. And with that in mind, we begin this morning by seeing the benefit of doing life together. And we’re going to look at a passage from as the basis for today’s message. 2 So, listen now to Good News as recorded by , to you who have gathered here at Community Church. Within your hearing now comes the Word of the Lord …

Two are better off than one, because together they can work more effectively. If one of them falls down, the other can help him up. But if someone is alone and falls, it’s just too bad, because there is no one to help him. If it is cold, two men can sleep together and stay warm, but how can you keep warm by yourself? Two people can resist an attack that would defeat one person alone. A rope made of three cords is hard to break. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)

May the LORD grant that we may engage in contemplating the mysteries of His Heavenly wisdom with really increasing devotion, to His glory and to our edification. Amen

I want to talk this morning about 4 benefits of doing life together. The 1st has to do with getting connected in work. “2 are better off than one, because together they can work more effectively.”

I was reading an article a couple of weeks ago about Gram Parker. I assume that you all know who Gram Parker is. … You don’t? 3 Well, if you kept with the news at all, you’d know that Gram Parker, after 26 years of trying, has just solved his Rubik Cube. (X)

Are you all familiar with the Rubik Cube? It’s a multicolored puzzle, & the goal is to get all sides to be one color. So you twist & turn it.

Gram worked on his Rubik Cube for 26 years! He said that it gave him wrist problems & back problems. But no matter, as he told the reporter, when he made the final click, it was so fulfilling he said that he wept.

Now, as I read that important “news” blurb, & was thinking about this message, a couple of questions immediately popped into my mind regarding Work.

1st, are you “Working” at something of ultimate significance? And I’m obviously not talking about solving a Rubik Cube puzzle. And I’m not talking about your “job” either; so for you who are retired, don’t tune me out. I’m talking about your life Work, (capital “W”). What has God put you onto this planet to accomplish? …

Here’s how the Apostle Paul would answer that question. He says that our “Work” on earth is 1st of all … to be an ambassador for Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 6:20) Christ is seeking to extend His Kingdom through us.

Okay, so how do we do that? 4 We do it by sharing the Good News about Jesus with others through our words, & through our actions.

Part of the job, part of the Work, (capital W), can be done in our regular activities. Let me use Joe as an example. Joe has been a compassionate, nurturing school teacher. That’s one way he has served Christ. And in doing his job he indirectly pointed people to Jesus.

But Scripture also challenges us to serve through Church ministries in a direct way that brings people to faith. That may mean singing in the choir, it may mean teaching a Sunday School class, it may mean mowing the lawn, it may mean hosting our coffee/chai time. But when you’re serving as Christ’s ambassador, directly like that, you are doing truly significant Work, (capital W).

Now the 2nd question that Gram Parker raises in my mind is, not only are we doing something truly significant, but are we Working on a team? You can solve Rubik Cube all by yourself, sitting at home, in your underwear. (Don’t let your imagination go too wild with that.) But you cannot be Christ’s ambassador alone.

This Work, (capital W), requires that we join a team. This Work connects us with other followers of Jesus. This Work breeds togetherness. This Work provides the opportunity to experience the blessing we just read about … when 2 Work together they are more effective. 5 Now most of you are already members of the team, but are you Working to do something truly significant?

The Deacons have put together a day of service & Work … Saturday, October 4th, 2 weeks from yesterday. There are a ½ dozen different events going on throughout the day. A couple of them will take an hour. Some will take several hours. But there is something for every one of you to be Working at.

And let me tell you … you’ll be blessed if you’re a part of this. And you’ll be a blessing if you’re part of this. Nothing is more satisfying than Working at something of ultimate significance.

#2 … we get connected in weakness. “If one of them falls down, the other can help him up. But if someone is alone & falls, it’s just too bad, because there is no one to help him.”

Bible scholars tell us that the writer is describing people who were on a journey. And one of the things that can happen to a person, especially if they were traveling around , where there were rocky, dangerous, wilderness roads is that they could slip off the side of the path & plummet down into a ravine … literally, falling off the edge of a cliff.

So, it wasn’t a good idea to travel alone. Solomon writes, “If someone is alone & falls, it’s just too bad.” 6 Sometimes when we stumble, (& I’m thinking spiritually here), God helps us directly. But more often than not, He intervenes through other people. And let’s be honest, we’ve all stumbled from time to time, because we all have weaknesses.

Sometimes those stumbles are small. Some of us have taken a little “fall” this week. But other times the stumbles are huge, with the repercussions far-reaching.

There’s not a person in this room who hasn’t experienced what I’m talking about. But the question is … who do you have to pick you up when you fall? (You can’t do it yourself.) … And, are you around to pick up someone else on the “team” when they fall?

One of my favorite Scriptures in this regard is found in Galatians. Paul’s writing, “My friends, if someone is caught in any kind of wrongdoing, those of you who are spiritual should set him right; but you must do it in a gentle way. (Now when Paul says ‘spiritual’ he doesn’t mean that we have to be perfect to restore someone else, otherwise, none of us could do this. If you’re walking with Christ, & you see someone who’s slipping in a sin, who “falls”, who takes a moral stumble … help them, for Heaven sakes.) And keep an eye on yourselves, so that you will not be tempted, too. Help carry one another’s burdens, & in this way you will obey the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:1-2) 7 Are there people in your life who are concerned about your spiritual wellbeing? When you slip off God’s path, is there someone to gently restore you? Are there people in your life who when they see you in a moment of weakness fall, instead of gossiping about it, instead of condemning you for your failure, they will graciously come alongside & offer encouragement, they’ll graciously pray for you? They’ll help you get back on God’s road.

The reality is that there is ugly stuff going on in each of our lives that needs to be monitored; & on our own we’re not doing a very good job of it. It has to do with jealously & pride & bitterness & anger. And if we don’t monitor what goes on in our hearts, sooner or later, it will come out of our mouths. (Matthew 12:34) It’ll come out in our behavior.

Do you have someone in your life with whom you can be frank & honest about your weaknesses? Someone you can talk to about your struggles with a family member, your fears over financial matters, your tendency to drink too much, or character weaknesses. (Our Monday night Bible & Support Group is really moving in this direction.)

#3 … connected in warmth. Kathy & I really love Presidential history. We’re visiting all the President’s birthplaces, graves, & libraries. Well, I just read a little thing about James Garfield, (X) the 20th President of the U.S., who was assassinated just 3 months into office. 8 This was an incident that took place in 1880 at the Republican National Convention right here in Chicago. If you know your Chicago history, the city had burnt to the ground 10 years earlier. And because they were still in the process of rebuilding, there weren’t a lot of hotels or boarding houses where people could spend the night.

So Garfield arrives from out of town. He’s a congressman from OH, & he’s looking for a place to spend the night … but there’s nothing available.

Finally, he finds the last room in a boarding house … in an attic. It’s kind of a ½ room & there’s only a ¾ size bed in it. But he doesn’t care; at least it’s a place where he can sleep.

He gets ready for bed & lies down, & there’s a knock at the door. Garfield gets up & opens it & finds a friend of his, who says, “I’ve got a cousin in town, & there’s literally not a bed left in the city, could he sleep with you?”

Garfield says, “Well, sure.” So now we have 2 grown men, (Garfield weighed 200 lbs. & was 6 ft. tall), sleeping in this ¾ size bed in a closet size room. And the next day he goes to the Republican National Convention & gets nominated to be President of the U.S.!

This is what people did back then. People shared beds. And people did that in Bible times as well. 9 Sometimes, they did it because there was a scarcity of beds, & other times, because that was the only way to stay warm. There were no furnaces, there were no electric blankets. “If it is cold, 2 can sleep together & stay warm, but how can you keep warm by yourself?”

Remember that I said that Bible scholars believe this passage is describing people on a journey. And when they traveled in those days, if there was a long distance to go, & they had to stop at night along the way, there were no Comfort Inns. People slept out in the open. And if it was a cold night, people would freeze.

Solution … travel with friends & snuggle up. And this principle is not only true when applied to physical warmth; it’s also true in regards to spiritual warmth.

How does a person stay “warm” toward God? We snuggle up with friends. In other words, we get close to people who love God. Spend time with people who are studying Scripture, & are praying for each other.

Let me tell you something really shocking about God. Scripture says that God can’t stand lukewarm people, spiritually speaking. “I know what you have done; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. How I wish you were either one or the other! But because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am going to spit you out of my mouth!” (The Revelation 3:15-16)

10 How many of you know that it’s not a good thing when the God of the universe says that He’s going to spit you out of His mouth? … But you understand the analogy here, right? There’s nothing more satisfying than an ice cold cherry coke, or a steaming hot cup of vanilla chai. But a lukewarm coke, or a lukewarm cup of chai? It’s kind of disgusting.

That’s what God is saying here. God wants us to burn hot for Him. He doesn’t want to be a lukewarm interest in our life. He wants us to be spiritually toasty. He wants us to be passionate about Him.

How do we get that way? By hanging out with people who love God. How do we lose our spiritual warmth? By neglecting to hang out with people who love God.

I know that some of you like to camp. Katie, Shelby, & Emily. Nancy, I know that you camp with the Scouts a lot. How do you put out a campfire when you’re ready to turn in for the night? … There are 2 ways to do it. One, we can douse it. Take a big bucket of water & throw it on the fire … & the fire goes out.

The other way to do it, if we want to see the fire gradually die down, is separate the logs. And the fire will, slowly but surely, die out.

Spiritually speaking, if you want to grow cold toward God … here’s how to do it. 11 Just separate yourself from other believers. Don’t hang out with people who love God. Make it to Church sporadically … once a month or so.

But, if you want to be passionate for God … let’s go back to the fire image. What happens if we change our mind & want to reignite the fire? What do we do? We push the embers together, & almost immediately it goes “poof”, & the logs relight.

If we want to remain warm toward God, then we gather with other believers. We don’t miss worshipping on Sunday. We don’t miss opportunities to come together. We move other things out of our schedule & make worship (God) a priority. And as we hang out with spiritually warm people … we stay “warm.”

Let me add a footnote to this point; it’s something I often hear on Monday nights … “You know, I was thinking about skipping tonight, it was a long day. I’m tired. Work has been getting me down. I almost didn’t come. But, wow, I’m so thankful that I came.”

No wonder. We take a log that was beginning to cool off & push it together with other burning logs, & poof, the fire reignites. Does this make sense? …

Are you “warm” for the Lord right now? … If not, what are you doing about it? Jesus says, “Because you are lukewarm … I am going to spit you out of my mouth!” 12 Lastly, connected in war. “2 people can resist an attack that would defeat one person alone.” Once again, this may be describing people on a journey. Travel back in Bible times was dangerous because away from the city, were on long barren stretches of road … ideal hiding places for thieves & bandits.

Remember Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan? “There was once a man who was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when robbers attacked him, stripped him, & beat him up, leaving him ½ dead.” (Luke 10:30) This is what can happen if we travel alone. So Solomon says, “Don’t do it. Always travel with someone else on the road of life,” so to speak.

I was reading one Bible scholar, who was an ex- marine, his take on this passage. He wrote, “Back when I was in the Marines, & heard the command, ‘Dig in’ … we understood that we were supposed to dig a foxhole for 2.”

Isn’t that interesting? If you’re about to face a wartime enemy, the best way to do it is with somebody else. The best way to do it is shoulder-to-shoulder with a comrade-in-arms … a fellow soldier who’s going to have your back.

My friends, we face a formable enemy. One who is out to ruin our lives. 13 And I’m not trying to be overly dramatic here; I’m just telling you what the Scriptures teach.

The Apostle Paul uses some pretty strong language to describe this enemy. “Put on all the armor that God gives you, so that you will be able to stand up against the Devil’s evil tricks. For we are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, & cosmic powers of this dark age.” (Ephesians 6:11-12)

Satan is a formable enemy. He is an enemy who can bring a lot of stress, & discouragement, & hardship, & conflict, & misery to our lives. And so the question is … are you fighting this enemy on your own … or do you have some friends who have your back?

About a year ago, when we had just received word about Bella’s health issues, & the initial results of some of her tests … it was not good news. But several dear friends wanted to hold a special time of prayer for her here at the Church. And a number of people came; some of you had to rearrange your schedule to do it.

And as we gathered in the Chapel, I looked around & thought to myself … where else do you find “brothers & sisters” like this, who will have your back when the enemy attacks, when things are really tough?

Are you connected? Are you connected in Work? 14 Are you Working alongside someone else at something that’s of ultimate significance? Are you connected in weakness? Are you part of a group where you can share your failures & your struggles & other people will come alongside & put you back on the road?

Are you connected in warmth, so that your spiritual fervor doesn’t grow cold? Are you connected in war, so that when you face tough times, you know that there are people who are going to come alongside you, & they’re going to fight shoulder-to-shoulder with you, against your common enemy?

Finally, I want to look at the last sentence in today’s Scripture passage. Solomon closes by saying … “A rope made of 3 cords is hard to break.”

Does that sentence seem as out of place in this passage to you as it does to me … “a rope made of 3 cords”?

Solomon has been dealing with pairs up to this point. He’s been talking 2’s. “2 are better off than one.” “2 on the road” … “2 sleeping together” … “2 people resisting an attack” … but now, all of a sudden, he’s talking about a rope made of “3” cords. What’s that all about?

Well, there are several suggestions concerning that. Bible scholars interpret it in one of 2 ways. (Actually, I like both of them.) 15 One way is to read this as if Solomon were saying, “If one quality friend is good, hey, 2 are better.” If you have 2 friends so that you’re a rope of 3 cords, that’s terrific. I assume that Solomon would go on & say, “If you have 3 friends, or 4, or 5 ….”

But the 2nd interpretation is even better. With it the 3rd cord represents the Lord. Solomon is telling us, that friendship is a good thing, but the best kind of friendship, shares a relationship with Jesus Christ.

So when we get together with friends, who will pray with us, & share insights from God’s Word, & will see things from a spiritual perspective … that’s a 3 cord rope that’s impossible to break.

But all this obviously begins with Jesus being in our lives. And if you haven’t done that … today’s the day. (2 Corinthians 6:2) It’s Jesus who becomes the glue in these relationships that makes them so strong. He makes us a rope of 3 cords.

Okay, my friends, we’re in this thing together. I can’t be all that Jesus created me to be alone … & neither can you. As members of Community Church, we need each other. God has designed us to thrive in this relationship, as a team, in connection with one another … so, let’s be about it.

MARANA THA