“Building Community: Part 2”

Resource: “Rhythms of Life,” by Christopher S. Webb

Romans 12:9-13

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Introduction: Our lives are shaped by many things; by our upbringing, by our family, by our friends, by our workplace, and on and on it goes. We need to realize that God has established church life so that we can become a community of believers. In this community we are meant to share many things. Last week we talked about joining together in our intention for living, our praying, and our working. It was part 1 of a 2-week series on “Building Community.”

I believe it is important for us to understand community, because this should be at the core of what the church is to be about. Church is to be a place where we build community together as God’s people. Building community in the church, as God’s people, is what makes the difference in our lives. So today I want to finish the series by talking about Hospitality, Mission, and Commitment.

I. Hospitality- (James 2:1-4; Rom. 12:13; Matt. 25:34-40; Col. 3:23-24)

a. Receiving newcomers- All too often, when we think of being

hospitable, we think about having guests over for dinner, or for dessert and conversation. It is opening our home to friends and family. It is deciding if you want to host the Thanksgiving dinner this year. It is deciding whether or not you will allow your children to invite their friends to come over and play. It is thought of in terms of those with whom we have a relationship.

Church father Benedict, in his expressing the extraordinary commitment we are to have to the commitment of hospitality, once said: “All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ.” How they received guests at the monastery became the litmus test of the community’s true quality, since in every guest the person of Christ presents himself to us anew; either as welcomed or rejected.

As a church, we need then to consider how we will receive newcomers and strangers; both those who might wish to join the church, and those who are simply visiting because they happen to be in town for the day, or a family member who is dropping in. Regardless of the length of their stay, we should be equally hospitable. We shouldn’t treat the one who might become a member better than the one-time visitor. If we do this, then we are not truly interested in the person, but only in what they might “do” for our church. As James says in James 2:1-4, “My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring, and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, saying: ‘You sit here in a good place,” and you say to poor man, ‘You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool.’ Have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil motives?” Or as Romans 12:13 says, “…; extend hospitality to strangers.”

STORIES FOR THE JOURNEY- “The Same Kind of Folds, p. 46

There is a story of a farmer who was working in his field when a stranger approached him. The traveler asked: “What kind of people live in the next town?” The farmer asked in reply: “What kind of people lived in the town you just left?” The traveler answered: “Oh, they were horrible. They were dishonest, selfish, and inconsiderate.” The farmer shook his head and said: “I’m sorry to say that’s probably the kind you’ll find in this town too.” With that the stranger moaned and walked away.

Later that day another stranger happened by and asked the farmer the same question. And the farmer asked him back the question he had asked the first traveler. This man responded a little differently: “The people were thoughtful, friendly, and kind. I hated to leave.” The farmer smiled, and then answered: “I’m pleased to say that is the kind of folk you’ll find here.” The traveler returned the smile, shook the farmer’s hand, and headed toward his new home.

The outlook we have toward others will determine how we see people, and how we react to people, and how hospitable we are to them.

b. Being attentive to Christ- For Benedict, hospitality was such an

important value, that the normal rhythm of their community life would be stopped and refocused if a guest happened by. In a Benedictine community, as soon as the presence of a guest is announced the abbot and other brothers are encouraged to drop whatever they are doing in order to attend to the visitor. Work may be left undone. The routine of the kitchen may be disturbed. Those who are fasting are to break their fast so that they might eat with the guest. The purpose of their rhythm of life was to be more attentive to Christ, and what greater way is there to be attentive to Christ than to be attentive to a guest? For it was Christ who said: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Even more than this, it was Christ who told us that by our actions we would be known as followers. In Matthew 25:34-40, Jesus gave us a profound teaching about hospitality: “Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' ³⁷Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' ⁴⁰The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'”

This is one of the truly profound passages of the Bible, because it challenges us to think of our service to others as if we were serving Christ. And that is indeed what the apostle Paul challenges us to do as well, when he says to us in Colossians 3:23-24, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, ²⁴since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” If we really believe that we can greet Christ in each guest, then attentiveness to our visitor becomes more important than the service itself! We will then live out hospitality as a community.

II. Mission- (Hebrews 4:12; Romans 1:16-17)

So we have seen that community should consist of Intentionality, Prayer, Work, and Hospitality. Next we look at Mission.

a. God’s people being active- It is important to have meetings times,

worship times, Bible study. But we are called to be “active” as Christians, active as a church as well. This activity is called MISSION. In mission we are to go out into the world, as God’s people. The Franciscan community had this passion: “Let any brother who wishes to go among Saracens and other nonbelievers, go with the permission of his minister,” writes St. Francis. Francis himself traveled to a crusader camp in Egypt, crossed the lines of battle, and shared the gospel with Sultan Malek el-Kamil, the leader of the Saracen forces. Francis pioneered an approach to mission in which the good news was lived as much as it was explained. He also wrote: “One way is to not engage in arguments and disputes but to BE subject to everyone for God’s sake. The other way is to announce the Word of God when they see it pleases the Lord.” These statements have been summarized today to say: “Preach the gospel; use words when necessary.”

“The Letter,” Stories for the Journey, p. 26: There is a story of a young man, who before he left on a long journey wrote a letter to the woman he intended to marry. He said: “This letter is a pledge of my honor and love.” Days turned into months, which turned into a year, all the while the woman never heard from her beloved. Her friends urged her to start seeing other men, but she refused, as she remembered the promise in his letter. Finally, after a couple of years, the man returned. When he saw she was still waiting for him, he was grateful, but amazed. “How was it possible for you to wait?” he asked. “Even you don’t understand? I believed in you because I had your word in the letter!”

We hear this story and might think it preposterous, because words don’t have the power they once had; the power they were meant to have. Hebrews 4:12 tells us: “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” This powerful word of God is the word we are to take out on our missions. The apostle Paul agreed with this, when he said in Romans 1:16-17, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. ¹⁷For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith.”

b. What is the mission? So what is our mission to be? The general

mission for us, as I mentioned last week, and as you will find on the back of the bulletin is: “The mission of this church is to bring people to know Jesus Christ, to help one another grow in faith, to be committed and responsible members, and empowered by the Holy Spirit, to share God’s love beyond the church.” But what about being more specific? What is this mission to look like? We need to understand that each church is to have their own specific mission based on the giftedness and make-up of the people.

However, even with saying that, it stays somewhat general until a specific opportunity arises. For example, we have had the mission to reach out to our community. This has seen specific opportunities come about like working with His Nesting Place, the WomenShelter of Long Beach, the computer classes, the bread ministry, expanding our food pantry, and renting our chapel to the Vietnamese church (to reach out to the Vietnamese of our community), and now the Hispanic church. If we are ready to respond to opportunities, then we can continue to do mission.

Along with this, we are looking to start a small group ministry in January. These small groups will be designed to build community AND to do mission. They will be a time to meet together as God’s people,, learning God’s word, but also to reach out to our friends. They will start with a core group for our church, but we will be looking to invite our friends who don’t know Jesus, and/or who don’t have a church, to come and grow with us. These groups will be in the areas where you live: Lakewood, Long Beach, Cypress/Anaheim, Los Alamitos. Where the group will meet will depend on who steps up to be the leaders. We will do a leaders training, and then kick-off the groups in January!

When we are involved in Mission, when we are active in ministry, then we will see our community grow in number and in closeness, and we will see God’s Kingdom grow as well!

III. Commitment-

a. Lack of commitment- Of course, to do mission in this way involves

commitment. And that is something that is lacking in our society. People no longer make commitments the way they used to. How can they? They are too busy. We have too many activities in our lives. It is challenging enough for people to come to church regularly, much less make a commitment to be involved.

Churches are struggling to get people to join the church; to become Elders and Deacons. To be ministry leaders. Why? Because people don’t see the church as important as it once was. I had someone tell me the other day: “I can’t come on Wednesdays anymore because I have football practice. Now I’m not trying to say that the only activity you should have in your life is church. The problem is, that other organizations don’t think about people’s religious activities when they plan their activities. It used to be that nothing was open on Sundays, thus making it much easier to choose to go to church.

But we need to understand that community is based on commitment; commitment to our common cause, and commitment to each other. In regards to the question of obedience, Benedict insisted on it, and actually legislated punishment for those who resisted being obedient. Augustine emphasized the need for community members to: “Obey your superior as a father;… both love and respect are necessary.” Francis of Assisi maintained that “holy obedience of our Lord Jesus Christ” entailed obedience to church authorities and to the structures of the community.

b. Obedience and submission- When I say the words “obedience and

submission,” how do you respond? Take some responses from the congregation….

Yes, for many people, these words have a very negative connotation; although for some they might be willing to accept it in their life. Yet, if you were to join a team (baseball, bowling, football), and the coach were to tell you that commitment was needed, and there would be practices twice a week, you would probably be okay with that. Why? Because you understand that for a team to do well, it must practice together so that it can improve and be competitive.

We need to have a similar idea when it comes to the church. We need to make a commitment to the work of God, because God’s work has eternal implications.

Illus. “Soap and Religion,” Stories for the Journey, p. 99. There is a story of a Teacher who was speaking with a group of children, when a soapmaker spoke up trying to embarrass him: “How can you claim that religion is good and valid when there is so much suffering and evil in the world? he said. What good are all the books and ser-mons that your religion has produced?” With that the Teacher motioned a small child to move through the crowd. “This is Eric,” the Teacher said. “He is three. He is also dirty. I ask you, what good is soap when Eric and hundreds of children like him are dirty? How can you pretend that soap is effective?” The soapmaker protested: “What a foolish argument. If soap is to be effective it must be used.” “Precisely,” the Teacher answered. “If the teachings of our Master are to be effective, they must be used.”

Without commitment we are not willing to put forth the effort to use the teachings of Christ, and thus the Church struggles to be victorious in this world!

We need to consider carefully how a life shared together might help deepen our commitment. Submission to one another for the common good helps us to be less concerned with our likes and dislikes, and turns the focus back onto the giftedness of the community, and how each of our gifts work together. As Romans 12:10 says, “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.”

Conclusion: So, we have talked about 6 elements—intention, prayer, work, hospitality, mission, and commitment. We have talked about how these 6 are some of the key building blocks in the life of the church, because they help us to live as a “community,” and less as individuals; they give our church a rhythm of life. When we reflect on each of these areas, and on our unique calling and giftedness as a church, we will indeed be more intentional about living our lives for Christ, and being Christlike together.

How can you become more of a part of this community? How can our times together be less of just a gathering of people, and more a gathering of the body of Christ? What keeps you from becoming more committed? How is God tugging at your heart to be more concerned about the life of this church? Today we celebrate the fact that this church has been around for 80 years! How wonderful is this truth. But we don’t want to dwell too much on our past achievements, without being concerned with what God wants us to do now, and in the future. Let’s indeed rejoice today, and give ourselves over to the hope of tomorrow. Amen.