What unites us?

Here is the message I gave at church today.

What unites us?

Today, is men’s Sunday, and I’m very honored to represent the men of the church this morning by bringing you this message. I want to begin by telling you that I’m following in some large footsteps.  Thank you ladies for that wonderful and inspiring service.  Suzanne’s message really hit home with me.  Often times, the answers we need are so simple, and an hour after leaving here, I’d finally arrive at the other side of a storm I’ve been in, but that’s a different story for a different day.  So again, thank you ladies for being the blessing you are.  And thanks again to Suzanne for that poignant and timely word.

So, What unites us?

Because God kind of led me to this, and in terms of the day being Laymen’s Sunday, I found Romans 12:1-8.  And from that passage of Scripture, we can glean some things that unite us.

Paul starts off chapter 12 by talking about offering our bodies as a living sacrifice as an act of worship and to not be conformed to this world.  In the context of unity, how does that pertain to the conversation?  I think that answer is simple.  Sin itself is a unifier because we all suffer from it.  All too often, I think, we overlook sin in our lives.  And because I’m me, I have a story to tell that will illustrate what I mean

A long time ago, when I was still very much a hard-headed pr-believer, I had a conversation with one of my superior sergeants when I was in the Air Guard about taking things home from work.  I don’t recall what started the conversation but I do know what ended it.  This is a fine man.  I respect this man.  I know him to be an active member of his faith community, and his character was, and is,  above reproach.  He had been telling me he’d never personally taken anything home for personal use, which I found amazing.  BTW, it’s not that amazing, and it’s a practice I subscribe to these days.  But back then, I found it hard to believe, so I started asking questions.

Never taken a screw or a nut to fix something?

 He said No.

Never taken a pen or a pad of paper?

Again, No.

Batteries?

Nothing was the reply

This is the question that got him:

Never used the company copier to copy your church work?

Busted!

Remember me saying this was a fine man whose character was, and is above reproach?  You’ll notice I didn’t say he was a good man, because Jesus himself said none is good but God.  Using the company copier for personal use was against the rules.  But, you see in his mind, it was OK because it was for the church.  But, brothers and sisters, sin is sin.  Yours may not be sin in your own eye, or mine may be worse than yours in whatever sliding scale of sin you personally have, but with a God who judges sin as sin, we’re all in trouble.

So sin becomes a unifier when we realize the fallen state we’re in.  Paul states it clearly for us earlier in this Epistle in Chapter 3 verse 23.  All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  So, we’re all in this sin business together. That sin in our lives is often what drives us toward God and brings us to this place.

If you know my story, you know the consequences of my own sin led me here on an Easter Sunday seven years ago.  Because of the people that founded this church, and those that have come after, there was a place to go to find some answers for my sin problems.  So let me tell you that today, for whatever reasons, you’re here, you’re in the right place.  We’re all sinners in need of a savior.

If sin is a thing that unites us, what is another?  How about recognizing that we need God?  We’re born with a desire for God.  I believe that. God created us and in that creation, we come with a God-sized hole in our hearts that nothing can fill but the Most High God.  Oh sure, we try.  There’s an old saying,  which is in fact, an old lie, not an old saying, that “He who dies with the most toys, wins!”

That’s one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard, when held to the light of the Gospel.  Clearly, he who dies with the most toys, still is just as dead as the poor man who has none.  And chances are if you have the most toys, you’re probably not following Christ.  To steal a line from our pastor, don’t’ hear what I’m not saying.  I’m not against having stuff.  I collect tools because if there’s a gadget to do it better, faster, or easier, I’m all over it.  What I’m saying is that all too often we try to fill that hole in our hearts with stuff, when only God can fill it.  And it’s not just stuff.  Sometimes we use relationships to fill that gap.  Or substances.  The list of things people try to replace God with is long, and in the end, it never lasts long.  Nothing can ever fill the longing we have for God but God.  And that need for God unites us.

Jesus told us that, the only way to be reconciled to the Father is through the Son, who became our sacrificial lamb on the cross.  Because we’re united by the sin thing, we’re also united with the need for a savior!   We need Jesus to do something about our sin, and when we accept that Christ is the answer to our sin problem by repentance of them and asking Him to become our Lord and Savior (He’s VERY serious about that whole Lord thing, by the way!), we start to change.  Our way of thinking about things starts to evolve on a whole bunch of things, and as we go along in our journey and start to digest God’s word, we find ourselves in need of worshipping and fellowshipping with other believers, which is why we’re here today.

As we continue on in the text, we discover that we’re blessed with different gifts that we’re to share with the body of believers.  We become the Big C church, by being FBC/NBCC.  And from that love we have for Christ, we start putting our gifts to work to benefit the Kingdom of God.  And each of us have our own set of unique gifts. Some have handyman skills.  Some have musical talents.  Some can write.  Some have leadership skills or at least a boldness to be willing to serve where called.  So we put those gifts that God gives us to work.  We do those good works God has prepared for us to do not to earn our salvation (which is clearly against what Scripture teaches!), but out of love for God.  Some like me would love to do more, but can’t because of age or circumstance, but do what they can.  Others have received financial blessings and give generously to fuel the fire of the church’s activities.  Some Go out and make disciples.  Some are prayer warriors.  But we’re united in the call to BE the church.  And sometimes, even if we’re untied in purpose, we don’t always agree on what being the church should look like. 

That’s sad, because some of the very things that should unite us become the things that divide us.  Yet, because sometimes we have differences of opinions about what the church should and should not do, and those disagreements lead people to move on to a different church family.  Other times, job changes or life changes cause people to leave our little church family.  But have you noticed that when there’s a void of someone’s particular gift, God always sends someone else to meet that need?

So why is it so important to share our gifts?  Because we’re all part of the Vine.  We’re the branches, and apart from the Vine we’d wither and die.  All too often though, we get caught up in that worldly, old sin nature we have. So when things get done, a lot of times we don’t notice all that much.  But boy, when something doesn’t get done, it’s noticed.

Want to know how my week has been in the summer?  You can gauge it by how long the grass is when you come to church on Sunday.  And there have been a couple of times it’s been mentioned that it’s been a little long for someone’s liking.  And before I say this, I’m going to preface it by saying that I’m just as bad, but how refreshing it would be if someone notices something undone and calls the person who usually does it to ask if everything’s going OK.  We need some encouragement from time to time and if that’s your gift, get with me after the service so you can put me on speed dial.  And by the way, I’m grateful that we have better equipment that makes that task so much easier!  That was a huge encouragement to me!

Sharing gifts is important.  It helps us be here for the next person who is so lost and needs someplace to turn.  Thanks to God for that legacy those of you who are long time members of this church have left!  What we do outside the walls of the church is important, too, and to see proof of that, look at what’s happened over the last several months.  You can’t help but see God moving in folks’ lives and that’s great!  We’re so blessed to have you here!  We are commanded by Jesus to GO.  We need to keep going! 

OK, time for a quick recap:  so far, we’ve talked about sin as a unifier.  We’ve talked about the need for God in our lives and our need for Christ.  We’ve talked about how our unique individual gifts unify us as they’re used in concert with each other to become the church.  I would submit a third thing for your consideration as something that unites us:

We need each other.

As Timothy needed Paul, men (and women, too!) need other people in their lives.  We need mature Christian believers that have permission to speak into the circumstances of our lives if we’re to follow Paul’s admonition to not conform to the pattern of this world.  Think you’re exempt and you’re able to do this on your own?

Think again!

I have a friend who got a job working event security and part of that job was to work U of U football games.  His assignment was to work the student section with his back to the game.  He told his employer that if he had to do that again, they would have to do without him.  Not because it was rowdy.  Not because he couldn’t watch part of the game.  It was because of the way the girls dress.

And oh, by the way, my friend runs a men’s ministry.  He’s also in his mid 60’s and retired from a school district.  Even at his age, he wasn’t gonna let something like that interfere in his walk.

He told me that story last Saturday.  I need guys like that to set examples for me.  Can I feel comfortable talking to that brother about a problem?  You bet because he’s been there.  You have problems?  So do I.  I’ve been there.  And because I have, I can help a brother who is, or who might be headed toward some stuff I’ve been through.

We need each other.

We need that shoulder to cry on.  We need that hug on Sunday morning.  Sometimes, it’s gonna be the only day of the week we get one.  We need people who pray for us, and we need to be people that pray for each other.  Prayer is the most powerful tool a Christian has.  Prayer moves mountains! 

So those are some of the things that unite us.  How do we face the things that divide us?  I think the answer is simple.  Be followers of Christ.  The world has kind of changed the definition of what it means to be a Christian, so don’t conform to what the world says a Christian is.  Conform to what Christ says it means to be one of His own.  Not sure what that is?  Re-read the Gospel of John.  That’s a good place to start.  Then check out what James has to say.  And Peter.  Let God’s word tell you what being a Christian looks like, not some guy on TV.  As the hymn says, the world should know we are Christians by our love.  And in that, we should always be united.

I want to leave you today with a thought or two, the last one being the MOST important thing that unites every one of us.  Sometimes we get tied up about things, and our own personal feelings can lead us to a place where we start to become divided, and the enemy loves that.  We become comfortable and in our comfort zones we can get tied-up with things that become pet peeves and later, sources of hostility because that comfort gets threatened.  Worldly things become more important than spiritual ones.  That’s why Paul talks about not conforming to the pattern of this world in Verse 2.  Following Jesus isn’t safe and it’s not easy.  But it’s worth it.  I know this because Jesus told us this.  He also said if we love Him, to keep His commandments.  Don’t’ take my word on this:  It’s in the Word!  One of those commandments is GO!  And that sometimes looks scary.  Fear of change is another thing that ties us up. So is thinking too much of ourselves. 

We all fallen into that trap.  I have. You have.  But in verse three, Paul reminds us not to get tied up with that kind of thinking.  We do, though.  We get tied up over things sometimes.     If you rearrange the letters in unite, you get un-tie, and getting un-tied about stuff leads to being united.    If you’re tied up about something, start praying this:  God, if you won’t change that, change ME.  That’s a powerful prayer and let me tell you:

It works!

One last thing I want to tell you:  Much has been made about kneeling over the last couple of weeks; stuff that does anything but unite us; and it’s kind of on my heart to remind all y’all of this one simple thing, which in a very profound way, unites us all:

  EVERY Knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. 

If you haven’t done so already, I highly encourage you to do it today.  Nothing less than your eternity depends on it.

Amen.