I Will, Together

Back in the 90’s I had graduated from Weeblos into Boy Scouts. And while in boy scouts every summer we would go to a place called Camp Kootaga for our summer camp. Camp Kootaga was a place where I would have many first. I ran a mini triathlon by running 10 miles, biking 10 miles and swimming 1 mile in a pool. I repelled a tower, rock climbed a mountain, Survived an overnight trip in the wilderness for wilderness survival training, and I conquered my fear of heights in the C.O.P.E Challenge.

Cope stands for, “challenging outdoor personal experience” and it was a course designed to take a group of individuals and put them in challenging moments to have them learn to trust and work with one another. And here’s the thing, no obstacle was ever accomplished by rejecting or having someone sit out, or sit one the sidelines. Your team had to figure out how to overcome the obstacle with every person succeeding.

And it was hard. Because we had kids that were bigger than us. So it made some obstacles hard to push or pull them up or through. We had kids that were uncoordinated. And at the end of the course was my greatest challenge. We had to finish the rope course by climbing a 100’ swinging ladder to a platform, and make your way through the tree top obstacle course that ended in an epic zip line.

And I remember, I couldn’t do it. My fellow scouts had to keep encouraging me and finally, at the end of the day, I faced my fear, climbed that ladder and zipped down to the ground in victory to give our team the completed status for this final challenge. If you were to ask me, what was the greatest determining factor of my success? I would say, MY scout family, the band of brothers that I had spent an entire week with never gave up on me, and they encouraged me the entire time to the end.

I ended up being presented the bravery award for overcoming a great fear mine. Henry ford once quoted Pastor Edward Everett Hale by saying, “Coming together is the beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” If there is one thing that the Bible teaches us is that living a life of faith is never meant to do it alone. And It is not good for us to be alone for us to be isolated from other human beings.

Why? Because you and I have been created for community. We are created for community. I want to show us this morning how this is true in Genesis chapter 2, and I would like for someone to read for us Genesis 1:26-27 Now someone read Genesis 1:31 And one more, let’s read together Genesis 2:15-25 So in the Bible’s opening chapter, I want to show you the rhythm of God’s creation of this world: it was good, and it was good, and it was good, and it was good, and it was good...

And in verse 31 of chapter 1, we read, it was very good. When we get to next chapter, Genesis 2, the story of creation is repeated, but this time from more of a zoomed-in perspective. We’re actually seeing the creation of humanity and how God create us, man and woman in the image of God. Now, there’s a problem. In this zoomed in chapter of the creation of humanity, It’s here where we learn that the first man was actually created before the first woman.

Which means that there’s this period of time when Adam was alone in the Garden of Eden. Now, we can crack all the jokes in the world about this… like, this was probably the most peaceful moment before woman came into existence. Adam must of had it well because it as just God and Adam and all the animals to hunt and fish. But honestly, it’s not good. Right? In this chapter we’re faced with the very first problem in the Bible.

When we ask the question, what was the very first crisis recorded in the Bible? Our first instinct is to say, the fall. But that’s not the very first crisis. The first crisis can be found in Genesis chapter 2 verse 18, where God flutters the following words: It is not good for man to be alone. When it comes to human companionship, Adam was alone. Now, let me remind you to keep this in the front of your eyes this morning…

We are created for community. In this moment of God’s creation, and after God saying this is good, this is good, this is good, and this is very good, we find ourselves in a moment where God is looking at man and saying, this isn’t good. Man, who is created in our image, is alone. That’s when we read in Genesis 2:18-25, The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.

I will make a helper suitable for him.” So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. Now, when we read this. We instantly think of marriage, right? One man, one woman together, and united as one. Alicia is now bone of my bone, and flesh of my fleshed and we are to leave our father and mother and to be united together in holy matrimony to become one flesh. But it goes deeper than just marriage.

This passage is meant for marriage but it’s also meant to teach us that we have been created and designed for community. Now, lets go back to Genesis chapter one, the Bible said, So God created human beings in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. What do we see? Well, we see in the zoomed perspective in chapter two that there was a moment where God created man and it wasn’t good, but we wouldn’t of seen that in the higher persecutive of chapter one.

What I want us to realize is this: Did you notice how God’s image is made complete once there is a them—once a human community has been formed. It’s only when Adam and Eve come together to form the very first human community that God upgrades the status of creation from good to very good. Because now there were two human beings, who together, could become one. Remember, the verse about the two becoming one flesh does have marriage in view.

But even more fundamentally, it speaks to God’s primary goal for all humanity. God’s primary goal for humanity is to become a loving community – for the many to be as one. Jesus kind of cements this into reality when he prays before he goes to the cross in John 17:21 by saying this, “I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you.

And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.” And I’ve been chewing on this this verse for awhile now, and it’s interesting to me that… Before humanity could truly be said “bear God’s image,” there needed to be more than one person.” There needed to be at least two people to bear God’s imagine. Jesus says, what? “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” This verse is about presence, but in what context does Jesus say this?

He says this in Matthew chapter 18 as he talking about when there is sin in the church, when there is sin in the body. What does sin do? It separates the church, and it separates the body. Sin causes division. Now, Let’s go back to Genesis chapter 3, and find with me verses 7-8. The context is that the perfect community of Adam and Eve has just ate the apple.

And there eyes were opened… and genesis says, Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

What do we see between the perfect, very good plan of God between man and woman, the first community, the body of Christ. We see sin causing division! Not just vertical division and separation between the first community of Adam and Eve and God, but also horizontal division between Adam and Eve. Sin literally caused the image of God, that was in the union of Adam and Eve to become broken and marred.

Right here: we witness that the very first consequences of humanity’s fall into sin, and it was relational. As the couple’s eyes are opened, trust and authenticity dissolve, and for the first time ever, they feel their shame. They feel the need to protect, to defend themselves. They cover up. They hide from each other, and they hide from God. Don’t we do that too? Do you ever cover up your true self?

Do you ever hide from others and from God? Maybe sometimes, you even hide from yourself. There’s been times when I want to hide from community. I don’t want to be around community. Because I know sin hurts. It’s true when said, hurt people hurt people. I’ve been hurt by others and there are still others who have yet to come and say I’m sorry for what I’ve said to you, and/or about you.

Or what I’ve done to you. Whoever said words will never hurt you, is wrong. They hurt. And often times when coming from those we love, they hurt the most. Proverbs 10:12 says “Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.” Peter, knowing about broken relationships and broken community writes, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. (I Peter4:8) Scripture makes it clear that God’s most fundamental attribute, his most defining characteristic, is what?

It’s love. The Bible says in 1 John chapter 4 that, “God is love.” So it’s not just something God does, it’s who he is. And I believe because God is love, he treasures relationships. And because we are made in God’s image, and where more like his imagine when we are together as a church. I believe we are created and meant for, and made for loving relationships. Think about it.

Have you listened to the deep whispers of your heart. The yearning of your soul. Don’t they just cry out to have meaningful relationship? Wouldn’t you desire to be around others and not feel awkward, or shame, or fear. Very often, it’s our sin that keeps us from having that loving relationship. And so, an obvious question arises: Is community worth pursuing? And the answer is yes! A thousand times yes.

Why? Because God’s dream has not changed, and you and I are made for God’s dream. We’re created to be in a loving community. The challenge that we face, is getting where God is leading us. Getting there will have all kinds of challenges. And the truth is, at some point this perfect community of God’s plan will happen. Think about Revelation 21:3-4 “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.

They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” That’s the original Eden, the original plan of God. But then sin came in and messed all of that up. Now, the perfect community that reflected the goodness and love of God, was now distorted.

Our sins, which separated us from God and each other, were bore on the cross by Jesus, and our sins got in between Jesus and God the Father, separating them from each other for a time, so that Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 1 John 3:16 reminds us that, This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.

Peter tells us, “Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). Paul reminds us, that, “We all fall short of the glory of God” and to the Galatians, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). Therefore eternal life is a free gift to all who will trust in Christ as Lord and Savior and supreme Treasure of their lives.

Peter preached, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31) Paul wrote: “By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9). So that when we put our faith and trust in Christ, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8). Jesus purchased for us on the cross the right, and the ability to be united as one, to the Father, and to one another. He purchased for us the ability to be a loving community. So where do we begin? Let’s put some application to this.

Well, let me just say this… it begins with Jesus. This our vertical. It’s in Christ we are recognized to the Father. But unity in community begins when? When we make the decision to pursue it with our whole heart. Unity only works when individuals have made a decision to pursue it with their whole heart. I’ve preached that for three weeks now. You and I have got to make a decision that we’re going to be the body.

Without each other, as we learned, until we become a them, that is when we will be a right and loving community just as God had intended. This is so wonderful, think about it. It’s not all about marriage that two shall become one, but the body, with many members, should be united and become one. That means those who are married, come here to be one, those without spouses, though many feel alone without a mate, still comes and becomes one as part of the loving community.

And that leads me into the second and final application. After we make the decision for unity, then there needs to be a “vow of stability.” What does that mean? The term comes from the wisdom of ancient Christian monasteries, where monks would make a vow to stick with the same faith community for the long haul. Why would such a commitment be important? Why would such a commitment be a good thing?

Well, when it comes to living in Christian community, Pastor Tim Keller hits the nail on the head when he says: People are messy; therefore, relationships will be messy. Expect messiness. We all know life was way tougher 1500 years ago than today. And 1500 years ago when community life got hard, which it inevitably would, it could be very tempting for a monk to pick up and leave his faith community.

The problem with that is, as St. Benedict put it some 1500 years ago: When we run from community, we run from ourself. When we run from community, we are running from the part within us that is contributing to the messiness. We want to get away from others because we don’t want to face what’s happening in us. And when that happens, we short-circuit your own growth in Christ. Of course, God can and has all the right to call anyone from one church to attend another.

It’s his kingdom, not mine, or yours. But our default posture needs to be one of stability—of sticking with the local congregation we’re a part of—through thick and thin. Through hell and high water. My wife reminded me of that when I was hurt by a church we attended one time and I wanted to leave. She wouldn’t let me leave because she knew running wasn’t the answer. My answer was, when life got messy, it was easier to run to the church down the road than to stay in the mess.

Especially nowadays when we live in an era where the phenomenon of “church shopping and hoping” has become a thing. I can’t imagine how my marriage to Alicia would be if every time things got hard, I left her and found a new wife. We all know, that’s not healthy. And it’s not God’s intended design for community. But just like with our marriages and families—it’s when we stay and work through the messiness that Jesus does his best work in and through us, shaping us in his humility and love in ways that could never happen otherwise.

It’s when we stay and work through the messiness that community—the kind of community we’re created for— becomes truer, deeper, and richer. And to be honest, I believe it’s a better representation of God’s amazing grace, and full plan of redemption when we can see a hurting community become a loving community. And that can always happen when, The body makes a commitment for unity in the community. And a vow of stability.

When we say, I will, have the right attitude. I will, worship, I will, pursue together. Let’s pray. *