Experience Authentic Community | Romans 12:9-13
This message was preached at Sherwood Community Friends Church on Sunday, June 6, 2021. You can watch the video in full by clicking below.
Romans chapter 12 verses 9 through 13. Let's read it together.
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil. Clinging to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope. Patient in affliction, faithful in prayer, share with the Lord's people who are in need, practice, hospitality.
So we've talked over the last three weeks about many different things. Week one, we talked about what God wants to give us and what we have a responsibility to receive. We have a responsibility to receive from God-God's word, God's direction, God's mercy, and God's presence. And then in week two, we talked about that we need to practice some things.
We need to practice God's rest. We need to practice God's will, God’s word, and God's will. And last week we talked about ownership, owning our identity as God's child owning our giftings, and how God made us owning our role in God's church. Context is everything. And as we get deep into the trenches of some how-tos over the next two weeks, today and next week, I cannot more strongly encourage us to remember these things that are up on the screen right now as we move forward in the sweet presence of God and move forward in the confidence that only he can give us.
So with that, today, we are going to show up.
Show up as the real you for authentic community
First, we commit to show up as the real us for authentic community. Verse nine says, love must be sincere. Hate What is evil? Clinging to what is good. It's easy to read the words that love is the answer. Even the world knows that. The world knows that sincere love is better than obligatory love.
So what makes Christ followers different? The message calls this sincere love, love from the center of who you are. This kind of love penetrates through me to uproot the, the seeds of pride and selfishness of wanting my own way. Only once those seeds are uprooted, tossed, aside and burned, can there possibly be room for, for the seeds from God to be planted within me?
And these seeds will bear within me the fruits of the spirit. Only by remaining in him though, as John 15 tells us, when love overflows from your heart, it's easy to hate evil and clinging to what is good, but how do we get to this place of authentic community? I personally believe that the key is in our shared vulnerability.
This is simply put telling our story to others. Over the last three weeks, I have shared parts about me that were, um, not so pretty. My hope is that by taking the risk to share with you first the personal parts of my life, by being vulnerable with you, it would bring a deeper connection between you and I.
This is the power of sharing our story. Now I am aware that the connection might be slightly different than if you and I were sitting in a conversation face to face because I'm up here at the moment. But this is again, why we encourage friends, group friends groups as as Rich mentioned. So today I challenge you to connect with another person.
Someone right here in our congregation is a good place to start. Take the first step to be vulnerable by simply saying hello. Also, if you did not do the spiritual gifts assessment from last week to really know who you are so that you can show up authentically, please do that. Uh, the link is provided for you in your bulletin, but once we honestly know who we are, that's when we can be authentically available for others.
You can't be available for other people if you, if you don't know yourself. So what are we to do when we show up authentically? Continuing on to verse 10, it says, be devoted to one another and love honor one another above yourselves. When we are others minded, there are typically a few things that happen simultaneously.
Show up to meet real needs
The first is that we meet the real need of the other person. That's awesome. We see into the life of another, and we anticipate how we can best support them. How can we serve them? This might be a neighbor, a coworker, or maybe a student in your class right now. I actually want you to, uh, take a look at the person sitting on the, to the next to you.
Take a look at the person next to you. Go ahead even if you don't like him. Look anyway. And now turn and look at the other person on the other side. Each of us in this room has a need that someone else in this room can meet. Maybe someone needs a friend to share a cup of coffee with another person might need help running an errand this week.
Yet another person may simply just need for someone to look at them in the eyes to see them and to say, I appreciate you and I'm glad you're here. You can meet the real needs of others. Serving also brings us into community. This is pretty amazing. I love this community up here. A lot of you guys are in those pictures.
When you step up to meet the real needs of others, you actually find your own community of people. These are the people who will lift you when you might be discouraged. They will meet you for your need for compassion, comradery, and comic relief. You can also bring your spouse, your children, your family, your friends, into your serving with you.
By unifying our different smaller communities, it makes our one community stronger. Nine years ago, I went through a personal identity crisis and I lost my own passion and zeal for life. By stepping out of myself and into serving others, I rediscovered and in some cases, discovered God's purpose for my life, which breathe new life into me.
So start with the person next to you. What do they need? Tomorrow when you are in line at the grocery store, what does the person behind you need? We honor each other by seeing each other. Now, maybe you are just a little too shy to reach out to somebody directly and say, what do you need so you can jump into serving?
Right? Right here at Sherwood Friends Church by just going to the website and the link is in your bulletin.
It can be intimidating to ask somebody how? How can I help you? How can I serve you? So serving in part of a church, a church is that kind of easy segue into that experience. But I would encourage you that when you show up, make sure that it is God who is seen and not you. Verse 11 continues on. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor serving the Lord.
Now when I hear words like fervor and zeal, it could make you feel bore out, just hearing them. If you're consistently feeling burnt out, tired, exhausted, it might be because you are seeking human affirmation rather than God's glory. But when we serve from a place of fullness. That is the place of being in God's presence and mercy.
The place of practicing his rest. The place of owning our identity is God's child. That is a place that knows no burnout. We sang in our first song today. I, I, um, was thinking about this this morning that just goes together so well. But in that first song we sang and the lyrics are, nothing can stop. Uh, nothing can stop, can stop us.
We'll be running through the night with a fire that burns inside. We are free, and yours is the glory. Isaiah 40:28-31 reminds us that it is God who is our creator, and he does not grow tired or weary. Not only that, but he gives strength, strength to the weary and increases the power of the week.
Verse 31 caps this by reining us that those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not be faint. Personally, when I step outside of my own self by God's leading to meet the needs of others, I rarely experience burnout.
It's when I'm seeking my own pleasure, my own affirmation, my own recognition. In those same activities, that's when it often up clogs up God's ability to fill me and flow through me because there's too much me in the way. Are you feeling exhausted or burnt out on doing for others? If you are, I really challenge you to consider if you are seeking human affirmation, which is draining, or if you are seeking to give God glory, which is life-giving.
And also ask God what is clogging your life from living your purpose for his glory?
Show up by letting go of your wants
Finally, show up by letting go of your ideas of what should happen and be expectant of God Now. What do I mean by that? We often go into a new experience, like a new class or a job, or a new coworker or a neighbor comes into our world and we have certain ideas in our head of how things are supposed to go.
What if we all tried at God's way instead of my way or their way? Our final verses today are 12 and 13. Be joyful in hope, patient and affliction. Faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord's people who are in need. Practice hospitality. This passage actually reminds me of Acts 2 42 through 47, which is the passage of scripture.
Rich mentioned the sermon series he did in the fall on small group doing group life together, and this was the passage that he really dove into. If you missed it, I encourage you to go back and to listen to it. Or even if you didn't miss it and you were here, you may need a refresher anyway. In the early church, the early Christ followers sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.
They gathered together in temple Courts, otherwise known as the church lobby of that day. They broke bread and they ate together with Vlad and sincere hearts. So how can we continue to share with those in need? One thing that every one of us in this room can be is faithful in prayer. We can come before the throne of God in confidence with Thanksgiving and present requests before him, not only on our behalf, but on the behalf of others.
So today, make the decision to show up for others, letting go of your expectations of how it's gonna go. Start with prayer for others by dedicating five minutes a day to pray for other people. I would encourage you if it's been a while since you visited the prayer wall, or even if it hasn't been a while.
I encourage you to do that. Sherwood Friends Church slash prayer, which I believe is in your bulletin as well. But go on and not only post your own prayer needs, which we encourage you to do, but also take that five minutes and just pray through the list. And if you prayed for them yesterday and you're on there today, pray for them again and click and let them know you're praying for them.
It notifies that person and lets them know you're praying for them. How encouraging if I have a need to know that people are praying for me. I also challenge you to read Acts 2:42 through 47 every day this week. Ask God to show you, to reveal to you how to practice hospitality and share with those in need so we can be as passionate as the early Church.
