Jerusalem Baptist Church, Emmerton VA
Matthew 4:18-22 (cf Mk 1:16-20, Lk 5:1-11, Jn 1:35-51)
18As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea--for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people." 20Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. 22Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.
There’s a quote I heard the 2nd week of class, that has stuck with me ever since, and which I would like to explore today and over the next two weeks. It is this:
“Belonging precedes Believing precedes Becoming”
I’d like to expand that, looking at the lives of the Disciples. Today we’ll be looking at what it means to belong.
‘Making your way in the world today
takes everything you’ve got
taking a break from all your worries
sure would help a lot
wouldn’t you like to get away?
sometimes you want to go
where everybody knows your name
and they’re always glad you came
you want to be where you can see
our troubles are all the same
you want to be where everybody knows your name.’
Though I’d really rather not compare a Church to a TV version of a Boston Bar, the lyrics to the theme song from ‘Cheers’ touch on a very basic human trait.
In his Republic, the Greek philosopher Plato stated that ‘man is a social animal’, and that in order to thrive, man must live in community with others. In other words, humans are wired to be in association with other humans.
On some level, there is an element of Imago Dei, the image of God, in that trait. In that God created us to be in fellowship with God, as well as with each other, that is an aspect of the divine nature that we can share in when we are in worship, fellowship, or any other type of communion with each other. That is why, any time we are together, if you look closely, you can catch a glimpse of the Kingdom.
Crescent Hill Baptist Church in Louisville was a place that welcomed me with open arms. With everything that was going on in my life at the time, the people in that congregation first and foremost welcomed me into their midst, did not shy away from my questions, did not shun me for my sporadic attendance, and were genuinely always glad I came.
When was the first time you consciously realized that you ‘belonged’ somewhere, or TO something or someone?
In some instances, that realization that you belong comes gradually.
I remember about 4 years ago walking down the hall at Thalia Lynn. We’d been members there for about 5 years at the time, and as I went down the hall, I began to greet the people I passed. I was walking from the Preschool wing to the Sanctuary, and on my way back to the Preschool wing, it dawned on me that I had greeted almost everyone I met by name. More significantly for me, I had been greeted by name. I realized that day that I belonged at Thalia Lynn.
In other instances, the realization is a little faster in coming.
My friend Stacey tells the story of meeting his wife for the first time. He had joined the Summer Missions Drama team for Kentucky Baptist Student Unions, called Son Share. Kim had joined the Music Team, and on the first evening, all the teams were together for a debriefing/devotion time after having spent the day working on their different programs. As Kim walked out of the room at the end of the evening, she walked past Stacey and ruffled his hair, and said something innocuous, like, “Good night, Stacey”. “Right then I realized I was going to marry her,” he told us. On some level, he realized at that moment that they ‘belonged’ together.
This immediateness, the turning from a lifetime of one thing towards a lifetime of something else, seems to have been the hallmark of the way in which people responded to Jesus’ invitations. It was no different with the disciples. In calling them to follow him, Jesus was telling them ‘you belong with me’.
Have you ever known someone with so compelling a presence that you hang on his or her every word? Or perhaps you have found yourself in the position of being that someone?
It is at he root of the human spirit, this wanting to belong. In developmental terms, beginning around the age of 4 or 5, we go through a stage where this belonging becomes all-important, so important, in fact, that it is at this point that we develop the ‘us and them’ distinctive. In order to belong, in order to belong to something, there must, by definition, be those who do NOT belong to that same thing. It is beginning at this age that we see clubs forming, usually formed down gender lines.
As adults, the shadowside of this longing for belonging is that, in order for there to be a sense of belonging, there must be a distinction between those who belong and those who do NOT belong. We can witness this disassociation throughout history; sadly, it is most in evidence in church history, see it displayed in graphic terms in the countries of the former Yugoslavia, in the ethnic cleansing campaigns in Serbia and Croatia, in the massacres that have occurred in central African nations, and, lest we think ourselves above all that, in our own history we see it in the racism and the resulting civil rights conflicts of the 50’s and 60’s, and even in continued attitudes we find but do not speak of so readily today.
We’ve seen it rise in our own denomination. ‘Theological diversity, functional unity’, once a hallmark of Southern Baptists, the understanding that ‘you and I may disagree on some areas of faith and practice, but that is not going to keep us from doing church together’, has been replaced by current leadership demands of “Theological Unity being the ONLY way to functional Unity”, a shift to a view where the understanding is now ‘if you don’t agree with me on every single issue, be it spiritual, moral, or political, you are an infidel’, seemingly ignoring decades of historical evidence to the contrary. It is the darkest shadowside of belonging … to want to be ‘in’ so badly that you separate yourself from the richness and beauty of the wonderfully diverse ways in which different traditions and different ideas can come together and give us a fuller and clearer and more detailed picture of who God is.
What does this mean, then, for Jerusalem? How does the disciples’ response to Jesus invitation to join him affect us today?
It affects us like this: last Sunday I stated that when we are doing the work of the church, when we act as Christ’s body in the world, we are active participants in the inbreaking of the Kingdom of God. Does it need repeating that when Christ was on earth, during his public ministry, he was breaking in the Kingdom of God? When we invite – and more importantly, when we WELCOME into our midst – strangers, and estranged friends, and families, and folks who do not have a church home, or folks who’ve never been invited TO church in their lives, we are in fact extending Christ’s invitation to his disciples.
Belonging precedes Believing precedes Becoming.
The Disciples first were welcomed into fellowship with Christ. As was the custom of the day, if a teacher took on disciples, it was a 24/7 classroom. The disciples lived with the teacher. The disciples spent the next 3 or so years with Jesus. For us here that means that those whom we invite will be able to see us BE Jesus at any given moment. It is called incarnational witnessing. We live our lives as Jesus would have lived his.
It is, of course, a tall order. But it is the first step in the process – this welcoming – this giving a sense of belonging to one who has for whatever reason NOT found a place to belong. Earlier in our worship service, in fact, at the very beginning, after we sang “We’re marching to Zion”, we had an opportunity to express that welcome, to tell someone ‘you belong with me’ – it is listed in the bulletin as “Hand of Fellowship & Greetings”. We cannot minimize the importance of that event as a part of worship. In churches that observe a more liturgical form of worship it takes the form of the ‘passing of the peace’. It can also be expressed communally in a call and response – “The Lord be with you” – “and also with you” - “lift up your hearts” – “we lift them up to the Lord”.
There is a comforting quality in knowing that that part of the service is coming. It is not just a formality; it is a statement of belonging. Recognition that we are all part of one body, following, with Christ as our head.
Our challenge today as a church is to maintain, no, more, to increase that welcoming spirit.
We read in the New Testament of Jesus having 12 disciples. Consider us the equivalent of the 12. Our responsibility here is to learn from the master. At the end of his public ministry, our role will change. We will see that next Sunday.
If you are here today looking for that place to belong, where you can bring yourself just as you are, with no pretense, with no mask, stepping out on faith and into a family of faith, we would welcome you. We know someone we’d like you to meet. His name is Jesus.
If you are here today and have already met Jesus, but are looking for a place in which you can get to know him better, then we would also welcome you.
If you are here today as a member of this congregation, your challenge is to be as welcoming and as the Holy Spirit prompts. We say Christ meets everyone where they are. That means WE meet everyone where they are, with open arms, with tender hearts, with listening ears.
Lets pray.
Our hymn of invitation is ‘Jesus is tenderly calling’. Perhaps we can look up from the nets of our daily lives long enough to hear his voice.
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