Prior Editions
A Lenten Devotional
Week 3, Sunday 2/27/05 -Saturday 3/5/05
Build
Godly Relationships
Fellowship
is a funny word. It is oblong and sounds as if it's from the
"olden days". It eludes a real sense of meaning for us.
Perhaps Knights of the Roundtable did fellowship, or maybe people of
Middle Earth. Yet it is a word we Christians use quite often,
usually in connection with some kind of food. The dictionary says
it's the condition of sharing similar interests, ideals, or experiences,
as by reason of profession, religion, or nationality; comradeship or
friendship - sounds more like a business transaction than a personal
relationship.
We at CUMC define "fellowship" very simply as building Godly
relationships. Simple as this sounds, the Bible makes it clear the
substance of Godly relationships is deeply spiritual and built on
character, hope, faith and love. In the New Testament, fellowship
comes from the Greek word koinonia, which brings a much deeper
sense of intimacy and communion than what is commonly known as fellowship
today. In this sense, we begin to approach the committed and devoted
personal relations described in the Bible and commanded by Jesus.
In many respects, Christianity is like a nuclear reactor. We are
called to live and work together closely, fueled by the Holy Spirit and
growing into greater numbers of highly charged, brightly burning agents of
the Kingdom of Heaven. With all this friction going on, it's bound
to get a little dicey. The Apostle Paul devoted much of his focus on
relationships within the newly birthed "koinonia" of the church
as spirit and flesh collided with what sometimes appeared to be disastrous
results. Folks were getting drunk at communion, seducing family
members, and arguing about who was most holy. Godly relationships
have been a challenge from the beginning.
Without Jesus the battle to build lasting relationships is hopeless.
Sin catapults the nuclear reactor of human association into severe and
irreversible meltdown. A brief review of history reveals quickly how
the phrase "man's inhumanity to man" arose. Even with the
powerful influence of the Holy Spirit at work in the world, human history
is rife with torment, torture and tyranny, not to mention the ordinary,
day-to-day contempt we so easily develop toward one another. How God
would stand for so much suffering and discontent is a question for another
time, but we can take solace in how much worse the degree and extent of
suffering would be on this planet if God was fully absent.
To His praise, God is very much with us, and the epoch begun by one Man
murdered on a cross two millennia ago, continues to grow unabated.
We are wise to recognize Him as the "key player" in all our
relationships.
Jesus is at the center of relationships just as He is at the center of
salvation. Whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable,
excellent and praiseworthy is built on the firm foundation of Jesus
Christ. When we consider the One mediator between God and man in the
context of Jesus' command to love each other through the power and
guidance of his Holy Spirit, we discover all relationships of people
"born from above" are through Jesus. Dietrich Bonhoeffer
describes it this way in The Cost of Discipleship pages 95 and 98:
"[Jesus] wants to be the centre, through him alone all things
shall come to pass. He stands between us and God, and for that very
reason he stands between us and all other men and things. He is the
Mediator, not only between God and man, but between man and man, between
man and reality. Since the whole world was created through him and
unto him (John 1:3; 1 Cor 8:6; Heb 1:2) he is the sole Mediator in the
world….Christ stands between us and we can only get into touch with our
neighbors through Him."
We are called as believers in Christ to be His righteousness in this
world. To be His righteousness means to enter into authentic,
face-to-face, heart-to-heart relationships - the salt and light Jesus
intended us to be. This demands character built on the hope given us
in Christ. Character comes from pursuing truth where it leads and
allowing Truth to reign in our hearts. Jesus promised the Holy
Spirit would guide us into all truth. For Godly relationships to
develop and flourish, we must not reject the truth about ourselves, going
regularly to the cross, where the ground is always level and we are met
with open arms.
In Christ, perseverance in the face of truth builds character which, in
turn, blossoms into a hope fertile with possibility and joy-filled
anticipation. With Jesus as mediator, our capacity for patience and
understanding is multiplied and we become peacemakers rather than
peacekeepers. Peacekeepers gloss over the truth for the sake of
unity. Peacemakers rejoice in the truth as the bonds of hypocrisy
melt in the light of the Gospel, and we are freed to love one another with
pure hearts intent on the good of one another.
Just prior to the arrest of Jesus, He explained to His disciples how their
love for each other would glorify our Father in Heaven. He said,
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so
you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my
disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34-35) "This is to
my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my
disciples." (John 15:8). We bring glory and honor to God with
how we love each other, and we know that faith is magnified as we magnify
the One in whom we place our faith. In the relationships we build,
in how competently we love and care for each other, the Holy Trinity, the
perfect community of love, is exemplified for all to see, and God is
magnified.
In seeing each other through Jesus, our mediator, we find grace even in
the midst of disagreement, and we are helped through it. We also
find any attitude of contempt toward our brother or sister is directed at
and through our Lord. This should at least give us pause before
trumpeting our case at the expense of another, for it is at the expense of
Christ in each of us. To love each other as Christ commands, we must
persevere beyond the externals of this world into the rich reality of
where our spirits reside in Christ, trusting, protecting and hoping for
the good that is promised through Jesus.
This, of course, is not easy, but our ability is not within us apart from
Jesus, it is heaven sent. Jesus is at the heart of all that is good,
and He is for relationships that honor Him. He will provide help
where needed and hope eternal. As we join together in Him, He will
guide us by still waters, restoring our souls and helping us to build
Godly relationships.
In Christ,
Dave Roberts
Mid-Week
Musings
An
Occasional bulletin from Christ United Methodist Church