Community

The Psalms of Degrees were written over a period of time, and in different circumstances. Nevertheless, when they are put together, they tell the story of journey.

Psalm 120 The journey begins in the "Land of the Liars." It describes the believer as being in a hostile, alien territory. He is surrounded by people who want war, but all he wants is peace.

Psalm 121 begins with those famous words "I will lift up my eyes to the hills. From whence does my help come? My help comes from the Lord." The psalmist comes to realize that there is only one way out of the mess he is in. He must reach out to God, and find him. He begins his journey to the faraway hill of Jerusalem.

It is a difficult, lonely journey. But he is helped along the way by his unshakable faith in God.

He does not go long, however, before he realizes his problem. He is traveling alone. Even if you are the most cautious and assured traveler, things can happen to you when you travel alone.

Fortunately for our pilgrim, he soon meets up with company—in Psalm 122.

I rejoiced with those who said to me,

"Let us go to the house of the LORD."

2 Our feet are standing

in your gates, O Jerusalem.

This psalm is often used as an opening to a worship service. People take it as something to be sung when they arrive at the house of worship. But that is not what he says. He does not say. "I was glad when I got to church." But "I was glad when they said let's go to church." The thing that makes him glad is not going to church, but running into people who think the way he does, who are going to the same destination he is going. Being with them makes him feel as if we were already in Jerusalem.

It's a good thing, too. A lot of us do not always go to church with smiles on our faces. There is no lonelier place to be sometimes than in the house of the Lord. People show up, wearing their holy masks, and you feel as if you are the only one who has any problems. They all hide it so easily, while you struggle to hold things together.

What the pilgrim encounters is what we call community—not fellowship, but community. Fellowship is such an overused word in church, that it is hard to understand its true meaning. But community is a synonym which better conveys the actual meaning.

We don't need superficial fellowship. If all we do is come to church to listen to a sermon or to hear good music, we would be better off downloading podcasts from Rick Warrens, or Doug Keller's churches. If it weren't for our need for mutual encouragement, it would make no difference if you got your church from the TV, internet, radio, or in person. There are a lot of better choirs to listen to, and a lot better preachers.

Community is important, but not passive community. Along with a personal relationship with God, we need a personal relationship with other Christians. By entering into Christian community, we are experiencing the greatest blessing of heaven before we get there. It makes the road to heaven much easier, and much more enjoyable.

There are many places in the Bible which describe the elements of Christian fellowship. None of them, I believe, do it more eloquently than this psalm. There are five elements of Christian fellowship here.

1. Christian community is centered on relationship with Christ. Listen to 3-4

Jerusalem is built like a city that is closely compacted together.

That is where the tribes go up,the tribes of the LORD,

to praise the name of the LORD according to the statute given to Israel.

What makes Christian community special? Christ. Without the Lord, our fellowship is not special at all. There must be a shared presence of Christ with others.

By this standard, most of what goes on in church does not qualify for Christian fellowship. In our churches, we have two different modes—worship and fellowship. In worship mode, we do not talk to each other. In fellowship mode, we are usually eating. We talk and have fun, but God doesn't enter the picture. Oh, we might have a devotion, or prayer at the beginning of meals, but that's where the God talk ends. Heaven forbid someone ask you at the next fellowship dinner, "How's your prayer life doing?" or "What's the Lord been saying to you?"

Real community is worshiping together. Paul says it best in Ephesians 5: :17-20

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Do you hear what Paul is describing? This is not a spectator service. This is a service where the presence of God is shared, as well as the Word of God. This kind of community cannot be maintained in a worship service alone, but grows out of a relationship developed in prayerful intimacy with others.

2. Christian Community is accountable to the Word of God.. V 5

There the thrones for judgment stand, the thrones of the house of David.

Another characteristic that is necessary for Christian accountability. Accountability is a shared submission to the Word of God. When people come together around the Word of God, there is a common set of beliefs and values. We come together because we have a yearning for righteousness. So together, we wrestle with obedience to God's word.

The greatest lie Satan ever introduced into the Christian community is the notion that religion is a private matter. Religion is not now, nor has it ever been a private matter. Religion was private to Eve, that's why she bit the forbidden fruit. Religion was private to Judas—he was alone when he denied the Lord. The truth is, without a willingness to be righteous together, to keep each other straight, we all could wind up like Eve or even Judas. The more private our religion remains, the less power it has to transform our lives.

Proverbs 27: 17 says "As iron sharpens iron, so does one man sharpen another." We come together with a serious purpose, and with the will to hold one another accountable, and watch the sparks fly! But in the end, we come up sharper than we ever were before.

If religion is private, how do we sharpen our faith?.

3. Christian community is built on grace. Vs 6-7

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May those who love you be secure.

May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels."

Grace is a willingness to generously accept other people, no matter who they are or what they have done. Grace is based on the grace God gave us in Jesus. Roman 5:8 says. "God commended His love to us in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." God's grace was not based on approval of our actions, nor is it based on us liking each other. Christ died for us, when there was nothing likeable about us. His grace transformed us; it did not wait for us to be transformed.

Our grace should be the same. It is a willingness to let go of slights, hold on through conflict, and to work for mutual peace.

Grace is not blind. Just because we let of slights does not mean we don't notice them. Of course we do! But our disagreements do not stop us from extending grace. Neither can a person sin his way out of the grace of God, or the love of the church. We know the sin. We correct the sin, but we offer God's grace nonetheless.

4. Christian Community is built on love as well. 8-9

\ For the sake of my brothers and friends,

I will say, "Peace be within you."

For the sake of the house of the LORD our God,

I will seek your prosperity.

When we join the church, there is a vow we take, that we will support the church with our time, talent and offerings. We can't join the church without taking that pledge. Nothing in that pledge, however says why we should support it. What makes a person want to be part of a Christian community?

In the last two verses of this psalm there are really two different answers.

The first answer is that when we build up God's house, we are really blessing those we love. We want to have a church our children and grandchildren can go to. Family is important, and going to church is something we do for our family. So for the sake or our brothers and friends, we try to maintain the peace of community.

Again, we Americans are so individualistic. The question we most often ask when deciding whether or not to participate in a small group is "What's in it or me?" We reason that if we have nothing to learn from the people in the group, or if they are not similar in age and interest to us, then there is no reason for going. We fail to realize, however, that God does not call us to community to be blessed, but to bless. How can we love our brothers and sisters, if the first question we ask is if they can benefit us?

The last verse turns this around. "For the sake of the House of the Lord, I will seek your prosperity." Who is "your'? It could refer to Jerusalem (or the church) as it does in verse 2, but not necessarily. Often, psalmists would change tenses in the middle of a psalm. "Your" could just as easily refer to our brothers and sisters, as to Jerusalem. The psalmist could be saying that ther reason he seeks the prosperity of others is so that the house of the Lord can be honored. In other words, our commitment to God and His prosperity calls us to be devoted to the prosperity of others. We seek the prosperity of the church, because we love each other. We seek the prosperity of each other, because we love the church. Our prosperity, and the prosperity of God's house are intertwined.

In true Christian community, the peace and prosperity of the church and the peace and prosperity of the members of the church cannot be separated. We cannot love the church without loving our brothers and sisters. We cannot love our brothers and sisters and not love the church.

Which brings us to the challenge for this week.

To get into a small group community where true Christian community an be experienced. That community should have the following characteristics.It should be

Focused on Christ, as the only leader.

Free to share our faults and feelings.

Comfortable in each other to pray together.

Open enough to hold each other accountable.

We love and support each other, not because of similarities, but in spite of differences. As a result, we grow together in love and devotion to God and to each other.