Belonging to Christ is Belonging to His Body.
Good morning, Mosaic! If you’re new here, welcome! I am Aaron, I am married to my favorite person on Earth Jasmine, she and I have 3 children - 14, 3 and 1 and I work very part time here at the church: teaching on occasion, helping facilitate ministry in the background, and pouring into people as God leads. I’d love to formally meet you, so if we’ve never properly met, please come shake my hand and say hello after service!
Tony asked me on Friday afternoon to hold the line for him while he took some time this weekend to rest and recover. Yesterday was my Family Sabbath - the one day a week where we stop from all our normal work and rest, play and trust the Lord to meet our needs and to provide exactly what we need to honor him. So I prayed Friday evening, asking God to give me rest and to trust in His provision as I walked in faith keeping the Sabbath day of rest for our family. I’m an anxious person by nature so I look for opportunities to exercise my faith in small but important ways.
We spent the evening with my Father-in-Law and got home later last night… That’s 7:30pm for all you night owls out there. After we got the two little ones down I sat down at my keyboard and managed to cobble together a few ideas before hitting a wall. I woke up this morning and went back to the grindstone, honing things a bit, but please bear with me this morning as what I share might lack a certain amount of polish, or finesse.
This morning I want to do two things. I want to exhort us all to honor and glorify our triune God who loved us when we were yet His enemies and push us deeper into faithful action of loving the bride he loves.
My desire this morning is that you will come away knowing that you are loved, ridiculously, by God and that God has called you and will sustain you into loving one another ridiculously as well.
Some of you may leave today challenged. Praise God.
Some of you may leave today feeling seen and heard as you struggle forward. Praise God. He sees you. He hears you. He knows it’s hard. He will meet your every need.
Some of you may leave today sad. I am okay with that, provided that sadness leads to repentance and true joy. No seed can grow unless it is first crushed. Christ was crucified before he was raised. Sorrow may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning. There is much blood, sweat and tears given before the bountiful harvest.
What I cannot do this morning is remain silent. To not plead with you to see and savor Christ and to live as if He truly is Lord of Lords and King of Kings. That I cannot do.
Just know that my intent, however sloppy this sermon is, is to exhort and encourage, not tear down. My desire is your good and God’s glory. As you mature and grow in Christ, you learn more and more that those are the same thing.
I stayed up late and woke up early for your sake, not mine. I am an introvert. My flesh enjoys isolation. The last thing I would choose to do apart from the grace and call of God is stand up in front of a group of people. Especially people who know me well, which some of you do.
So with all that qualification aside, will you join me in prayer?
“Heavenly Father, we are here this morning because of you. You have drawn us. You have sustained us. While we slept and drifted into unconsciousness, you sustained our every breath. You sustained our faith that brought us to this moment. You have always been there, you are now here and you will always be. Helps us to see more clearly. Open blind eyes. Clear up our blurry vision. Our spirits are willing Lord, because you have made them so, but our flesh is weak. We desire you, we have faith, but our desires are often muddled and our faith is often little. We believe, Lord, help our unbelief.
We thank you that you rejoice over us. We thank you that it was your will to intercede for us, to send your Son, Jesus on our behalf. We thank you that it was your pleasure to not leave us alone, but to fill your children with your Spirit so that we might not be stuck in the mud of sin and death, but that we might, by your grace and the very Spirit that rose Christ from the dead, rise out of the mud pits we built for ourselves and enter into the fullness of life. Help us to see and savor you this morning. Help us to see and adore your bride this morning. And may the meditations of our hearts and the words of our lips be pleasing to you this morning. In Jesus' name we ask all these things, amen.”
Enough of me. Let’s dig into the Word.
Would you turn your notifications off and turn your Bibles to Hebrews 10:19. If you’re concerned about being distracted this morning or if you don’t have a physical Bible please take the Bible in front of you. Take it home! Read it. But this morning, let’s turn to Hebrews 10:19-25
Hebrews 10:19-25
19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
A Gospel Reminder of the Good News. The BEST news.
This passage begins by reminding us what Jesus has done for us. We must be changed before we can change. We must be loved before we can love.
We have been washed, we have been made pure, we have been given access to the very house of God. The LORD of the universe welcomes us because of the intercession, and substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ on our behalf. You and I have an immediate, unending audience with the King of Kings because Jesus Christ freely gave his life in our stead, fulfilling the human side of the covenant God established with us. We were dead in our sins and trespasses, but He has caused us to be made alive, born into a living hope that will never perish.
Pause. That is the reality of our lives in Christ. Do you believe it?
If you are in Christ, your eternal destiny is to live into hope - to live into Christ himself, before God, with your fellow Christians, for an eternity. Stop. Because I need you to get that before we go on.
What is the purpose of your life? WHY ARE YOU HERE?
It’s not to bury yourself in hours upon hours of endless scrolling looking for small hits of dopamine or the newest trinket you can buy to dull your senses. The purpose of your life is not to find a spouse, have 2.1 kids, build a comfortable life in the woods (or city depending on your preferences) and to retire quietly into obscurity. You are an eternal being who will be raised with Christ to live for God’s glory and your joy forever.
Do you believe that? Really? Is that the driving force of your life? Is that your only source of hope and peace? Is that what motivates you in the hard times when it’s dark and lonely? Is understanding that reality and living more fully into it the GOAL of your life? Is it the GOAL of your child rearing? Is it the GOAL of your friendships? Is it the GOAL of your marriage? Is it the GOAL of your attending Bible studies or small groups or sharing coffee with fellow believers? To believe this more richly and to live into it more fully?
Because when you wake up tomorrow morning 1000 things will enter your mind. Your phone will beckon you to consume every second of quiet you have, your email inbox or text messages will start to pile up,your to-do list around the house or with the kids will come screaming at your heart, 20 new controversies that would outrage the most timid grandmother on Earth will come flying at you from thousands of miles away begging for your attention.
Will you yield?
I know I do, much more than I wish. Lord I believe, help my unbelief.
This is the gospel. That we were DEAD in our sins. We were SLAVES to sin. We were children of wrath literally Hellbent on destruction. We were blind. But now/ because of Christ? We are alive. We are free. We are co-heirs with Christ, destined for an eternal life with God and with his Bride.
That. Is. Who. We. Are. If we are Christians - THAT is who we are. We need to get that. We need to be reminded of that. Daily. Sometimes I need the reminder hourly. My Jesus I need you, every HOUR I need you. Right?
So now what does he ask in return? If this is true, how should we live? What should our lives look like? What does the passage say?
Let’s read it again:
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess. AND let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
“Hold (active) on unswervingly to the hope we profess” or as Jesus (quoting Deuteronomy) said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might…”
And
“Consider (active) how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, NOT giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another.”
Or again, as Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might and love your neighbor as yourself.”
In other words love God and love your neighbor. That means, make the aim of your life to fulfill those two commands and do so in increasing measure. Whether you’ve been a Christian for 10 seconds, 10 years or 10 decades there is still more God to know and love and more of the bride to know and love. None of us have arrived.
But how do we do that? How do we love our neighbor as ourselves? What does that look like? This is where the rubber meets the road and where the challenging part of my sermon comes in. And, where Wisdom and Christian community can be helpful so…
Let's come up for air.
Before we go further I want us to do something. Would everyone on this side of the room take a minute and look at everyone on that side of the room and vice versa. Look at one another. Look at the young faces, the old wrinkly faces, the scraggly bearded faces. Look at them until it’s almost uncomfortable and then look some more.
Church - this is the bride for whom Christ died. These are the people God has given you to love uniquely. These are the men, women and children God has called you to pour out your life for. To give special preference to, according to the book of Galatians. These are the people whose interests you are to consider, not just your own in Philippians. Who are they? What are their lives like? What sins are they battling? What victories have they enjoyed by God’s grace? What weaknesses do they have that your strengths can provide for. What gifts do THEY possess which you could benefit from?
Keep looking. God does this all day long. Jesus longingly looks upon us all, waiting for the day where we are untied forever. He died to make us pure and spotless. He intercedes for us day and night and he invites us to do the same.
You were saved not just into Christ, you were saved into His body. At the same moment you were made a co-heir with Christ, you were made a co-heir with me. You became my brother or my sister.
And with that reality comes another reality - just like my biological sisters get a claim on my life, you get a claim on my life.
Just like my biological sisters have a claim on my wealth, you get a claim on my wealth.
Just like my biological sisters benefit from my gifts and strengths, you benefit from my gifts and strengths.
Just like my sisters get grace & mercy in the face of their sin, you get grace and mercy in the face of your sin.
Jesus goes so far as to say that his brothers & sisters in the faith get preferences OVER his biological family if he’s pressed into a corner to choose one or the other, he chooses the faith family.
Jesus really, really, really loves his whole bride. And he really wants us to come together and join him in that love.
But how much of our lives reflect that reality? How much of our budget do we store away for the church and those we encounter? How much of our hospitality is extended to those in this room or other Christians in your life? How often are we burdened by other Christian men and women? How are we changing our lives to better be present physically, emotionally and spiritually to the bride of Christ?
Jesus said the world will know we are his disciples by how we love one another.
Yes, the great commission is true. As we are hearing about each week we are to go into the outermost parts of the world with the gospel and declare it wherever the Lord has seen fit to place people! Every little crevice and every little tribe desperately needs the gospel and Jesus desperately longs for His full bride!
But how can people go unless we send them? And how can we send them if we don’t know them? If we don’t have room in our budget to send them? If we don’t pray for them and check on them? If we don’t support them, who will? Imagine going alone, or with a handful of strangers into the jungles of Brazil where there’s a higher than 0% chance you or your family may be killed - that’s the Kern’s. What kind of support would YOU want from your home church? How much prayer? How much commitment to keep your family fed - physically and spiritually? Love them that way, as God enables.
How do the tribes of the world hear? Ultimately?
Because the whole bride of Christ works together. It is through you and I rolling up our sleeves and giving space, resources, time, prayers, attention, care and love to the members of God’s body who have been uniquely called to pour out their lives in some remote part of the world. It is through us being as passionate about them as they are passionate about finding the bride of Christ in every crevice of this planet.
How do we raise Godly families? Through all of us taking ownership of the task!
Through older women pouring into younger women, teaching them to love their husbands and die to themselves, and to love their children well and taking time to encourage them in the soul-challenging work of parenting. As Titus 2 says. There are many young moms who are trying to be all things to all people and raise Godly children here at Mosaic and they don’t have nearly the support you ladies in your 50s and 60s enjoyed. But they need it. I talk to a lot of young husbands. There’s a real need for you older ladies to encourage, exhort, pray, listen, love, turn up with a meal etc.
We also raise Godly families through older men, who have enjoyed long, and fruitful marriages taking up young married men and helping them learn how to listen, love, support and encourage their wives and children. Teaching them how to lay down their lives for the sake of their families. Through them opening their homes and their lives allowing younger men to glean.
How do we build a healthy community?
By initiating friendship and fellowship with one another. Through intentionally clearing our schedules to make room, space and time for broken pieces here at Mosaic and through intentional acts of hospitality. By embracing awkward conversation and potential rejection, for the sake of being faithful to Jesus. We must pour ourselves our and have others pour themselves out for our sake. We must use the gifts God has given us for the sake of his bride AND we must allow others to use their gifts for our own sake.
It means getting a bigger dining room table so you can have more company over.
It means committing to fewer things so that you can commit more fully to the things God has given you.
It means re-orienting your life around Jesus and his bride.
It means giving up isolated individualism where only you and maybe your family has a claim to your time, to embrace the body God has given you, the body Christ has died for.
It probably means less netflix time, less screen time, fewer sports, fewer hobbies, less indulgent spending, etc.
It might mean paying off your debt with a fierceness so that when a financial need arises you can meet it.
It might mean having one parent stay home with the kids so that at least someone can dedicate their whole day to discipling the kids fully.
It might mean going to bed early on Saturday so you can come early on Sunday to meet and mingle with people.
It might mean telling your children that they cannot be a part of any sports team that pulls them away from the body on Sundays or during Youth Group because God has called his children to not forsake the gathering of believers and their life is more than pleasure, or physical prowess.
It might mean confessing some deep sins and repenting of them so that you’re no longer burdened by shame and guilt that comes with it.
What exactly it means for you and your family, I cannot say. I am not the Lord. And I would hate to burden you with a command God has not given. That would be sin.
But I’d be happy to sit with you and work through it. Ask God for Wisdom. He is delighted to give it.
Ask older-mature Christians here in this building before you leave for their thoughts or time.
Ask your spouse how they think you’re doing as a family. Set some goals together. Clear a night this week and hash it out. Commit to loving one another well, as you work to love the body well.
Kids, ask your parents. What can you do to love the body well? Could you serve on some team? Could you make it your goal to pray for each one of our missionaries? Could you set aside a small portion of your birthday money or chore money to meet the needs of people in this body? Could you introduce yourself to some of the older saints here and see if they need your help around the house - spring is coming - weeds will need pulled, yards will need mowed, garages will need cleaned.
What exactly it looks like will work itself out IF we remember that we are loved by God and God has asked us to take his overflowing love and pour it out on one another. To love the Bride of Jesus. To find our role in the body and to commit ourselves fully to it.
Band get in place.
He knew we would forget. Our shepherd knows we wander like sheep. And so to call us together, to remind us that we are all one body who belongs to him, to remind us that Christ died not only for ME but for US, he has given us communion and so this morning, the first act of living as if all we have talked about is true, is to come and take communion.
Now if you are not a Christian or you’re actively living in unrepentant sin… this is not for you. Not yet. But it could be. Confess your sin. Turn to Christ, Seek his forgiveness and go to those you’ve wronged and make amends. All of us should examine ourselves - confessing our weaknesses and shortcomings and then, receiving Christ’s forgiveness and love, come up and receive the elements. After everyone has received their elements I will lead us in a shared meal.
"For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
After that first communion they sang a song. Would you join me?
