Delivered by Amy Higgins on September 24, 2023

Scripture:  Hebrews 10:19-25

I have a confession. I follow Prince William and Princess Catherine more than I should. Not the gossipy stuff but, their philanthropic work. And yes, their kids. I mean they are pretty cute. Why do I follow them? Probably because good news is so hard to come by these days. And good or bad, it’s all part of our human experience. But my good is not the same as your good. Your bad is different than mine. And while we may not know where someone is coming from or fully understand how they feel, we must “consider one another”. Consider each other as brothers and sisters, children of the same Father, loved by the same love, given the same grace. And because of this we must also consider our differences, not to separate and classify, not to justify our opinions; but to see more clearly the love and grace God so abundantly gives. And once we see each other for who we are and whose we are, then we must consider how to “stir up one another to love and good works.” 

Now, we commonly think of fellowship as something social, as hospitality, a meal. And why wouldn’t we? We certainly know how to gather around food. But fellowship is more than that. The definition of fellowship also includes “mutual support”. So let us “stir up one another to love and good works” in mutual support. Christ’s commandment is to love one another. Period. Not decide who deserves it, not make someone earn it or twist themselves into something we think they should be. They are just as fearfully and wonderfully made as you and I. And to say someone shouldn’t receive our love is arguing against that grace we are all given before we even realize we need it. Grace is not earned. If it were, it wouldn’t be grace. So if we’re not trying to earn His grace, why do we have to bother with “good works”? As Mother Teresa said, “Do things for people not because of who they are or what they do in return, but because of who you are.” Good works are an expression of God’s love and God’s grace. WE are the expression of God’s love and grace.

It’s easy for the work to be just that…work. But the work is ministry. His love and grace are given through us to others, just as we receive His love and grace from others. Now unfortunately, we sometimes miss the mark. We sometimes think the people we help need us to show them Jesus and they should see Jesus in us whether they need to or not. But Jesus is already there with them. Just like on the road to Emmaus, they just may not realize it and neither may we. The “good works” of service (painting a house, building a ramp, providing food) are important, but we also have to move beyond doing for and ministering to someone and be in ministry with them. And when we are in ministry with one another, we all are the stranger showing Jesus to each other and seeing Jesus in each other. “The world will know you are my disciples by your love.”

  But in order for this to happen we have to show up. In every way. Verse 25 goes on to say, “Not neglecting to meet together.” Now in the context which this verse was written, this is about our duty to worship God. But breaking it down to the very core of our discipleship, we must go beyond worship and join in full communion with one another. And I don’t mean the grape juice and Hawaiian bread kind of communion. This is the communion that involves the spiritual sharing of thoughts and feelings. We have this in our worship, in our Sunday School classes, within our various ministries. But in order to do so, we have to show up, not just physically, although that’s pretty important; but we must be present mentally, emotionally, spiritually. Just being in the room isn’t always enough. We must be fully present in order to be together. Sometimes the loneliest feeling is to be alone in a room full of people. We must connect. We must be together. It’s no accident the “com” c-o-m prefix, meaning with, together is part of so many of the words vital to how we live in this world. Common, commitment, communicate, compromise, compassion, comparison, competition. And yet, some of those have become more important than all the others. Society tells us we have to set ourselves apart. Our interests, our needs have to come first and in order to get what we want or need someone has to lose. Us against Them. Me or You. All or Nothing. Where is the fellowship? Where is the mutual support? It’s in the center. That’s another one of those C words that’s not too popular these days. But there’s another C word and it is at the center. Christ.  

The Dutch theologian Henri Nouwen in discussing exclusion and inclusion used the wagon wheel to illustrate his point. A wagon wheel has spokes which connect the hub to the rim. Now let’s think of the spokes as people. If we stand on the outer rim we have to move along that rim in order to reach someone, and sometimes we have to be the one to move to reach people where they are. But out on the outer rim, in order to get to the next person, we have to leave the last person behind. However, if we are sitting in the hub, if we are in Christ, we are all connected, all at once. And this applies to everything. Our families, friendships, workplaces, and our church. Seeing the spokes as groups of people in our society, departments in our workplaces, or the different ministries of the church, when we remain in the hub, in the center, all are in fellowship with one another. From the hub the entire wheel moves forward. Everyone moves forward, together. There is no comparison, only communion. 

I once attended a meeting on missions in which we closed by praying with our eyes open. We looked around the room at each other as the leader prayed for the Jesus in each of us to see the Jesus in each other; to consider how to stir up one another to love and good works. And I know it’s not always easy to do. Certain people in that room…yeah, it was hard. So, I’m not preaching some unattainable saintliness, I’ll never achieve myself. I like what Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber said that too often we think of Christianity as making us smooth and polished, when we need to keep our textures. And we have to be careful of that smoothing, polishing Christianity anyway. If we’re not careful, comparison and competition can rear their ugly heads. But the main reason, she says, is because it’s our textures and edges that give others something to hold on to. The spoke connects to the hub in the grace we all receive as wonderfully flawed creations; meeting each other where we are, just as Jesus meets us where we are. In the frustration of a bad work environment, in the struggle of an exhausted mom, the care of a sick loved one, the choice between paying a bill and buying food, the fear of not knowing if you have a safe place to sleep tonight. When the Jesus in each of us sees the Jesus in everyone we encounter, we are no longer strangers of misunderstanding. We are brothers and sisters, children of the same Father, loved by the same love, given the same grace. When we see Jesus in everyone, EVERYONE we meet, we are in ministry with one another. We provide true fellowship. We are in communion. I know it can be hard. But it gets easier if we try. And that’s good news for all of us.