3 - Gather For Strength

A certain Father had a family of Sons, who were forever quarreling among themselves. No words he could say did the least good, so he cast about in his mind for some very striking examples that should make them see that discord would lead them to misfortune.

One day when the quarreling had been much more violent than usual and each of the Sons was moping in a surly manner, he asked one of them to bring him a bundle of sticks. Then, handing the bundle to each of his Sons in turn he told them to try to break it. But although each one tried his best; none was able to do so.

The Father then untied the bundle and gave the sticks to his sons to break one by one. This they did very easily.

"My Sons," said the father, "do you not see how certain it is that if you agree with each other and help each other, it will be impossible for your enemies to injure you? But if you are divided among yourselves, you will be no stronger than a single stick in that bundle." [1]

I realize that this simple children's fable could be applied to any number of situations, many of which you were probably imagining as I read through it. Today, however, as it pertains to the church, the lesson is a simple and powerful one.

SLIDE: Together versus Alone

We are stronger together than when we are alone. The church gathers for strength.

Main Teaching

Today there are several passages of scripture we’re going to look at as we discuss the strength we experience when we gather together.

To begin, please turn with me to Proverbs 14:4 (earlier we read from NLT, this time hear in the NIV:

Proverbs 14:4 (NIV)

4 Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of an ox come abundant harvests.

Some translations of this Proverbs passage say, “where there are no oxen the manger is clean.” I think we all understand what that means - If you don’t want any mess then you need to have an empty manger… Because, as you can imagine, getting a bunch of oxen together can be messy business.

SLIDE: For the Record

And, for the record, can we be honest about something right now? Being in community is messy too, isn’t it? In fact, it can get so messy that there are many of us who’ve experienced wounds and hurt from being part of a community and perhaps even this community. Truth is, when you get a bunch of people together, like oxen, it can be messy business.

Diane Nyad’s Story

Earlier this week I came across and watched a movie based on a true story, that showed tremendous courage and strength. It is my thought that this story makes an excellent illustration for this sermon. Would you like to hear it?

This story is about how one woman set out to be a record breaker. The story is full of incredible inspiration, loss, courage, fear, conflict, team spirit and victory.

1974: In June 1974, Nyad set a women's record of 8 hours, 11 minutes in the 22-mile Gulf of Naples race.

1975: Our story starts in 1975, Diana Nyad gained national attention when she swam around Manhattan (28 miles) in record time and broke a 45-year old record.

1979: Then in 1979 (on her 30th birthday) over the course of 2 day she swam from North Bimini,of The Bahamas, to Juno Beach, Florida (102 miles). In doing so she setting a distance record (for both men & women) by swimming non-stop without a wet-suit and without any protective shark cage.

You can see that she was already a very confident and accomplish swimmer. And this in itself would make for a great store of strength. But this is not the part of this story that I fight inspirational.

1978 - First Attempt: At age 28 she first attempted to swim from Havana, Cuba to Key West, one year after the Kennedy-era travel restrictions were lifted. Diving into the ocean at 2PM on Sunday, August 13 from Ortegosa Beach (50 miles west of Havana), she swam inside a 20-by-40-foot steel shark cage for nearly 42 hours, before team doctors removed her during the 7 o'clock hour on the morning of Tuesday, August 15 due to strong Westerly winds and 8-foot swells that were slamming her against the cage and pushing her off-course towards Texas. She had covered about 76 miles, but not in a straight line.

Now for most of us this would have been the end of our story. She had accomplished so much, and had this one failure. So, why attempt again.

2010 - Preparations: --- By early January 2010 Nyad began training for a summer attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida by swimming up to 12 hours a day. --- On July 10, 2010, at the age of 60, she began open water training in preparation for a 60-hour, 103-mile swim.

2011: --- Second Attempt: Thirty-three years after her first attempt in 1978, Nyad entered the water again at Havana on August 7, 2011, at 7:45PM, with a CNN news team on board her support ship to provide live coverage of her swim, which involved electronic "Shark Shields" but no shark cage. Nyad stopped her attempt early in the morning on August 9 at 12:45AM after 29 hours in the water, after encountering strong currents and winds that pushed her miles off course to the east. Nyad also said she had been suffering shoulder pain since her third hour in the water, but what made her abandon the effort was a flare-up of her asthma, such that, throughout the final hour, she could only swim a few strokes before repeatedly having to roll on her back to catch her breath. --- Third Attempt: On September 23, 2011, Nyad began a third attempt at the Cuba-to-Florida swim, again without a shark cage, but stopped after 41 hours, about 67 miles through the 103 mile passage, because of jellyfish and Portuguese man-of-war stings and after currents pushed her off course. In October 2011 she described how box jellyfish stings on her forearm and neck caused respiratory distress that eventually caused the swim to end and nearly killed her.

2012 - Fourth Attempt: On August 18, 2012, Nyad began her fourth attempt, without a protective shark cage. Nyad and her team ended the swim at 12:55 a.m. on August 21, 2012, reportedly because of two storms and nine jellyfish stings, after having covered more distance than her three previous attempts.

Already our story is beyond 3-strikes and you out.

2013 - Fifth Attempt:

In 2013, on her fifth attempt and at age 64, (35 years after her first attempt) she succeeded in swimming from Havana, Cuba to Key West, Florida without a shark cage, Nyad used a protective jellyfish suit, shark divers, and electronic shark repellent devices. Thus, she became the first person (man or woman) to make the crossing without a shark cage. She also completed her swim faster than two previous successful crossings (some 33 and 16 years earlier).

By now, you might be wondering how this story of success applies to the church’s gather for strength. Even though this sounds like a single individuals triumph, it is more that that. Over the course of her 5 attempts to conquer the ocean she was supported by no less than 40 persons and several boats for each attempt. And by many more supports on the shore. Nyad has given credit to her team for their support, and ability to put up with her often self centered. in other words she was a messy person in community.

Let’s look at Proverbs 14:4 again:

Proverbs 14:4 (NLT)

4 Without oxen a stable stays clean, but you need a strong ox for a large harvest.

The flip-side to this however, and the beauty that Proverbs 14:4 captures, is that the same bunch of messy oxen can bring about an incredible harvest.

Oxen are strong.

Oxen are stubborn.

Oxen are messy.

Oxen need a lot of care and direction through the harvest.

Is this beginning to sound familiar? Are you starting to wonder if we’re not talking about oxen, but people?

SLIDE: Living Stone

Jesus has chosen to use us to build His church. We are what Peter calls, living stones, being built into a spiritual house. And even though it’s messy, even though it’s hard, there is a harvest that comes when we pool our collective strengths together for the sake of the gospel.

SLIDE: Stronger Together

We are stronger when we work together. We will see a greater harvest working together than if we are working alone.

Speaking of being alone, let me ask you, what benefit is it to the devil if you’re alone? What does he gain if you remove yourself from fellowship and decide to take the journey of faith all by yourself?

As you think about it, let’s turn to 1 Peter 5:8:

1 Peter 5:8 (NLT)

8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

There are two points I want to make from this verse.

First of all, Peter compares the hunting style of the devil to that of a lion. I’m just curious but has anyone recently watched any YouTube clips on hunting lions? If so, then you’ll probably agree.

They’re lazy hunters.

They prowl around looking for the young, the weak, the hurt, the old, etc.… They don’t attack the herd; they look for those separated from the group. Lions want easy targets and Peter is right to compare the devil to a lion.

The second point has to do with Peter’s word choice in verse 5:8. He specifically says, someone, notice he doesn’t say, the church, or the small group. The devil, like the lion, is looking for an easy target to kill, steal, and destroy (John 10:10). He knows that someone in fellowship with others, being encouraged and strengthened by others, is a much more difficult prey than someone walking through faith all by themselves.

SLIDE: Simply Put

Simply put, there is strength in numbers.

You wouldn’t walk through a dark alley alone at midnight in the bad part of town.

And you don’t need to travel through the valley of the shadow of death all by yourself either. God is building a spiritual house, a church, out of living stones and we are stronger together.

Like the bundle of sticks bound together by string, we are bound together by faith.

SLIDE: Together for Strength

And so, we gather together for strength.

As you consider 1 Peter 5:8, think also about this verse from Ecclesiastes 4:12 which says.

Ecclesiastes 4:12 (NLT)

12 A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.

Though there are so many someones out there who can be overpowered, two can work together, and three are not quickly broken.

As an example of this just consider for a moment that Jesus sent the disciples out in pairs to share the good news of the Kingdom. Think about God looking in on Adam in the garden and realizing that it was no good for him to be alone. Think about the plurality of leadership modeled by the early church and the extensive list of people working together for the sake of the gospel that Paul gives us in Romans 16. There are almost endless examples to choose from, but the point being.

SLIDE: Together (with 2 Advances)

>> 0 >> Together we see a greater harvest.

>> 1 >> Together we are better protected.

>> 2 >> We are stronger together than we are apart.

Conclusion/Application

In closing, I want to share a few verses with you that I skipped over earlier. This is Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

Ecclesiastes 4:9–10 (NLT)

9 Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. 10 If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.

I know there are people here today who’ve been down or hurting. Maybe you’ve had a string of bad luck, lost a job, had difficulty paying bills.

Maybe you’ve lost a loved one recently, maybe you’re the one who’s sick and hurting. Maybe you’re just tired, maybe you’re weary.

Maybe you need a little help getting back on your feet.

SLIDE: Knowing When

Part of being strong is knowing when it’s time to ask for help…

How can we help each other?

How can we lift each other up?

SLIDE: Prayer

Prayer -

Lord give us grace to work together and eyes to see that we are stronger together than we are apart.

AMEN

[1] The Bundle of Sticks. http://read.gov/aesop/040.html

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