Sharpened & Sent

Host reads Hebrews 10:19-25

ME

I’ve noticed a certain tendency in my life. I know a lot of stuff. But I don’t always do anything with what I know. I’ll give you an example.

I know a lot about how to eat healthy. I know what to eat. What to avoid. I know how much is too much. I know a lot of different diets - or lifestyle changes. I know I ought to fill my plate only once. I know dessert should be an occasional thing. I know a lot about eating healthy.

But in spite of that I still choose ice cream almost every evening.

I know a lot about exercise too. Weights. Walking. Swimming. Low impact aerobics. I know I should exercise, that I need to exercise. That I feel better when I exercise.

And knowing all this,I still don’t exercise like I should.

I know a lot of stuff about a lot of things, but I don’t always do anything with what I know.

Ya dig?

WE

I bet you know a lot about a lot of things. But do you struggle to actually do something with what you know?

Maybe eating and exercise like me.

Maybe a hobby - hunting/fishing - know a lot, even read a magazine occasionally bc it’s interesting. But you never get a hook wet anymore.

Or, let’s talk about marriage. How many of us know how we ought to treat our spouse? How we should talk to them? How many times do we choose not to?

Maybe you’re a student. You know what it takes to get good grades. You know you need to study. Get a good night's rest. Review the material. Don’t stay out so late. You know what you ought to do, but actually doing it doesn’t always happen.

How about when it comes to money. It’s not really rocket science is it that if you want to get ahead you have to spend less than you make. We know we need to say no to impulse buys. We know we need to live on that four-letter word - budget. But then Amazon has a Black Friday sale.

All of us know a lot of stuff about a lot of things. And I bet most of us would claim to be guilty of not always doing anything with what we know.

I think this is true for God-stuff to. If you’ve spent very much time in church, you know a lot of theology whether you realize it or not. Trinity. Virgin birth. Jesus dying for your sins. The resurrection.

And I bet you have a pretty good idea of what God wants you to do - and not do.

And yet. How many of us know what God wants us to do but don’t do it. We don’t share our faith with our neighbor. We don’t give like we ought to. We don’t always make worship a priority. We don’t spend the time praying that we should. Are you feeling bad yet and sorry you came? Hold on!

The question I want us to consider this morning is this: Is our primary need information or execution?

You probably agree that we all know more than we execute. We have more information than action. And that’s not entirely your fault. Most of us were handled a religion of information and not application. Here’s things to know. Here’s things to believe. Now set still and be good until Jesus comes back.

We know stuff, but we aren’t very consistent at doin the stuff. When John Wimber discovered this tendency in his church he thought: “I gave up drugs for this?”

We’ve been talking about Life in Circles. We worship in rows; we experience transformation in circles.

Saw how God exists in community and how we are incomplete without community.

Had a powerful reminder last week that community is where we bear each others burdens.

I want to close the series looking at one final thing community does for us. Here’s the truth:

You can be constantly learning but never acting.

You can be always hearing but never doing.

You can be forever growing but never going.

And it becomes one of the most futile ways to live.

Think about sharpening a knife. Demonstrate with a stele… Satisfaction in honing the blade until it’s razor sharp.

But a sharp knife isn’t the goal. The goal is to cut something with it. Knives are sharpened so they can cut well.

“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” (Proverbs 27:17, NIV)

Solomon knew something we’ve forgotten: Community is where you grow SO you can go.

You can know a lot of theology - but theology isn’t the goal.

You can have memorized a lot of Bible verses - but memorization isn’t the goal.

You can be always growing - but growing isn’t the goal.

Those things aren’t bad. They’re necessary. But neither are they the goal. The goal is doing. And as my friend Sean often reminds me, “only doing is doing”.

You don’t feel like you’re doing. And if your honest, frustration has set in.

GOD

I think this was a reality for the church that received this letter we call Hebrews. They knew stuff. All the things the author reminded them of at the beginning of the passage was firmly locked in their minds.

The knew Jesus has given us access to the Father through his sacrifice on the cross.

They knew that Jesus was their great High Priest who interceded for them before God’s throne.

They knew their sins were forgiven and that God is always faithful to keep his promises.

They knew all that - and yet… apparently they weren’t doing anything with it. They need to be reminded of the plot.

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on...,” (Hebrews 10:24, NIV)

What does the word “spur” make you think of? Horse!

Gr. paroxysmos

para - alongside

oxys - sharp or sharp edge

Lit. - something sharp in your side, or in more common language it meant to poke someone with a sharp stick

Negative connotation: We all have that friend who likes to poke the bear - if you don’t, you are that friend.

Positive connotation: someone who encourages you to reach higher, who refuses to let you settle for less than what you’re capable of. Someone who spurs you on.

One for me, Coach Anderson… hard, but totally for me. He brought out the best in me.

WE must spur ONE ANOTHER on. Notice the community connotation. We need community to help us reach our best. It’s where you grow SO you can go.

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The truth is that forever growing, but never going will wear you down over time. Equipping is for a purpose. Growth is for mission.

“… spur one another on toward love and good deeds,” (Hebrews 10:24, NIV)

Love is agape - self-giving, seeking the good of others, kind of love.

Good deeds - works God has created for us to do - justice, mercy, reconciliation, caring for people and creation.

To go against the grain of how God has made you can only result in futility.

You can forever be sharpening a blade, but never put it to use. The only long-term effect is that you eventually wear the blade completely down.

You can forever practice free throws, but it is of no value if you never play a game.

Case study: Pharisees

Massive knowledge, but knowledge calcified them - growing but stopped going. Became set in their ways. All their knowledge amounted to nothing bc they couldn’t even recognize the Messiah when he stood right in front of them.

“You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” (John 5:39–40, NIV)

Forever growing but never going…

Community becomes the place where we are challenged and encouraged to put what we know into practice. Not simply to be forever learning, but to be spurred on to do the works of the kingdom. Grow in order to go.

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Inescapable conclusion I want you to see: Community is the catalyst for mission. Our community groups are where we should provoke each another to be our best, to use our gifts, and to pursue the kingdom of God wherever he sends us.

“not giving up meeting together, - i.e. not staying isolated and alone - as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:25, NIV)

Context means to provoke someone to a response or action. It’s an unavoidable truth that it is impossible to “encourage one another” by yourself.

Forming this kind of community requires a special kind of courage. It requires that we move beyond the shallows of just showing but keeping things casual. It requires that we challenge others to get in the game. And to be challenged when we’ve chosen to sit on the sidelines.

I was brought up in a church that put a lot of emphasis on personal evangelism. Telling others about Jesus and getting them to pray the prayer. That was the win. That was the high water mark for being a good Christian. And I learned a lot of techniques for how to do evangelism: Romans Road, two questions, bridge illustration, four spiritual laws, and several more. There’s nothing wrong with learning a technique.

I knew a lot about evangelism… But I never evangelized.

I had lots of reasons: too shy, tongue-tied, didn’t know any unbelievers, didn’t know enough. Maybe if I learned just one more technique… I was always growing but never going.

I wanted to share my faith but I never did, mostly because it was handed to me as a solo sport. Something I had to do all by myself. And for introverted people, that’s a high bar to get over.

Where this changed this for me was Alpha… not so much the program, but seeing evangelism done as a work of a community. I didn’t have to make cold calls knocking on peoples doors to ask them two questions. As a community WE invited friends, WE shared fellowship, and in the course of meeting together WE shared our faith. Community became a catalyst for mission. It’s where we grow SO we can go.

YOU

Some of you listening this morning feel pretty content with where you are spiritually. If that’s the case you have permission to tune out until it’s time to come get communion.

But I think there may be a few of you who feel the frustration and futility I’ve talking about.

Maybe today you feel like a knife. You’re been sharpened a lot. But it feels like you only get sharpened to go immediately back into the drawer. You’re not cutting anything.

That doesn’t mean you don’t do anything; it’s that you don’t feel like you are reaching your potential for the kingdom. You know a lot of stuff, but you haven’t been putting into practice. You identify with “always growing but never going”.

If that’s the case, I’m giving you one challenge today: Commit to taking part in a small group this season, especially if you’ve never done it before. Make this your one priority this Fall.

And if you regularly take part in small groups, here is my ask: use your influence within your group to spur others on to love and good deeds. Help your group become a catalyst for mission.

Community is where you grow SO you can go.

WE

I want to be clear if I haven’t been that at the Vineyard we are “pro” knowledge. Learning the Bible is good and needful. Learning to pray better is good. Memorizing verses is good. Growing is good.

But in the end what matters is faith working itself out in love. People will not be won over by how much good theology we’ve learned or how many verses we can quote. They are won over by our love. And love is a verb.

I said when I became pastor that I wanted our church to be the kind of church that the community would miss if we closed. We’ve done that in part. Our church does an amazing job of loving our community, especially through our food pantry. People would know it if we stopped operating.

But there is more fruit out there. There’s more needs that we can address. And it’s going to take everyone coming off the bench to do it. Let’s be committed to growing AND going in community.

We worship in rows; we experience transformation in circles.

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Communion

Invite people to stand.

Step down to the table

Invite Communion/ministry team forward.

Every Sunday we come to this table to take part in a meal Jesus gave us. Jesus said the elements of bread and wine are his body and blood, true food and true drink. They are a grace given to us for our spiritual nourishment. And they demonstrate the reality that what was once separated has now been joined together by his sacrifice.

If you would like to participate in this meal celebrating his life, death, and resurrection, after I pray step into the nearest aisle. Someone at the front will take a piece of bread dipped in wine and offer it to you as the body and blood of Jesus. If you prefer not to have wine, close your hands together and that will be the sign for them to give you a sealed container with grape juice and a wafer.

Ministry prayer...

Let us pray.

It is truly right, good, and our greatest joy to give You thanks and praise, Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth. Before time began, You existed in perfect, loving communion—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You formed us in Your image to thrive in connection with You and with one another. Even when our sin drove us into isolation and hiding, You did not abandon us to the dark. You sent Your Son to break down every dividing wall and call us into one family. Therefore with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we magnify Your glorious name, praising You and saying:

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

Holy and gracious God, in Your boundless love You sent Jesus Christ to dwell among us. He shared our tables, carried our griefs, and bore the weight of our brokenness. On the night He was handed over to suffering and death, our Lord Jesus Christ took bread; and when He had given thanks to You, He broke it, gave it to His disciples, and said:

"Take, eat: This is My Body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me."

After supper He took the cup of wine; and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, and said:

"Drink this, all of you: This is My Blood of the New Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this in remembrance of Me."

Gracious Father, pour out Your Holy Spirit on these gifts of bread and wine, that they may be for us the body and blood of Your Son. And pour out Your Spirit upon us, that as we partake of this feast, we might be bound together in true interdependence.

Forgive us, Lord, for when we are content to be forever growing, but never going. Forgive us for sharpening the blade only to let it sit unused. Remind us that You do not equip us for spiritual passivity, but for active mission. As we receive Your grace today, give us the courage to spur, provoke, and stir one another up toward love and good works. Catalyze us through community to go into a broken world.

Amen.

Invite the worship team to receive Communion first and then everyone else.