The Roots of Christian Community

The Rationale for a Series on Community in the Church

Community is a word that gets tossed around, used often, and I believe, profoundly misunderstood. Community is one of those elusive, mysterious, beautiful, and complex realities in the Christian life that depicts the tension of our present moment: it is a natural creation of new life in Christ and it demands a tremendous amount of work. So, for the next 6 weeks we are going to take a deep dive and consider the root of community, the “human-ness” of community, the community that the cross created, our common objections to community, the ideal image of community, and finally look at community working on mission. Before we can dive into those big ideas, I need to explain why we believe that the Lord has led us to consider these things this year at this time.

To begin with the obvious—being together in real unity is part of what it means to be a Christian. Jesus exhorted that our love for one another would bear witness that we belong to Him (John 13:35), and He prayed that we would be one, even as He and the Father are one (John 17:21). So, community, the word that we most often use to describe our essential “togetherness” is a really big deal to God.

However, 2020 has dealt a real blow to our sense and practice of community—this isn’t so much news any more, but it is still worth considering.

Our normal sense of community (worship, cg’s, Wednesday night services) took a hit when it all came to a screeching halt because of the immediate uncertainty created by the onset of COVID-19, which meant that new routines and rhythms were created.

The church invested in a camera and other live stream equipment which brought “church” or some insufficient version of it to you living room

Uncertainty, frustration, and inconsistency reigned as we have had to deal with “start-stop” worship gatherings, not to mention the awkward and less than ideal move to 2 services

Pursuing community became hard and retreating into ourselves became easy

Even after we began meeting again, the “safety net” of a livestream made it a bit more conceivable to be absent (“if it was sufficient for those 10 or 12 weeks, it is fine for these one or 2”)

We established new rhythms, new routines, new expectations—all built around this so called “new-normal”

In the midst of the turbulence, one of the casualties of this year has been much of our intentional commitment to investing in community.

Perhaps in some cases, COVID-19 provided the long awaited excuse to do something better with your Sunday morning or Sunday night, or perhaps for others of you, you surprised even yourself with how much church you could miss without really “missing” it.

So, allow me to lay my cards on the table in regards to the rationale of this series. In the course of a week, we do a lot of things. We have multiple commitments, plans, meetings, work events, and tasks to complete. We have obligations with family or civic organizations, and a number of other things. However, in the course of a general week, there is one thing that we do that has a divine command attached to it—we gather on the Lord’s day to worship Him with those we have entered into covenant membership with (Hebrews 10:24-25). It is my concern that many of you have decided that the countless things that you do in the course of a week, that are not divinely commanded, are somehow more important than the one thing that does.

When Susanna and I first got married, we had no money and I managed the little we had quite poorly. In the back of my mind, there were always budget categories that I considered contingencies. “If we need extra money, we can cancel (insert any subscription here)”. I think that many of you have begun to treat the assembling of ourselves together in much the same way. If the week is too busy and time is tight, or if there is something, anything you want to do more, then the assembly of the Saints on the Lord’s day—the saints many of you covenanted with, becomes the budget contingency that can be canceled. That is deeply concerning to me as a pastor.

Now, this is the point where some of you recoil and confidently deny all of that—and yet, your actions speak loudly the true nature of your convictions—and your convictions may not be what you think they are.

Others of you were just sent reeling in the wake of uncertainty and community—worship and community group primarily—were totally disrupted and now you feel this uncertainty around resuming those gatherings. “Is it safe”? “Is it important”? “Will anyone know that I’m not there”? Perhaps those are the questions you are asking or there may be others—but the result is the same—your commitment to meaningful community has suffered.

Brothers and sisters, our reasons for resisting and grappling and fleeing meaningful commitment to and community in the local church are many—some more legitimate than others—and yet they boil down to the same condition that ruled in the hearts of our first parents, indifference to the command of God. We want enough encounter with God to not go to Hell, and from there we tend to believe that we know best.

There is good news—God knew were were sinners when chose us, He knew we were sinners when He redeemed us, and He knows we are sinners now. So, in His grace that He lavishes upon us, He invites us to repent of our sin and turn to Him with the assurance that He is faithful and just to forgive of all unrighteousness!

So, with those rationale communicated, let’s turn our attention to our first big idea—community matters in the Christian life because it is one of the primary ways that we image God. Next week Kevin is going to walk us through the nature of what it means to be human and how living life together is a step toward a truer humanity. This week however, we are going to consider who God is and how He has revealed Himself to be, and for our purposes this week, we are going to consider His triunity. As we proceed to consider how God has revealed Himself to be, we must remember the words of Christ, “this is eternal life, that they know God and Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3).

Finally, by way of introduction, as we consider the doctrine and nature of God as triune this morning, we agree that the word “trinity” is never used in the Scriptures, and yet, the truth of this reality oozes from the Bible’s presentation of God and His work. Further, we can be comforted not only by the presence of the doctrine in the pages of the Bible but also from the history of the church. Consider the opening lines of the Athanasian Creed from the 5th century:

Whoever desires to be saved should above all hold to the catholic faith.

Anyone who does not keep it whole and unbroken will doubtless perish eternally.

Now this is the catholic faith:

    That we worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity,     neither blending their persons     nor dividing their essence.         For the person of the Father is a distinct person,         the person of the Son is another,         and that of the Holy Spirit still another.         But the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one,         their glory equal, their majesty coeternal.

So, this morning we are going to consider the Trinity at work in creation, in re-creation, and in the new-creation. My hope is that we see the tremendous unity enjoyed and displayed by our God as well as the perfect continuity of His will and that this, will among other things, spur us on to take our imaging of Him in our unity more seriously and joyfully.

The Trinity in Creation

In the opening pages of Scripture we learn that God is creator—however, careful reading makes clear that it was not the act of creating that made God who He is—rather, creating was an expression of who He always has been.

If God’s essence is “creator” then He “needs” creation in order to be God

We are presented with a God who simply is—and in His being, has the authority and power to create

The we meet in the opening pages of Scripture is Triune

Simply “God” in verse Genesis 1:1

The “Spirit of God” in Genesis 1:2

The Word of God accomplishing all it is sent to do (Genesis 1-2)

John 1:1-5

The Word created all things

All things were created through the Word

All things were created for the Word

The Active Three in One

In Genesis 1:1 and Ephesians 3:9, the Father creates

In Genesis 1:2, the Spirit Creates

In John 1:1-3, the Son creates

This is no conflict, but evidence of the perfect unity of will, power, and action among the Godhead

Note the pattern established—God creates the world through the Word and Spirit

As beautiful and complete as that picture may seem, we know that human sin tainted God’s good design and was the backdrop for God’s promise of redemption—to set right or “re-create” all that had been marred by the fall

The Trinity in Re-Creation

Knowing that God creates through the Word and Spirit, we should expect to see the Word and Spirit at work in re-creation

The Word sent and “given” authority by the Father

John 1:14

God gave His Son (John 3:16)

John 5:19-29

The Spirt at Work in the Ministry of Jesus

The Spirt descends on Jesus (John 1:32)

Jesus preaches a Gospel that demands new birth wrought by the Spirit (John 3:5)

The Spirit gives life, the flesh is no help at all (John 6:63)

John 16:12-15

The Promise of Re-Creation, John 14:23

Fellowship with God was lost in the fall

Fellowship with God is restored by God, in the Son, through the Spirit

So, we note that as Jesus, the image of God, is doing the work of healing and restoring fallen creation, He is doing it as one sent by the Father and filled with the Spirit

The Trinity in the New Creation

When I say “New Creation” this morning, I have in mind that future reality spoken of in Revelation, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Isaiah. Most fundamentally, when I say “new creation”, I am thinking of a place and a people. The place being the new heavens and earth, and the people being the redeemed of God.

The apostle Paul teaches us in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that all who are in Christ are new creations in Him

According to 1 Peter 1:1-2, that “new creation reality” is the result of the foreknowledge of the Father, the sanctification of the Spirit, and the blood of the lamb

Salvation is inescapably Trinitarian

In Revelation 21 we see the New Heaves and the New Earth given by the Father, secured by the Son, as the Spirit causes the hearts of the redeemed to cry “come”!

What is the Connection to Community

The continuity of the Scriptures, and specifically the activity of God is striking

There is One true God

Perfect in unity among the persons of the godhead

One will, one central action (the praise of His glory)

The oneness of the Three in One is essential

As we see the Trinity at work, we recognize the joy in perfect, godly fellowship—we have been invited into the “dance” of the Divine Three

We deprive ourselves of real joy when we fail to value rightly our life together

When we are divided or segregated, we lie about the true nature of who God is