Honor One Another (2)

Introduction

We are knee deep in our series that “there ought to be a whole lot of one anotherness in the church house”. And as I mentioned two weeks ago, a family does not function well without certain guidelines in place, the same applies to the church. A family’s way of functioning may originate from traditions passed down from grandparents or some family member long ago or they might come straight out of the mouth of mom and dad. I told you a little bit of how our family functioned at Thanksgiving and it functioned that same way for Christmas. Children ate at the children’s table. No child sat at the big person’s table. No one sat in my dad’s chair that was reserved for only him. And no one better take a turkey leg, because Uncle Willie ate one at the holiday feast and brought the other one home to eat .

Well, the church gets its marching order how it is to function from the Word of God. And that better be the only place that the church gets its direction. The church does not need man made traditions telling it how it is to function; the church does not need the pastor giving you his opinion how it ought to function. Everything we need to know about how the church is to function when we come together is found in the Word of God.

Those instructions are the “one anothers.” There are 15 of them found in the New Testament. We have looked at four of them so far- Forgive One Another, Love One Another, Serve One Another and Encourage One Another. And we look at our fifth one another today- Honor One Another.

To honor means to place value on or to see the worth in someone. The same as in all the other one anothers, God is our example and we are to imitate His example as commanded to us in Ephesians 5:1. Listen to what King David says about what God did for us in Psalm 8:5 (NKJV) For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor.

David says that God has shown honor to you and me. If that is the case, and it because the Bible says so, then whenever God’s people gather together in the church house we ought to see Christian men and women honoring one another. We ought not see people not talking to one another because of strive; we ought not see people talking about another church member in gossip; we ought not see any person making a another person feel less is anyway. If a visitor would enter these doors and we don’t make them feel welcome, we will have dishonored them.

But the reality is that dishonoring does occur in the church house. In occured in the church house at the time of the writing of the New Testament and so I know it occurs today. Let me show you an example of dishonoring in the New Testament. James 2:2-3 (NKJV) 2  For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, 3  and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, "You sit here in a good place," and say to the poor man, "You stand there," or, "Sit here at my footstool,"...

In that situation, the church member dishonored that guest. As your pastor, I never want it said about Bala Chitto that we have dishonored someone in this church. And so I think we need to do a little refresher this morning why we should not dishonor anyone especially those in the household of faith.

If you have your Bible or your bulletin, we will be reading from Roman 12:10. Please stand for the reading of God’s Word.

Scripture

Romans 12:10 (NKJV)

10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;

Points

Refresher Principle #1

I should not dishonor you because you have been made in the image of God.

Genesis 1:26 (NKJV)

26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

In the creation story, if you remember, it goes something like this. God said, let there be light;God said, let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, and God said let the waters under the heavens be gathered together in one place. You get the idea - God said and things were created. And then God would say about His act of creation, it was good.

But then we come to Genesis 1:26 and the pattern changes. A conversation in held by the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and an agreement is affirmed by the Godhead that man and female will be made differently from all other creation because man and woman will be made in the image of God. He was given an honor, a value above all other creation, a value that can not be taken away. That is why God would say about the creation of man and woman that it was very good.

What does that mean for man and woman? It means that every man and woman have a measure of honor because God made us that way. It is part of who you are. And so, every single person in this room has a measure of honor whether their life is a mess or they got it all together; whether they have a lot or a little; whether they are most likable person in the world or whether they are a hardest person to get along with.

And if I don’t see that value in you, I am the one with the problem, not you. I got a sin problem. And it is like, I am standing in front of God and calling Him a liar- I don’t believe that you made so and so so that he or she is due honor. Let me tell you that is a bad place to be.

Refresher Principle #2

I should not dishonor you because Christ died for you.

Romans 5:8 (NKJV) 8  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Who are the sinners?

Romans 3:23 (NKJV) 23  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, If you have been around the church long enough you would have probably heard the statement or even said the statement, “If you were the only person on the face of the earth , Christ would have come and died for you.” That statement probably has it origin from a book written by C.S. Lewis in 1943 called “Perelandra”. Lewis’ statement in the book reads this way.

“When He died in the Wounded World He died not for men, but for each man. If each man had been the only man made, He would have done no less.”

I would suggest that statement if you think about it long enough that it will tell you two things about God. It will tell you about God’s great love for each person. And we know that is true because John 3:16 so clearly tells us that. John 3:16 (NKJV) 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

But it also tells us about the honor that God sees in us that He would rescue us from our fallen condition. He places a great value on us to send His Son to die for us. If God did not see that value in His, He would have done nothing.

Let me give you an analogy from a human perspective to understand this. Many times as I am walking, I might see a penny on the ground. Instead of stopping and picking it up, I keep walking because I don’t see it having much value to me. But if I happen to see a dollar bill on the ground that someone dropped, I am all over it because it has value to me. In other words, it is value that you place on something that moves you to action. If you see no value, then you will not exert any action towards it; but if you see value you will exert action toward it.

The fact that God moved toward us when we were yet sinners- it tells of God’s love but it also tells us the value that He placed on man and woman.So, when I say that I give up, I am tired of praying for so and so because nothing ever changes. Or, if I say I am tired of telling them about Jesus dying for them because that person is never receptive to what I have to say.

Who has a problem? I do because I quit finding value in someone that Jesus finds value in.

2 Peter 3:9 (NKJV) 9  The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

If I gave up praying for someone, if I gave up trying to reach someone for Christ. I need to confess that as sin because I am not in agreement with God. I can promise you that God did not give upon them so I should not give up on them.

Refresher #3

I should not dishonor you because God caused our paths to cross at this church house.

1 Corinthians 12:18-22 (NKJV) 18  But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. 19  And if they were all one member, where would the body be? 20  But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. 21  And the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you"; nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." 22  No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary.

In the church, as pastor, I don’t get a say so as to who God brings to Bala Chitto Baptist Church. Neither do our deacons nor any church members gets a say so in who God brings here. God don’t and won’t aask for our advise. It says that He sets the people where He pleases. So what part do you and I have in that process? I would say absolutely none.

Now when they get here, you and I do have a job to do. And when they get here, we got a job, not to make them feel any less honored than anyone else. You may thing they may not be the perfect match for our church but do you know what God says, “they are necessary.”

So, if i have a problem with someone in this church, i got a sin problem. I am telling God you made a mistake in having them come here. And God don’t make mistake.

So, I need to remember to value everyone here, because God put us together.

Let us pray!