We're A Potluck
Notes
Transcript
Henri Nouwen was a very accomplished man with a very serious problem. He was born in Holland in 1932… and from a very early age, Henri knew that he wanted to serve God in some capacity. So at 25 years old he became a priest… and over the 1st decade of his priesthood, he became quite recognized as a as a great teacher. After 10 years of serving as a priest, he went into the academic setting.
Over the course of the next 25 years, Henri taught at Notre Dame, Yale, and Harvard. So understand, if you’re teaching at those schools… you’re kind of a big deal… you’ve kind of reached the pinnacle of academia. He also authored 39 books during that time which have sold more than 7 million copies.
So Henri is a professor amongst professors, he’s writing all these books, people are inviting him to speak at conference after conference… he’s becomes one of the premier speakers on leadership in ministry. But after 25 years of teaching and speaking… week after week… Henri found himself feeling quite alone. Even though he was surrounded by students… surrounded by coworkers… surrounded by publishers… surrounded by people at conferences… and fans wanting an autograph… Henri felt alone.
At one point, Henri wrote that his prayer life was almost nonexistent, and that he felt completely isolated from the world around him. In the midst of all of his accomplishments… in the midst of all of his fame… in the midst of all that he was doing… Henri Nouwen felt alone.
I imagine a lot of us understand how he felt. As we look at ourselves, most of us lead very busy lives. School, Homework, Career, Responsibilities at home, Community activities, after school sports, extra-curriculars, baseball, basketball, wrestling, boxing, dance, tutoring… everything I’ve mentioned are things that we, as a church, are involved in. And they’re all wonderful things.
But did you ever have that moment when you sit down and you map out your week… and you think… man… am I going to have a second to sit down and breathe this week? I’ve got to do this… then go there… then take the kids here… grab a bite to eat on the way… and by the time it’s all done, I’ve got to do some laundry just so we have clothes to wear the next day… before I pass out on the couch, exhausted from the day.
We live exceptionally busy lives. But does all this activity lead to an experience of community? Or, does it lead to feelings of isolation... as it did for Henri Nouwen? About 10 years ago, there was a study done in California high schools by a sociologist. These were middle class high schools that offered tons of opportunities, extra-curriculars, and sports… and most of the students came from 2 parent households. Do you know what they found amongst those high school students? Most of them felt isolated and alone. Even though they are surrounded by teachers, coaches, parents that took them from place to place… most students did not feel that they were experiencing genuine care and concern. It’s almost as though just being around people had actually taken away from their experience of community.
The conclusion of the study was this… this is what the sociologist said… “We have evolved to a point where we believe that driving is supportive, being active is love, and providing any and every opportunity is selfless nurture. But, we are a culture that has forgotten how to be together.”
Now what’s the point? Take your kids out of all activities? Of course not! There’s nothing wrong with activities… My kids are in them! I do believe there can be too much… but that’s not the point. The point is this... simply being in the midst of other people is not being together. Simply having a bunch of things on the calendar, even though other people are involved, is not the experience of community.
There’s a story in the Bible about a leper that came to Jesus and said…
A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
Obviously… the leper wanted to be healed physically. But what was he actually wanting? Being a leper was not simply a physical problem... it was a social problem. Lepers were not allowed to be in the community. They were ousted from families, their communities, and their friends. There are even accounts of lepers having to announce their presence on their way into town to draw water from the well… so that everyone could make sure to stay completely away from them.
So yea… this leper desired to be healed… not just so he could be physically well… but so he could be part of community again… to be with his family again… to be a neighbor again… to be able to go to church again… so he could be with people again. So Jesus provides healing and makes it possible for him to experience community again. And soon after, Jesus issues this invitation that he so often does in the Gospels… Come, follow me.
Do you know what is attached to that invitation? Is it just… I get to hang with Jesus and go to Heaven? It’s so much more than that. It’s that when we follow Jesus, we are adopted into His family. FAMILY. More often than not, the Bible uses adoption language… we are brought into His family… the people of God… the church… a family. Responding to Jesus’ invitation to follow Him, is a response to participate in community.
You could even even say that community is the goal of the Christian life. Now you might be thinking… wait a minute Pastor Joshua… we started this series by saying that the goal of the Christian life is that it’s this process to conform us to the image of Jesus Christ. And yes… that’s correct. Two weeks ago, Pastor Matthew spoke on Bible Study. Why do we get into the Word of God? Because Jesus did. Because He is the Word. Because it conforms us to Jesus.
Last week, Brady spoke on Prayer. Why do we pray? To get what we want? It’s because Jesus prayed. Prayer is transformative. And if you know anything at all about Jesus… it’s that He’s all about communion with one another. In fact, from before the very beginning, Jesus has been in divine community. He’s NEVER been alone. He’s always been a part of the Trinity. From eternity past to eternity present… Jesus has existed and lived in community. So for us to be like Jesus, that means we will live in community.
Before Jesus was arrested and crucified, Jesus and the disciples went to the garden to pray. John 17 gives us an extended version of this prayer. So if you have your Bible, and I hope that you do, turn with me to the Gospel according to John, chapter 17. There’s a lot in this prayer, but there's a recurring theme that we don’t want to miss. So let’s pick up the prayer in verse 20...
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
Jesus’ prayer is that his disciples... and everyone who responds to the invitation to follow Him, would be part of a unified community. Just as Jesus and the Father are part of a unified community. On the night he was arrested, betrayed, and headed for the cross… that was the concern that Jesus had… that His people would be a unified community… so He prays for that.
After the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, we see Christian Churches begin to pop up all over the region. And the apostles continuously write to these new churches on this same theme. Turn your Bible to 1st John chapter 1 with me. As John introduces his letter to this community church, he reiterates this same passion that Jesus had. Look at verse 3 with me…
We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.
Why is John proclaiming the message of Christ? So that they might have fellowship together… so that they might be a community… and notice how closely he links our community with one another to our community with God. They are intrinsically linked. They go together like peanut butter and jelly. You might even say… they are ESSENTIAL to one another. Dare I say… You cannot have one without the other.
Folks listen… During the pandemic last year, there was a lot of talk about what is essential. Can I tell you… as lovingly as I can… as humbly as I can… based on the Word of God… to the true, born again believer… the gathering of the church is just as essential as food is for the body. Having community together is community with God.
Now… as I say that… you’ve got to understand that just attending church doesn’t mean that you’re in community. Go back to the sociologist’s study at the beginning of the message. Remember what he said? “We have evolved to a point where we believe that driving is supportive, being active is love, and providing any and every opportunity is selfless nurture. But, we are a culture that has forgotten how to be together.” As the church, we’ve come to think that attending a church gathering means we’re PART of the church.
When the apostle Paul was helping to establish churches around the Mediterranean, one of the churches he helped establish was in Corinth. I want us to see part of one of his letters to the church in Corinth. So turn your Bible to 1stCorinthians chapter 12. The church in Corinth wasn’t quite the unified community that Jesus prayed for… so Paul uses this letter that we call 1st Corinthians to address this issue. Look at verse 4 with me…
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
Here’s Paul’s point with these few words. Paul is saying… look… there’s great diversity in the community of God’s people. Tremendous diversity and gifts and talents. So many different flavors and colors that make up the body of Christ… and that’s a beautiful thing that we should celebrate. Let’s continue with verse 7…
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
Paul explains and hashes out that each member of a local church is given talents and gifts in which they are to use to minister to the body. We might even call these responsibilities.
You know… as Christians, when we hear teaching on spiritual gifts, it often sounds like this… “find out how God has gifted you… and then try to figure out how to use that.” Here is, in actuality how spiritual gifts are to be taught. “God has given each of us specific gifts so that we may fulfill our responsibility to minister to God’s church.” That’s right… it is your responsibility to minister to God’s church… and God has equipped you to do that.
And what is the point of all of this? The common good of the church. If the Christian life is a process of being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ… we are never more like Jesus than when we are actively in community by ministering to the community.
The Bible fleshes this out in so many ways! Paul continues in chapter 13 by saying we are to love one another? How do we do that? By walking up to someone and saying… I love you? That’s good… but no… chapter 13, the love chapter, completely hinges on chapter 12… using how God has gifted you to minister to people. That’s what it means to love. That’s what it means to be a part of community with God’s people.
It means… I am just as concerned about your spiritual walk… I am just as concerned about your relationship with Jesus, as I am my own. Can I just be honest with you? If, collectively, we were just as concerned about everyone else’s relationship with Jesus… we’d have more people asking to be Sunday School teachers then we’d have students for.
We wouldn’t have to ask for nursery workers… because we’d have people saying… I want to make sure young parents have the opportunity to hear the gospel without distraction… and I want to love on kiddos in such a way that they see Jesus at a very young age.
I could go down the list of what we would be seeing… But look… I’m not here to make anyone feel guilty about what they’re not doing. And we do have several people that consistently avail themselves to minister and to work. I simply want to challenge you… based on what you’ve seen the Word of God say this morning… I want to challenge you with these 3 questions…
1. Am I Truly IN Community With God’s People?
2. How I Am Fulfilling My Responsibility To God & His Church By Using My Gifts?
3. Am I Just As Concerned About Other’s Spiritual Walk As I Am My Own?
I want to come back to Henri Nouwen… and finish telling you his story. But before I do… I want to share this with you. Today, we’re having a potluck dinner after we dismiss. What we asked everyone to do was bring a slow cooker, or a casserole dish to share with the church… right?
Now, I have no idea what all food is downstairs. I can tell you this… My family brought Taco Soup. It’s fantastic! It’s a meal that we have quite often. It’s hearty… It’s fairly healthy… and when we make a batch, it could feed my family 3 times. But what if I was the only one that brought food? Would we all get to eat? Sure. Would we still leave hungry though. Yea. It’s a big pot… and it’s hearty… and it’s good… but it’s not enough for everyone to be fully satisfied.
Here’s the punch line. Write this down… take it to the bank. You ready? The gathering of God’s Church is like a potluck dinner. If no one brings anything, there’ll be nothing to eat. If the pastors, and the Sunday School teachers all bring something, everyone will be fed… but most everyone will leave hungry. But, if everyone brings what they are supposed to, there will be a feast.
We Are A Potluck. And can I tell you… As a local congregation, as a local fellowship of God’s people, as a local church… My desire is that our gatherings are feasts. You play just as big of a role in that feast as I do… as Pastor Matthew does… as brother Jerry does… as brother Garry, brother Darrell, our Sunday School teachers do. Bring the food that God provided for you to share with everyone.
Back to Henri Nouwen. Henri died in 1996, but he didn’t die feeling alone. After reaching a point of being overwhelmed with these feelings of aloneness and isolation, Henri decided to make a radical change. He quit teaching at the Ivy League schools, and moved to Toronto. There he found a community church… and found a ministry at a place called Daybreak, which was a community for those who are cognitively impaired.
Henri had left teaching the best and brightest that America had to offer, to go live in community with people, whom many, could barely speak. Even if his new community members at Daybreak would had known that he wrote books, they likely wouldn’t have been able to read or appreciate them. His sense of belonging had nothing to do with the height of his success or the breadth of his achievements. “These people wanted him present. It didn't matter that he had written a book. It mattered that he was going to be home for dinner.”
Rather than trying to summarize Henri’s experience of doing the Christian life together with his new community, I want to just read a couple of pages from his book… “In The Name Of Jesus; Reflections On Christian Leadership”. Here, Nouwen reflects upon his experience when he was invited to Washington DC to speak, and he took one of his community members with him named Bill.
After a delicious buffet dinner in one of the ballrooms decorated with golden statues and little fountains, I was introduced to the audience. At that moment I still did not know what “doing it together” with Bill would mean. I opened by saying that I had not come alone, but was very happy that Bill had come with me. Then I took my handwritten text and began my address. At that moment, I saw that Bill had left his seat, walked up to the podium, and planted himself right behind me. It was clear that he had a much more concrete idea about the meaning of “doing it together” than I.
Each time I finished reading a page, he took it away and put it upside down on a small table close by. I felt very much at ease with this and started to feel Bill’s presence as a support. But Bill had more in mind. When I began to speak about the temptation to turn stones into bread as a temptation to be relevant, he interrupted me and said loudly for everyone to hear, “I have heard that before!” He had indeed, and he just wanted the priests and ministers who were listening to know that he knew me quite well and was familiar with my ideas.
Bill’s intervention created a new atmosphere in the ballroom: lighter, easier, and more playful. Somehow Bill had taken away the seriousness of the occasion and had brought to it some homespun normality. As I continued my presentation, I felt more and more that we were indeed doing it together. And it felt good.
When I came to the second part of and was reading the words, “The question most asked by the handicapped people with whom I live was ‘Are you home tonight?'” Bill interrupted me again and said, “That’s right, that is what John Smeltzer always asks.” Again there was something disarming about his remark. Bill knew John Smeltzer very well after living with him in the same house for quite some years. He simply wanted people to know about his friend. It was as if he drew the audience toward us, inviting them into the intimacy of our common life.
After I had finished reading my text and people had shown their appreciation, Bill said to me, “Henri, can I say something now?” My first reaction was “Oh, how am I going to handle this? He might start rambling and create an embarrassing situation,” but then I caught myself in my presumption that he had nothing of importance to say and said to the audience, “Will you please sit down. Bill would like to say a few words to you.” Bill took the microphone and said, with all the difficulties he has in speaking, “Last time, when Henri went to Boston, he took John Smeltzer with him. This time he wanted me to come with him to Washington, and I am very glad to be here with you. Thank you very much.” That was it, and everyone stood up and gave him a warm applause.
As we walked away from the podium, Bill said to me, “Henri, how did you like my speech?” “Very much,” I answered, “everyone was really happy with what you said.” Bill was delighted. As people gathered for drinks, he felt freer than ever. He went from person to person, introduced himself and asked how they liked the evening and told them all sorts of stories about his life in Daybreak.
As we flew back together to Toronto, Bill looked up from the word puzzle book that he takes with him wherever he goes and said, “Henri, did you like our trip?” “Oh Yes.” I answered, “it was a wonderful trip, and I am so glad you came with me.” Bill looked at me attentively and then said, “And we did it together, didn’t we?”
In the past, I had always given lectures, sermons, addresses, and speeches by myself. Often I had wondered how much of what I had said would be remembered. Now it dawned on me that most likely much of what I said would not be long remembered, but that Bill and I doing it together would not easily be forgotten.
As we landed, I said to Bill, “Bill, thanks so much for coming with me. It was a wonderful trip and what we did, we did it together in Jesus’ name.”
Bill and the community at Daybreak was transformed by Henri Nouwen’s presence. But here’s the deal… Henri Nouwen, the Ivy League Professor… renowned author and speaker… was transformed by truly becoming a part of the Daybreak community.
There’s something very significant and very transformative when we live the Christian life together.
Will you pray with me…