We’ve been in this series talking about priorities of Christian life. So far, we have talked about the priority of the Word. Last week we talked about the priority of Holy Communion. Today we’re going to talk about Fellowship. This passage informs us about key experiences the early church devoted themselves to consistently practice. In our Wesleyan heritage they are named the means of grace. Others refer to them as spiritual disciplines. But they are vitals ways we stay in close connection with God and with one another and the mission that God has called us to do and ultimately reach our eternal destiny of heaven. But today we focus on fellowship.
So, what is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word “fellowship”? I hope most of you would answer, “FOOD!” But while food is often involved in fellowship, this would be a very superficial understanding of fellowship.
I want us to look at the technical word for fellowship in the original Greek . There’s a couple of older commentators that I was reviewing on this and their description of fellowship. One is Barnes commentary. He indicates “the word rendered fellowship in the original Greek is “koinonia”. Most of us have probably heard that word. A lot of different churches have Sunday School classes or small groups called koinonia. It properly denotes having things in common or participation, society, friendship. It may apply to anything which may be possessed in common or which all may partake. Thus, all Christians have the same hope of heaven, the same joys, the same hatred of sin, the same enemies to contend with. Thus, they have the same subjects and conversations of feeling and prayer. They have all these things in common. And later, we know that the early Christians had their possessions in common living as a very tight community.
Alexander MacLaren, another older commentary observes this about fellowship, “Fellowship here as I take it applies to community of feeling.” So, emotions are involved in this. What is meant is that: These 3,000 early believers were driven together as sheep as when wolves are prowling around. And being individually weak, they held on to one another so that many weaknesses might make a strength as glimmering embers raked together might break into a flame.”
This moves us into the first important aspect of fellowship and what it gives us.
So, first and foremost Fellowship gives us Protection. We learn a lot from nature. We, as the church are called the sheepfold and Jesus is the good and great Shepherd. Jesus often taught in parables in the natural world around him providing spiritual truths. This is certainly appropriate as we think about fellowship.
I was reading an article from the Michigan State Extension. It mentions that cattle, sheep, goats, poultry and horses are all prey species. They have been domesticated by humans, but they are what is called prey species. These species also share one very important social characteristic. They are herd animals. They herd together whether we call them a flock for sheep, or clutch for chickens or a herd as with cattle. No matter what their herd is called, they are still a group of the same animals existing together in a cohesive unit. And they do this for many different reasons, but at the very top of the list…care to guess what it is? You have heard the expression: There is safety in numbers. An animal in isolation is very vulnerable and more likely to be a victim of a predator. There is simply protection, safety in numbers, when the herd is together.
A couple of years ago I watched an amazing video. It’s a little bit graphic so I won’t show it this morning. A group of tourists were in Africa on a tour bus. They stopped at this one spot by a river. They saw a herd of water buffalo that were coming up on a pride of lions. And there was this one young buffalo calf that got away from the herd and guess what happened? The lions saw the calf and were on the prowl. The Water Buffalo ran into the water, being chased by the lions. And guess what was in the water? Crocodiles! A crocodile then got hold of one part of this young water buffalo and the lions the other. This is not the end of the story. But when I think I’m having a bad day, I watch that video. And my day doesn’t seem so bad anymore. There was this powerful tug of war going on for the survival of this young calf. And the lions managed to get that young calf up on the shoreline and everybody on the bus was thinking this was the end for this young buffalo. Then an amazing thing happened. The herd showed up!! The alpha bull in that herd of water buffaloes confronted those lions. Then the emboldened herd chased off the lions and that young calf got up and went back into the herd, amazingly. People on the bus were oohing in amazement and even the tour guide was saying he had never seen anything like that before. Never! Wow! What a great lesson.
Listen carefully here. Again, this is not just some preachy word about how important fellowship is. It’s crucial. It’s critical. It’s lifesaving. It wasn’t an option for the early believers. It must not be an option in our Christian life and experience as well. The fellowship of believers places us in the herd, in the fold if you will, where we are not isolated and we are not easy victims. Fellowship saves us. And this is one of the great things that fellowship brings. It brings us protection.
When we are on mission trips, we share with the group that nobody ever goes out alone. No one is in isolation. We’re always together. We have a buddy system. We go in groups. Jesus never sent the disciples out alone. They were always at least by two. And how many times have we seen this in news reports? Sadly, a person goes out alone and they get into trouble and unfortunately, become victims.
Now I don’t want to be scary, or fear based this morning! But let’s be clear about this. We have a predator, the greatest alpha predator. 1 Peter 5:8 instructs us, “Be alert. Be of sober mind. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. The reality is that we are not only stronger together, but we’re also safer together. Let me move quickly to the next reason we make fellowship a priority.
Second, Fellowship gives us Direction. As sheep we need direction as we tend to stray easily. We all need direction for decisions that we make day by day. Every season of life has its own critical decisions. Some of you are making some big decisions in your life now. Then again, every day is a little different. Sometimes it’s radically different. What I did 5 years ago, 2 years ago, or 2 days ago may not help me face the decisions I’m making today.
There’s this wonderful word about fellowship in 1 John 1:7, “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his Son purifies us from all sin.” John talks a lot about light and darkness. The imagery here is one of Christ bringing light into the dark world. The gospel of John indicates that men prefer darkness to light for their deeds are evil. So, there’s a moral content to our fellowship. Christ brings his light into the world and more particularly into our lives. The consequence is that we are to live as morally upright and holy people as followers of Christ. We are light in him and his light is shining through us. So, we are called to be light in the world. But we cannot do this unless we’re first and foremost connected to the one who is the Light of the world. Kind of like that lamp in your house. It must be plugged in to the power source for it to work. Similarly, there’s a vertical part of this fellowship with Christ first and foremost. We’re connected to Christ first. We’re walking with Christ and receiving His light and direction. And then the horizontal aspect of it is our fellowship with others. We’re getting light from Christ and we’re sharing that light with others. Giving light is where we give direction to one another. It is almost like holding a flashlight for someone to walk in the darkness to give them safety and direction. This has huge spiritual ramifications.
John Piper tells about a powerful and serious story concerning an event in his ministry experience. One of his colleagues, Tom Stellar, had been counseling and praying with a person who had a terrible season of depression. A lady who was suicidal. They had made a pact with her that she would call them if she was having a hard evening and was really depressed before she did anything. One night she called. They met her in the middle of the night. They exhorted with her. They prayed and shared scriptures with her. Then they sat quietly, and they prayed more. And they waited. They said the spiritual darkness was like a blanket over her. He said after several hours it lifted. He says today this woman is fruitful and faithful and a minister in the church. She persevered. He said I don’t doubt that our exhortations that night by the power of the Holy Spirit saved her.
Now I realize that perhaps most of us are not at such a critical and low point in our lives. But as I reflect on my life more personally, I wonder and ask, where would I be today without the influence of godly people in my life? And I would ask you the same. Where would you be today without the influence of godly people in your life? It’s hard to say but I can tell you it wouldn’t be very good. I know I would not be a pastor. And I am certain that probably none of us would be here today. But the amazing thing is that God has designed the church in such a way that the gifts and graces that you have are beneficial to the other people within the church and within the kingdom of God. The gifts and graces that you have are like light to other people. You bring light into my journey. And hopefully I will bring light into your journey. God has designed the church as the body where we are integrated in such a manner to bring light to one another. We help give direction to one another all under the headship of Christ.
Another lesson from nature. Why do geese fly in a V? Show the picture here. Because it’s too hard to fly in an S! Seriously, scientists have determined that geese fly in a V shape for two reasons. One, because it conserves their energy. Each bird flies slightly above the other bird in front of them resulting in a reduction of wind resistance. And then the birds take turns with who is going to be the head honker in that flying V. So, they help each other, they conserve energy, and they can fly higher and stronger and longer in that V.
The other benefit is that the V helps the birds keep track of one another. They know when a bird is missing. Flying in a formation may assist with communication and coordination within the group. Even modern-day fighter pilots use that formation for the same reason.
I think that’s why it’s so important for Christians to be together. This is why we place such a great emphasis on small groups, study groups or SS classes. They are our version of the flying V.
One of the nature articles said it follows that birds that fly in formations glide more often and reduce energy expenditure. However, there are other birds like the pelican that usually fly alone. Their heart rate is much higher, and they must expend much more energy. I find too many Christians are flying alone like pelicans when we need to be flying together in fellowship. Fellowship of believers is like the flying V for geese. We can bear each other’s burdens and share each other’s sorrows. We can pray for each other. And as Wesley would say looking over each other in love. Are you involved in a “flying V” group? I highly encourage you to find your flying V at 5 Rivers.
So, fellowship brings us Protection and it gives us Direction.
And lastly, Fellowship gives us Restoration. One of the more famous bulletin bloopers reads, “Don’t let worry kill you. Let the church help.” The idea of course is that the church is meant to be a place where the weary and the heavy laden can lay down their burdens and those who struggle with peace can find a sanctuary. But if we’re not careful we can add more weight, unnecessary things in our life, even doing the work of the church. But the design of the church is to be a place where burdens are lifted, and hearts are enlarged by the love of Christ. A place where unnecessary weights are taken from us. A place where we find renewal and restoration. Like the Psalmist said about the Good Shepherd, He makes me lie down in green pastures…He leads me beside still waters…and then…He restores my soul”. And we all need a place where we can be restored in our spirit, mind and emotion.
Nearly every church has some form of a Fellowship Hall. We do not have one here. But we have a space designated for fellowship. But back again to the earlier question, what usually happens in a Fellowship Hall? Food, right? Prior to the service we experience some fellowship and there’s goodies over there – coffee, water, juice, doughnuts and other goodies. Let me just say personally that I don’t think anybody likes fellowship, coffee, and doughnuts more than I do. Someone has jokingly said that people are coming here just for the food items! But the key principle behind this kind of fellowship is nobody must go through any special training, nobody must memorize Bible verses, and nobody must do anything special to be involved in this kind of fellowship! You don’t have to worry about your family, your children because it’s a safe place. You come in and simply relax, hopefully. There’s no stress and no anxiety. I think there’s a real place for rest and genuinely having fun as a part of our fellowship.
Christians can have fun, right? I’m persuaded that Christians will be having the best of fun all the way through eternity. That’s not to minimize the serious nature of our work here. But it does make a place where we can find rest and relaxation amidst the rush and push of the world around us. One of my favorite pictures of Jesus is when he is smiling and even laughing. Now, certainly one of the greatest images that we have in our salvation is Jesus dying on the cross. But he didn’t stay on the cross. We serve a risen Savior. Hebrews 12:2 says, “Let us set our eyes on Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. Who for the the joy that was set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame and set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Notice it says ‘joy’ that was set before him. Jesus endured the cross, victorious over death, hell, and the grave. He comes to bring life to all and he brings lasting joy to us. The world is filled with passing pleasures that can never truly satisfy. The world may heap burdens upon us and weights upon us, but Christ comes to bring us life. To bring us true and lasting joy that restores life. I believe that’s the greatest experience of fellowship.
Well, I want to close with a fishing story involving fellowship. The story happens after Jesus was risen in John chapter 21. He’s back at the Sea of Galilee. He had bread and fish on the morning fire for breakfast. His disciples had been out in the boat fishing all night. They were weary and tired. And then he asked them, “Hey guys! Have you caught anything?” Now Jesus said that tongue and cheek because he knew they had been out in the boat all night long and had nothing to show for it. He said, “Put your net down on the other side”. And here’s what John 21:10 says, “Jesus said bring some of the fish you have caught. And Simon Peter climbed back in the boat, dragging the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153. But even with so many the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, come and have breakfast. And none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?”. They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came took the bread, gave it to them and did the same with the fish. There is a powerful message in this story for each of us.
We are toiling and expending our time and energy and so often we are empty. We’re exhausted from all our toil and labor. Jesus says, “Come and have breakfast with me. Have fellowship with me.” And I think the things we’re talking about in this series, spending time in the word and coming to Holy Communion are all ways in which we fellowship with Christ and he with us. So, fellowship is protection, gives direction, and it brings restoration. True renewal for us. Our lives our empty and there is only One person who can fill them…He is truly the Bread of life and the Only One who can bring fulfillment to our lives. And the only way that can happen is through our fellowship with Him and with each other. I hope we all make fellowship a priority in our lives where we have protection, direction and restoration.
May we pray? Lord, thank you for inviting us to come and spend time with you. We pray we will not turn down that invitation. And so, God we may be protected and directed and find true restoration and joy in your company and in the company of others that are a part of your church. We praise you O Lord and thank you for the fellowship that we share together that is precious and eternal. We praise you in the name of Jesus. Amen.