Life Together — Sermon by Rev. Bryan Biba

let us

pray oh Lord how good it is when your

people dwell together as

one in

unity give us Lord the unity that only

you can

give and may my speech and message not

be plausible words of human wisdom but a

demonstration of the spirit and of power

that our faith may not rest in the

wisdom of men but in the power of the

Living God we ask this in the name of

the father and of the son and of the

holy spirit amen you may be

seated today we conclude our series on

the pillars of Christ Church's

Vision over the past few weeks we've

gone over

worship catechesis Mission and now life

together our fourth and final pillar

life together is a contemporary English

rendering of a very important word in

the Greek New Testament the word

coia coia can mean lots of different

things depending on the context it can

mean to share in to participate to

partner with to

Fellowship to commune

communion and belong

coia is the distinctive feature of the

church The Community of Faith the body

of Christ it's one of the things that

makes us different from the world

Dietrick Bon Hofer wrote in his book

life together that the church is the

only human community that exists for the

sake of others for those who are outside

of its walls who are not yet part of the

body indeed our life together is not

just for us it is for those who are not

yet part of us the

communion the coin Andia the life

together that we share in his great work

the city of God St Augustine wrote about

all human communities about what makes a

community and he wrote two things that

all Earthly communities are created by

humans and are united by their shared

loves all of us are part of many

different communities we're all many of

us part of this city Savannah Savannah

was created by humans and we're United

together by our love for this place for

the natural beauty for its history uh

for our culture

here you may also have uh be part of

another Community uh maybe a sports team

uh sports team that did really well

yesterday I will say add

unexpectedly um maybe you belong because

you were part of building that place you

attended that place you love uh the team

what they

represent this country indeed was

founded by humans and we are united by

shared values by things that we all love

life liberty the pursuit of

happiness all human communities are this

way but the church is different the

church is unique the the church was

created by God not by humans the church

is a creature of water and the spirit

humans do not build or grow the church

we are all engrafted into the church by

God's grace it's the only Community

humans did not make and moreover the

church is not United by our mutual love

but United by the love of God the love

that God has for each one of us that is

what has constituted the church John

writes in his first epistle chapter 4 we

love because he first loved

us it's God's love for us that makes it

possible for us to love God and love

neighbor as we just confessed without

God's love we cannot fulfill the

Commandments coia is a good description

of what the life of this community is

the community created by God founded on

his love we share together participate

with one another belong to one

another coia is a work of God something

he does on our

behalf yet this does not mean we have no

role to

play the church can either grow and

strengthen coin

or we can shrink and weaken

coia the coia of the church our life

together grows through evangelism by

telling the good news of Jesus Christ to

those who do not know what he has done

for us to those who sit in

darkness our dasis inced this past

weekend was all about evangelism our

Bishop Bishop Alex charged all of our

parishes to think about what it means to

be

places where the gospel is preached to

those who've not

heard but not just that we can also

strengthen our

coia there's two Dimensions to this coia

there's the vertical Dimension the coia

we all share with God and then there's a

horizontal Dimension the coinonia that

we share with one another indeed these

two Dimensions reflect the two great

Commandments the love of God and the

love of neighbor so you'll be hearing

more about growing coin

evangelism a little later today in over

the next few weeks but this morning

right now I want to focus on how we

strengthen our life together how can we

make our coia stronger and our two of

our scripture readings speak to this the

first is Our Gospel reading from John 15

if you have a Bible uh open it with

me John 15 speaks to the vertical

dimension of our coinonia the light

together that we all share with

God

Jesus in his last supper discourse says

in verse one I am the True

Vine my father is the vine dresser every

branch in me that does not bear fruit he

takes away every branch that does bear

fruit he prunes that it may bear

more so Jesus is clear that we

Christians are called to bear fruit

fruits of the the spirit in our personal

life the fruit of good works for God and

neighbor but like a Vine and its

branches the church can only bear fruit

if it is connected to Christ if we

remain abide in Jesus the source of our

life together this word abide that's

what it means it means to remain to stay

where we are in Christ

Jesus continues in verse four and five

abide in me as I in you as the branch

cannot bear fruit by itself unless it

abides in the vine neither can you

unless you abide in

me so in order to bear fruit we must

remain in

Christ baptism engrafts us into Christ

unites us to him by water and the spirit

and it is there friends that we must

remain remain in our baptism returning

again and again to what Christ has done

for us by his

grace all the fruit that we may produce

in this life is only by the grace of God

by his

Mercy John stot the great uh Anglican

preacher and theologian called this

Grace dependent

effort Grace dependent effort I love

that this is the call of the Christian

Life to to abide in Christ so that we

might bear

fruit but how exactly does this work

what does this practically mean well

Jesus continues verses 9 and

10 as the father has loved me so I have

loved you abide in my love if you keep

my Commandments you will abide in my

love just as I have kept my father's

Commandments and abide in his love

that's what abiding is all about it's

about remaining in the love of God each

one of us has been invited to share in

the eternal love of the Triune god

father Son and Holy Spirit the same love

between the father and the son is what

we are invited to participate in to coin

Ania

in when our lives are grounded in God's

love then we bear

fruit we will obey Christ's Commandments

not out of fear or out of Duty but

motivated by genuine love his love for

us flows out of our hearts to our love

for one

another Abiding Love of God Is

Fundamental to this vertical

coinonia we live in an age where um our

identity seems fraught it's become

seeped into our politics people are are

Waring over who they are what is the

truest thing about them let me speak it

very clearly today the truest thing

about you is not your family it's not

your work not your

citizenship not your gender or

sexuality not your political ideology

the truest thing about you is that you

are loved by God you are loved by an

unimaginable

eternal love Nothing Else

Matters and it's not just you your

family your friends your neighbors your

enemy that person who's going to vote

differently than you will they are loved

by

God this love this should be the

animating principle of Our Lives this

should be the thing that guides all of

our

decisions This Love should motivate us

to share the good news with those who

are

lost the nature of coia coin Andia love

is that it's always reaching outside of

itself always reaching out to those

outside of the walls outside of the

community seeking motivated by the love

of God to bring those in to

fellowship and

yet all too often we're distracted

we forget about the love of God we

forget about what Christ has done for us

we live our lives thinking that we make

ourselves that we sustain

ourselves and then we become worried we

become scared we don't trust in God to

provide for us and inevitably we will

love ourselves more than

God all of us struggle with forgetting

the good

news abiding in Christ means returning

day by day hour by hour Moment by moment

to the truth of our existence to reality

itself that all of us are loved with an

unimaginable love this was Thomas

Kramer's vision for the book of common

prayer that through the Daily Office of

morning and evening prayer through the

worship of God's people in word and

sacrament

the good news of the Gospel would be

recalled and remembered in the body and

then we would be grounded in love sent

out on

Mission that's why we gather on

Sundays that's why we listen to

scripture pray and

worship it reminds us of God's love

which surpasses

knowledge because it's remaining in that

love that's the only way to bear fruit

the only way to strengthen our vertical

coia all of us are called to do this

personally and we all do this together

as a

body abide in his

love let's move on to the horizontal

Dimension Paul's uh writing in Galatians

Galatians 6 · chapter mention

chapter

6 father Craig just finished up a

Wednesday night bible study on Galatians

I hope you joined him for that Galatians

is such an important such a foundational

book for the

church here Paul is writing to a divided

Church in Asia Minor there seems to be

confusion confusion over the gospel

confusion over Paul's Authority as an

apostle and this confusion has

undermined coia undermined life

together sound familiar is there any

confusion in our world you better

believe it we need to hear what Paul

says in Galatians here in chapter 6 Paul

gives four concrete ways that the gala

church can strengthen their coia their

horizontal coia and these are true for

us today as they were true for Paul in

his

day the first way that we strengthen

coia is by restoring Sinners with

gentleness look with me at verse one of

Galatians

6 Brothers if anyone is caught in any

transgression you who are spiritual

should restore him in a spirit of

gentleness keep watch on yourself lest

you too be

tempted the church is a community of

redeemed Sinners all of us are

constantly struggling Against the World

the Flesh and the devil and all of us

will fail

we should lament when we experience sin

in the church but we should not be

surprised we are a community of people

who are

redeemed all Christians who are seeking

to Faithfully walk with Christ in the

church we will sin on occasion the

important thing for Paul is how we treat

one another when it

happens do we treat our fellow brother

and sister har

ly judging them or do we treat them

gently do we seek

restoration or

condemnation do we pridefully believe

that ourselves that we are better than

our sinful brother or sister that we

never fall on occasion like they do or

in humility do we see ourselves as no

better than them as a sinner for whom

Christ died

when we sin we need our fellow

Christians to restore us we need to hear

the words of absolution the reminder to

all of us that Jesus has died for us he

forgives us and that forgiveness is

accessible to us as a free gift if we

put our faith in

him the second

uh concrete way to strengthen coia is is

in verse two it's bearing one another's

burdens Paul writes bear one another's

burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ

if anyone thinks he is something when he

is nothing he deceives himself but let

each one test his own work and then his

reason to boast will be in himself alone

and not in his neighbor for each will

have to bear his own

load in the first century by law Roman

soldiers could compel any local person

to carry equipment for

them I mean can you imagine you know

driving by Hunter Army Airfield or Fort

Stewart and the soldiers saying you

carry my bag for

me but that's what it was like in the

first century that was the

law we see this in the the gospel of

Matthew chapter 27 when they compel

Matthew 27 · chapter mention

Simon of sirene to bear the cross for

Jesus but the law of Christ is different

the law of Christ compels members of the

church to Bear one another's burdens

each one of us has a burden to

bear sometimes that burden is light

other times it is

heavier all of us experience times of

struggle times of

difficulty all of us have a Time

where we need help from others do you

remember a time when you needed help

from

others whenever you experience that the

church is called to Bear one another's

burdens for the stronger to help the

weaker life is difficult friends this is

no

surprise but we are not called to face

this life alone we need each other we

need to Bear one another's birth burdens

in humility not counting ourselves as

greater than our weaker

brother but seeing in them our savior

Christ who died for

them this is not just true for those

within our coia within our fellowship

bearing one another's burdens is also

something we do for Outsiders for those

outside of the body he says manifest in

our Mercy Ministries caring for the poor

the oppressed the sick we do this every

Thursday with the homeless in Savannah

inviting them in feeding them trying to

help them get back on their

feet those who dwell in the cony of the

church bear one another's

burdens this past week we celebrated in

the calendar the Feast of St terz of

Avala the great uh 16th century

Carmelite

Mystic and she wrote in one of her uh

letters love is the measure of our

willingness to Bear

crosses if you're not willing to Bear

the burden to bear the cross of another

perhaps it's because you don't really

love

them the third uh concrete way to

strengthen coinonia is in verse six we

are called to share generously and

abundantly Paul

continues let e each one who has taught

the word share all good things with the

one who teaches do not be deceived God

is Not mocked whatever one SWS that he

will also reap for the one who SWS to

his own flesh will reap from the flesh

corruption but the one who SWS to the

spirit will reap eternal life

this is one example of something we see

throughout the New Testament Paul talks

often about the distribution and the

collection when he would visit a church

he would often take up an offering uh

from wealthy churches throughout uh the

Empire so that money could be sent back

to churches that were struggling

experiencing famine we see this in 1

Corinthians

16 and we continue this practice with

the offering the offering is not simply

the church get getting money from you so

we could pay our

bills it's continuing this work of

collecting and distributing resources

those who have much are called to give

what they have to those who have little

and we do this in all kinds of ways here

we have as father Craig has spoken

recently a family emergency fund money

set aside by the vestri precisely for

this to help those fallen on Hard Times

to help those who are poor

who don't

have here Paul gives us an important

principle that should inform our

financial giving if we spend our money

on worldly things on things that

entertain our own desires then it will

reap

corruption however if we give generously

of our wealth to the church if we seek

his kingdom in our giving then we will

reap eternal life not just in the future

but

today it will empower the church to

extend God's kingdom to those who are

outside the economies of the world

function according to

scarcity but the kingdom of God

functions according to abundance the

kingdom of God is not a zero sum game we

give generously and sacrificially

expecting God to exponentially multiply

our gift just like that young boy with

the Five Loaves and two fishes giving

what he had expecting God to do the

unbelievable we say it every week all

things come from thee Oh Lord and of

your own have we given

thee we can only say that because we

share in coia together giving generously

and

abundantly the fourth and final concrete

way to strengthen our coia is doing good

to one another look with me at verse 9

Paul writes let us not grow weary of

doing good for in due season we will

reap if we do not give up so then as we

have opportunity let us do good to

everyone especially to those who are of

the household of

faith we'll be having a stewardship

series soon but consider this a

Prelude the thing about money and giving

money is that that's easy God doesn't

just want your money he wants all of you

body soul mind

Spirit he wants you to be his hands and

feet in the world the ascended Jesus is

at the right hand of the father he's not

bodily present with us the way he was

2,000 years ago but he has sent his

spirit and by his Spirit we the church

the body of Christ today are his

incarnate presence in this world we say

it every week right after we pray for

the

money lift up your

hearts lift up your

hearts God wants all of you and he wants

you to do good to your neighbors to your

friends to your family to your enemies

especially to one another in the

church so how might God be calling you

to bless your fellow believer this

week and what way can you offer

practical help to the body how might God

be calling you to use your gifts for the

mutual upbuilding of the

church and if you have struggles with

giving money with giving a tithe you're

never going to give yourself to God

friends our life together our conia

begins with abiding in the love of

Christ God founded the church because he

loves us and as we seek Christ in

worship and scripture and prayer we

remember his mercy and Grace we remember

the

cross what he has done for

us and the Holy Spirit will work in us

to bear fruit the fruit of nature

neighbor love and in the church the

coinonia the life together looks like

restoring Sinners with

gentleness bearing one another's burdens

sharing

generously doing good to one

another as we attend to these vertical

and horizontal dimensions of coinonia we

will fan the Flames of our life together

coinonia is like a bonfire God lights

the fire and by his grace thanks be to

God we can't put it

out but we can grow the fire we can

strengthen the fire and we can invite

others to sit around the fire with

us the Christian Life is necessarily A

communal life in a world obsessed with I

and me

I mean that's all you're hearing in the

political ads these days I can't wait

for them to stop I and me

right we are called to be a people who

focus on the we who focus on the

US to

ask not what's best for me but what's

best for the church what's best for the

community what's best for the

kingdom and this is my great prayer for

us Christ Church to be a people who are

constant constantly Fanning the Flames

of coia in every worship service every

class every activity every Ministry

everything we do should be about

building up our life together our

fellowship so let us be the

church let us take

courage May the world see Christ in his

people by the power of the spirit let us

bring peace to those who are far off for

the love of

Christ let us be the

church in the name of the father and of

the son and of the holy spirit amen