"God Keeps Us Together" (Philippians 4:1-9) - Mack Dennis

Well, good morning, friends. I understand that this fall season you have been learning about the theme of togetherness. And so I want to tell you about how the Bible and some of the scriptures found there remind me of togetherness. And in fact, it seems to me that togetherness is an idea that God started with all the way back to the very beginning of time, the beginning of creation. So if you will, Would you come along with me and let's use our imaginations for a moment? And if you will imagine with me that we are observing the very beginning of the world as God begins to create. Now, at first, nothing was together, and we find God's Spirit hovering over deep, dark space, and nothing matches and nothing makes sense, and there's things smashing together and there's loud banging sounds, and there's other things smashing into things, and it's all topsy-turvy, and— well, nothing is together until God begins to speak. And the first thing God says is, let there be light. And all of a sudden everything brightens, and God can see all of the things that have been smashing into each other, and it's like a big messy puzzle that hadn't been put together yet, and Or if you've ever been handed a big box of Legos and no instructions, and you just spread them out all over the floor, that's how creation begins. And so God begins to put things together. And God puts the waters together, and the earth together, and He puts the elephants and the giraffes together, and the dolphins, and the hummingbirds, and guess the mosquitoes, but we won't get into that. But that's the very first thing God does, is put things together. But then, but then I believe God steps back from all of the things God has made and put together and says, you know what? Something's missing. In fact, I believe God says, someone is missing. And so God scoops up some of the brand-new earth and begins to mold it together and put it all together. And in fact, one of the Psalms says God knits this person together. Layer by layer, hair follicle by hair follicle, finger by finger, toe by toe, and all of a sudden God has made an earthling. And God names the earthling Adam. Which is a great name for an earthling because you know what Adam means? Earthling. But then God sends Adam to play with all the animals and the birds of the air and the creepy crawly things. And Adam has a pretty good time for a while naming the birds and naming the creepy crawly things and naming the big animals and the small animals. Then God decides, you know what? I think this Adam earthling is going to get pretty lonesome after a while. And so God goes to work putting together another earthling, and God puts Adam into a deep, dark sleep, and makes Eve, and sends Eve to be with Adam so that they can be together. Together. And so it occurs to me that the very first story in the very first book of the Bible is about God putting things together and people together. It just seems to be what God likes to do. Later, God will send God's Son, Jesus, who, guess what? Likes to put us together. In fact, Jesus, once upon a time, is standing over a hillside looking over His favorite city, Jerusalem, and He's a little bit sad on this particular day, and He says to Jerusalem, though nobody can hear Him, He says it to Himself, Oh, Jerusalem, how I wish I could gather you like a hen gathers her chicks, and protect you underneath My wings, and bring you close together to be with Me. You know, I told this story to another group of children one time, and they said, do you mean to tell me Jesus is a chicken? And I said, well, sort of. Jesus compares himself to a hen, a mother hen who loves to bring her children close to her and keep them safe and keep them warm, keep them Together. Together. That's one of God's favorite things to do. I wonder if you've ever been afraid, or you felt lonely. Maybe it was after a bad day at school, or maybe it's in the middle of the night when there's a thunderstorm and the lightning is flashing through your curtains, and the thunder is crashing so loud that You just want to run to your mom, or your dad, or your grandparent, somebody to give you a hug. And you do, and they give you a hug, and you feel so safe and secure, like you belong, and like you have a place where you can go, where you know someone loves you. That's what Jesus is like, and that's what Jesus loves to do. Gather you to Himself, gather you all together like a mother hen. Well, it also occurs to me that Jesus kind of likes to be around your type. You know, there's a very short story in the Gospels where Jesus is traveling through this region called Judea. And as he comes through, he's kind of famous at this point because he's been doing a lot of healing and a lot of preaching of these really wonderful stories that no one's ever heard of before. And he comes through region, and all the children begin to come to Him. In fact, so many children are gathering around Him that the disciples begin to come up to the parents, like even the moms, and the dads, and the grandparents are bringing little babies to Him so that He can lay His hands on them and pray with them. But there's so many of them that the disciples say, wait a minute, wait a minute, there's too many kids around here! And they start backing people up, and moving the parents away, and not letting the kids through. And they probably lift their leg up like this, and they're like, this will keep all the children away! Doesn't work, because Jesus says, hey, guys, let the little children come to me, and do not stop them, because heaven belongs to them. You know what I believe Jesus is saying is, These children know more about how I think than you do. And you know what else I think that means? I think it means that Jesus loves being friends with children. In fact, I think if Jesus came into this sanctuary right now, He would pause in the narthex and really consider sitting in the balcony, because those are really His kind of people. Actually, I think He'd come right down this aisle, and He'd sit with y'all, because He knows that you know that He loves being with you. See, this is what God does. God loves to put things together, and beautiful things together, and create the whole world and the whole universe, but most of all, God loves together. And even more, God loves to be together with you. And did you know that I believe in this very moment Jesus is already with you? Whenever you're together, whenever 2 or more of you are together and you're doing the things that Jesus taught you to do and you're singing the the songs, and you're learning the stories, and you pray, and you bless, He's already with you. So bless you. Bless one another. And may the grace of the Lord Jesus, and the love of God, and the togetherness of the Holy Spirit pull you in, and keep you now and forever. Amen. Amen.