2003 Annual Council

Monday, October 13, 2003

UNITED IN THE FELLOWSHIP OF FELLOWSHIP

How Mutuality With Other Believers Strengthens

Our Individual and Corporate Lives In God's Grace

Dr. Rosa Banks

Director, Human Relations, North-American Division

"This is a big old ship. She creaks, she rocks, she rolls, and at times she makes you want to throw up. But she gets where she's going. Always has, always will, until the end of time. With or without us."

- J. F. Powers, "Wheat That Springeth Green"

President Paulsen,

Executive Committee Members,

Platform Associates,

Brothers and Sisters in Christ.

I have a responsibility to discharge this morning that is one of the greatest duties that I can have as a human relations professional, and that is to somehow convey to you the impact of our relationship to one another at this time in the church's history.

Our theme: "United in the Fellowship of Fellowship." That is: "How Mutuality With Other Believers Strengthens Our Individual and Corporate Lives, In God's Grace."

Before we begin, please turn to your neighbor on the left or on the right and say, "Neighbor, we don't have to look alike, just love alike!" (Pause) Thank you. Let us pray. "Lord, lest we forget Gethsemane, Lest we forget Thine Agony, Lest We Forget Thy Prayer for Unity. Lead Us To Calvary. Amen."

Devotional

Our devotional is launched from the Biblical experience of the young man who stood at a distance with his eyes focused intently upon Jesus. You and I know it as the story of the rich, young ruler, found in Matthew chapter 19, and in Mark and Luke as well. But I submit to you this morning, that it is much more than an inspirational Bible story. It is Christ modeling for God's children down

through the ages, how we must treat one another if His church is to speak a convincing and redeeming word.

Now to see this experience from the diversity perspective, we must stress the thought sequence of the events in Matthew 19 rather than the immediate time sequence. Certain connecting words in the passage allow us to do this, i.e., the conjunction and meaning (in addition to; as well as), which appears in the passage 7 times; the conjunction then meaning (immediately afterward), and the adverb also, meaning besides and in addition as well.

This modeling of inclusion experience took place in that part of Judea that is east of the Jordan River. Jesus was traveling to Perea from Galilee, and as was often the case, He was followed by a vast multitude of diverse people groups.

1. He TAUGHT those who came along for instruction;

2. He HEALED the sick and people with disabilities;

3. He ANSWERED the local Pharisees concerning the volatile 1^st Century issue of divorce; And when that was over;

4. He EXPLAINED to His disciples that part of Moses's law dealing with when marriage is necessary.

Thus far, all the groups with whom our Lord interacted had been well received and fully accepted without hesitation by the disciples. However, it was quite a different story when the mothers brought their children to be blessed.

"Get away from the Master!" they told the mothers; "Can't you see He has no time for your insignificant requests. Get along now! Take the children and move on!" And get this: Those leaders actually thought they were protecting Jesus from annoyance.

Though the young ruler found the disciples' behavior not uncommon for his day, since Jesus had broken down barriers already, he wondered what Christ would do in that situation. He did not have to wonder long.

Mark says that Jesus was much displeased at the peremptory, i.e., (offensively self-assured) action of the disciples. (10:14). He could have waited until later to deal with the problem privately; after all they had come from different backgrounds, and possibly needed a little more time to understand this new way of doing church. But Jesus nipped their poor behavior in the bud right then and there. "Don't you stop these mothers!" He told them. "Let the children come to Me. They are what the kingdom of Heaven is all about." Then He reached down and picked up one little toddler after another, and He didn't stop until He had blessed them, everyone.

We marvel even today at Christ's ability to speak simultaneously to wealthy and educated professionals, to street people, and to people with no education at all. And we must remember, too, that this was a phenomenon to the young man, because most religions during his day didn't welcome everybody.

GREEKS excluded slaves from non social groupings.

JEWISH temples separated worshipers by race and gender.

ROME had mostly a male aristocracy.

But here was one Leader Who was different - Who welcomed all alike. "Whosoever will, come, and take the water of life freely. . ." (Rev. 22:17). He was forming His faith community out of diverse people groups, and He captured the attention of this young man.

Of all the significant events that the ruler may have seen, Ellen White observes that he was most impressed with the way Jesus treated the children. She says in DA, p. 518, "When the young man saw all the love Christ manifested toward the children, his heart kindled with love for the Savior. . .and he felt a desire to be a disciple." Folks, this is Gospel, isn't it! People making decisions for Christ by watching us!

Kindled is an old Norse word for candle meaning his heart "started burning, caught fire, called forth emotions and a response." That is why the man came running to the altar, as it were, and fell down before the preacher Jesus, to entrust Him with the most important question: "What must I do to inherit eternal life?"

Let us shift gears right about here and clothe ourselves with three basic truths from this experience, to see if they will help us touch bases with our own situations. The first is this: Just as the rich young ruler was watching Jesus:

I. PEOPLE ARE ALL AROUND US, WATCHING US

They are watching Christians in general and SDA Christians in particular, as individuals and as the corporate church. What is it that they expect to see? From the diversity perspective:

A. Fellowship in the Fellowship

A fellowship is an organized community of believers who share a common experience of Christ. Fellowship in the fellowship occurs when there is an organic relationship of the parts of the whole, i.e., the believers are united in love, faith and loyalty to God and to one another - their common bond being their faith in Jesus Christ.

Fellowship in the fellowship, requires that the believers have a double fellowship experience, i.e., an ideal relationship with God (realizing that all who are not on the Lord's side are against Him - Matt. 12:30); and a practical relationship with one another. And something else that is required: the believers must meet this single condition: they must Walk In The Light.

John says ". . . if [believers] walk in the light of God's presence just as Christ does, we have a wonderful fellowship and joy with one another. . . ." [in the fellowship.] (1John l:7 LB) Walk refers to the whole round of activities of the individual life; and Light refers to the divine light of God - that light that radiates in great splendor throughout this Book.

You've probably heard the amusing story of the man who was looking for the perfect church when his friend said to him: "If you ever find it, please don't join it, for then it would not be perfect anymore."

People who are watching SDA Christians are not looking for perfection. Neither are they expecting Adventist Christians to be quiet little church mice who never rock the boat. Most understand that oneness is not blandness and peace is not always silence. What sincere people want to know is simply, "Do the demands of our individual and corporate walk with Jesus require us to:

believe the same things, i.e., have a common faith (Eph. 4:4)

b) speak the same things, i.e., agree in purpose as well as in words (I Cor. 1:10) and

c) practice the same things, i.e., follow Christ's example by fully obeying the truth that we have. (Phil. 3:15-17).

In other words, to see fellowship in our fellowship, people who are looking on must see us individually and corporately walk the talk! If they can see Christian virtues in us rather than vices, we will win more people to this Church by accident than we now win to Christ on purpose.

Many times in my work in human relations I have had occasion to doubt that Christian unity would ever exist throughout the worldwide Church. Let me explain:

1. When I consider that in certain divisions we are on different cultural pages in relationship to certain challenges that we face.

2. When I see various cultures going in their separate ways with hardly a conversation with some of the others;

3. When I see different groups within the same culture having no common ground for communication;

4. When I sense that priority is not being placed on transforming our fellowship into one new humanity in Christ; I wonder what the future is for us. I guess one's doubts can be born of the false assumption that spiritual unity will come by human accomplishment.

Oh but when I remember that God has a very large investment at stake here in our not being divided; that the idea of oneness or wholeness is a part of the very character of God, I am reminded once again that oneness is central to the Gospel which our church preaches.

This means that everything that God is and does is on the side of our church members worldwide functioning as brothers and sisters in Him. On occasions like this when we are discussing unity I get encouraged all over again.

I could hang out here homiletically, but we must move on to our second truth, which is this: As the young man saw Jesus communicate grace to a multitude in competition, judgment, and ranking -

II. THIS WORLD OF "UNGRACE" MUST SEE SDAs COMMUNICATE GRACE THROUGH "MUTUALITY"

B. (i.e.,) Mutuality With Other Believers

Let me get right to the point. SDAs need to get busy! I believe Jesus Christ wants us to grow and mature and accomplish something for Him that we have not yet done. What is it? Well, there could be many specific possibilities. But in general, I believe that it is time for us to show the communities around us to a greater extent, that we are Christ's Disciples, that we do love one another, and by that love draw we are drawing people to Jesus Christ.

They'll know the difference, because our world of "ungrace" (as PhillipYancey calls it in Church-Why Bother?) embraces a strictly hierarchic relationship model - one where there are positions of power and rule and people lording that power and rule over others. Christians get caught up in this, too!

For example, the disciple's behavior toward the mothers and their children was consistent with society's model. However, it was in sharp contrast with the relationship model that Christ embraces and teaches. His is the non hierarchical community model that He instituted for Christians long ago. Jesus' model is not based on power and rule, and lording power and rule over others, but on mutuality.

Mutuality is the foundation of Christian community, of every relationship in Christ. The Greek word for mutuality is ALLELON (Ah-LAY-lon), meaning "one anotherness." In the context of John 17, Allelon is God asking us to be His one another people - that special fellowship that represents Him on this earth. Let me try and explain mutuality a little more clearly here.

Mutuality tells us that all of us are a part of something together; that we are part of each other - much like Siamese twins, in that we must be so attached to each other that we cannot be separated and so we must work together for our own survival.

Mutuality is a concept that is not overly emphasized in many churches. What you hear about in most churches are authority and submission to authorities; and obedience to authorities but not one-anotherness. Yet, when we read the New Testament, the foundational concept of mutuality among believers just jumps right out at us in over 150 texts that express how we must show our love to one another.

To see some of them in action, let me repeat a few in alphabetical order to stimulate our thinking about the responsibilities we have toward our brethren in Christ, wherever they congregate around the world. Do you/do we?

1. Accept one another? (Acts 4:15).

2. Bear one another's burdens? (Gal. 6:2).

3. Comfort one another? (I Thess. 4:18)? How about

4. Do not speak evil of one another? (Jas. 4:11).

5. Encourage one another? (Heb. 3:13).

6. Forgive one another?

7. Greet one another with a holy kiss? (I Cor. 16:20) The operating word there is holy.

8. Have compassion for one another?

9. Intricately involve ourselves with one another? (Rom. 12:5).

10. Judge not one another? (Jas. 4:12).

11. Kindly show affection to one another? (Rom. 12:10).

12. Live in peace with one another? (I Thess. 5:13).

13. Minister spiritual gifts to one another? (I Pet. 4:10).

14. Never become conceited, provoking one another? (Gal. 5:26).

15. Owe no one anything, but to love one another? (Rom. 13:8).

16. Pray for one another? Are we:

17. Quick to serve one another? To:

18. Regard one another as more important than ourselves? (Phil. 2:3). (Clincher)

19. Submit to one another? (1 Pet. 5:5).

20. Teach one another? (Col. 3:16).

21. Use hospitality to one another without grudging? (I Pet. 4:19).

22. Wherefore, do you/I/we also receive one another? (Rom. 15:7). Do we:

23. Exhort one another daily? (Heb. 3:13). Do:

24. You/I/We wash one another's feet? (Jn. 13:14). And are we so:

25. Zealous about making progress on the other one anotherness examples, the do's as well as the don'ts?

How we answer these questions individually and corporately may reveal how well or how poorly we are fulfilling our responsibility to love one another as Christ loves us. (Jn. 13:34-35). If we have failed in any area, we need to do three things:

a) Repent of our lack of concern, our inactivity, or whatever has hindered us;

b) Confess our shortcomings in this area to God, and

c) Resolve to apply with zeal these "one anotherness" passages in our individual and corporate lives.

Well, here is our third and final point: The rich, young ruler did not allow Jesus to give him the new identity that he was lacking, but

with the help of the Holy Spirit:

III. WE ARE CHARGED TO LIVE OUT A KIND OF ALTERNATIVE SOCIETY BEFORE THE EYES OF A WATCHING WORLD

A world that is increasingly moving toward tribalism and division.

Question: How can a Christian say "I keep all the 10 commandments," yet still have something lacking in the spiritual life? Here was a young man who was confident that he was a commandment keeper, except that there was just one little step between himself and perfection. What it was, he honestly didn't know, but it is clear that he wanted to. (SDA Comm., p. 458).

Oh he knew that he hadn't stolen from anybody, lied or cheated on anybody. Yet there were two things that were wrong with this man:

Flaw # 1: "He didn't have the love of God in his heart." (DA 518);

Flaw #2: "His attitude toward other people had been essentially a negative one." (SDA Comm. 458). Let me translate that for you: God was not first in his life; neighbor was certainly not second; and he was definitely not third. He had inverted the relationship order, and put himself first on the throne of his life. His malady? You guessed it - selfishness!

The lesson for us is this: serious defects may also remain in us though we've been keeping the ten commandments since our conversion. Unless these blighting influences are removed, we will make no further progress toward perfection, either. (based on SDA Comm.)

To set him on the right path, Jesus told the man to sell all his goods and distribute the proceeds to the poor. Just as maladies vary from person to person, remedies vary as well. In this man's case, the very thing that had impressed him as he watched our Lord minister to those little children, that kindled within his heart a desire to be a disciple, he could not do himself. Here was his big chance to be perfect at long last, and he blew it!

Some who judge that man rather harshly might need to reflect upon our own pilgrimage to realize that we have relationship hurdles to overcome ourselves. And we thank God that He is the Ultimate Judge of hypocrisy - that makes Him the only One qualified to diagnose what is truly lacking in our lives.

However, to get a better feel for what the young man was dealing with on that occasion and draw our attention to what it is we may lack, just suppose that some commandment keeper in this audience today is thinking in his/her heart:

"I know I was taught to love everybody as a child, and I thought I was doing all right." Yet in your desire to be perfect, down on your knees you asked the Lord, "Is there anything else that I need to do to inherit eternal life?"

Suppose He answered: "Keep the commandments." And you said, "Well I've done that since I joined the Adventist Church, Lord. What else do I need to do?"

Suppose He responded, "If you want to be

perfect:

1. "Deliberately seek out a congregation that is the exact opposite of that to which you are now accustomed." And you say "All right, Lord. I know just the one - down on Friendship Street." And He says, "No, not that one. I'm talking about one with an uninhibited worship style."

And He says that because you consistently seek out churches composed of only people like yourself; congregations of your own educational level, with your biblical background and taste in hymns and liturgy. In short: since you have difficulty with varied expressions of worship, this remedy will help you learn to truly accept other people. A second hypothetical example:

Suppose He said to another serious seeker of eternal life in this audience today who asks Him "What else do I need to do?" And He said:

2. "To be perfect, relocate your family from your comfortable suburban setting to a hovel in the inner city, and for the rest of your life, represent Me to the neglected people groups there."

And He says that because He knows that you deliberately admit no people groups into your friendship circles who are different from yourself. You need to be taught by people you have the most difficulty understanding and appreciating. Third hypothetical example:

Suppose He told you, due to the thing that is lacking in your life: "To be perfect:"

3. "Transfer your membership to the Philippi Church where the minister and first elder are females." He says that because you rally against those who have a different view of spiritual gifts, and there is something you need to learn about spiritual gifts and their Holy Ghost distribution.

In these and other instances that might best express your malady, how would you go away? Joyfully or sorrowfully? We know how the young man went away, don't we? sorrowfully the Bible says; and the reason was more than his love for money, you see. He had lived his life embracing a strictly hierarchic model, and Christ's non hierarchical community model simply went (cut) against the human grain.

M. Scott Peck, in Dan Kimball's book, The Emerging Church, reminds us that [most] of us would either be unwilling or unable to suffer the pain of giving up the outgrown which needs to be forsaken. Consequently, we would cling, too, to our old patterns of thinking and behaving, thus failing to negotiate any crisis to truly grow up and to experience the loyal sense of rebirth that accompanies the successful transition into greater maturity. (Dan Kimball, The Emerging Church, "The Intangibles of Community and Kingdom," by Len Hjalmarson.).

Now let me wrap this up. I've been talking about two models this morning: Society's strictly hierarchic model versus Christ's non hierarchical community model, so your question might very well be: Is Christ' model a new idea? The answer is No! It existed before the world began. It has its origin within the Triune God. It was present in Eden's Garden before sin entered the world.

The story of Cain and Abel, however, best illustrates how God's values for the mutuality or Allelon, i.e., one anotherness lifestyle are paramount and how the consequences of a life focused on self and acquisition for oneself is flawed and harmful to self and others. We know the story of Cain and Abel all too well. Cain had killed his brother because God had accepted Abel's offering, but not his own. (Gen. 4:3-8).

When the Lord inquired concerning Abel, perhaps one of the more thought-provoking questions in the Bible is that one asked by Cain: "Am I my brother's keeper?" (Gen. 4:9).

This is a question we would do well to ask ourselves every day . . . "Are we our brother and sister/s keeper?" In other words, "Do we have a responsibility to watch out for and care for one another?" The answer is a resounding YES! In light of so many "One Anotherness" reminders in this Book, is there any doubt that this is what our Lord expects of us?

Many in this audience will recall that in 1999 the NAD had a Summit on Race Relations that formally started us in the direction of deliberately conducting great conversations on race.

In your own Divisions you may have identified barriers to oneness and maybe you are addressing them in various and sundry ways. I can only speak intelligently about what took place here.

Although the Summit is over, in many places these dialogues still continue. This means that we're at least talking about a difficult challenge in this territory and in our church.

Our World Church has addressed and continues to address issues related to women, people with disabilities, and other groups that are reflected in our diversity. Let me add one more conversation that must take place, if the hearts of those who watch us around the world will become kindled and desirous of following Christ.

Margaret Wheatley, an exceptional author who is in the organizational development profession, published a new book last year titled Turning To One Another: Simple Conversations To Restore Hope To The Future. She wrote the book to encourage people like ourselves to begin having conversations about things that matter to us, i.e., equality, mutuality, diversity, fellowship, oneness, sharing, and the like.

On page 29, in a rather straightforward way, she lifts up the basic principles of deep, meaningful and life-changing conversation:

1. ". . . Acknowledge one another as equals."

2. ". . . Try to stay curious about each other."

3. ". . . Recognize that we need each other's help."

4. ". . . Slow down so we have time to think and reflect."

5. ". . . Remember that conversation is the natural way humans think together." And I really like this last one:

6. ". . . Expect it to be messy at times."

These are essential for reclaiming meaning and purpose in the individual and corporate life. Wheatley suggests for finding wholeness, and holiness, here and now, being listened to is one of the best ways to foster healing, especially if you've been a victim of injustice. It is good to feel accepted - freely and unconditionally. If you can't find acceptance in God's church, where else on earth can you go? Unfortunately there are Christians who do not accept other Christians; and that is a tragedy, she says.

Margaret Wheatley's religious persuasion does not come through when you read her book. But I do know that today's Gospel of mutuality, ALLELON, One anotherness, is a great illustration of what she's talking about.

1. For in a time of chaos and violence, when scores of nations are at war with one another.

2. In a time when ecosystems are in chaos from misuse and abuse;

3. In a time when lives are being lost to senseless greed, corruption, and drug abuse;

There are many people out there and members in here, too, who are seeking healing and longing for hope for the future. They need to see the Seventh-day Adventist Church as a fellowship that communicates mutuality TODAY! - so the world will know . . . .

This healing for which we long as individuals and as the corporate church, Christ offers freely. That's where His grace comes in. And it is a much more immediate matter than simply a change that will take place in the future. We need a transformed present TODAY! "If we want a different future," Wheatley writes, "We have to take responsibility for what we are doing in the present." (P. 64). And we begin by turning to one another. Jesus is our greatest Example of one-anotherness. Throughout His life on this earth He was always modeling allelon: His birth, death, resurrection. It was to allelon that He called His disciples during His last Passover. Toward the end He divested Himself of His God-ordained and God-given authority over His disciples and washed their feet. He then gave the greatest command of all, one that, if fulfilled, is the mark of a Christian:

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all [people] will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34-35.

And then He said something to them which leveled the playing field and elevated His disciples - something that includes and elevates everyone of us today. He said: "You are My friends, if you do what I command you. . . ." I want to do as He commands, what about you?

I believe it is time to turn to our Lord by turning to each other, what do you say? What we so often find ourselves doing, however, is turning away from one another, getting stuck in fear because of our differences and generating divisions rather than creating community. I invite you to look inside your congregations worldwide, and you will find that: "It is not our differences that divide us. It's our judgments about each other that do." (Wheatley).

When we turn to one another as equals, not treating one another as competitors and dismissing one another with labels;

When we take time to listen and to learn from our differences;

When we remember with humility that we are put in this mess of a world, in the midst of this blessing called life:

To discover the grace that got here before us,

To lift up the Love that first loved the world and makes all love, all wholeness possible. God's grace will not be contained. And we will be "One Another people," a relational church at long last! God help us toward this end - is our prayer this morning. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord our God!