Sermon: "Faith-Forming Fellowship"

"Faith-Forming Fellowship"
II Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18

Paul was back in prison. Apparently he didn’t know how to keep his mouth shut when it came to proclaiming the message of Jesus Christ. In this second letter to his young protégé, Timothy, he was providing some final instructions to encourage him to keep the faith. There’s no question that there’s a somewhat somber mood in the letter. I'm guessing it had become apparent Paul wasn’t going to get out this time.

Despite, or maybe because of, Paul’s situation he instructs Timothy in this letter to “rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands,” to “not be ashamed ... of the testimony about our Lord or of (mine),” “to hold to the standard of sound teaching,” to “share in suffering like a good soldier of Jesus Christ,” “to continue in what you have learned and firmly believed,” to “always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.” (1)

Despite Paul’s situation, he was not without hope. He used an unusual string of phrases that have become well-known in the church. He declared that he had “fought the good fight,” “finished the race,” and “kept the faith.” That is, he had done what he believed God’s mission for his life had been. And now, he was handing that ministry over to the youngster, his friend, Timothy. He further noted that he believed that as a result of his faithfulness he was going to receive “the crown of righteousness.” He confidently proclaimed that it would be given to him “on that day” when the Lord appeared again. This is perhaps the nugget he was offering to Timothy - this prize is for “all who have longed for his appearing.” There’s no question that Paul believed Timothy also qualified for the honor provided he respect and continue the same ministry Paul had been doing with the same faithfulness. (2)

After briefly mentioning a time when everyone deserted him, Paul noted that the Lord never left him though. He used his experience of being supported, undergirded, by the Lord, to further encourage Timothy as he prepared him to face the ministry that was ahead for him. “Tim, you’re going to have the resources necessary to do the ministry that is before you because the Lord is going to be with you as well.”

Now, I want to go back to that comment from Paul about everyone deserting him when things got tough. Apparently, sometime in the past when Paul needed friends - supporters around him - they were nowhere to be found. We’re not really sure what the occasion was, no mention of it is offered in the text. It may have been one of his other imprisonments or the trial mentioned in the book of Acts. When it was doesn’t seem to be the focal point of Paul’s comment. Rather, it seems to be that he wanted to impress upon Timothy how much it would mean to him if he didn’t abandon him as the others had.

I think perhaps there's another reason Paul intentionally mentioned it. I think his intention was to note one of the identifiable characteristics of a community of faith: the need we all have for others to support us, care for us, as we live out the faith – as we try to be faithful. Life is tough. The life of faith is tough as well. And it is especially tough if we have to live it alone, without others who understand. Christians, like all other human beings, need to be part of a community – we need to be known and know others in the community of faith - we need to care for one another – we need to know there are others who know our situation and care about what is going on in our lives – our personal as well as our spiritual lives. That's why it's important for us to get together on a regular basis – it's important that we be present with one another.

The United Methodist Church has emphasized for a number of years that our primary reason for existing – our mission - is to make disciples of Jesus Christ. That is, we believe that the primary purpose, mission, goal of the local church is to make disciples. A sort of litmus test – a set of measuring images (and I mean that in a positive way) - was developed to guide our evaluating and planning. The images were determined to be best practices for those churches who want to take seriously the task of making disciples of Jesus Christ – of helping people on their journeys of faith be disciples of Jesus Christ. The four essential elements of a healthy congregation are:

1) Radical Hospitality – there will exist in the life of the church, in the DNA of the membership and what goes on it, the message that everyone’s welcome. There will be an openness to all, a reaching out to persons who might not be comfortable with us, nor us with them.

2) Passionate Worship – what happens when the community of faith gathers will speak to and come from the heart. People will be emotionally involved and left with a feeling that they’ve spent some time with God when they leave the worship experiences.

3) Risk-taking Mission – persons who are part of the community will be encouraged to reach out beyond the walls of the building to do things for and with persons who have needs that stretch us.

And, 4) Faith-forming Relationships – persons will be involved in small groups where faith can be formed and strengthened - where they are known in a deeper way.

While all four have a significant role in the formation, history, success, and life-blood of most churches, it's the last one I particularly want to give some time to in this sermon. It is a model whose roots gave birth to us. The small groups were called classes in those days. The story of how Wesley adopted the class meeting as the basic structure of his fledgling movement has always been interesting to me.

The Methodist society in Bristol was discussing a building debt and a retired seaman by the name of Captain Foy suggested that every member of the society contribute a penny a week toward the reduction of the debt. Some in the group noted that a penny might be a little too much for some in the group. Foy then said that he would personally take responsibility for the weekly collection from 10 – 12 of the members and then make up the difference himself if there were any in his group who could not come up with the amount needed.

Well, at that point, others stated that they would be willing to do the same. And so, “the whole society was divided into these ‘little companies, or classes – about twelve in each class,’ with one person, styled as the leader, to collect the weekly contribution.” (3) Wesley later said about it: “Thus began that excellent institution ... from which we reaped so many spiritual blessings that we soon fixed the same rule in all our societies.” (4) What began to happen (you see) was the groups got together to not only collect the penny each week but to share what was going on in their lives – what their week had been like trying to live as a faithful disciple.

David Lowes Watson has become somewhat of an expert on this early movement in the United Methodist Church and in his book Covenant Discipleship he notes: “The early Methodists were often very lonely because they were marked people. To declare publicly that the commandments of Jesus Christ for personal and social behavior were to be taken seriously, and to pattern their lives accordingly, meant considerable tension with the world in which they lived. It meant ‘fighting the good fight of faith’ in territory that was by no means neutral; and they certainly could not wage this fight alone.

“When the weekly visit of the leader came around, therefore, they had lots to tell; and it was soon decided that, instead of the leader visiting each member, the members should meet as a group. In this way, not only was the leader saved the task of going around to collect the weekly contributions, but everyone could hear everyone else’s account of their discipleship. In addition, the ‘advice, reproof, or encouragement' of the leader to individual members could benefit everyone. As a result, a dynamic of Christian fellowship quickly developed. They began to ‘watch over each other in love,’ and to hold one other accountable for their discipleship.” (5)

While some churches have thrived by reviving the intentional establishment of accountable small groups, many more churches have seen such groups simply be birthed serendipitously around a need or interest or social group or Sunday School class or common spiritual renewal experience.

I remember a few years ago a small group or ministry team developing around the common interest in model trains! A couple of people were talking one day about their train collections and they decided they wanted to get together to see each other's. Low and behold, that very year three people joined the church who had a similar interest. Soon the conversation turned to entertaining the possibility of sharing their enjoyment with others. The group has continued and a couple of times each year they bring their trains to church and have a good time with one another and share their enjoyment with several generations of people - thus creating a new fellowship opportunity - an intergenerational experience.

At another point in their early history one of the ministry team members shared with me that there was talk of taking some of the train displays up to Wesley Glen during the holiday season. There was excitement in his voice when he talked about how much they thought the residents would enjoy it – the reminiscing it would cause. Ministry taking place through a group of model train enthusiasts getting together - who would have thought!

I remember another time when one of the members discovered she had to have surgery several weeks after selling her condominium and purchasing a new house. She had to move the week after the surgery! She was still recovering from her surgery and there simply was no way for her to do all the packing and unpacking. Do you know what happened?

Well, a simple e-mail and a few phone calls went out to persons who had been in some studies with her and to some of those who sat near her every Sunday and the packing got done. She was overwhelmed with gratitude. The people who helped were overjoyed about the opportunity to be helpful to someone they cared about and they knew cared about them.

It’s important that we get together. When we are present with one another we discover one another’s needs and know what to do and when to do it! Do you remember the TV sitcom “Cheers?” Do you remember the words to the theme song? “Making your way in the world today takes everything you’ve got. Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot. Wouldn’t you like to get away? Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came. You wanna be where you can see, our troubles are all the same. You wanna be where everybody knows your name. You wanna go where people know, people are all the same, you wanna go where everybody knows your name.” (6)

In Charles Olsen’s book The Base Church he notes: “The church tries with name tags! Coffee! Fellowship time! Recreation! Visitation! But community calls for ... weeping with those who weep – rejoicing with those who are happy – bearing heavy burdens – praying for a brother (or sister) – praising God together.” (7) Small groups and ministry teams within the life of the church are ways to build community – little churches within the church where we can know one another well enough to know one another’s pains and joys.

We need to be present with one another to make sure no one gets deserted in their time of need. We need to commit ourselves to being with others who will help us be a faith-forming fellowship. I know we appreciate all who've helped that happen in our lives these last few years. I think Paul would like that to continue to happen as well.

1 Homiletics, September-October, 2007, p. 58 (referencing verses throughout II Timothy).
2 Ibid., p. 59.
3 “The Nature, Design, and General Rules, of the United Societies, in London, Bristol, King’s-Wood, and Newcastle upon Tyne,” in Wesley’s Works, 9:69 as quoted in David Lowes Watson, Covenant Discipleship (Nashville: Discipleship Resources, 1991), p. 43.
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid., pp. 43 – 44.
6 "Cheers" theme song words.
7 Charles M. Olsen, The Base Church (Atlanta: Forum House Publishers, 1973), p. xi.