Background Passage: Ephesians 4:16
I usually fill this space with a more in-depth Bible study, sharing something I’ve learned from reading and studying God’s word. Allow me this week to share a more personal reflection.
For the past several years, a group of men and women from South Main Baptist Church in Pasadena have spent a week in South Texas, in partnership with Buckner’s ministries, building a home for a deserving family. This was the first year I was able to make the trip.
The work is as fulfilling and meaningful as it is tiring. I like that a family of seven will soon be stepping into a new home, vastly improving their living conditions. I like that my church does this as a mission ministry each year. I even enjoy the manual labor after a long career behind a desk…at least one week of it.
The wonderful side benefit of the trip, however, is the fellowship we enjoy with one another. I get drawn into the lively and spirited banter among friends. The laughter. The good natured insults. The mock indignation. The joy of being among Christian brothers and sisters doing a good work and the warmth of relationships grounded in God’s love.
The Bible doesn’t give you a great deal of insight into the fellowship of Jesus and his disciples. We read the serious words of Christ as he teaches his disciples things they needed to know and it all sounds like King James English, filled with thees, thous and thys. All so very formal.
I seriously doubt Jesus would recognize himself by the way he is portrayed in scripture. We read these things as if that was the limited of the conversation Jesus had with his followers. A few words here and there as they followed quietly along.
I, for one, would have loved being a fly on the wall in those hours between lessons as Jesus developed his relationship with those closest to him. The fellowship. The lively and spirited banter among friends. The laughter. The good natured insults. The mock indignation. The joy among Jesus and his followers doing a good work and the warmth of their relationship grounded in God’s love.
The Bible clearly teaches that God’s grace is sufficient for all our needs. A grace so sufficient that any believer, though sheltered and isolated from all human contact, could still be comforted, encouraged and connected to the God through the work of the Holy Spirit. Even though grace is sufficient, I don’t think we are expected to go it alone…to live in isolation from the corporate body…the church.
My time this week on a construction project in Penitas, TX, reconfirmed that idea for me. I revel in the fellowship and friendships of this group of selfless people
The connections…authentic and real.
The relationships…filled with grace, accepting, devoid of judgment.
Paul encouraged with the church in Ephesus to use the gifts which God gave them to benefit the body of Christ.
“Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is Christ. From him, the whole body held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”
I am grateful as these friends in fellowship teach me to embody the life of Christ through the use of their individual gifts and talents. As limited as my construction skill set may be, they still allow me to be a part of an effort so much greater than myself.
I find myself this week bound and connected by the supporting ligaments within the fellowship of my church. A place of belonging and service. And, as a follower of Christ, I can’t imagine a better place to be.