The Lutheran Hour
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"Belonging to One Another"
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When I was 13 years old, I bought my first pair of athletic footwear (we called them gym shoes back then). It wasn’t the first pair I had ever owned, but it was the first pair I had ever purchased with my own money. These weren’t the no-name dime-store shoes Mom would buy for us kids. These were top of the line gym shoes: Converse All-Stars, navy blue canvas uppers with a diamond pattern on the sole. I had to save my paper route earnings for some time to get them, but it was worth it. They were mine. I could do whatever I wanted with them. I could have cut holes in the canvas if I wanted, or blacked-out the “Chuck Taylor All-Stars” logo on the back, and nobody could have told me not to.
But I didn’t do anything like that. In fact, when I bought those shoes, I decided then and there that I’d take great care of them – I’d never wear them without socks so they’d keep their fresh aroma; I’d clean them often so the white rubber out-sole would look new longer. I even volunteered to give up mowing the lawn so they wouldn’t get grass-stained (although that idea didn’t get very far with my parents). Those shoes belonged to me in a way few things had to that point in my life, and I was going to take care of them.
I think of that experience quite often when I read or hear these words from Romans chapter 14 verse 8: “If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.”
You know, the idea of belonging to someone else could be met with different reactions, depending on current circumstances and past history. Think about how the statement “You belong to me” would be received by these individuals: A black person in the southern United States 200 years ago; or a woman in any part of the country 100 years ago. Or how about a young child anytime, anywhere. Or, finally, a person reading Romans 14 verse 8: “Whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.”
While a slave, or a woman who couldn’t vote and who lived in a male-dominated society, would no doubt find the words, “You belong to me” threatening and oppressive, that’s not at all the case with a young child. She takes great delight and finds comfort and security in knowing that she belongs to her parents.
“Whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” Is that statement oppressive and threatening, or delightful and comforting? The answer to that question is obvious when we look at it from our Lord’s perspective and understand what it means to Jesus that we belong to Him. Each of us knows what it’s like to own something that’s valuable to us, and how we feel about that object. Whether that’s a car, our house, business, we look upon it with pride. Well, that’s how Christ looks upon those He calls to be His own through faith. “You belong to me, ” He says with pride. “You are Mine.”
That tells us a lot about the Savior. Not just that He makes us His own, but that He’s actually proud to call us His own. We can think of so many times when our actions brought anything but honor to Jesus, but He doesn’t recall a single one of those. That’s the amazing truth of what it means that He has forgiven our sin. He doesn’t overlook our sin, He doesn’t ignore it, but He forgives it so completely that it’s gone – even from His memory. What He does recall are those times we have lived in a way that makes Him proud, those times we have resisted the temptation to sin or have rejoiced in the opportunity to serve.
So, one thing it means to belong to Christ is that He is proud of us. Another is that He takes care of us. Remember, we are His prized possession. And, unlike you and I, He never loses interest in His possessions or grows tired of caring for them. Where do you think those Converse gym shoes are that I was so proud that summer? They’re long gone. The same thing is true of many items you and I have owned over the years. After awhile the newness wears off, other things become more important.
That doesn’t happen with Jesus. Nothing is more important to Him than you, and nothing ever will be. He cares for us completely and forever. In fact, He cares for us so much and so well that He not only says we belong to Him, He also tells us that He belongs to us. In other words, what’s His is ours. The holiness He has by nature He shares with us. It’s ours by faith.
The home He left when He came to earth, and which received Him again after His resurrection and at His ascension, He has opened to us. It’s ours eternally. No charge. He invites us to come in and will welcome us when we arrive. More than that, He made it possible for us to enter by removing the sin that would have kept us out. He belongs to us because He gave Himself to us – and gave Himself for us, giving up His very life so we might live.
All that is now ours because He is ours as much as we are His. And there’s more! We belong to Him and He belongs to us and, we belong to one another. Saint Paul tells us that in Romans 12 verse 5: “In Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” Do you see what that means? We belong both to the Lord and to one another.
Of course, we’re still learning what all that means and how to live up to everything it implies, but what a remarkable reality for all who know the love of Jesus. In this increasingly impersonal, competitive, and hostile world where people have learned to trust no one besides themselves, Christians are encouraged and empowered to trust Jesus and each other. That means you are not the only one who’s looking out for you.
This is one of the practical advantages of being associated with a local Christian congregation – we call it belonging to the church, but what it really is is belonging to every single member of that congregation in a very real way. Within that local fellowship, God’s people are able to live out our faith, both by serving others when they need us and being served by others when we need them.
Now, certainly, Christians show love beyond the boundaries of our own congregation and community; we are called to do that. But it is in our congregation that we have the most and best opportunity to fulfill some of the many “one another” passages found in the Bible. You’re familiar with many of those passages, aren’t you? Verses like what Jesus says in John 13 verse 34:
“Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” Or Paul’s instruction in Galatians 5 (verse 13) to “Serve one another in love.”
Or what he says in Colossians 3 (verse 13): “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.” “Be kind and compassionate to one another, ” Paul says in Ephesians 4 (verse 32). And the apostle James tells us to “Pray for each other” (James 5:16).
And that’s just a sampling. We are to love, serve, bear with, forgive, be kind and compassionate to one another, to be honest with each other, and pray for each other. That’s how we show the world that we belong to one another and to Jesus.
Those verses, and others like them, drive home the fact that decisions we make, and actions we take, have consequences – for us, and for those around us. Those actions both reflect our relationship with Christ and affect that relationship. They reflect our love for the Savior by demonstrating how important He is in our life, how much influence we are allowing Him to exert on how we live those lives.
They can also affect the relationship we have with the Savior – not His relationship with us now, His love for us – that never changes. But decisions we make about loving, serving, forgiving, can make us either more or less open to His love and His forgiveness.
Which is why the next and final “one another” verse is so important: “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,” we read in Hebrews chapter 10 (verse 24).
What an awesome responsibility we have toward one another. The responsibility to help each other understand the affect our actions have, and to consider how we are going to respond to the fact that our Savior calls us His own.
I’ve found it helpful in this regard to talk about the distinction between what we want and what we really want. We know without thinking what we want. To know what we really want, that can require assistance – always from God, sometimes also from God’s people.
Maybe I can illustrate this with some examples from my personal life: Most nights before I go to bed I get a craving to eat something. What I want at that moment is an ice cream sundae. But what I really want is to avoid waking up in the middle of the night with heartburn or something worse. So I don’t really want the ice cream sundae.
My alarm goes off at 5:45 most mornings. And when that happens, I usually want to stay in bed. What I really want is to get up and go to work, both because I love being a pastor and because I need the paycheck.
Part of my morning routine is 10 minutes of back stretches. It’s not unusual for me to be in a hurry or just feeling lazy and to want to skip them. But, what I really want is to loosen up my back so it stops hurting. I really want to do the stretches. You get the point.
Sometimes, though, I give into temptation and do what I want rather than what I really want. When that happens, I don’t usually tell anyone, especially when it comes to the late-night snack. That I usually sneak. But suppose my wife caught me building a huge ice-cream sundae one evening. What would be the loving thing for her to do – offer me some whipped cream? No, the loving thing would be to remind me of what it is I really want and the consequences of doing what I want instead, even though I might not appreciate the reminder at the time.
Now apply that to the verse I quoted a minute ago: “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” Often, showing love to someone else isn’t what we want at the moment. That might require extra effort, or appear to put us at some kind of disadvantage. We’d rather reserve our love for ourselves. Or, we want to give into the temptation to sin rather than do what we know is right. That’s what we want, but what we really want is to show love and to do good. Sometimes we just need a reminder and some encouragement. From where is that going to come? From a fellow Christian who loves us enough to risk doing that.
That’s what belonging to one another is all about. We belong to Christ, He belongs to us, we belong to one another. What a comfort to know that. Don’t you agree? Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for July 29, 2007
TOPIC: Offense of the Cross – part 2ANNOUNCER: Now, Pastor Ken Klaus responds to questions from listeners. I’m Mark Eischer. Last week, we talked about a congregation that was tempted to compromise their proclamation of the cross.
KLAUS: Yes, the discussion began with a person talking about how their congregation was doing anything and everything necessary to bring people in…
ANNOUNCER: Which is good.
KLAUS: …including taking down the cross because they were afraid some might be offended by it.
ANNOUNCER: Which is not so good. So we decided to broaden that question and not make it specific to that congregation.
KLAUS: Which ended with us talking about there is one offense which Christians must give: the offense of the cross. Even though people might find it more to their palates, we acknowledged that the Lord never said, “My people should remove the stumbling block of the cross. If they do, it’s no big deal… feel free to get rid of that foolishness.”
ANNOUNCER: That’s right. The Lord never said that. And this week we have more to share on the subject.
KLAUS: Mark, we have to recognize that the Apostle Paul was ready to do just about anything to help bring others to faith. Paul even admitted that he wanted to be all things to all men. Then he shared that he couldn’t do the one thing that folks most wanted. He couldn’t stop preaching the cross. That’s why he said, “We preach Christ, crucified.”
ANNOUNCER: And that’s still the job of the church today. But, might some people not say: Well, Saint Paul … that’s what he did. He kept preaching the cross. But how about the other apostles, were they perhaps, shall we say, a little bit more flexible, or moderate, their mission?
KLAUS: They might have been, but they weren’t. When the church was young, the apostles were arrested and brought before the Jewish Supreme Court. They were told by the High Priest, “We strictly charged you not to teach in His name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” The High Priest was referring to Jesus’ passion and death by crucifixion. He and the other religious leaders said they didn’t want Peter and the others talking about that.
ANNOUNCER: And how did the case turn out?
KLAUS: When the disciples were told to stop preaching the crucifixion and resurrection they replied, “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging Him on a tree. God exalted Him at His right hand as leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.” Peter was saying, “You want us to keep peace by taking down the cross, to roll the stone back in front of Jesus’ empty tomb and pretend He’s still there?” Well, if that’s what you want, no can do!” And they kept preaching.
ANNOUNCER: So, how does that relate to someone today who says, “Why not take the cross down so as not to offend anybody?”
KLAUS: I think to do so would be an insult to the Savior who died on that cross to save us. We can’t pretend that it didn’t happen. I think it is an affront to the martyrs who died rather than taking down the cross. We dare not say they gave their lives for something unimportant. I think it is an act of cowardice before the world. Christ has given us a mandate: We must preach Christ crucified and risen. We must do that no matter what the world thinks or wants us to say. We have to do that because the cross on which Jesus gave His life for our eternal lives is the only means by which any person can be saved.
ANNOUNCER: Now, someone might ask why haven’t they heard about this “offense of the cross” idea before? Is this something new?
KLAUS: Sort of like, “Is Pastor Klaus making all this up as he goes along?”
ANNOUNCER: Well, that might be a little bit stronger than what we intended here, but, how long has this doctrine been part of the church’s teaching?
KLAUS: That’s going to take a little bit of research for me, a little time. If possible, could we go through and give a more thorough answer next week on that?
ANNOUNCER: Sure, but for today, let’s ask, “This offense of the cross, it’s not really found in the Bible, is it?”
KLAUS: That part I can answer right now. Yes, it’s in the Bible, in the fifth chapter of Galatians. Apparently some people thought Paul should start preaching and enforcing parts of the old covenant. Paul said, “I can’t do that.” He said if he did that it would remove the offense of the cross. Yes, the term is there, and the doctrine runs throughout the New Testament.
ANNOUNCER: So, next week, more “offensive” material?
KLAUS: Yes, we could say that.
ANNOUNCER: This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music selections for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by John Leavitt. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“No Saint on Earth” by Norman J. Kansfield & Orlando Gibbons. Text © 1998 Norman J. Kansfield
“The Church’s One Foundation” From Hymns for All Saints (© 2004 Concordia Publishing House)
“May God Bestow On Us His Grace” by Martin Luther & David Lee. Tune © 2004 David Lee
“Oh, That I Had a Thousand Voices” arr. Chris Loemker. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“God of Grace and God of Glory” arr. John Behnke. From For All Seasons, vol. 2 by John Behnke (© 2001 John A. Behnke) Augsburg Fortress/SESAC