"Making the Connections"
George Saylor
Connections Community Church
September 9, 2007
September is full of significant dates and events. I think I first noticed this on Sept. 23, 1972- the day I was born. (I was remarkably self aware at my birth.) As I got older, and a little less focused on myself, I realized a lot of stuff seemed to happen, and in the eyes of a kids, they weren’t as good as my birthday- Labor Day weekend marked the end of summer, and the beginning of school. The good part was that the fall sport teams were back in action. There are dates in September that are now infamous- I’m thinking especially of 9/11, a date everyone one in North America need only mention to conjure up many memories, thoughts, even fears.
Folks, we are glad you’re here today because we believe that Sept. 9, 2007 will be remembered by many as a very special day- the day new coach Mike Tomlin lead the Steelers to beat the Browns in their season opener- actually, our hope, our prayer, is that this day marks the beginning of very significant stage in the life of Connections Community Church. There have already been milestones in the past few months, and there will be very significant dates in the future- but right now, this moment, this service, marks the first of our Sunday services for the people of London.
In about two hours right here behind me will be shown “Mr. Bean’s Holiday.” The producers spent a lot of time, energy and work crafting a film to entertain, amuse and delight you. For 1.5 hours they want to captivate their audience. They want that audience so be so impressed that they walk out and tell all their friends how hilarious Mr. Bean still is, and even better, to bring their friends back to see it. There are many parallels with what we are doing here now. We’ve spent a lot of time, energy, effort and prayer preparing for this morning. We want to captivate your attention. We want you to walk out telling your friends, your family, your co-workers, you neighbors about what you experienced. We hope that maybe you’ll even bring them back yourselves. But the similarities may end there- I don’t have a multi-million dollar budget for the service we are putting on. And at the same time, while our budget is a tiny fraction of Mr. Bean’s, we are ultimately asking so much more of you. We are asking not just for your attention, but also for your affections. Not just a few hours of your life, but for your whole life. Not just to be entertained, but ultimately, to be transformed. Because while Mr. Bean can offer you this incredible budget and some big laughs, they can’t really offer you what I think we can do best- connections.
When I was a kid there was a show called “3,2,1 Contact.” I’m not going to sing you the jingle, but the words were great- “Contact, it’s the secret, it’s the reason, that everything happens. Contact, let’s make contact.” It’s really true, isn’t it? Connections are all around us. We live in an ecosystem where everything is connected, and everything affects everything else. It’s the humbling and wonderful reality of our world, our lives, and our God. Without connections we die. Without connections nothing in our world would survive, and people wouldn’t even exist! And more than that, in today’s world, we can connect to nearly anything and anybody, anywhere at anytime.But that first part of the song also rings sadly true- contact remains a sort of secret for so many people. It remains this illusive hope, this thing that it seems maybe everyone else has, but you can’t seem to find. We’ve all felt that way at times; felt that, despite all the connections all around us, all the connections that are being made, for all our progress and possibilities, how many of us feel disconnected in our hearts?
We feel isolated. Alone. Broken. Fragmented. Estranged.In an increasingly interconnected world so many are still missing the most important connection- Relationships.
As I already talked about, Connections Community Church is about cultivating our most vital relationships:
Connecting with God
Connecting with people
Connecting with the world
We want people to know they can connect to God in a real, dynamic and even life-changing way. We want people to have opportunities to connect with other people- people like them, and people as different as can be, in honest and authentic ways. We want people to connect to the world around them - connecting to the community in service and connecting to the world to make a difference. We want people to know they are not alone in their search for connections that bring purpose, meaning and something more in this world.
In the bible we have the story of God’s connection with the world. It’s the story of his connection to his creation- how he fashioned and formed the entire universe. How he made this planet and all that lives. How he made men and women. The creation story is the story of this interconnection- People connected to God. People connected to one another. People connected to creation. And in a real way we can say people connected to themselves. In the story of creation we see this picture- that God walked with a man named Adam and a woman named Eve in a garden called Eden. The bible even says how God walked with them in the cool of the evening, just like you might go for a walk with a loved one at the end of the day. We see the man and the woman connected to each other, so deeply connected in fact that the two were called one flesh. They were completely connected with one another-physically, emotionally, spiritually. They were connected to the creation in a way we can only imagine- they lived in this perfect, sustainable, beautiful harmony with the world. And we can thus see they had this kind of perfect connection with themselves- they knew who they were, where they were, what they were to do and how they were to do it.But the bible goes on to tell the story, which quite perfectly reflects my own experience in life, in which the connections began to fall apart. That people fell away from God, and broke connection with one another, and with the creation itself. They thought they could figure things out without seeking God. They began to lie to one another, and they began to even deceive themselves. They broke connection with the creation, and began to live in opposition to the land, instead of harmony.
But here’s the thing, and I’m giving the most sweeping summary of the bible that I think I’ve ever given- God never broke contact. God never broke connection.In fact, the story of the bible in it’s most basic, most simple definition, is story about connections. It’s a love letter from a God working to restore the connections of creation. It’s the love letter of a God so in love with his creation that he continues to sustain it each and every day. But more specifically, it focuses the love of that God on people. A God that loves his people so much he wouldn’t let us walk away, he wouldn’t let us break connection, but came seeking us out.I don’t know what your image or impression of God is, or more specifically, God as portrayed in the bible. The media, the church, and people themselves have portrayed God in a lot a ways, and not always so good. But when you read the bible, and let the portrait begin to emerge, what we find is this God who loves people with undying love. A God who loves people to a fault, a God who loves people who continue to turn their backs and walk away, a God who loves people even when they commit horrendous evil in his eyes, and to one another, a God who loves people so much it hurts.God’s love is so amazing he wouldn’t break connection with us and started the process of reconnecting. God loved Adam and Eve so much he saved their lives and provided a future for them and their children. God loved a man named Abram so much he promise his children would be a numerous as the stars in the sky, or the sand on the beach. God loved his people so much he saved them from the land of their oppression, and led them to freedom, to the Promised Land, feeding and protecting them each step of the way.
In the Psalms, the book of poetry and prayers of the people of God, the writer reflects on the “Hesed” of God, the ever-lasting love of God. (Try telling that to your girlfriend) I was really upset with one of my kids the other day and almost without thinking I caught myself saying, “You know kids, my love isn’t conditional, but it is temperamental.”
But God says something very different. In the bible God says Jeremiah 31:3...
"I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.”God said, “I have loved you an everlasting “hesed.” Not the kind of temperamental, self-serving, deeply flawed love that I can offer, but a perfect, unconditional love.
God said through another prophet, through Isaiah, Isaiah 43:4...
"Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life.”
I will give men in exchange for you, in exchange for your life. I remember first hearing that and being just amazed at the beauty. God would love me so much he would take a life for mine. Then it dawned on me- It’s a weird kind of statement- you love me, so you’ll kill someone else for me? That’s kind of a raw deal for the other guy. What kind of God loves selectively like that? Then I thought about it more- what if I’m the other guy, not the guy you love, but the exchange? Well where’s the love in that?
It didn’t really make sense until God stepped in made the ultimate connection. We call it Christmas. It’s the story of God connecting with us in the most awesome way. Because we learn in the bible that God loved us so much he came to us as flesh and blood. He came and made himself, and his love known, in Jesus Christ.And then we get to the other end of the story, the ultimate sacrifice, the ultimate expression of love. We call it Easter. And it’s the story of how God made the exchange. And you know how he did it, you know how God was able to make and exchange of life and yet show perfect love to all people? He was the exchange. He was the sacrifice. He was the man whose life would be exchanged. The bible says that there is no greater demonstration of love than this- that one person lays down their life for another. (1 John 4:7ff)
Jesus gave his life yet he remains connected to us now more powerfully than ever. He rose from death and sent the Holy Spirit so that we could forever remain connected with Him. Not just now, not just us- all people, at all times, in all places- we’re all connected in Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. By calling Jesus our Savior we affirm that Jesus saves us here and now and for all eternity. Our life is presently found in Him, and eternally lived with Him. And by calling him Lord we declare that we live each day in all we say and do for His glory. I’m completely captivated by this God who we understand as the perfect example of connection- one God in three persons. We call it the trinity. It’s a God who reveals himself as this living interconnection: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Three distinctions of one God- a loving communion of being. The ultimate being of interconnection. And the best part is- God invites us to join in. God invites us to make the connection. God invites us to take part in the communion, to know and be known by the God who loves us with an everlasting, self-sacrificing love.If that doesn’t make sense to you, that’s ok. It’s taken me a lifetime to try to understand it, and I still don’t get it in many ways. But I’ll tell you I’m completely captivated, completely taken, completely committed to this God who loves me so much that he would give his own life for me, that I might find a connection again with him, with other people, with the world around me.
Connections Community Church exists to live into this story, into this connection, into this God. We exit to foster and nurture relationships with God, people and the world around us- a natural expression to the inter-connected reality of life.
I don’t have much to offer you in the eyes of the world. Hey, I don’t have much to offer you in the eyes of the church. We have no building, no stationary; we have a largely imaginary budget. We have a few things- we have a band that rocks and some really cool gear. We have Connection Groups meeting in homes. We have a great website. But you know what we really have- we have a great God, and a great vision, and a great group of people starting to grow around it. If connecting with this God, if connecting with this vision, if connecting with an amazing group of people is something that excites you, maybe you’ll find this a place to connect.
