Gaps and How to Traverse Them

Last week was an amazing example of obedience.  This church gave so incredibly to the cause of the kingdom of God last week that no one could wonder if we are sold out to Christ’s purpose for HIS church and not our own.  We gave of ourselves in the face of adversity.  Some of you could’ve stayed home and yet you showed up to obey God.  Some of you obeyed and gave hours of your personal time, developing and carrying out the production that others would enjoy while you labored behind the scenes.  

Some of you prayed that God’s will would prevail over our individual churches and you saw that obedience pay off.  Some of you stood before your peers and proclaimed that you would obey God above all else.  Most of you sacrificed in this financially difficult time so that the children of Hastings School District 200 would be blessed by the church of the living and loving God.  God is pleased as we chose to obey Him even at great cost to ourselves.  I am pleased and honored to be your leader.

I’m going to play a short photomontage from the group that went to Haiti as a preparation for today’s message from God to you.

As awesome as last Sunday was, we are evermore faced with the reality that there are massive gaps between others and ourselves.  God has called me and equipped me to be a bridge builder and to help others I encounter to patiently invest in bridge building efforts so that God’s kingdom can move forward.  Obedience is critical at every phase of God’s plan.  Only those who say yes to God will enjoy the fruit of that obedience.

Did you notice in the photos the huge gap between us, who were born into a nation of affluence and those born in an oppressive country like Haiti?  They didn’t choose their birth circumstances nor did you.  They’re in desperate need of those who will build bridges of hope-in-Christ to them.  This is also true of Hastings, Cottage Grove, Prescott and other surrounding communities.  There is a gap between those who are free in Christ and those who are lost in this world.  There is a gap between all of mankind and God but Jesus built a bridge.  Please note that God’s bridge to us was all built from one side of the gap.

(Colossians 1:19-23) For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him (Jesus), and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation, if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul (INSERT YOUR NAME), have become a servant.

So maybe you still need to understand what a gap looks like.  It looks like the distance between you and your neighbor socially or relationally.  It looks like the attitude of judgment and competition that you might carry when you see a member of another church.  It looks like the expression of fault finding when you see another person not acting the way you know to be right.  It looks like the critical unloving language spoken toward those who believe and act different than you do.  The gap is everywhere.

You might say that you have no neighbors who need Christ and I would respond that you must look elsewhere other than your city block.  How about your coworkers, classmates and athletic club teammates.  What about the guy you see every day at the gym.  You see, God has not asked you to build a bridge to every human being on the planet, only a few from your sphere of influence that you can invest in so that you can earn the right to be heard.

I love the line that states that we should talk to God about our neighbor before we talk to our neighbor about God.  This is the bridge building process.  If we Christ followers don’t care about the guy next to us enough to ask God to help him and bless him, then we have no bridge to walk him across back to God.  CFC is about being part of the process of the transformation of people from our respective sphere of influence.  This will lead to the transformation of our community and then our nation.

Bridge building is scary business because the gap might extend over a dangerous chasm of political ideology where the only bridge is being willing to be different.  Maybe your gap was established by someone doing wrong to you and the only material that will work is forgiveness.  The gap might be over a crevasse of parenting styles or a ravine of social separation.  Maybe you have before you a gap based on indifference and it seems impossible because the other side has no interest in your bridge building effort.

I’ve seemingly wasted some pretty valuable resources in building relational bridges over the years, only to look back and see the hand of God’s providence at work making possible something today because of something said and done many years ago.  I must continually remind myself of the great bridge that was built for me just like the gentiles in Paul’s day.

(Ephesians 2:11-13) Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (that done in the body by the hands of men)-remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

What are bridges made of?  Jesus built His with his own body and blood.  We must do construction with the fruit of spending time with God.  All this is for others to experience through us.

(Galatians 5:22-23) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Bridges are made of listening ears and gentile spirits.

(Proverbs 15:1) A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

God built a bridge but people have to willfully choose to cross it.  You must build bridges or maybe better said, earn the right to be heard in order for the message to reach its destination.  Remember the goal is not to step back and admire your bridge but to take your neighbor by the hand and walk him across to God.  Invite someone you have developed a trusted relationship with into a spiritual environment and watch God work in their lives.

The above notes are from Pastor Pasch’s Sunday, October 11, 2009 sermon.  To get a free CD of the complete message, contact Christ’s Family Church at 651.437.2340.