[00:00:01] Speaker A: Hey, thanks so much for listening to this message. My name is Jason, and I'm one of the ministers here at the Madison Church of Christ. It's our hope and prayer that the teaching from God's Word you hear today will bless your life and draw you closer to Him. If you're ever in the Madison, Alabama area, we'd love for you to worship with us on Sundays at 8:30 or 10:30am if you have any other questions about the Bible or want to know more about the Madison Church, find
[email protected] Be sure to also check out our Bible study podcast, Madison Church of Christ Bible Studies. Thanks again for stopping by.
[00:00:39] Speaker B: There's a movie that came out in 1990 that was called Avalon. And Avalon tells the story of a family that was living in Russia in 1914, and they wanted to move from Russia to America. So one of the family members, a guy named Sam, had this idea to move to America. And his goal was not just to get him here, but to get him, along with his other three brothers and all of their family to America. So what he did is he came here first. And when he did, he was looking at different neighborhoods, trying to find a great place for he and his family and his extended family to settle down. And the area of America he picked was a neighborhood in Baltimore named Avalon. So what happened was Sam came to America first, and when he did, he found that street and he started to get a job. As he got a job, he started to collect all of his resources so he could send those resources to Russia so his family could eventually get here. So little by little, the second brother, the third brother, the fourth brother, and all the family and the extended family moved into that neighborhood street in Avalon. And if you've ever watched the movie before, it's really neat to see this family interact. And as you watched it, it kind of feels a little bit nostalgic of days gone by. You see moms, you know, sitting on the porch talking to each other. And there's even a moment in the movie where one of them's walking to the store and she's like, well, I'll just go to the store with you. And they walk together. You see kids on the streets riding their bikes. They're playing together. You see kids like you see in the screen behind me, they're reading books together and they're hanging out together. You see dad sitting on the front porch in the rocking chairs talking. And you also see as one of the pillars of this family, the family meal regularly. They would gather around A table, look at each other, talk to each other, spend time together. And probably like a lot of you have experienced during maybe Thanksgiving meals, as you've had more kids or grandkids, that Thanksgiving table starts to grow. That's exactly what happened with the Krasinski family. They started to add onto that table, adding coffee tables and other tables, the tables, like weaving down the halls as they were sitting there. The family meal was a central part of their time together.
And so if you've watched the movie before, you love watching this because what you see is Avalon is this robust relational place where life is rooted in relationship with each other, but life is also rooted in. In place.
And we understand that to some degree. As we talked about last week, when Brandon talked about the Garden of Eden. The Garden of Eden, it felt right, it felt home.
And we all kind of know that because we've all had places like that. Maybe you were like me when you went to Bible camp for the very first time without your mom and dad. You really liked the idea. But then when you were there, you're like, this is good and all, but I kind of just want to be home. Maybe you've been away from your wife or your kids or maybe around your family that you hadn't been around in a while and you want to go back to your home, whatever that is. Sometimes we have that craving within us for home. And what made home such an important place for the Krasinski family is exactly what made it home for Adam and Eve. See, home was a place of identity. It was a place where people saw you. They saw your gifts, they saw your talents, they saw who you really could be and saw who you really were. But the other thing about this community of Avalon is they not only experienced identity, but they experienced community. A place where people know me and I know them. And that's so important because I think sometimes we think, well, community's just people knowing me. No, it's yes, people knowing you, but it's also you knowing other people. That's what Avalon was. And so they had this really close knit family and they were enjoying life together.
But then the scenes in the movie start to change. And the writer of the movie actually purposely did this because what he's trying to show is that what happened in 1914 was something that started to completely change the family and the community dynamic as we know it. And if you've watched the movie before, it almost seems unnoticeable and it almost seems a little bit commendable. Some of the things that the family starts to slowly let in that they don't even realize are truly dividing them.
And so you'll even notice in the movie, the bright, vibrant colors start to turn gray, start to be a little bit more black and white. And what you'll start to see is the family that was gathering around that dinner table together is no longer sitting around the table. You'll also notice that the family seems to always be on the move, doing the next thing and the next thing. And they don't seem to have that extra time to just spend with one another.
And so the writer of the movie, what he's trying to show us, that there was three different things that although different, they were still very connected, that were introduced into society in 1914 that began to lead to a lot of isolation and disconnection. And they were these three things. Number one, the rise of the suburbs. In fact, if you've watched the movie before, there's a point where the grandson finds out that they are moving away from all of their family, all of their friends, and moving to the suburbs. And so the little boy, Michael, he says, mama, what's a suburb? And she said, oh, honey, it's a much nicer place to live. He goes, oh, that's awesome. And is everybody going with us?
The other thing that happens in the movie is the rise of the automobile. See, prior to 1914, not everybody could afford an automobile. But as automobiles became a little bit more affordable, people started to buy them and purchase them. And when that happened, guess what happened? People started to be on the move. The dads that were picking jobs that were a little bit closer because they had to walk, they started to get in those cars and drive 30, 45 hour and even longer away. So they were not spending that time like they had once had with their family unit. And the other thing that started to happen was the popularization of tv. You notice it with the Krasinski family. The people that used to gather around that table together are now gathering in front of a tv. Instead of looking at each other's faces, they're side by side looking at screens. And again, it doesn't even seem noticeable. And at times, as you watch the movie, it even seems commendable.
In one of the saddest scenes at the very end of the movie, if you've watched it before, Sam is sitting in his living room all by himself with the family he used to have all around him. And there's a quote in the movie that really stuck out to me, and it's this. He said, getting farther and Farther away from Avalon. I think I'm getting too old to change.
What he was basically saying is, you know, because of all of these things, I guess it's just how it's going to be.
I can't change it. I can't impact it. So I guess it's just going to stay this way.
I'll go ahead and tell you, as I looked at that list, for me, of the different things that have impacted society, here's a few things that I noticed. Suburbs. Well, we live in those. We've got those.
I saw on that list. Cars got those, too. And I saw the TV and I was like, well, not only do we have a tv, but we probably each have what everybody on average, two or three screens each.
But if you're thinking this morning that as I put all those up, that all of those things are the enemy, that's not what I'm saying. And actually, that's not what the movie was saying either. But what the movie was saying is, as new things have been introduced into society, we can't have the mentality like Sam. Well, I guess it's just how it's going to be that community and identity is something that you have to fight for. You can't be passive about knowing that society is not going to change. And I even think about the things that he's showing in 1914, we understand even now, are escalating even more.
But what I also want us to understand, it's in our roots.
It's in the way God designed us and the way God shaped us. To be in community with him, but also to be in community with others.
I want you to think about it this morning. What is it, maybe in your life that is causing you not to be able to dwell, well, in a very mobilized and mobile culture.
And as you think about that, I want to frame it with these two things. You go back to the garden like Brandon did last week, and if you remember, God looked at Adam and remember when he had made Adam, he had said, let us make man in our image. The us in the our was the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. God had existed in community from the very beginning of time. So in Genesis 1:26, when he looks at Adam and he says, it's not that he's alone. Keep in mind he didn't say that because Adam ate of the fruit. The fruit had not been eaten yet. It wasn't at that time because he was imperfect. It was because he was made in the image of the one who was perfect. So he saw him alone. He said, it's not good that he's like that. I'm gonna make him have what I have with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna make him a helper. And he gave him Eve. And if you're like me, maybe you look at this list and you're like, okay, that's. That's good. I don't mind the creator part. It's the other people part. And maybe for some of us, one of the struggles is you think, well, Andrew, I get that for some people, but I'm an introvert or I'm an extrovert. Now, the early crowd, I don't think they believe me, but you can ask my wife this, that you can actually take a test to see whether or not you're an introvert or an extrovert.
I actually ranked as both. And someone's like, I ain't never seen that extrovert, introvert side. But I promise I am. I'm one of those kind of people. I love being around people. But when I get away from being around people, I just like to veg and be by myself. In fact, I told the early crowd, like, on Sunday nights, I like to go to the couch, and I don't care a lick about NFL football, but I will sit there and just stare. And we were first married. Lauren's like, andrew, is everything okay? What are you thinking about? Like, nothing.
You're thinking about something like, nope, just wanting to be, you know? And so, like, that's how I am. I like to be with people, but I also at times like to have my alone time. What I'm saying is, this introvert, extrovert, however you do community, it's going to be different. But the thing is, we're still supposed to be a part of a place where we find identity and we help people understand their own. We're supposed to be a part of a place where we experience community and we let other people experience it too. That's how we've been shaped. That's how we've been designed. But here's the other thing I want us to know is there is also a direct connection between isolation and a detachment from place. I have two examples up here, but I'll just give you the first one. The second one, which is the woman at the well.
Remember when she went to the well at noon, and the reason why she went there, she had gone to that place before, but evidently when she had went to the morning session or the evening session at the well, she was probably the object of a lot of gossip. She's had five husbands. The guy that she was with at the time wasn't even her husband.
And so she went to the well when no one else was there. Right. She went to what was a public place, but yet isolated herself.
And so as we think about this, what has caused it? But also, why is this such a big deal? Well, I put up some statistics that some of you might find interesting. And the first one was this. A quarter of the American population said they have no one to talk to.
That was 2019.
Then there was this one, it says the middle aged are actually the loneliest in the United States, saying there were 45% of them saying they're lonely. When I first read that, I was like, man, those poor middle aged, I'm like, oh, that's me. You know, one in three people said they have nobody to share their triumphs or their trouble with. That was from Good Therapy. The book, the Village Effect is a book that's based on studies that show how our face to face interactions make us healthier, happier and smarter. And if you ever read his studies and the Harvard work on the table, one of the things that they've talked about is this, that the Harvard Medical School did a study that showed that kids that ate regularly around a table with their parents were 72% less likely to, to experience depression, struggle with self esteem, have suicidal thoughts, develop eating disorders, or use illegal drugs than those who did not.
Now you think about all of that in the home that we have here. And here's a question I want us to ask ourselves. Is this. I grew up singing this song and I love this song and I think this song is true.
But at the same time, do you think that we've taken the idea of this world is not my home. I'm just passing through almost as if this is just kind of in the way.
Like it's just a little blip in the radar until we can get to where we're supposed to be.
Well, we're going to look at several scriptures to look at God's perspective that the kingdom of heaven and God's kingdom is not something to come. That what we are part of in his kingdom is now, it's here.
And the life that he wants us to enjoy, y'all, is not just eternal life. But as Jesus answers this lawyer, he's going to say, you get Zoe, which is life right now.
And so what I want us to do is answer this question. How can we learn to dwell in a very mobilized world. So let's go to the first text, and that's John 1:14. Now, you might think, what in the world does this have to do with home? What does this have to do with community and identity and being with other people?
Well, if you read the text, it says this and the Word, who is that? Jesus.
He became flesh. And it says, he dwelt among us.
And we've seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. And he was full of grace and truth.
So God, what he decided to do to make himself known is, I'm gonna put on skin. I'm going to go down there and I'm going to dwell among people. And by the way I dwell, people are going to see grace and they're going to see truth.
And so his dwelling should inform our dwelling. Because if you'll notice in this Word of what the word dwell means in the Greek, I used to kind of take it to mean almost like it's a passive term. You kind of just be. You're just there. That's not the idea of dwelling. Dwelling is a verb. And you see it all throughout Scripture. It's making a place, it's making a home.
And you think about Even in Hebrews 11, when Abraham is admired about his faith, it says that, yes, he was in the promised land.
He put up a tent there and moved his family in there. The tent illustrates, yes, he's not gonna be here forever, but he's still gonna be here. Like there is to be a place. Even though, yes, we know eventually we're going somewhere, that we're to have a place to dwell. We're not designed and shaped to be just wanderers, but to be present dwellers. One of the people at the early service said this. It's yes, about presence, he said, but I've always thought about it like this. It's about being very purposeful in your presence. See, when Jesus dwelled here on this earth, he dwelled in a way that was to make God known. When you and I are dwelling here on this earth, we are to dwell in a way that makes God known to people in this church family and to people in this community.
So let's go to Jeremiah 29. And this first text, I think, is one we really connect with. And if you remember, about a year and a half or two years ago, Mike Baker did an awesome lesson on this very text. And I think we all connect this one to some degree. Number one, because we live in the same world that at times is very hostile, indifferent to what we believe.
And sometimes feeling like the minority can make you want to shrink back, disconnect, and keep in mind what's happening here. The context of Jeremiah 29 is that Israel had forsaken God's commands. And so God allowed them to be under Babylonian captivity and control for 70 years.
And so for 70 years they're having to live in a pagan culture. 70 years they're having to watch pagan idol practice. 70 years you're having to hear pagan idolatrous talk. And then all the while there's these prophets, not from God, but prophets that are saying, hey guys, God's gonna get you out of this mess. He's gonna deliver you from this pagan culture. He's gonna get you out of here. And so that's what they think that God is gonna tell them is to leave.
And when I was reading this, it made me think of something that happened to me in college. I was working at a place not the healthiest of environments, and the language was awful at times, the people were not the best. And I went to my campus minister and I told him about the situation. I was like, hey, this is what's going on. And man, I'm just, you know, they're doing this and, you know, talking about this and I just want to tell you about it. He goes, so what do you want me to tell you? I was like, I don't know, what do you want to tell me? He's like, I think I know what you want me to tell you. I was like, well, what is that? He said, I think you want me to tell you to quit.
Like, kinda like I just wanted some permission, you know, just to quit it. He's like, actually, I don't want you to quit. Maybe God has you there on a purpose and you keep that in mind and get to Jeremiah 29 in this pagan culture, pagan practices, pagan talk, pagan mentality, and what does God tell them to do in that neighborhood?
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles who I've sent you into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, build houses and live in them. He's saying, I want you to get a 30 year mortgage, I want you to plant gardens, I want you to eat the produce, I want you to take wives and have sons and daughters. I want you to take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage that they may bear sons and daughters, multiply there and do not decrease. And look what he says next. Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you and then pray to the Lord on its behalf. And notice this last part, for in its welfare you will find welfare. Here's what I think. They were expecting God to say, abandon, abandon ship.
But in a situation where we would think God says, abandon. You know what God says, get to work.
What you see as an opportunity to abandon, I'm telling you, it's an opportunity.
But there's opportunities all around you. So you see what he's doing here. He's combining the captors, the people that are holding them in captivity, and he's combining it with who, the people that are living in it. And he said that the welfare that you want to experience is directly connected to what you decide to create and to be.
And I also want you to look at this list. If you go through it, look what it says. Build homes and live in them. Plant gardens. Have children. Marry off your children so they can have children. Seek the welfare of the city and pray for the welfare of your city.
When I looked at all of that instruction, there's kind of something that stuck out to me, and I hope it sticks out to you. And it's this.
There is nothing on that list that is miraculous, that everything in that list are just things. He's saying where I have planted you in proximity to those people, that church, family, whatever it is, I want you, where you're at, to be very purposeful in it.
He's saying, I want you to immerse yourself there. This is what the whole book of First Peter is about. They are scattered across Asia Minor. And he's kind of like me in college. Peter, should we quit? He said, no. Use this as an opportunity to reach people. Yes, in your church, family, and outside of that, that's what it's about, is living as everyday exiles, understanding that we are citizens of the King, in our neighborhoods and in our places.
What Jeremiah 29 says is this. Immerse yourself in where you're at.
Your church, family, your neighborhood, your community.
Recognize that you have been given resources and consider others in light of those resources and pray. But here's the next narrative. Luke 10.
Now, you might be wondering, why in the world are we talking about Luke 10 in connection to home? And why in the world are we talking about Luke 10 in connection to this? Well, of course, this is the narrative of the Good Samaritan. And of course, the question he asks is, you know, who is really a neighbor? And so I want you to turn with me to Luke, chapter 10. And as you turn there, I know some of you are people that like to underline words or maybe a phrase in your Bible, because it has, like, a significant meaning. There is one of these words in here. So if you are a note taker, here's the verse. It says in verse 25, and behold, a lawyer stood up and put him to the test. So this guy's trying to test Jesus. And he said, this teacher, what must I do to inherit what eternal life. So he's asking about what kind of life eternal. He's thinking to come. He's thinking heaven, all right? That's where his mind's at.
So he's wanting to know, how can I have life one day? But what I want you to notice is when Jesus answered this, he said, well, what's written in the law? How do you read it? And he answered, you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, your soul and your mind, and all of your strength and your neighbor as yourself.
And this is what Jesus said.
And he said to him, you have answered correctly. Do this and you will live.
That word, live is the Greek word, Zoe.
It's not about eternal life.
It's talking about life. Now, isn't that interesting that the man wanted to know how he could have heaven one day, how he could have eternal life one day?
And Jesus said, oh, I'm talking about, you can have it now.
Well, how do I have that kind of life now?
See, Zoe meant that you can possess life to the fullest. It can be real, it can be genuine. Now. But when Jesus is about to introduce to us the dilemma of the Good Samaritan here, he's giving us the key to life, that you and I can experience the heavenly life right now, not just to come again right now. And so we know what probably happens. And if you don't, here's what happens in the narrative.
He then asked this question after Jesus says, well, it's to love your neighbor. And he said, well, I want to know who is my neighbor. Have you ever wondered that before? Like. Cause I know for me, sometimes I'm like, well, I know, like, my physical neighbor right next door to me that lives in the same neighborhood as me.
But I think sometimes what I've done, and maybe you're guilty of this too, that sometimes I think, well, how can I really love everybody if everybody's my neighbor? Like, if I equally invest all that energy into everyone else, Everyone. It's kind of gonna be one of those things that, you know, you're trying to do for everyone, everything that you can't do anything. It's the idea, I put the quote up there. If you aim for everything, sometimes you hit nothing.
So he's kind of trying to ask, like, really, who is that?
He's almost kind of asking from the standpoint of who could I leave out? Who could I disqualify?
But he brings it closer in when he's asking, well, who is my neighbor? Jesus? Then kind of brings it back on him by asking, well, here's what I want you to find out. Are you being a neighbor?
And by the way, you ask this question and you're able to answer this question, you're going to really know if you're able to experience. And you are experiencing Zoe now, real life now.
And so what happens is that man was going from Jerusalem to Jericho. These robbers came and they beat the man, left him half dead.
And what you have in that narrative, right, is a Levite passes by, and here's what we know about him. He had some very important things to do. Time.
And then, of course, what happened next was that that priest, he passed by and talk about time. If he touched that guy, got near him, he would be ceremonially unclean. So he would have to go back and go through that process again.
Time.
But then, of course, we understand the Samaritan goes to the guy, but I want you to notice what led him to him if we're going to really experience heaven on earth. Now, he said, what does it say? A Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was.
I know this might be a weird way to put it, but do you have that neighbor down the street from you? Or maybe next door, it might be an older man, and he sometimes gets out there and he's working in his yard, he's cutting his grass.
And you've wondered before, maybe myself or maybe my son, we should go and, like, offer to cut his grass or ask. But then in your mind, you're thinking, well, should I do that? Because maybe what he wants is to get to do it himself, because it allows him to still be healthy and to move around, and it kind of gives him an outlet.
And so you do what I do a lot, and that's just live and wonder.
But what if he does need your help?
But then how would you know if you just stay in a place of wonder?
You would have to. What you have to ask. Because here's the thing, you ask. And he might say, oh, I love doing this. I appreciate it, Andrew, but you know what? I. Even if he says no, guess what he knows about you.
That during a time of difficulty. You're somebody he can call on.
You think about the two people in this story that walked by. There's two people that saw and kept walking.
I wonder if they were in a place of wonder.
But then there was the other God, the one God that went too.
Here's why getting near matters. You cannot and I cannot care for people that I have not gotten close to. It's impossible. This is what we're gonna see next week. In Acts chapter two, it says they sold their possessions and were giving to those who had a need. How did they know to get Jan a table and that John's family needed a refrigerator? Well, because they talked to Jan and they talked to John and they knew that they had needs, right? They were experiencing that avalon, that identity in that community. And so what happened was the nearing led to caring.
And so the real neighbor in this story, the Samaritan, is one that is attending to wounds he discovers. You can't discover a wound you haven't gotten close to or know even exists.
And then once he knew there was a wound, what did he do?
He used his resources. It says the next day he took two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, take care of him. Whatever more you spend, I will repay him when I come back.
Do you notice how he shared? Number one, he took notice. Number two, he deployed his resources. Number three, this is part of what we get to experience in the body of Christ.
He invited others to join.
There's a part in the movie where Sam has now been disconnected from his family. The table fellowship that they had once time enjoyed had now been taken the place by TV trays. And the time that they had at one time spent sitting on each other's porch talking has been replaced by their busy schedules.
He said, if I knew things would no longer be, I would have tried to remember more. What he was saying is, I wish I would remember the value of what I had if I knew it would no longer be there again. That kind of mentality may work for some people, but we cannot let that mentality work for us.
The relationships, the places of community and identity, that to me sets apart the statistics that I shared with you guys earlier. Those are statistics from public universities and public places, except for one.
And to me, what set apart all of that that made it different is to me, I didn't think it was including the church.
A place where you can find identity, a place where you can experience community.
I told the early crowd this, that in the 90s, the most sold DVD series which this is not even a thing anymore, I don't think. And by the way, when I tell you these names of these shows, I'm not promoting nor endorsing any of these, but just want to tell you where everything was at in the 1990s. The most sold DVD series were Friends and Cheers.
There's a show, Friends has a theme song that says, I'll be there for you when the rain starts to pour. I'll be there for you like I've been there before. I'll be what there for you. Then of course, you got the show Cheers. And that's a very popular song that its theme song talks about. It says, making your way in the world today, what it takes everything you've got and you want to go where everybody knows your name and they're always glad you came.
What's sad about that? That's describing a bar.
But what I want us to say and us to know is that can always describe us as the church where people can experience identity here to know how God sees them. Not how the world sees them alone, but how God sees them and how we see them being known and knowing community. Maybe you're here today and you've never made that decision to be a part of God's family, the church. We had a young lady this morning, Rayleigh, that put on Christ in baptism. It was so neat to think about how the mommy and the daddy that were sitting right here with her this morning when she made that decision, that that's their daughter, but now it's going to be her brother and her sister.
Isn't it neat how God makes a family?
And when we study with people, that's why we don't just tell them, yes, when you put on Christ, Acts 2 does say you'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. It does say your sins will be forgiven. But you know what it also talks about? You're added to his family.
Maybe you're here this morning and you look at that list of things that I shared with you earlier, that God in the way of Avalon.
Maybe for some of you this morning you want Avalon, but you also understand it doesn't happen accidentally. And so you want to make a purposeful choice this morning. Maybe it's a screen that's standing between you and your family.
Maybe for some of you it's movement that's standing between you and your church family.
Whatever it is that you have a need of this morning, Maybe it's to put on Christ. Maybe it's to confess a sin. You can go back there to visit one of our shepherds and they'll pray for you, or you can walk down here. And we would love to help you find that identity in that community. This morning as we stand and we sing the song together.
