Introduction:
We live in a world that is more closely connected than ever before. Communications technology has advanced by leaps and bounds. Not that long ago, most households had a one-line phone with a cord and a rotary dial and a physical bell that would actually ring. You couldn't even choose which song you wanted to have played when the phone rang. And to reach someone, you actually had to call when they were home.

But today, we have come to expect instant availability, 24/7 connectivity, just about anywhere in the world.

Cell phones are ubiquitous. The last two years when traveling in Kenya, I noticed that a number of people had cell phones. The cell carrier there is called Safaricom. It seemed a bit odd being in some village in the savannah somewhere and here's someone with his Safaricom cell phone.

And then there's the Internet. In 2004, it is estimated that more than 900 million people had access to the Internet, and that number is expected to grow to 1.2 billion in 2006.ⁱ That's nearly a fifth of the world's population.

The world is more connected today than ever before. We can talk to anyone, anywhere, at any time. Yet our ability to instantly connect all over the world hasn't necessarily led to better relationships-better real-life, meaningful connections with other people. Despite our constant accessibility, one Gallup poll reported that four in ten Americans admit to frequent feelings of "intense loneliness."ⁱⁱ Vance Packard called America, "a nation of strangers."ⁱⁱⁱ Sure, we can instant message someone in London, or have a cell phone conversation with someone in Tokyo, but all of this still hasn't helped most people to make the significant, fulfilling, relational connections that God designed us for. It's not a new problem. The Bible says that in Genesis 2:18, God said, "It is not good for man to be alone." We usually refer to that verse in the context of marriage, but it's true in general. Psychologists refer to this as "the universal need to belong." Each of us was made for relationship. We were created for connection.

Dr. Edward Hallowell wrote a book a few years ago simply entitled, Connect. He writes this: "We are a nation of doers. We hurry from place to place, filling our lives with all kinds of activities, sometimes over scheduling our kids and ourselves. But what really sustains us-emotionally, psychologically, physically-is connectedness, the feeling that we are part of something that matters, something larger than ourselves that gives life its meaning, direction, and purpose"^iv

We all know that we need food. We all know that we need vitamins and minerals. We know that we need air and water. But just as essential is connectedness.

I sometimes get annoyed when my cell phone connection gets spotty for a minute or two while driving around a curve. I will grumble about the bad connection. But you can live without your cell phone. Really. You can't live without those relational connections in your life, at least not for very long.

I believe the Bible has a lot to say about the connections in our lives. It even uses a special word for them. That word is fellowship. It's used twice in our Scripture reading this morning: "we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ" (I John 1:3). Notice that fellowship has both a vertical dimension (in our relationship with God), and a horizontal dimension (in our relationship with others). Fellowship in the Biblical sense is more than socializing. Fellowship is more than networking. Fellowship is more than making contacts with contacts. It is even more than just spending fun time with people you love. Fellowship in its truest sense is a profound, spiritual, heart-to-heart connection that flows out of a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Sadly, many people try to make connections in a lot of different ways, and often fail. Some look for that "one special someone," and put so much expectation on this one relationship to meet their needs for connectedness that it will inevitably break under the strain. Still others flit from one superficial relationship to another, one chat room to the next, and they never discover the kind of God-given, face-to-face, soul-to-soul connection that they really need. Sure, you can have an emotional connection, a physical connection, an intellectual connection. But the kind of soul-to-soul fellowship that the Bible talks about really happens as part of a spiritual family in Jesus Christ. So today we'll take a look at the benefits of being connected in a biblical sense. The Bible gives us at least four word pictures or metaphors that say, "Being spiritually connected is like this..." I'd like to briefly walk us through those four images of spiritual connectedness.

1. A BRICK IN A BUILDING
First, being spiritually connected is like being a brick in a building. The Bible compares the church to a spiritual building. Ephesians 2:19-22 states, "New believers are like a building that God owns. Jesus is the most important stone in the building and the whole building is joined together in Christ. You are being built into a place where God lives through the Spirit." I Peter says that people who follow Christ are like "living stones;" they're part of a structure.

If you've ever built a house, or visited a construction site, at various stages you'll find a lot of stuff lying around: switches, wiring, bricks, pipes, beams. They're all pieces that have to be put together in just the right way to make a house. When they are assembled, they can make an attractive, sturdy building. But until those parts are all put together, they aren't part of the building at all. Why? Because they haven't been connected yet.

When all the parts of a building are put together properly, it creates strength. It creates stability. Because in a building, all the connected parts support each other. Beams support other beams. Walls support other walls and the roof holds the walls together; the walls hold the roof up. They're all connected and they're all supporting each other.

That's a great image of what being connected in Christ is about. Because we all need support. In the words of the song, "We all need somebody to lean on." We need emotional support. We need physical support sometimes. We certainly need spiritual support. Where are you going to find that if you're not connected? Who's going to hold you up in the tough times? We need the support, like being a brick in a building. We weren't meant to go through life disconnected and unsupported.

In the aftermath of hurricanes, I don't know if you realize how much of a role churches are playing in the relief efforts. Churches are serving as feeding centers, shelters, and command posts for much of the relief. Churches are serving as safe havens for those who have lost everything. Churches across the country are partnering with churches in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi to bring help directly to those in need, without all the administrative red tape. Just yesterday we helped load a semi full of hurricane relief kits that many of you helped put together. And it's happening because we're connected. It's not just Presbyterian churches helping other Presbyterians, it's Christians working through other Christians to provide strength and support, like bricks in a building.

2. A PART OF A BODY.
Here's a second image: The Bible not only compares being spiritually connected with being a brick in a building, but it also compares being connected within a church to being a part of a body. The Bible calls the church the body of Christ over and over again. It compares God's people to a physical body.

Romans 12 says this: "Just as there are many parts to our bodies, so it is with Christ's body. We are all parts of it and it takes every one of us to make it complete for we all have a different work to do. So we belong to each other and each needs all the others."

What does this tell us? First, we all have different gifts, different abilities, and different personalities. God made us that way, so that all the different parts could work together and complement each other. Arms are better at holding, eyes are better at seeing, and each part is important, whether you're talking about a physical body or a spiritual one in the church.

Some of you are better at organizing, others are better at teaching children, others are better at singing, still others are better at coming alongside when someone is in need. Each of us needs the other parts in order for the church to grow and be and do all that God intends. For no single one of us-especially not the pastors-are good at everything that needs to go on in the life of the church. Our strengths complement each other, and they compensate for each other's weaknesses. The different parts of a body are designed to work together.

But if one part of the body is disconnected-if one says, "I don't need the rest of you anymore"-two things happen: First, the whole body doesn't work as well. But the part that's disconnected doesn't work so well either. If your leg gets disconnected, it's not so good for your body-but it's even worse for your leg. Because all the body parts were meant to grow together. They grow in harmony.

Here's the parallel: You cannot grow in Christ the way you're supposed to grow on your own. I've heard folks say, "I don't need to go to church to be a good Christian," but it's like trying to be a leg or an arm or a spleen that's not connected to a body. Not only will the whole body, the whole church, not work as well without you, but you won't grow the way you should, either.

It's important that we're connected to a church body and say, "This is where I'm going to grow, this is where I'm going to get plugged in, this is where I'm going to be nourished." Colossians 2:19 reads, "We are joined together in His body by His strong sinews, and we grow as we get our nourishment and strength from God." Being spiritually connected means being a part of a body.

3. A SHEEP IN A FLOCK
There's a third image we find in the Bible to help us get connected and it is this: Being connected is like being a sheep in a flock. Psalm 100:3 says, "God made us and we are His. We are His people, the sheep of His pasture."

Why did God choose the flock as an image of what it means to be spiritually connected? Because in God's flock the sheep are not out in some lone canyon trying to find water and beat off the wolves by themselves. They're part of a flock, which means they have a shepherd. And a shepherd means the sheep have provision, and protection, and direction. Remember Psalm 23: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake." Then listen to what Jesus said in John 10: "I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me and I lay down My life for My sheep. My sheep listen to My voice and I know them and they follow Me and I give them eternal life and they shall never perish and no one can ever snatch them out of My hand." When we're connected as members of God's flock, we have a wonderful shepherd, in whom we find rest, and renewal, and restoration.

For when you're taking a beating in the business world, when your marriage and family are being strained to the limit, when you're facing an overwhelming personal crisis, when you're in the canyon fighting off the wolves, you need someone who will step up to bat for you. You need someone who, when everybody else walks out of your life, will walk into it, who will defend you and stand by you, like a good shepherd does for his sheep. That's what Jesus, as our shepherd, does for us. He never leaves us. He walks with us through the darkest valleys. That's the kind of shepherd we have when we're a part of God's flock. But interestingly, being a shepherd is also part of what the members of the church are to do for one another. The word "Pastor" comes from the Latin word for "shepherd." But the pastors aren't the only shepherds around here. Our Deacons ministry divides up the congregation into "flocks." Each Deacon is assigned a "flock" of a certain number of church members within a certain area. And at least once in a while, you should be getting a phone call or a card from your deacon, as a basic way of keeping the connection so that if things do go bad, not only God, but your church family is right there to walk with you through that dark valley.

Being connected as part of a flock means we're provided for and cared for, by God and by one another.

4. A MEMBER OF A FAMILY
Finally, there is a fourth image we find in Scripture. We've talked about being a brick in a building, a part of a body, a sheep in a flock. The fourth image is that we are connected as members of a family. The Bible calls the church "the family of God." In John 1:12, speaking about Jesus Christ, it says, "To all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God." And as children of God, we're members of God's family.

This is the most intimate image of all. When we place our faith in Jesus Christ and establish that most important connection with God, God doesn't call us servants, he doesn't call us workers, he doesn't even call us guests; he says we're children-we're family.

Of course, the problem of using family as a metaphor is that families as we know them aren't perfect. How many of you came from a perfect family? Some of us are blessed to have come from good families, and some of us not so good, but there's no such thing as the perfect family. But sometimes people come into the church thinking it will be just perfect, and they get disillusioned and leave when they find out it's not. Folks, if you're looking for the church on earth to be the perfect family, you won't find it-not this side of heaven-because we're not perfect people! We mess up; we let each other down; we drop the ball; we all have habits or hang-ups that keep us from connecting the way we would like with other members of our family.

But that's precisely why we're here. God didn't collect us all together to have a pretty showcase of perfect people. God brought us together so we can learn how to love each other and learn how make connections the way we were designed to, and to offer grace and forgiveness and healing to each other when we mess it all up. Romans 12:10 says, "Love each other like brothers and sisters." It's the heart of true fellowship, of real connectedness in Jesus Christ. Jesus said in John 13:34, "This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples-when they see the love you have for each other" (The Message). It's a love we discover when we get connected as a part of God's family in Jesus Christ.

Conclusion:
Although we live in a world where we are more connected in some respects than ever before, I believe people-people you know-are searching more than ever for significant, honest, real connections: The connections that give us strength as part of a building, growth as part of a body, provision and care as part of a flock, and belonging and love as part of a family. That's what God wants his church to be. That's something God, through the church, wants to offer those who are searching to make their connections in so many other ways that just end up falling short.

For the real connection only starts when we come to know God through Jesus Christ. And then he connects us, he plugs us in to this marvelous building, body, flock, and family. We don't have to go through life disconnected. Next to salvation and forgiveness the greatest gift God has given us is the opportunity to be connected to His body, His flock, His family. May we never, ever, take that for granted.

Amen.

ⁱ See http://www.clickz.com/stats/sectors/geographics/article.php/5911_151151
ⁱⁱAs cited by Rick Warren, Ministry Toolbox Issue #225, September 21, 2005.
ⁱⁱⁱ Packard, Vance, A Nation of Strangers, David McKay, 1972.
^iv See www.drhallowell.com/store/connect.html

© Copyright 2004 - The Village Church. All rights reserved.