28 September 2014
I. Introduction
-- turn in
Bibles to Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
(NIV)
9 Two are better than
one, because they have a good return for their work:
10 If one falls down,
his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help
him up!
11 Also, if two lie
down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?
12 Though one may be
overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly
broken.
-- a few years
ago the movie "300" came out -- a fictionalized account of the Battle
of Thermopylae -- not many people, myself included, remembered the amazing
story of King Leonidas and his Spartan soldiers who stood against an
overwhelming Persian force led by King Xerxes of Persia -- the same King Xerxes
who married Esther and who is mentioned in the Book of Daniel -- during the
second Persian invasion of Greece
-- the Battle
of Thermopylae took place at a narrow coastal passage that restricted movement
-- and according to the plan of the unified Greek states, their soldiers would
engage the Persian army at this point, which would better even the odds -- on
the second day of the battle, a local resident betrayed the Greeks by showing
the Persians another passage into Greece, which would allow the Persian army to
outflank the Greek warriors and trap them in the very pass they were trying to
hold
--
realizing this, King Leonidas ordered a retreat of the unified Greek army, and
stood in the gap to protect the retreating army with just 300 of his men
-- for
three days, these 300 men held off over 300,000 Persian soldiers and gave the
unified Greek army time to disengage from Thermopylae and prepare new battle
lines against the Persians along the flank
-- for
centuries the story of King Leonidas and his 300 Spartan soldiers has been
heralded as a symbol of what it means to have the courage to stand side-by-side
with your brother against overwhelming odds
-- one
thing that really stands out in the movie "300" is the way the
Spartans joined together in battle -- rather than fighting as individuals, they
became one organism -- moving together -- standing together -- facing the enemy
together
-- it kind
of reminded me of a school of fish -- you've all seen pictures or movies where
a school of fish take on the shape of a larger organism for protection -- when
a predator comes against them, even though the predator is larger than any one
individual, the school takes on the form of a single, unified organism --
moving together, standing together, facing the enemy together -- and sometimes
the predator leaves because it thinks it is facing an enemy larger than itself
-- it was
the same way with the Battle of Thermopylae -- when the Persians advanced, they
didn't advance against an army of individuals -- they advanced against a
single, unified body
-- as Steve
Kamb pointed out, on the battlefield, the Spartans "always fought as one
-- their actions supported and protected their brothers, and they expected the
same in return" -- when enemies would attack, the Spartans would interlock
their shields to form a phalanx -- an impenetrable wall that protected them
from opposing armies while still allowing them to thrust out their spears
against their enemies
-- but in
order for the phalanx to be effective, every man in the line had to do his part
-- every man in the line had to hold up his shield and not waver, because if
one shield fell, the entire phalanx would fall apart
-- This is
why Spartan warriors who lost their helmet or spear during a battle were fined
-- but those who lost their shield and survived the battle were put to death
upon their return -- the helmet and spear were carried for the protection of
the individual, but the shield protected every man in the line -- thus the
famous motto of the Spartans: "Either
come back with your shield or come back on it"1
II. Who's Got Your Back?
-- this
idea of standing side by side with another is not original to the Spartans --
it is also an integral part of our faith -- as God has been showing me over the
last several years, Christianity is not about doctrine or theology or knowing
all the right things -- Christianity is, first and foremost, about relationship
-- our relationship with God -- which was restored and reconciled by Christ on
the cross of Calvary -- and our relationship with others
-- that's
why Jesus told us in Matthew 18:20, "Where two or three gather in My Name,
I am there" -- that verse had always bothered me -- why two or three? --
didn't Jesus tell us He was always with us and would never leave us or forsake
us? -- what did He mean about Him being there if there were two or three? --
because it comes down to relationship
-- as John
Donne wrote, "No man is an island" -- we are part of a whole -- we
need each other in order to live and thrive and grow and to experience the
reality of Christ in our lives -- we need each other to hold us accountable --
to help us when we fall -- to keep us strong in our faith -- and we need to be
there for our brothers and sisters in Christ
-- when God
appeared to Cain after he slew his brother Abel, God asked Cain where Abel was
-- to which Cain famously replied, "Am I my brother's keeper?" -- and
the simple answer to that is, "Yes -- yes, you are"
-- we
recognize this need for each other -- this need for relationship -- when
someone joins the church -- as part of the liturgy and the process for bringing
someone into the body of Christ, we ask the church to make a covenant with that
person -- to commit to standing with them just as King Leonidas and the
Spartans stood side by side in the pass of Thermopylae -- we ask the church to
be there for this new convert -- to support their walk of faith -- to help them
grow -- to hold them accountable -- to have their back
-- this is
biblical -- this is obedience to Christ's command to love our neighbor as
ourselves -- to love them as we would be loved -- and this is sorely lacking in
our churches today
-- people
feel alone -- people are lonely -- they feel as if no one else cares -- as if
no one else is standing with them -- why do you think Facebook is so popular?
-- why do you think Facebook beat out Myspace in the battle for social network
popularity? -- it's because Facebook revolves around friendship -- you don't
have members -- you have friends -- and more than anything else, people desire
friendship -- they want relationships in their lives -- they want to know
someone else is there -- that someone else cares
-- several
years ago, the evangelist Luis Palau was doing a crusade, and he thought it
would it be interesting to see what the true needs of the audience were -- to
preach on a subject they were concerned about -- to reach their real need
through the word of God -- the overwhelming response: preach about loneliness
-- we need
each other -- we have to have others in our lives -- we have to be there for
them -- and we need them to be there for us -- and we have to do a better job
in the church making sure everyone understands the need for this type of
relationship
-- Solomon makes
that point quite clear here in this passage in Ecclesiastes as he tells us the
benefits of having a friend to stand with you in life -- so let's look back at
it again right now in a little more detail and see what we can learn about
being the church through our relationships with others
--
Ecclesiastes Chapter 4, starting at verse 9
Ecclesiastes 4:9
9 Two are better than one, because they have a good return
for their work:
-- the
first thing we see in this passage is that a friend shares the load -- Solomon
says that two are better than one, because they have a good return for their
work
-- this
idea of sharing the work with someone else has always been hard for me -- ya'll
know I'm introverted and, as an introvert, I prefer to work alone -- I feel I'm
at my best when I'm fully engaged in a project by myself
-- and
that's why there's no words that strike fear in my hearts like being at a
training class and hearing, "Everybody partner up with one or two other
people to work on this example" -- as a general rule, I just don't like to
work in small groups -- I probably need one of those T-shirts that says,
"Doesn't play well with others"
-- but over
the years I've learned that my natural bent is wrong -- although I do like to
work by myself on most projects, there is no question that Solomon's advice
here is spot on -- sharing the load multiplies the result -- you can simply get
more done with another person working with you than either of you could working
independently on your own
-- when I
was laying the floor in our living room a few years ago, I had the idea that I
would do it all by myself -- but I found out I couldn't -- I needed help to lay
out the pattern and get the boards lined up correctly and to hold the initial
boards down until everything was locked into place -- Brandon came over and
helped me -- and together we managed to get quite a bit of floor laid that
first day -- he couldn't be there the next day, so I kept going on my own, but
could not do as much by myself as I could with him helping
-- this is
true in work and in our spiritual lives -- it is the holistic principle -- the
whole is greater than the sum of its parts -- in other words, when two or three
or more are gathered, they can do so much more than they could alone -- Jesus
knew this -- that's why Jesus made us dependent on other people -- that's why
He created the church
-- we need
others to share in God's work if we are to be who Jesus called us to be
-- verse 10
Ecclesiastes 4:10
(NIV)
10 If one falls down,
his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help
him up!
-- a friend
serves and supports -- Solomon says pity the man who falls and has no one to
help him up -- this verse speaks of accountability and reconciliation -- this
verse speaks to our need to have our brother's back and to make sure someone is
watching our back -- this verse makes it clear we need to keep our shields
together and interlocked
-- in
Galatians 6:1 Paul counsels us to keep an eye out on our brothers and sisters
in the faith -- and if we see them falling -- if we see them caught in a sin --
then we are to go to them and help them and restore them back into relationship
with the church again
-- think
about those old cheesy commercials where the woman falls down in the bathroom
and says, "Help, I've fallen down and I can't get up" -- luckily, she
had the life alert necklace on and was able to reach someone who could come and
rescue her -- that's the purpose of the church -- to be on life alert and to
serve and support those in the church who are in need -- spiritually,
physically, and materially
-- verse 11
Ecclesiastes 4:11 (NIV)
11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But
how can one keep warm alone?
-- in this
verse we once again see how the body of Christ has to come together to live --
Solomon says that one person cannot keep warm -- they need someone else to come
and lay with them
-- do you
remember the letter from Jesus to the church of Ephesus
in the Book of Revelation? -- what was their problem? -- their love had grown
cold -- they had lost their first love and they had distanced themselves from
the heart of Christianity
-- Jesus
counseled them to go back and do the things they did at first -- to love as
they had previously loved -- to join together so the fire would be lit again
-- when it
comes to spirituality, there is no doubt we need each other to stay on fire for
God -- you cannot be a true Christian alone -- you have to be in a relationship
with another person -- you have to hear what God is doing in their lives -- you
have to share with them in their burdens -- you have to know what path they are
walking -- you have to do life with them
-- that's
what Solomon is saying here -- you need each other in order to survive -- physically
and spiritually -- walking closely with the church and with other believers
keeps you warm and growing in the faith
-- verse 12
Ecclesiastes 4:12
(NIV)
12 Though one may be
overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly
broken.
-- finally,
Solomon tells us a friend secures us -- a friend defends us -- a friend has our
back -- when you read this verse, think of the King Leonidas and his 300
Spartans standing toe-to-toe against 300,000 Persians and holding out for two
days -- not because they were superior fighters -- not because they had better
weapons or better training -- but simply because each of them had their
neighbor's back -- the shields did not waver and the line held strong
-- that
should be the picture of the church of Christ in our world today -- men and
women of faith standing side by side for Christ and for each other against the
evil in this land -- I'm reading a book by Brother Andrew called "God's
Call," and he made a point in this book that I had never really thought of
before
-- a lot of
times, we take a fatalistic picture of the world around us -- or, as some would
say, a realistic picture of the world -- and we assume that what is going on in
our lives is occurring because this is God's will for us -- have you ever heard
anyone tell you, "I know you're going through a difficult time, but this
must be God's will -- we prayed for you, but nothing changed, so this what God
wants" -- and so we accept everything that comes our way as the will of God
for our lives
-- but
Brother Andrew contends this is a false teaching -- he said we have to
recognize that we live in a fallen world empowered by evil -- and that a lot of
the things that occur in this world are not God's will, but the evidence of the
evil that holds sway in this world and in the lives of many of those in this
world -- that is why we have to pray in the Lord's prayer, "Thy will be
done, on earth as it is in heaven" -- it's because we are in a battle with
evil -- and we need to approach this battle with specific bold prayers for
God's will to be done
-- rather
than assuming whatever we're going through is God's will and we just have to
accept it, we need to pray for the evil strongholds to be torn down and God's
will to be made manifest in these situations -- as James says we are not
receiving because we are not asking
-- now what
this means in light of today's message is that we need to stand with our
brothers and sisters in prayer when they are under attack -- to hold up our
shield of faith -- to lift up our sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God
-- and defend them during their time of need
-- by
themselves they may be overpowered, but when two or three are gathered in the
name of Jesus -- when two or three come together and pray in God's will and
stand for each other -- they can defend themselves
-- Solomon
ends his point about needing Christian friends in your life with this final
thought -- a cord of three strands is not quickly broken -- all through this
passage, he has been talking about two people -- a person and their friend --
sharing -- serving -- supporting -- and securing each other
-- so what
is this third strand which just suddenly appears? -- it's Christ -- as He said,
when two or three gather in my name, I am there with them
-- it is
impossible for us to walk as a friend in the way Solomon encourages without the
empowering presence of Christ in our lives -- we just cannot be there for each
other without Jesus walking alongside
-- the
bottom line message for all of this is we need each other and we need Christ
III. Closing
-- let me close by sharing with you
a story that really points out our need to join hands with others in our daily
lives -- spiritually, physically, and materially
-- years ago a beautiful little
girl wandered out into the countryside of Canada in the midst of winter and got
lost -- when the girl's parent discovered she was missing, they immediately
began searching for her -- but they didn't have any luck -- the terrain was too
rough and the area was too large
-- they notified the town and all
the townspeople started looking for her -- but everyone had a different idea on
where she might have gone, so people wandered off in different directions
calling her name and looking for where she might have gone
-- as the sun started to set and
the temperatures really started to drop, everyone gathered back at the home of
the lost little girl -- no one had seen a thing -- no one had any idea where
she might have gone -- one young man made a suggestion -- "Why don't we
search in the grassy fields across the road from the house? If we all join hands and form a line we can
cover a lot more ground."
-- They all thought that was a good
idea, so they joined hands and began to walk -- it wasn't too long before they
found the girl in the tall grass of the field curled up in a ball, but it was
too late -- he girl had been out in the cold air too long and had passed away
-- at the funeral a few days later
the townspeople all seemed to express the same emotion -- after paying their
respects to her parents, many of them could be seen huddled together in small
groups, heads hanging and whispering, "If only we had joined hands
earlier."
-- let us pray
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Steve Kamb, Nerd
Fitness: http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2014/09/15/the-oath-of-the-nerd-fitness-rebellion/
Note: Topic headings
for sermon modified from sermon by Eyriche Cortez, "I Can Count on
You," http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/i-can-count-on-you-eyriche-cortez-sermon-on-friendship-general-107970.asp
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