The Importance of Community

Scripture Reading

Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-12, 16 The Unity of the Body

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.

11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up

16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Devotional

In these passages, Paul writes about the importance of the body of believers to be united and what that means for each one of us as well. He starts by calling us to be humble, gentle, patient, and loving with one another. You may recognize some of those attributes as fruits of the Holy Spirit from Galatians 5:22-23. The qualities are important, not just because it is a sign of spiritual maturity, but because it can help strengthen other believers as well. Since we’re talking about the fruits of the Holy Spirit, there’s a really interesting parallel to this in nature. According to an article on Lowes.com on cross-pollinating fruit trees there are four basic tenants of fruit tree pollination:

1. Most fruit trees require pollination between two or more trees in order for fruit to set

2. Pollination occurs when trees blossom

3. Completed pollination fertilizes the tree and fruit grows. Otherwise, flowers grow, but no fruit.

4. Pollination can be performed by an intermediary like a honeybee.

The pollination article then goes on to say that:

Other fruit trees, like most apple, plum, sweet cherry and pears are cross-pollinating or self-unfruitful. They need another tree for pollination, and not just one of the same variety, but a different variety of the same fruit. For example, most sweet cherries must be pollinated with compatible sweet cherry trees.

So, let’s dissect this one part at a time. In order for a tree to bear fruit, it must be connected to other trees or it must be pollinated directly by something like a honeybee. But in either case, no matter what type of tree it is, it must be pollinated and it can’t pollinate itself. In other words, if we want to bear fruit, we need to be connected to one another through the church - the body of believers. You cannot do it on your own. God may choose any number of ways of communicating with us through the Holy Spirit, but we cannot just naturally produce fruit on our own.

Secondly, pollination occurs when trees blossom. That means the tree has something to give and is also ready to receive. This seems particularly relevant with Spring right around the corner. But how this applies to us is that for us to mature and bear fruit we have to be ready and willing to do so and it’s not about our gain, it’s a benefit to other believers as well, and therefore a benefit to God’s kingdom.

Thirdly, it’s not enough for a tree to be in bloom, it actually has to be fertilized. So, what does that mean? It’s not just about sharing and receiving wisdom from the Lord, it has to be accepted and allowed to grow. The Word of God is like a seed, don’t let it fall on deaf ears or go in one ear and out the other. Let it transform you. If pollination doesn’t occur, then much like the fruit tree, you might have some buds in bloom, but no fruit.

Fourthly, pollination can occur with an intermediary like a honeybee that give another tree exactly what it needed from another tree in order to be fertilized. This act is very intentional and honeybee reminds me a lot of the Holy Spirit moving between believers. A honeybee is especially important if a tree isn’t particularly close to the other trees. It would’ve been doomed to not bear fruit despite blossoming, but fortunately the honeybee comes to its rescue – just like how Christ meets us where we are and gives us a message just when we need it most.

Now let’s revisit the next portion of the scripture, versus 7 and 11 state that Jesus has given us special gift and that the gifts he has given each of us builds into his plan to spread the Good News. That means that each one of us is specially equipped with a calling that fits perfectly into God’s plan to spread the Good News to the ends of the Earth. Not just apostles of Jesus, not just pastors, not just theologians, everyone.

That brings us back to our Lowe’s horticulture lesson. Notice that the article states that cross-pollinating trees are not fruit-bearing on their own. They not only need pollen from another tree, but they need it from a tree with the same type of fruit, but another variety of that specific fruit. Isn’t that interesting…. So, if I’m a sweet Fuji apple tree, I need to be pollinated by another sweet apple tree like a Red Delicious apple tree, not another Fuji apple tree. As a body of believers, we are all part of the same family, we’re all “apple” trees let’s say; however, God has given each us unique gifts, so within that apple tree family, we require the interaction, communication, fellowship, and spiritual rooting with other believers who have other unique gifts to share.

Are you hearing this? God is saying to his church that it’s not enough to believe, to pray, be in his Word, or be saved. We must be connected to one another if we’re going to bear any fruit. We must be sharing wisdom and gifts with each other and the world to not only strengthen ourselves, but to strengthen the entire body of Christ in carrying out God’s plan. Verse 16 drives home the fact that we are all one body, that means we do nothing on our own, we are all connected and we all have a role to play as we are built up with Christ holding us all together. Let’s pray.

Prayer

Father God, thank you so much for the reminder that it’s not just important to have a relationship with you, but to be closely knit with other believers in order to bear fruit. It’s all about being in community with each other just like how you are in community with yourself (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). Thank you for reminding me to reconnect, share my gifts, and remain receptive to your Word. Lord, I pray for opportunities to exchange gifts with other believers, strengthen the connection with believers, and share the Good News of Jesus Christ. Amen!