WEBVTT 00:00:05.290 --> 00:00:07.049 Hello, and welcome to this week's episode of 00:00:07.049 --> 00:00:09.189 Trinity Sermons. This week we are continuing 00:00:09.189 --> 00:00:11.949 our teaching series, Growing Season, where we 00:00:11.949 --> 00:00:13.949 are going back to the farm to learn what the 00:00:13.949 --> 00:00:17.350 farm has to teach us about faith. And farmers 00:00:17.350 --> 00:00:20.530 don't work alone. They have lots of hired hands, 00:00:20.750 --> 00:00:22.809 they have kids, they have fathers, they have 00:00:22.809 --> 00:00:25.730 neighbors. Everybody pitches in to make sure 00:00:25.730 --> 00:00:28.609 that things go well. And when things aren't going 00:00:28.609 --> 00:00:31.170 well, the community supports one another through 00:00:31.170 --> 00:00:34.310 that. But what about in our lives? Who is there 00:00:34.310 --> 00:00:36.990 for you when things aren't going well? Who cheers 00:00:36.990 --> 00:00:39.850 you on when things are going well? That's what 00:00:39.850 --> 00:00:42.049 Rob is going to unpack for us in today's sermon. 00:00:45.829 --> 00:00:49.929 There was a man all alone. He had neither son 00:00:49.929 --> 00:00:54.609 nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet 00:00:54.609 --> 00:00:58.689 his eyes were not content with his wealth. For 00:00:58.689 --> 00:01:02.490 whom am I toiling, he asked, and why am I depriving 00:01:02.490 --> 00:01:06.090 myself of enjoyment? This, too, is meaningless, 00:01:06.430 --> 00:01:11.349 a miserable business. Two are better than one 00:01:11.349 --> 00:01:14.010 because they have a good return for their labor. 00:01:14.730 --> 00:01:17.950 If either of them falls down, one can help the 00:01:17.950 --> 00:01:22.450 other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no 00:01:22.450 --> 00:01:26.719 one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, 00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:30.400 they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm 00:01:30.400 --> 00:01:36.040 alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can 00:01:36.040 --> 00:01:40.019 defend themselves. A cord of three strands is 00:01:40.019 --> 00:01:45.500 not quickly broken. The word of the Lord. you 00:01:45.500 --> 00:01:48.140 have the picture, the picture we've all seen 00:01:48.140 --> 00:01:52.739 so many times. There is the lone farmer standing 00:01:52.739 --> 00:01:57.659 out, looking out over his field. The sun is creating 00:01:57.659 --> 00:02:01.760 a nice silhouette, and there he is. He's completely 00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:05.700 self -sufficient. It's kind of an iconic image. 00:02:05.819 --> 00:02:10.500 It's a familiar image, and it's also a complete 00:02:10.500 --> 00:02:14.870 myth. It's a myth because the truth is that no 00:02:14.870 --> 00:02:20.169 farmer truly farms alone. Every farm depends 00:02:20.169 --> 00:02:24.930 on a community of support and friendship. So 00:02:24.930 --> 00:02:27.310 if I even think back to the farm I grew up on, 00:02:27.389 --> 00:02:30.669 the dairy farm there, our family was very tightly 00:02:30.669 --> 00:02:33.849 connected to other dairy farmers in the area. 00:02:34.009 --> 00:02:37.069 You know, there was the Bockers over on Link 00:02:37.069 --> 00:02:40.449 Road. There was the Wingers on Regional Road 00:02:40.449 --> 00:02:45.479 20. Fletchers out on Concession 4. And one of 00:02:45.479 --> 00:02:48.080 my best friends lived on a dairy farm on the 00:02:48.080 --> 00:02:52.080 Raynham Road. And so this community was there 00:02:52.080 --> 00:02:54.539 for each other. They supported each other. They 00:02:54.539 --> 00:02:57.620 were friends with each other. And though, yes, 00:02:57.719 --> 00:03:01.020 there might have been one family's name on the 00:03:01.020 --> 00:03:04.560 mailbox at the end of the laneway, no farmer 00:03:04.560 --> 00:03:10.180 really farmed alone. But today, we hear the story 00:03:10.180 --> 00:03:14.419 of a farmer who'd tried to do just that. There 00:03:14.419 --> 00:03:18.960 was a man all alone. He had neither son nor brother, 00:03:19.080 --> 00:03:23.469 and there was no end to his toil. This farmer, 00:03:23.550 --> 00:03:26.069 for whatever reason, he has nobody working with 00:03:26.069 --> 00:03:28.129 him. He doesn't seem to have any friends. He 00:03:28.129 --> 00:03:29.650 doesn't seem to have any neighbors. And he doesn't 00:03:29.650 --> 00:03:32.210 even seem to have any family. And that's kind 00:03:32.210 --> 00:03:35.090 of interesting because family is so essential. 00:03:35.229 --> 00:03:37.270 Family farms, you depend on your brothers and 00:03:37.270 --> 00:03:39.590 sisters and cousins and aunts and uncles. You 00:03:39.590 --> 00:03:42.030 depend on all those people to come out and make 00:03:42.030 --> 00:03:45.389 things work. But for some reason, he doesn't 00:03:45.389 --> 00:03:48.110 have that. And we don't really know the reason 00:03:48.110 --> 00:03:50.889 behind this man's story. Maybe something had 00:03:50.889 --> 00:03:53.860 happened to his family. Maybe he was just a loner. 00:03:53.900 --> 00:03:58.860 Or maybe he was afraid to ask for help. We don't 00:03:58.860 --> 00:04:03.080 know why he's alone. But I dare say we do know 00:04:03.080 --> 00:04:06.879 the temptation. Because we too live in a culture 00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:11.629 that really, really admires the self. made person, 00:04:11.750 --> 00:04:14.129 right? The person who says, I did it all on my 00:04:14.129 --> 00:04:18.029 own. I conquered all of my own problems. I bore 00:04:18.029 --> 00:04:22.290 all of my own burdens. That's what culture says 00:04:22.290 --> 00:04:24.629 we should be aiming for. But there is a cost 00:04:24.629 --> 00:04:28.470 to living that way. What is the cost? It says 00:04:28.470 --> 00:04:33.069 right there. The cost is there is no end to his 00:04:33.069 --> 00:04:37.709 toil, right? He had no one to step in and take 00:04:37.709 --> 00:04:41.079 the next shift. No one to help him out. in a 00:04:41.079 --> 00:04:44.899 time of crisis and so that leads this farmer 00:04:44.899 --> 00:04:48.199 to eventually say gosh why am i even doing this 00:04:48.199 --> 00:04:51.120 for whom am i toiling why am i depriving myself 00:04:51.120 --> 00:04:56.079 of enjoyment this too is a meaningless miserable 00:04:56.079 --> 00:05:00.009 business i think this is the saddest part of 00:05:00.009 --> 00:05:02.670 the whole reading because apparently and presumably 00:05:02.670 --> 00:05:06.350 at one point his work gave him great meaning 00:05:06.350 --> 00:05:10.829 and gave him great joy but now it's just an endless 00:05:10.829 --> 00:05:14.310 chore twice he calls it meaningless throughout 00:05:14.310 --> 00:05:17.069 the reading meaningless meaningless he says and 00:05:17.069 --> 00:05:20.829 that's sad because actually honest work is not 00:05:20.829 --> 00:05:26.589 meaningless honest work is good but if you don't 00:05:26.589 --> 00:05:31.170 have relationships then that work loses its meaning. 00:05:31.430 --> 00:05:34.689 You know, life is not just about what we can 00:05:34.689 --> 00:05:38.430 accomplish. Life is more about who we accomplish 00:05:38.430 --> 00:05:42.069 it with. And I got to tell you, farming has got 00:05:42.069 --> 00:05:46.189 to be one of the hardest jobs out there. But 00:05:46.189 --> 00:05:50.490 having other people to share in that work can 00:05:50.490 --> 00:05:53.269 make that difficult, difficult work meaningful 00:05:53.269 --> 00:05:57.310 and even provide a sense of enjoyment there. 00:05:57.839 --> 00:06:00.759 Now, that is not just true on the farm. It is 00:06:00.759 --> 00:06:04.920 also true in the workplace, and it is also true 00:06:04.920 --> 00:06:08.560 in our spiritual lives, right? Christianity is 00:06:08.560 --> 00:06:12.189 not a solitary life. Though many people... Treat 00:06:12.189 --> 00:06:14.730 Christianity much like that farmer did as some 00:06:14.730 --> 00:06:17.449 kind of private thing that exists just between 00:06:17.449 --> 00:06:20.069 you and God. And so we worship in private. We 00:06:20.069 --> 00:06:23.389 pray in private. You know, we struggle in private. 00:06:23.670 --> 00:06:27.769 We grieve in private. And we may even this morning 00:06:27.769 --> 00:06:29.589 be sitting in a church filled with people, but 00:06:29.589 --> 00:06:33.389 we feel very much alone. Very much alone. And 00:06:33.389 --> 00:06:37.110 so it could be a farmer in a field. Could be 00:06:37.110 --> 00:06:41.870 you in the pew. But community. is essential to 00:06:41.870 --> 00:06:46.889 what makes for a meaningful life. So today, that's 00:06:46.889 --> 00:06:49.019 what I want to talk about. I want to talk about 00:06:49.019 --> 00:06:53.420 why we need each other. And I've given you a 00:06:53.420 --> 00:06:55.620 few notes. You can follow along. Just so at the 00:06:55.620 --> 00:06:57.240 end of the sermon today, you don't say, it was 00:06:57.240 --> 00:06:59.899 meaningless. What did he say? It was completely 00:06:59.899 --> 00:07:01.939 meaningless. No, no, that's what the notes are 00:07:01.939 --> 00:07:06.500 for. Let's talk about why working together is 00:07:06.500 --> 00:07:08.379 so important. And here's the first reason. And 00:07:08.379 --> 00:07:11.639 I think it comes back to that old farm saying, 00:07:11.980 --> 00:07:15.480 right? Say it with me. Many hands make light 00:07:15.480 --> 00:07:18.139 work. Or as the book of Ecclesiastes, He puts 00:07:18.139 --> 00:07:21.389 it, two are better than one. Because they have 00:07:21.389 --> 00:07:25.069 a good return for their labor. Now that is not 00:07:25.069 --> 00:07:27.810 complicated theology, my friends. Two is better 00:07:27.810 --> 00:07:30.009 than one. Two is better than one. Two, pretty 00:07:30.009 --> 00:07:31.589 much two of anything is better than one. Two 00:07:31.589 --> 00:07:34.769 Joe Louis is better. Two donuts is better than 00:07:34.769 --> 00:07:38.170 one, right? And hard work becomes lighter when 00:07:38.170 --> 00:07:42.050 many people are invited into it. And you've learned 00:07:42.050 --> 00:07:43.689 this. We all learn this pretty quick in life. 00:07:43.769 --> 00:07:45.490 And you certainly learn it on the farm. Let me 00:07:45.490 --> 00:07:47.709 tell you one of the places you learn this most 00:07:47.709 --> 00:07:50.050 on a farm. And that's when you're unloading hay. 00:07:50.160 --> 00:07:52.240 on a summer day. How many people here, just show 00:07:52.240 --> 00:07:54.519 of hands, have ever had the experience of unloading 00:07:54.519 --> 00:07:56.779 a hay wagon on a hot summer day? Yeah, more than 00:07:56.779 --> 00:07:59.540 you would think. This is the best way to do it, 00:07:59.639 --> 00:08:02.019 okay? Two people in the wagon, two people in 00:08:02.019 --> 00:08:04.279 the mail. One person in the wagon shakes the 00:08:04.279 --> 00:08:06.519 bale loose, tosses it down to a second person 00:08:06.519 --> 00:08:09.120 who puts it on the elevator. The elevator is 00:08:09.120 --> 00:08:11.040 going to take it up into the hay mail. Up in 00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:13.959 the hay mail, the bale falls off and two people, 00:08:14.060 --> 00:08:16.680 so they don't pile up on you, take those bales 00:08:16.680 --> 00:08:19.220 and stack them back and forth. So you shake. 00:08:19.370 --> 00:08:22.810 and you load and then you stack you shake you 00:08:22.810 --> 00:08:25.529 load you stack shake load stack there's a rhythm 00:08:25.529 --> 00:08:27.730 to it this if you get into that rhythm if you 00:08:27.730 --> 00:08:31.209 get really moving you can unload seven eight 00:08:31.209 --> 00:08:36.820 wagons of hay in in a single day but if it was 00:08:36.820 --> 00:08:39.500 only one person doing it, it would be ridiculously 00:08:39.500 --> 00:08:42.559 inefficient. You would have to start by shaking 00:08:42.559 --> 00:08:44.639 down a bale and then you would have to like, 00:08:44.679 --> 00:08:47.120 what, throw it on the elevator, then run into 00:08:47.120 --> 00:08:49.559 the barn, climb up the ladder, go into the mound, 00:08:49.639 --> 00:08:52.639 take that bale, stack it, then run back, go back 00:08:52.639 --> 00:08:55.059 down the ladder, go back and do it all over again. 00:08:55.500 --> 00:08:58.940 You'd be exhausted by the time you got a dozen 00:08:58.940 --> 00:09:03.179 bales up in the hay mound. When we work together, 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:07.769 this is the thing, we make possible what would 00:09:07.769 --> 00:09:11.590 otherwise be completely overwhelming. Something 00:09:11.590 --> 00:09:46.960 kind of like this. Hey, listen, no one person 00:09:46.960 --> 00:09:52.919 can carry a barn. But 300 Amish people can. And 00:09:52.919 --> 00:09:55.940 each person carrying a little bit of the weight. 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:57.460 Actually, after church, if you guys wouldn't 00:09:57.460 --> 00:09:59.000 mind just sticking around. I wouldn't mind if 00:09:59.000 --> 00:10:01.779 Trinity was about six feet closer to the road. 00:10:01.960 --> 00:10:04.019 And I thought we could all just, you know, get 00:10:04.019 --> 00:10:07.039 in there and make short work of it. But that's 00:10:07.039 --> 00:10:09.220 what shared labor is all about. We distribute 00:10:09.220 --> 00:10:11.360 the weight. We bring our different strengths 00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:14.080 to the work. And when we do that, the thing is, 00:10:14.100 --> 00:10:15.519 it doesn't just change the speed of the work. 00:10:15.600 --> 00:10:18.879 And I speed sped that up, obviously. It changes 00:10:18.879 --> 00:10:21.720 our enjoyment. It changes the spirit of the work, 00:10:21.720 --> 00:10:24.120 too. I mean, tell you, unloading hay was hot, 00:10:24.139 --> 00:10:26.600 dirty, dusty, itchy work. But when you were dealing 00:10:26.600 --> 00:10:29.139 with people, yeah, you know, you started talking, 00:10:29.179 --> 00:10:31.799 you started joking. You at least had someone 00:10:31.799 --> 00:10:35.000 to share the misery with. And so that, I think, 00:10:35.000 --> 00:10:37.179 is part of the good return that the author of 00:10:37.179 --> 00:10:39.600 Ecclesiastes is talking about. It's not just... 00:10:39.629 --> 00:10:41.649 we get work done faster it's that is that we 00:10:41.649 --> 00:10:45.309 actually reclaim some of the joy of working together 00:10:45.309 --> 00:10:48.309 but but sharing the load isn't just like some 00:10:48.309 --> 00:10:52.049 good idea that you know folk wisdom or something 00:10:52.049 --> 00:10:54.129 like it's actually a biblical command look at 00:10:54.129 --> 00:10:56.169 this like three thousand year old farming command 00:10:56.169 --> 00:10:59.309 found in the book of deuteronomy if you see your 00:10:59.309 --> 00:11:01.950 fellow israelites donkey or ox fallen on the 00:11:01.950 --> 00:11:05.779 road and let's be honest who hasn't right Do 00:11:05.779 --> 00:11:11.080 not ignore it. Help the owner get it to its feet. 00:11:11.200 --> 00:11:13.799 So you're not allowed to walk past your owner's 00:11:13.799 --> 00:11:17.700 problem and say, hey, not my donkey, not my ox, 00:11:17.860 --> 00:11:21.720 not my farm, not my problem. No, the command 00:11:21.720 --> 00:11:24.299 is no, no, no. You get down there and you put 00:11:24.299 --> 00:11:28.960 your own two hands under that and you help. And 00:11:28.960 --> 00:11:31.799 that is because. There are some loads that were 00:11:31.799 --> 00:11:37.259 just never meant to be carried alone. And a little 00:11:37.259 --> 00:11:39.340 time out right here would be helpful because 00:11:39.340 --> 00:11:41.120 some of you have come to church this morning 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:44.559 and you're carrying very, very heavy loads. And 00:11:44.559 --> 00:11:49.460 you think you need to carry that alone. And one 00:11:49.460 --> 00:11:51.120 of the things maybe you're going to learn today 00:11:51.120 --> 00:11:53.879 is that you do not need to carry that alone. 00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:56.779 In fact, you were never meant to carry that alone. 00:11:56.879 --> 00:12:01.370 It's too heavy for you to carry alone. When someone 00:12:01.370 --> 00:12:06.090 is carrying too much, what we do is we shoulder 00:12:06.090 --> 00:12:09.950 the load with them. And we don't just say, hey, 00:12:09.990 --> 00:12:13.149 I'll be praying for you. We say, hey, what can 00:12:13.149 --> 00:12:16.690 I carry? The church, therefore, is not just a 00:12:16.690 --> 00:12:19.029 bunch of people sitting on their own little spiritual 00:12:19.029 --> 00:12:22.029 farms, waving at each other over the fence. No, 00:12:22.090 --> 00:12:24.990 we are actually all working in the same field. 00:12:25.389 --> 00:12:27.909 You know, the apostle Paul says we are God's. 00:12:28.360 --> 00:12:33.399 We are co -workers in God's service. This is 00:12:33.399 --> 00:12:37.360 true even right here at Trinity. No one person 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:40.629 could run... camp trinity no one person could 00:12:40.629 --> 00:12:43.590 could coordinate our community meal that's coming 00:12:43.590 --> 00:12:46.009 up this week as you just heard no no one person 00:12:46.009 --> 00:12:48.090 could teach our children no one person can just 00:12:48.090 --> 00:12:51.549 lead worship but when everyone takes hold of 00:12:51.549 --> 00:12:54.370 it takes a little part of it then the load becomes 00:12:54.370 --> 00:12:56.950 lighter and guess what relationships start to 00:12:56.950 --> 00:13:00.470 get formed and guess what the work moves forward 00:13:00.470 --> 00:13:03.429 so that is the first thing that we learn about 00:13:03.429 --> 00:13:08.929 working together many hands make light But secondly, 00:13:09.049 --> 00:13:12.210 working together means that we can actually help 00:13:12.210 --> 00:13:16.230 each other when we fall. I mean, on a farm, think 00:13:16.230 --> 00:13:18.269 about it. What happens when someone gets hurt? 00:13:18.389 --> 00:13:22.090 What happens when someone gets sick? You got 00:13:22.090 --> 00:13:26.049 to have a contingency plan. You got to have somebody 00:13:26.049 --> 00:13:28.190 else who can drive the tractor when you can't. 00:13:28.360 --> 00:13:30.600 You've got to have somebody else who can milk 00:13:30.600 --> 00:13:33.100 the cows when you're too sick to milk the cows. 00:13:33.779 --> 00:13:36.899 And so therefore, shared work is not just about 00:13:36.899 --> 00:13:40.919 efficiency, but it's about resilience, right? 00:13:41.019 --> 00:13:43.700 Here's how Ecclesiastes puts it. If either of 00:13:43.700 --> 00:13:45.659 these, you know, two people were to fall down, 00:13:45.960 --> 00:13:50.120 one can help the other up. But pity anyone who 00:13:50.120 --> 00:13:53.779 falls down and has no one to help them up. So 00:13:53.779 --> 00:13:55.100 whether it's on a farm, whether it's in your 00:13:55.100 --> 00:13:58.159 family, or whether it's in a church, People are 00:13:58.159 --> 00:14:01.039 going to fall down. We all fall down from time 00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:04.200 to time. The real tragedy is not falling down. 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:07.299 The real tragedy is when you fall down and you've 00:14:07.299 --> 00:14:11.159 got nobody there to help you stand back up again. 00:14:11.200 --> 00:14:14.179 And therefore, the work or your life or your 00:14:14.179 --> 00:14:19.490 goals all come to a grinding halt. Look with 00:14:19.490 --> 00:14:22.070 me quickly. Another ancient book, the book of 00:14:22.070 --> 00:14:25.009 Nehemiah. Here's what had happened. A famine 00:14:25.009 --> 00:14:27.470 had struck the land. Many families, not all, 00:14:27.590 --> 00:14:30.389 but many families were going hungry. And as a 00:14:30.389 --> 00:14:32.350 result, they were having to mortgage their houses. 00:14:32.429 --> 00:14:34.429 They were having to sell their fields. They were 00:14:34.429 --> 00:14:37.529 having to take out like loans in order to pay 00:14:37.529 --> 00:14:44.039 their taxes. Okay. And so many of them, you know, 00:14:44.039 --> 00:14:46.360 are in this real predicament. These people have 00:14:46.360 --> 00:14:49.159 fallen down. Okay. They could not get back up 00:14:49.159 --> 00:14:51.679 by themselves. But here's the thing. Instead 00:14:51.679 --> 00:14:54.220 of helping each other up, you know, the neighboring 00:14:54.220 --> 00:14:56.620 farmers were doing to each other. They were actually 00:14:56.620 --> 00:14:59.299 profiting from them. They were lending money 00:14:59.299 --> 00:15:01.220 at very high interest. They were taking their 00:15:01.220 --> 00:15:04.080 fields. They were taking their homes. In other 00:15:04.080 --> 00:15:07.320 words, they were using their neighbor's weaknesses. 00:15:08.269 --> 00:15:10.450 To their own advantage. And Nehemiah, who was 00:15:10.450 --> 00:15:12.669 the leader at this time, he was just furious. 00:15:12.789 --> 00:15:15.730 He said, don't do that. He said, you give back 00:15:15.730 --> 00:15:18.350 to them their fields. Give back their vineyards 00:15:18.350 --> 00:15:20.389 and their olive groves and their houses. And 00:15:20.389 --> 00:15:24.090 you give back that interest. Because when you 00:15:24.090 --> 00:15:26.350 see a family going through a crisis, that is 00:15:26.350 --> 00:15:30.009 not a business opportunity for you. Right? You 00:15:30.009 --> 00:15:32.570 do not look at someone who has fallen down and 00:15:32.570 --> 00:15:35.110 say, what can I get out of this? You look at 00:15:35.110 --> 00:15:38.789 them and you say, how can I help them? Get out 00:15:38.789 --> 00:15:42.509 of this. And the people were like, oh my gosh, 00:15:42.590 --> 00:15:44.730 you're so right, of course. And so what they 00:15:44.730 --> 00:15:47.509 did is they returned the property and they canceled 00:15:47.509 --> 00:15:50.350 those debts so that the people who had fallen 00:15:50.350 --> 00:15:54.850 down could get back up. And the message there 00:15:54.850 --> 00:15:58.809 is clear. One farmer's problem is every farmer's 00:15:58.809 --> 00:16:01.870 problem. We don't kick each other when we're 00:16:01.870 --> 00:16:05.409 down. We don't use somebody else's hardship to 00:16:05.409 --> 00:16:08.620 enlarge our own farm. Because here's the thing. 00:16:08.659 --> 00:16:10.980 Yeah, my neighbor may have had a bad harvest 00:16:10.980 --> 00:16:13.159 this year, and he needs help. But next year, 00:16:13.200 --> 00:16:15.700 it could be me. I could be the one with the problem. 00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:17.139 I could be the one with the bad harvest, and 00:16:17.139 --> 00:16:19.620 I could be the one who needs help. So we mitigate 00:16:19.620 --> 00:16:23.519 the risks of life by standing together. And again, 00:16:23.559 --> 00:16:25.919 remember, I'm not just talking about farming 00:16:25.919 --> 00:16:28.360 up here. We're talking about life in general, 00:16:28.440 --> 00:16:30.779 right? And life will knock us down. You will 00:16:30.779 --> 00:16:32.759 get knocked down. We all get knocked down. There'll 00:16:32.759 --> 00:16:35.700 be grief. There'll be illness. We'll all go through 00:16:35.700 --> 00:16:40.100 failures in life, right? And sometimes when people 00:16:40.100 --> 00:16:42.559 are knocked down, it's obvious. We can see it 00:16:42.559 --> 00:16:44.740 as soon as they walk in the room. Other times, 00:16:44.740 --> 00:16:48.200 we can't see it. Because we hide it really well. 00:16:48.259 --> 00:16:50.879 We keep smiling. People ask us how we're doing. 00:16:50.940 --> 00:16:53.860 We say, I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine. And so 00:16:53.860 --> 00:16:56.559 in order to kind of see that they've really fallen 00:16:56.559 --> 00:16:58.639 down, we have to be really carefully paying attention 00:16:58.639 --> 00:17:02.440 to the people around us. And in those moments 00:17:02.440 --> 00:17:05.319 when we found someone who's fallen down, we don't 00:17:05.319 --> 00:17:08.759 just go around offering advice to them. We have 00:17:08.759 --> 00:17:12.940 to offer support. Advice stands above someone 00:17:12.940 --> 00:17:15.869 and says, let me... tell you what you need to 00:17:15.869 --> 00:17:19.329 do. But support comes alongside someone and says, 00:17:19.410 --> 00:17:24.049 show me what I can do for you. And that might 00:17:24.049 --> 00:17:25.829 mean bringing a meal to someone. It might mean 00:17:25.829 --> 00:17:28.329 driving someone to appointments or it might mean 00:17:28.329 --> 00:17:30.470 helping to arrange childcare or whatever the 00:17:30.470 --> 00:17:34.230 case may be. But just look at the words of Ecclesiastes 00:17:34.230 --> 00:17:39.769 right there. Labor, fall, help. keep warm, overpower, 00:17:40.069 --> 00:17:43.009 defend, right? These are all action words. These 00:17:43.009 --> 00:17:45.329 are all words. These are all things that we do. 00:17:45.690 --> 00:17:48.569 When someone falls down, we don't just feel sorry 00:17:48.569 --> 00:17:51.190 for them. I'll pray for you. No, we reach down 00:17:51.190 --> 00:17:55.509 and we help them up and we do what we can to 00:17:55.509 --> 00:17:57.569 help them carry what they can no longer carry 00:17:57.569 --> 00:17:59.950 themselves. Because again, the worst thing is 00:17:59.950 --> 00:18:03.130 not falling down. We all fall. The worst is when 00:18:03.130 --> 00:18:04.869 you fall and you discover there's no one there 00:18:04.869 --> 00:18:09.140 to help. And whether it's farming or family or 00:18:09.140 --> 00:18:13.880 faith, our worst seasons should never have to 00:18:13.880 --> 00:18:17.599 be faced all alone. Okay, so that brings us to 00:18:17.599 --> 00:18:20.559 the third benefit I want to share with you today 00:18:20.559 --> 00:18:24.240 about working together. Yes, many hands make 00:18:24.240 --> 00:18:27.819 light work. And yes, we can help each other when 00:18:27.819 --> 00:18:32.359 we fall down. But there's also seasons when we 00:18:32.359 --> 00:18:38.089 actually can't fix what's wrong. situations where 00:18:38.089 --> 00:18:41.069 we can't solve people's problems. You know, the 00:18:41.069 --> 00:18:44.210 crop has already failed. The diagnosis has already 00:18:44.210 --> 00:18:47.750 come in. You know, the funeral is already booked, 00:18:47.950 --> 00:18:52.650 right? And in those moments, what we need most 00:18:52.650 --> 00:18:57.690 is not someone to, like, do work for us. What 00:18:57.690 --> 00:19:01.029 we just need is someone to be with us, to be 00:19:01.029 --> 00:19:05.799 near us. I don't know if you... You've ever seen 00:19:05.799 --> 00:19:08.420 it, but when winter settles over a farm, you 00:19:08.420 --> 00:19:10.259 can see what the cows do in the field. They all 00:19:10.259 --> 00:19:13.059 kind of just gather together. They instinctively 00:19:13.059 --> 00:19:17.380 move together and face inwards to preserve the 00:19:17.380 --> 00:19:21.400 heat. There's warmth that comes when we get close. 00:19:21.519 --> 00:19:25.259 We all need the warmth of community when life 00:19:25.259 --> 00:19:29.640 turns bitter and cold on us. Ecclesiastes says 00:19:29.640 --> 00:19:33.970 if two lie down together, they will keep. but 00:19:33.970 --> 00:19:37.509 how can one keep warm alone? When I read this, 00:19:37.529 --> 00:19:40.369 I picture two shepherds on a cold, cold night 00:19:40.369 --> 00:19:45.490 sharing a tent, helping one another endure the 00:19:45.490 --> 00:19:47.569 bitterness of the night. That's what community 00:19:47.569 --> 00:19:50.029 does. It doesn't always solve the problems. It 00:19:50.029 --> 00:19:52.529 doesn't always answer all the questions, but 00:19:52.529 --> 00:19:56.130 it helps us endure. It helps us endure what we're 00:19:56.130 --> 00:20:00.109 going through. We can't always take away a person's 00:20:00.109 --> 00:20:03.170 pain, but we can move closer. We can move closer 00:20:03.170 --> 00:20:04.890 and we can say, hey, you don't have to go through 00:20:04.890 --> 00:20:11.569 this alone. Isolation increases our exposure. 00:20:12.029 --> 00:20:15.150 You know, if you're at a bus stop or in a farmer's 00:20:15.150 --> 00:20:17.170 field or whatever, just standing alone, man, 00:20:17.269 --> 00:20:21.349 every wind just feels colder. And going through 00:20:21.349 --> 00:20:24.029 life, every burden feels heavier when we're carrying 00:20:24.029 --> 00:20:26.349 it alone. And that's true emotionally. It's true 00:20:26.349 --> 00:20:30.849 spiritually. You can feel isolated even if you're 00:20:30.849 --> 00:20:32.470 in a crowd. I mean, that's the thing. It's not 00:20:32.470 --> 00:20:34.009 just like you get with a group of people and 00:20:34.009 --> 00:20:35.450 then you won't feel isolated anymore because 00:20:35.450 --> 00:20:37.630 you can attend church every single Sunday and 00:20:37.630 --> 00:20:39.269 still feel like no one actually knows what's 00:20:39.269 --> 00:20:40.809 going on in your life. In fact, I would say one 00:20:40.809 --> 00:20:43.869 of the saddest things I ever see here at Trinity, 00:20:43.990 --> 00:20:45.509 and it doesn't happen very often, thanks be to 00:20:45.509 --> 00:20:48.730 God, but if after the service is that coffee 00:20:48.730 --> 00:20:50.750 hour, right? And everybody goes over to coffee 00:20:50.750 --> 00:20:53.339 hour and we all huddle up. in our own little 00:20:53.339 --> 00:20:55.940 warm groups to kind of have a chit chat. And 00:20:55.940 --> 00:20:57.980 there's a visitor standing there in the middle 00:20:57.980 --> 00:21:00.140 of coffee hour holding a cup of coffee and no 00:21:00.140 --> 00:21:04.339 one has approached them. The coffee is hot, but 00:21:04.339 --> 00:21:09.920 that experience is cold. Something changes though 00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:13.059 when one or two people walk over. Something changes 00:21:13.059 --> 00:21:15.940 when a circle opens up and they say, hey, come 00:21:15.940 --> 00:21:19.839 on in. That's how warmth. begins in community. 00:21:19.880 --> 00:21:22.480 It doesn't happen through a program, but it happens 00:21:22.480 --> 00:21:26.819 when someone notices and someone makes room for 00:21:26.819 --> 00:21:30.420 the other. The reading talks about how two people 00:21:30.420 --> 00:21:32.779 can keep warm together, but it also talks about 00:21:32.779 --> 00:21:35.240 how two people can stay safe together. Though 00:21:35.240 --> 00:21:38.039 one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. 00:21:38.990 --> 00:21:41.730 A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. 00:21:42.369 --> 00:21:45.329 There's another old saying, right? There is safety 00:21:45.329 --> 00:21:50.289 in numbers. One person, one person can be easily 00:21:50.289 --> 00:21:52.970 overpowered. But two people standing back to 00:21:52.970 --> 00:21:56.349 back can see things that one person alone cannot 00:21:56.349 --> 00:21:59.569 see. A third person is even better. A fourth 00:21:59.569 --> 00:22:02.450 would be even better. A fifth, a sixth, a seventh. 00:22:02.589 --> 00:22:06.470 When we're isolated. The evil one whispers things 00:22:06.470 --> 00:22:09.710 to us and says like, hey, no one cares. No one 00:22:09.710 --> 00:22:13.130 understands. You're all alone. But Christian 00:22:13.130 --> 00:22:18.869 community can interrupt those lies. And strength 00:22:18.869 --> 00:22:22.990 grows as we huddle together. So again, sometimes 00:22:22.990 --> 00:22:25.230 the most powerful thing we can do for someone 00:22:25.230 --> 00:22:28.819 is not to try to answer their... questions or 00:22:28.819 --> 00:22:31.200 solve their problems, but just to be a presence, 00:22:31.460 --> 00:22:34.160 just to pull our chair a little closer to them 00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:38.940 and bring the warmth. The crisis may not go away, 00:22:39.079 --> 00:22:42.160 but it's more bearable when someone is beside 00:22:42.160 --> 00:22:45.799 you. So just here's a quick little self -check 00:22:45.799 --> 00:22:48.079 for us all. Do you have a group of people like 00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:53.019 that? Do you have a huddle? of folks you can 00:22:53.019 --> 00:22:55.259 get together with who know what's going on in 00:22:55.259 --> 00:22:58.259 your life, who can support you in a time of crisis. 00:22:59.119 --> 00:23:02.220 This is why we are always pounding the drum. 00:23:02.940 --> 00:23:05.880 about life groups here at Trinity Streetsville, 00:23:06.079 --> 00:23:09.180 right? Just these smaller circles of people who 00:23:09.180 --> 00:23:12.140 stand beside one another and pray for each other 00:23:12.140 --> 00:23:14.440 and care for each other in difficult times. If 00:23:14.440 --> 00:23:16.839 you'd like to explore joining a life group this 00:23:16.839 --> 00:23:19.720 fall, fill out that connect card that's in your 00:23:19.720 --> 00:23:23.140 pews or go visit the welcome desk after the service 00:23:23.140 --> 00:23:25.740 and find out more about life groups. Because 00:23:25.740 --> 00:23:28.880 you might not need that support right now and 00:23:28.880 --> 00:23:31.539 you might not need that support every week, but... 00:23:32.220 --> 00:23:35.940 When the temperature drops, you don't have to 00:23:35.940 --> 00:23:40.500 face it alone. One more thing I want to say about 00:23:40.500 --> 00:23:43.400 our need for community. And that is this, that 00:23:43.400 --> 00:23:46.420 no human community is perfect. Family will disappoint 00:23:46.420 --> 00:23:49.440 you. Friends will let you down. And the church, 00:23:49.559 --> 00:23:53.140 as you all know, gets it wrong time and time. 00:23:53.880 --> 00:23:56.700 Again, even the disciples failed Jesus when it 00:23:56.700 --> 00:23:58.660 came to community. Jesus wanted them to be with 00:23:58.660 --> 00:24:00.819 him on the night before he was going to die, 00:24:00.920 --> 00:24:06.319 and they still fell asleep on him. Even the strongest 00:24:06.319 --> 00:24:09.880 human community, therefore, reaches the limits 00:24:09.880 --> 00:24:12.779 of its strength. You may have great friends, 00:24:12.900 --> 00:24:16.180 but there's burdens that they cannot bear. You 00:24:16.180 --> 00:24:18.720 may have some faithful people in your life, but 00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:21.940 even the most faithful person grows tired eventually, 00:24:22.099 --> 00:24:24.400 and that's why we need something even stronger 00:24:24.400 --> 00:24:29.019 to support us. Let me take you back to that one 00:24:29.019 --> 00:24:31.940 little cryptic line that our reading ended with. 00:24:32.500 --> 00:24:37.319 A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. 00:24:37.819 --> 00:24:40.660 For centuries, when Christians have read that 00:24:40.660 --> 00:24:46.200 line, they have thought, about Jesus Christ as 00:24:46.200 --> 00:24:51.859 that third strand. You know, Jesus, the one in 00:24:51.859 --> 00:24:54.400 the midst of our life, Jesus, the one in the 00:24:54.400 --> 00:24:56.420 midst of our family, Jesus, the one in the midst 00:24:56.420 --> 00:25:00.440 of our church who was offering his strength and 00:25:00.440 --> 00:25:03.539 holding us together when every other strand broke, 00:25:03.720 --> 00:25:09.000 he would hold strong. Jesus knew all about. Being 00:25:09.000 --> 00:25:11.759 alone. Jesus knew all about falling down on the 00:25:11.759 --> 00:25:16.180 cross. Jesus knew the bitterness of abandonment 00:25:16.180 --> 00:25:19.200 and the coldness of death. But when he rose from 00:25:19.200 --> 00:25:21.339 the dead, Jesus didn't abandon the people who 00:25:21.339 --> 00:25:23.640 had abandoned him. No, he went immediately and 00:25:23.640 --> 00:25:26.779 he regathered them together and he restored them 00:25:26.779 --> 00:25:30.299 and he brought together his followers and formed 00:25:30.299 --> 00:25:33.599 a new family, a family that he called the church. 00:25:34.019 --> 00:25:37.279 And that is what Jesus is still doing. He is 00:25:37.279 --> 00:25:39.380 gathering. people, people of different ages, 00:25:39.500 --> 00:25:41.319 people who've had different experiences, people 00:25:41.319 --> 00:25:43.099 who are going through different things, people 00:25:43.099 --> 00:25:45.359 of different ethnicities and backgrounds. And 00:25:45.359 --> 00:25:48.680 by his Holy Spirit and by his own strength, he 00:25:48.680 --> 00:25:52.619 is weaving together a family. We don't hold this 00:25:52.619 --> 00:25:55.940 church together. No way. Jesus Christ is the 00:25:55.940 --> 00:25:58.519 one who holds the church together. He's the one 00:25:58.519 --> 00:26:02.559 who can hold you together as well, right? And 00:26:02.559 --> 00:26:09.289 Christ holds us when no one else He is the strand 00:26:09.289 --> 00:26:13.089 that does not break. Our strength will fail, 00:26:13.210 --> 00:26:16.769 right? Human community will disappoint us. But 00:26:16.769 --> 00:26:22.349 Christ never abandons us. He holds us. And that 00:26:22.349 --> 00:26:27.829 means that we can keep holding one another. So 00:26:27.829 --> 00:26:31.509 what have we learned? It's not meaningless. It's 00:26:31.509 --> 00:26:34.210 not meaningless at all. We learned that no farmer 00:26:34.210 --> 00:26:39.029 farms alone. And that we need hands to share 00:26:39.029 --> 00:26:42.609 the labor. We need hands to reach down when someone 00:26:42.609 --> 00:26:47.650 falls. We need hands to keep us warm in a cold 00:26:47.650 --> 00:26:50.569 night. And beneath all of those hands, we need 00:26:50.569 --> 00:26:55.029 the hands and arms of Jesus himself to bear us 00:26:55.029 --> 00:26:58.529 up. For some of you here today, the key takeaway 00:26:58.529 --> 00:27:01.549 from this sermon may be, hey, just don't wait 00:27:01.549 --> 00:27:03.690 until the load you're carrying crushes you before 00:27:03.690 --> 00:27:07.519 you ask for help. For others of us, the key takeaway 00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:11.440 may be, hey, pay attention to those who have 00:27:11.440 --> 00:27:14.259 fallen down around you. Notice the person who 00:27:14.259 --> 00:27:17.140 is standing alone. Make room in your circle. 00:27:17.559 --> 00:27:21.680 Reach out to the one who has fallen. Stay close 00:27:21.680 --> 00:27:23.660 to that person who's going through a dark, cold 00:27:23.660 --> 00:27:29.700 night. May Christ be at the center of your life. 00:27:30.700 --> 00:27:35.059 May Christ be at the center of this community. 00:27:35.599 --> 00:27:41.859 And may Christ weave us into a strong cord of 00:27:41.859 --> 00:27:47.519 many strands. Thanks be to God. Amen.