Recovery Step 4: Communing with God

Introduction
When it comes to selfishness, isolation is the best breading ground because you are the only one around. Being self-less takes more than being around other people, however. Being self-less like Jesus requires communion with Him. When you hear the word communion you may think about the bread and cup, and that’s good, but the bread and cup are meant to represent the communion (closeness) we have with God and through Him each other. It’s one thing to be friendly; it’s another thing to have a best friend, someone with whom you have a really meaningful relationship. Tonight we continue with Step 4, a process that needs to be characteristic of our daily lives, called spiritual inventory.  Let the Truth of the Word sink into your minds and see what changes need to be made in your life…

Communion  with God

What does is mean to commune?
The word “commune / communion” only appears once in the Old Testament and then only in Ecclesiastes 1:16 of the KJV and NKJV Bibles, but the idea of communing with God is everywhere in the Bible. In that verse Solomon is “communing” with his own heart about how great he is, “I communed with my heart, saying, ‘Look, I have attained greatness, and have gained more wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My heart has understood great wisdom and knowledge.’” That’s not the type of communion we are striving for here. The English word “commune” has a range of meanings including “communicate, connect, be one with.” Think of a set of gears: interconnected, moving/working together, engineered and assembled with great precision, meshing w/o grinding; they are totally comfortable fully engaged and interlocked even at very high speed. I once swapped out the rear differential in my ’68 Dodge Coronet convertible. It had .273 highway gears and I wanted .410 tire burning gears. I installed the part, but they didn’t mesh right and every tooth caught just a little creating a terrible jerking. I couldn’t go 5 mph as I backed it out of the garage stall and back then back in. The gears were not communing with the rear axles and with my limited knowledge, I could only reinstall the old gears.

Thinking back to Solomon in Ecclesiastes, perhaps he should have communed with his heart on the words of Jeremiah 9:23-24 (but then Jeremiah hadn’t been written yet), but still it says, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth, for in these I delight,’ says the LORD.” God said for us to glory in knowing Him. It’s knowing God, not knowing about God.

So, what does it mean to commune? It means to know someone deeply, intimately and to be known deeply and intimately. Knowing God is the remedy of sin and addiction. Knowing God and each other is therapy for lingering and new sinful habits. Knowing God begins only through His Son, Jesus Christ. It continues through His Holy Spirit who teaches us about God, ourselves and each other.

Knowing and being known

In our creation/birth we were made to know God like Adam & Eve in the Garden before they sinned and broke that communion. They were created for communion with God and they walked and talked with Him. We were also born for communion with God.

In our life, our satisfaction and joy doesn’t come from selfish pursuits, like Solomon found out in Ecclesiastes, but from knowing / communing with God. Let’s look at some New Testament uses of the word “commune/communion.” We often mention 1 Corinthians  10:12-13, “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” But that isn’t the end of the point. It continues, “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men; judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.” It mentions the bread and cup, the symbols of our communion with Christ, but the real point is the actual communion we have with Christ and thus each other…knowing and being known. That communion with Christ is why we flee from idolatry and the worship of what is vain, which is often self.

We also know 2 Corinthians 6:14-17, “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.’” Look, you can’t have a wife and a girlfriend and treat them both right. In the same way, you can’t have communion with God and with idols/demons too (1 Corinthians 10:23+)

One you may not know as well is 2 Corinthians 13:14, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.” The love of God sent Jesus to save us and calls us to know Him. The grace of Jesus paid our sin debt and granted us access to Father. Communion with Spirit keeps us from sin by drawing us close to Christ.

Our future in Christ is knowing God in completeness as we behold Him. Jesus explains eternal life in John 17:1-3, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” Eternal life means knowing the Father and Jesus.

Conclusion

When trials some, when addictions hunt you, when resentment overwhelms you, the peace to endure, the strength to stand, and the power to be healed is not found in reading the 12 Steps or phoning a friend…it’s in communing with God. So, spend some time in prayer, meditating on Scripture and interacting with the Church.

Grace & Peace,
Pastor Mark