I don’t know if you’re a baseball fan, but it hasn’t exactly been the best season for our San Francisco Giants. I thought that moving our church two blocks away from the stadium would surely result in us winning the World Series again. Even though we’ve seen better days, I’m still a Giants fan. And if you’re a sincere Giants fan, then you know who our #1 enemy is, don’t you? Of course, it’s the Dodgers. Raise your hand if you have any friends living in San Francisco who are Dodger fans. Raise your hand if you yourself are a Dodgers fan.

Have you ever been to a Dodgers game at Oracle Park here and seen so many fans wearing Dodgers jerseys? If enough of them show up, it begins to look and sound like Dodger Stadium, even though it’s a stadium that was literally built for the San Francisco Giants.

We are a church, meaning our community is designed to be an environment where the very presence of God dwells among us. And yet, it’s possible for a community that’s meant to be marked by the presence of God to look and sound like it’s home to God’s greatest enemy. How is that possible and what role do we play in it?

Do you know that how we live together as a church community will either attract or repel the presence of God?

That it’s not simply about what songs we sing or messages we teach or even how much we pray.

Ephesians 4:22-32 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

God, will you help us live in a way that invites more of your presence among us as a church? God, may I contribute to what you want to build in this community rather than tear down what it is that you are seeking to build here among us. Amen.

For a Christian, transformation happens in a moment and as an ongoing process. When we put our faith in Jesus, at that moment – we are forgiven, made part of the family of God, and the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us. And at the same time, spiritual maturity takes time. Jesus has given us a new identity and He’s calling us to live into that new identity. So Paul tells us to put off the old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires. Our old self equals life without God. Then he tells us to put on the new self, which begins with the renewal of our minds.  It was Dallas Willard who said, “Wherever your mind goes, the rest of your life goes with it.” While it starts in our mind, it moves to our mouth. Here’s the summary statement for the message today:

How we talk to each other and how we talk about each other determines how present God is and how present the devil is in our community.

Paul tells us to put off falsehood and speak truthfully to each other. When we lie about ourselves or others, it brings great damage to our entire community…because we are all members of one body. If we’re telling people lies to build ourselves up or tear others down, that’s the work of the devil. Jesus said so.

John 8:44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Jesus wants to destroy the lies we believe, rather than us destroying each other with our lies.

The word slander fits with this too. Slander is making false statements about someone that damages their reputation. Jesus uses the Greek word “diabolos” to refer to the devil. Look at what this word means:

διάβολος (diabolos) – slanderer or false accuser

Paul goes on to tell us not to sin in our anger. Some people think all anger is wrong. Others believe that anger is a virtue. Scripture teaches that it is possible to be angry without sinning. While being angry isn’t a sin, holding onto your anger gives the devil a foothold.

Do not steal – go to work. In other words, stop taking from people in the community and start working, so you have something to share with others in the community. Let me nuance this for us. Some people aren’t able to work and others aren’t able to find work right now. If you fit into either of those categories, let us be a community that supports you in ways we can. If you and I are able to work and if we have work, let’s be generous towards others.

This is the beauty of generosity within a church community. God gives us work. We get paid for our work. As an act of worship and discipleship, we give a % of our income away to bless this community and advance the kingdom of God.

I see verse 29 as a great summary for how we should not speak to each other and for how we should talk to each other. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths. None. How much pain could we avoid as a church community if we simply followed this one command!

What if we only said what is helpful for building others up according to THEIR needs, that it may benefit those who listen. There are enough people in the world trying to destroy us and tear us down. May this community be the place where we work hard to build each other up. You know one thing that tears down people and an entire community? Gossip.

gossip  - derogatory information you enjoy sharing about someone that is not motivated by doing good to them

In Romans 1, Paul writes about people that God gave over to a depraved mind who now do things that should not be done. Pay attention to what all is included in this list.

Romans 1:29-30 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents

“If the community of God refused to gossip, most crises either would not start or would not last due to the absence of fuel.” -Dan Allender, Leading With A Limp

Will you love Jesus and this church community enough that you shut down gossip when it shows up, either in you or in someone else? In verse 31, Paul says for us to get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Bitterness refers to a settled hostility that poisons the person.

Verse 30 tells us, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” The Holy Spirit is a personal being and experiences sadness when we mistreat each other. I want us to be a community that the Spirit of God is so attracted to. Don’t you want us to be a group where God loves to dwell? I would rather us be a church of 100 people where the Spirit of God is so present than to be a church of 10,000 people where the Holy Spirit is nowhere to be found.

Jesus desires unity among us – it’s one of the last things He ever prayed for. Satan wants us divided against each other. When I hear stories about people tearing others down or that there’s gossip in our church, I pray for repentance for the individual and protection for our church. One of the key roles God gives church leaders is protecting the church community from those would seek to destroy it.

But here’s what I want more than that. I want us to become the kind of people who are kind, compassionate, and forgiving others like God has forgiven us.

“Communities are made up of people, and people have the capacity to misunderstand, harm, offend, and hurt one another. The Christian understanding of the fall – the idea that since the garden of Eden we all have used our wills for ill as well as for good – means that in every community human beings will need to forgive other human beings. Without the possibility of forgiveness, communities fracture over and over.” -Amy Orr-Ewing, Forgiveness

Have you grieved the Holy Spirit by the way you have treated someone else in this community? Repent. Any lies, curses, gossip, slander, or anything unwholesome? Come clean with God and ask forgiveness from the person you wronged by your words.

If you have been hurt by others, have you forgiven the person who hurt you or are you still holding a grudge? Has bitterness settled into your being? Remember how God has fully forgiven you.

Let’s beg the Spirit of God to dwell among us in such a thick way. And let’s love Jesus and each other enough to protect the unity here.

Will we be a community marked by God’s Spirit or something that grieves God’s Spirit?

And if you aren’t a Christian yet, Jesus want to fully and totally forgive you. Jesus doesn’t falsely accuse you. He doesn’t gossip about you to others. He doesn’t slander you. And he knows the WHOLE truth about you. He came to forgive you and heal you. And then He wants to empower you to bring that kind of forgiveness and healing to this community and other spaces in your life.