What’s it mean to be together? Are we just talking about being in the same place at the same time? Is that’s all there is to it?

If you’re married, I can imagine you already know the answer to that. Spending quality time together doesn’t mean the two of you are just in the same vicinity, taking up the same space at the same time, breathing the same air.

In marriage, and in family and friendships, with a team or a company, together means more than just being in the same room.

Together means you take time, you stop and notice. You see each other. You share with each other. God is together with us when he came to earth as a human, in Jesus Christ. Jesus showed us what it means to be together when he stopped to take notice of a leper, when he turned to the thief on the cross. At no time was Jesus not ready to be together.

We need togetherness if we want to provide a witness for God to this world. We need to be willing to go past just being in the same place at the same time. It needs to be deeper.

As I was thinking through this week’s message, I wanted to share some ways here at Northbrook that we are together. For all intents and purposes, these are non-negotiable. These are not options. If we really want to do this thing called together, we all need them.

1. We are Together when we Worship

Coming to church is not a social event. It’s a part of an extended life of dedication to Jesus. I don’t need to get into the theology of biblical basis for this. If you’ve been a part of Northbrook long enough you know there is something special and different about being here with all of us on a weekend. That feeling is togetherness.

We sort of expect you to show up if you call Northbrook home. It’s not about guilting you into coming, it’s about celebrating our togetherness.

2. We are Together when we Serve

Serving at Northbrook is a special privilege, or at least it should be viewed that way. It’s a time we stop and notice others beside ourselves. I love it when I hear that a member of our church found someone new at Northbrook, reached out on a weekend service, helped their kids checked in or showed them where to sit. That’s togetherness.

We sort of expect you to get involved in some way in some ministry here if you call Northbrook home. It’s not about guilting you into service, it’s about providing an opportunity for all of us to utilize the gifts God gave us together.

3. We are Together when we Get Involved in the Community

Together doesn’t just happen here in this building each weekend. It happens out there, in the community around us. It happens in your community. When you reach out in an intentional way to help meet the needs of those you live with, that’s togetherness.

We sort of expect you to be active members of your community – whether it’s one of our service projects or when you do it on your own. It’s not about guilting you into volunteering, it’s about showing the world our togetherness.

4. We are Together when we Live Our Daily Lives

It doesn’t take a special event or program to be together. Together starts with our lives together with God. When he rules in your life, your life will be different. We act different, we respond different, we sometimes even look different. That’s togetherness.

We sort of expect you to live lives that are worthy of being a Christ follower if you call Northbrook home. It’s not about guilting you into a moral life, it’s about living a life in response to what God has already done for us. It’s about doing that as a sign of the togetherness that we share each week when we gather.

These are just four ways that togetherness is realized here at Northbrook. And I’m convinced that if we did that consistently, then we would find more togetherness, not less. That people who know us or see us would sense that togetherness. An

The Bible is full of good news.

The Church is all about telling the good news.

The Christian life is living out the good news.

But it sometimes takes some bad news to really understand what that good news is. So I want you to think about something. Put yourself in the shoes of a criminal condemned to die. What would you do? How would you react at that moment of death?

I need to tell you one more thing. This is no ordinary death. This is the worst penalty ever leveled on human beings in history. This death penalty is a crucifixion. You are tied to a beam of wood. Spikes are driven through your wrists, your ankles. You hang and slowly suffocate until you die.

This is what Jesus went through. But he wasn’t alone. Two other men hung on either side of him. Two thieves, the most common translations tell us. They were more than common thieves, though. They were rebels, Roman dissenters, instigators.

They were terrorists.

They deserved to die. That would be justice.

And when one of them curses Jesus, the other says just that.

Luke 23:40-41

⁴⁰ But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? ⁴¹ We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

The thief uses that one word – Justice. It is for justice that he and the other thief are there on a cross that day. It is what they deserve. But Jesus did not deserve it.

Was it injustice? Or was it something else?

We want justice, especially for ourselves. We want things to be fair and square. When it comes to serving a slice of cake or a scoop of ice cream to my kids, justice reigns supreme! Each one will go to great lengths, measuring and weighing, to make sure that the other doesn’t get more than them. They want the scoop or the slice to be equal.

I guess you could call that just dessert?

But the truth is, we don’t really want our just desserts. We don’t want what’s coming to us. We don’t really want what we deserve. We want what we don’t deserve.

We all sit in the place of judgment and justice with those two thieves. We have all done something for which we deserve punishment. Maybe not as severe as a death penalty, sure. But it’s definitely not what we want.

We want mercy when it comes to us. Even when we demand punishment for others.

We deserve punishment. We get mercy.

And that’s the good news. Great news! It takes getting to the bottom of the bad news to really understand the good news. Without getting that in our head, that we don’t get what we deserve – and we deserve the worst – we can’t truly understand mercy.

Mercy is the result of God’s love for us. And it is the cause of our great joy. When we get that full picture of God’s mercy, we must respond with praise, with worship, with gratitude and thankfulness. There is no other response.

So, when you’re living out life in the good times, don’t forget that it’s only because you are one of the many recipients of God’s mercy. The first? Well, on the day of Jesus’ crucifixion, the first recipient of his mercy was a thief. Someone who didn’t deserve life. Someone who deserved death. But someone who got paradise with Jesus.

Do you get what you deserve? If not, it’s part of God’s good news for all of us.