After the flood hit Longmont Colorado,  houses down along the river had 3 to 4 feet of river muck inside and needed to be shoveled out.  Furniture needed to be removed, washed and dried or thrown on giant, growing piles of trash.  Drywall had to be cut away.  Incipient mold had to be treated. Homeowners saw all that needed to be done and despaired.  But then neighbors began to gather and spontaneous groups of volunteers showed up from churches across town.  They grabbed shovels, waded into the muck and began to work.  Others set up cleaning stations.  Food tables appeared and soon were loaded with sandwiches and fresh water.  After a long day of work, those workers, covered with mud, were smiling with exhaustion and satisfaction.

There is a special kind of relationship that is formed when people work together.  The Greeks had a word for it: koinonia.  That word shows up a lot in the Bible.  Most of the time it is translated into the English word, fellowship.  But fellowship is a pretty weak word.  Don’t think standing around chatting and sipping tea.  Think shoveling muck together, struggling, helping, working and laughing.

Now, imagine having a relationship like that with God!  John says Jesus makes that possible:

We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.  (1 John 1:3)

Can you picture yourself sharing a smile of satisfaction with God at the end of the day?  John wants you to know about that.  More than knowing, he wants you to have that.  Chew on that…