First Reading:
4 I therefore, the
prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to
which you have been called, 2with all humility and
gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in
love, 3making every effort to maintain the unity of the
Spirit in the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one
Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your
calling, 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6one
God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in
all. 7But each of us was given grace according to the
measure of Christ's gift. 8Therefore it is said, When he
ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to
his people.
9(When it says, He ascended,
what
does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of
the earth? 10He who descended is the same one who ascended
far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all
things.) 11The gifts he gave were that some would be
apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and
teachers, 12to equip the saints for the work of ministry,
for building up the body of Christ, 13until all of us come
to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to
maturity, to the measure of the full stature of
Christ. 14We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro
and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, by
their craftiness in deceitful scheming. 15But speaking the
truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head,
into Christ, 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit
together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is
working properly, promotes the body's growth in building itself up in
love.
Second Reading:
20I ask not only on behalf of these, but
also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their
word, 21that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me
and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe
that you have sent me. 22The glory that you have given me I
have given them, so that they may be one, as we are
one, 23I in them and you in me, that they may become
completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and
have loved them even as you have loved me.
24Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me,
may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me
because you loved me before the foundation of the
world. 25Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but
I know you; and these know that you have sent me. 26I made
your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love
with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.
Unity… In John's gospel, the last thing Jesus prays for his disciples before he goes out to be betrayed and arrested was that they would have unity… that they would be one like he and God the father are one. In Paul's letter to the Ephesians that was read earlier, as well as in lots of other places too, Paul urges believers toward unity. Now, when you take the kind of emphasis that's given to the concept of unity throughout the New Testament, and you couple it with two thousand years of practice, you'd think that we would have it down by now… wouldn't you? And where unity is strong, there are tangible benefits that follow: Trust, efficiency, ingenuity, freedom to act… there are examples out there, but more often, I'd venture to guess in our day and age we see the consequences that come from a lack of unity in various circles of our lives… I've heard of work situations where people constantly feel undermined by those who are supposed to be working with them… In families, it doesn't take kids long to figure out that if mommy says no, daddy might give a different answer. And in the church, it seems like there are always things trying to pull us apart… everything from different worship styles to the latest and greatest programs, different theologies to hundreds of denominations around the globe… and frankly sometimes I think it's just silly… here's an example of what I'm talking about.
About five or six years ago, Rebecca and I had the opportunity to go
to Jerusalem as part of a two week tour of the Middle East. And while
we were there we went to the church of the Holy Sepulchre. This is
the church that's built over the traditional site of Jesus crucifixion
and resurrection. It's been an important pilgrimage site since
Constantine had it rebuilt in the fourth century. And as we
approached the building one of the first things that the tour guide
pointed out was a ladder that's been sitting in the same position on a
portion of the roof under a window since 1852… that's when they
established an agreement between the six different denominations who
claim rights to the building… anything that's within what is
known as common territory of the church can't be moved without the
permission of all the parties… There have literally been
fistfights between monks of different denominations because a door got
opened or a chair got moved… and this conflict has been going
on a long time… in 1192 the keys to the church were given to a
Muslim family because the different Christian factions didn't trust
each other enough to let any one of them hold onto the key… and
apparently that agreement is still in force today which means that for
over 800 years, what is considered by many to be the most holy site in
Christendom has been opened every day by someone whose ancestors were
appointed to keep the Christians from fighting. It's crazy. The
agreement of 1852 is officially called the status quo…
and that's a pretty good description of what it is… the church
literally may fall down around the ladder because the factions won't
even talk to each other about the necessary repairs. In 2008, a
newspaper in the United Kingdom reported on the state of disrepair of
the building. It says The structures are full of serious
engineering damage that creates safety hazards and endangers the lives
of the monks and the visitors. This is an emergency
- The state of
Israel has even offered to help pay for the necessary repairs but only
if the Christian factions can come to an agreement on their
own… Now I haven't kept up on the story… but as far as I
know, the building remains standing, the ladder remains unmoved and
the status quo agreement remains in effect.
Hopefully we won't ever become quite so entrenched in any position
that we aren't willing to do what is obviously beneficial for everyone
because we're wrapped up in some sort of power struggle over territory
or time rights. But even if we don't ever get to that point, we will
all still have to deal with the status quo… and I
don't mean the official agreement that's in force at the church. The
status quo can affect many arenas of life… it's
basically that which says don't rock the boat,
avoid getting
involved,
keep the peace,
I'm just one person, my voice
wouldn't make a difference here anyway.
And on the surface, an
effective status quo might look a lot like unity. But, I
can't imagine this is what Jesus meant when he prayed for the unity of
his followers, because it seems an awful lot like unconcerned
disengagement. The status quo robs people of initiative, it
prevents spontaneity, it forces people into roles and even identities
that sometimes just suck the life right out of a person.
The status quo tries to maintain a sense of uniformity so
that one day becomes just like every other day and one person becomes
just like every other person. Uniformity is the enemy of
unity… the words sound similar but the differences are
substantial. And it's important to recognize the difference so that
we realize what Jesus is asking for on our behalf. Earlier I happened
across a few words written by a catholic priest that expresses those
differences well.
Unity implies diversity; uniformity eliminates it.
Unity makes us one; uniformity makes us the same.
Unity creates an organism; uniformity craves organization.
Unity combines and includes; uniformity confines and excludes.
Unity forms a totality; uniformity is totalitarian.
Leaders promote unity; tyrants impose uniformity.
Unity springs from conviction; uniformity comes from coercion.
Unity respects individuality; uniformity eradicates it.
A bouquet of flowers gets its beauty not from uniformity, but from
unity.
Nature is not uniform, but a wondrous unity!
And he ends with the question…
So, why do people sacrifice a profound unity for the sake of a superficial uniformity?
(© Msgr. Walter Niebrzydowski November 14, 2001)
Jesus didn't pray for power or security or knowledge or status for his followers… he certainly didn't pray for uniformity… Ours is a faith that's built on diversity being held together in Unity… we worship one God made manifest in three persons. We have 4 gospels that give different pictures of who Jesus is… and together they give a fuller understanding than any one of them would alone. We have hundreds of denominations that make up the universal church in the world and yet we proclaim the same risen savior and the same Lord of all. And hopefully with so many different expressions of faith it makes us better able to proclaim good news to the ends of the earth. And despite the differences, even if the church falls down because the people can't agree, each denomination has something to learn from the others in matters of faith and practice. And if that can be said for the denominations, how much more can it be said of the people who sit next to us in worship every Sunday?
God created us different from one another on purpose. We can be sure that we won't always agree on every issue and we shouldn't… I know that represented in this room there are people from all over the political spectrum. There are people of very different income levels and very different education levels. There are people who have led privileged lives and people who have had to fight to get to where they are now. I know that on just about every social issue that exists, there are people who fall toward both extremes of the spectrum and almost every point in-between. And I'll say it again: God created us in all our diversity and God did it on purpose!
If you want unity, you need diversity… and not only that, you need people who are willing to take a little bit of a risk to explore that diversity… to know and to be known. Each of our voices come together to make up the beautiful harmony that is the United Parish. And the invitation to unity is threefold… first: to listen- listen for God. Connection with God is the source of unity: Jesus prayed that he would be in us and God would be in him and that we might become completely one. It's because Jesus first loved and accepted each of us, that we can even imagine embracing one another in unity. Second: listen to the others who are with you on the journey. Listen deeply and attentively because we're all in this together. We have a lot to learn from one another and we have a lot to offer in the way of support and friendship. The unity Jesus prays for is rooted in reciprocal love and that begins with listening. And third, speak truth… there are a variety of different voices in this congregation for a reason and it's important for the good of the community that we hear yours. Use your voice to shape this community. Make your needs, your hopes, your dreams and your desires known. This is your church. This is your faith family and unity comes about as we engage in the ministry and the life of the church together.
And that's part of the beauty of the body of Christ. Even in all of
our differences we can come together to worship, to enjoy each other,
to reach out to people in need, to minister, to serve, to witness to
the power of God in our lives. And after all, that's the real point
of our unity. Jesus says as you, Father, are in me and I am in you,
may they [the disciples and future disciples] also be in us so that
the world may believe that you have sent me.
In our church's
mission statement, unity doesn't exist as its own end; it exists so
that we can serve. And according to the scripture, the unity that we
express is in order that the world might believe that Jesus was sent
by God. And frankly I don't think the world would believe because
ladders come down or because keys get handed over… but they
might come to believe because they've seen lives transformed. They
might come to believe because they've seen people who are in need
getting served. They might come to believe because they've known
people who have experienced love from a community that is United in
Christ. That's our mission and that's our witness to the world. May
we live united, in order that we may serve. Amen
The foregoing sermon was given by Rev. Dan Holland at the United Parish of Bowie on the Sixth Sunday after Easter, May 16, 2010.
© 2010 Daniel Holland
