Grace to you and
peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen
There is a
radical inclusivity of the Gospel that defies our human failings and
shortsightedness.
We are One.
In Ephesians 4
Paul writes:
1 I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg
you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with
all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3
making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one
hope of your calling, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and
Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
We confess our
faith using the words of the Nicene Creed which stands as a symbol and document
of our unity as the Body of Christ, saying:
We believe in
one holy catholic and apostolic church.
And yet from the beginning we have struggled
to maintain the unity that is ours, as a gift, in Christ Jesus.
Hence Paul wrote to the Corinthians:
10Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters,
by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that
there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and
the same purpose. 11For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there
are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. 12What I mean is that each of
you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to
Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” 13Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucifi
ed for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
And again from
Ephesians:
There is one body and one Spirit,
just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, 5 one Lord,
one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all.
And of course, we
could also turn to the high priestly prayer of Jesus, which he prayed with his
disciples on the eve of his crucifixion.
"I ask not only on behalf of these, but
also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that 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.
There is a theme
here.
Christ is not
divided.
Christ cannot be
divided.
Its not that we
haven’t tried.
We have since the
very beginning.
You see, Jesus
prayer for his disciples didn’t just come out of left field.
Even while they were
still with Jesus, the disciples bickered among themselves.
And the fighting
intensified after Jesus left them.
Could Gentiles
become Christian?
Were they to eat
everything, or keep kosher?
Does the Jewish
law still apply?
Who is the head
of the Church?
Who is
Jesus? How do we understand that mystery
of the Christ, that he could both be man and God.
St. Nickolas,
that early bishop of Myra, and yes—the inspiration for Santa Claus—is remembered
by the tradition of the Church as being a defender of the faith. At the Nicene Creed he was reported to have
punched his opponent in the face.
That to me,
epitomizes the struggle we face regarding unity.
Instead of
embracing a unity that includes an incredible diversity of people, we try to
unify the Church by imposing a single standard of what it means to be
Christian, and rejecting everyone who does not conform to OUR STANDARD, and I
emphasize, Our Standard.
There is one body and one Spirit,
just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, 5 one Lord,
one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and
through all and in all.
It’s hard to look
at the Church and believe what the Bible says.
There is no issue
so great, or so trivial, but that it can divide us.
And on the
surface we have indeed become divided.
On every single
matter of faith, from birth to what happens in the afterlife, Christians have
differed and divided.
Baptize infants,
or only adults?
Baptize by sprinkling,
or by emersion?
And is baptism
with the water and the word, sufficient?
Or must there
also be a manifestation of the Spirit, as Pentecostals believe?
Or must one also
have a ‘born again’ experience?
Need I go on?
There are
hundreds of different denominations because there have been hundreds of
different answers to these questions that we’ve allowed to divide us.
Who is part of
the Body of Christ?
And how do we
serve Christ as our Lord and Savior?
Those are the two
most basic questions and far reaching.
Who is welcome,
and how we serve.
I am convinced
that it is our sinfulness that has divided us, not our quest for righteousness
and getting it right.
We set ourselves
up as judges over our brothers and sisters in Christ, and on that basis,
determine who is worthy and suitable to be part of OUR church.
But this is the
thing.
·
We don’t have a say in who Jesus saves.
·
We don’t have a say in who the Spirit calls.
·
And we don’t have a say in who the Father loves.
And God has time
and time again shown that he has the capacity to save and redeem people of
every size, shape, and color.
And we are not
all the same.
Diversity is the
key word.
From Creation to
Salvation God has chosen the path of a rich and abundant diversity.
And it is our privilege,
not our curse, that we get to be part of that diversity.
I imagine that
the Kingdom of God is rather like a great banquet with people from every tribe
and nation seated around tables. And
rather than the menu being one entree for all it is a smorgasbord of every
imaginable food and beverage.
And God delights
in it all.
Can we celebrate
that diversity with God and each other?
Can we learn from
each other and grow with each other?
And can we accept
the fact that “different” doesn’t mean bad.
This is something
that has bothered me.
For example,
there is a sentiment that some people have in our society that says that you
have to love one, and hate the other.
Do you love your
country?
Then you must
despise all others.
But it’s not an
either or situation.
It is possible to
love America and also appreciate a country like Canada. Or Norway.
Or South Africa. Or China.
In fact you can
love them all.
God does.
That I believe is
our holy calling: to bear witness to the
love of Christ by embracing the diversity of God’s creation and his children.
You see, the Body
of Christ is not divided.
It only appears
to be.
We are all one in
Christ Jesus whether we want to be or not.
The
differences that seem to divide us are actually the diversity that truly defines
us as God’s people.
Let me say that
again.
The
differences that seem to divide us are actually the diversity that truly defines
us as God’s people.
Amen
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