Unity Within the Unique

Dan White

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Call to Worship:

“Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” Let us exalt his name together!

Let us prepare our hearts for worship.

Invocation:

You have called us once again, dear God, to gather as your church, the Body of Christ, to worship and praise your holy name. We pray for your presence with us, and ask that you calm our minds, as we focus on your voice and your Spirit to fill us in this time. You know what we hold deepest in our hearts, as we meditate on your name, on your presence, and on your love for us. Take away our fears and anxieties, Lord, and fill us with your hope as we sing our hymns to you, as we listen for your message, and as we offer our prayers to you. In the name of Jesus who taught us to pray…Our Father who art in heaven...

Unity Within the Unique

I want to declare something today that is the answer to the church’s and all the world’s problems. Are you ready? It’s pretty awesome. And pretty radical at the same time. OK, here goes. We are all one in Christ Jesus. There, that didn’t hurt too much did it? All one in Christ Jesus. We’ve heard it many times over. But, wondering what it means generally does not elicit a unified answer or explanation. Our church tradition, the Disciples of Christ, has as one of it’s main goals the unity of the church. It’s an admirable and scriptural goal, but, striving for that goal has actually led at different points to splits in the church into different denominations. Of course, we are no different than just about any denomination or Christian tradition. The longer the church universal has existed, the more it has had its splits into different versions of churches who claim to follow Jesus Christ. Just as we as individuals have our own uniqueness, so it seems does the church. But, what about all this matters? Is it a bad thing that we have so many different versions, or expressions, or traditions of our Christian faith? The Apostle Paul dealt with this concept of unity in many of his epistles, but today, let’s read from his letter to the Galatians, to hear his take on what unity in Christ means.

From Galatians 3:23-29, on page ___ of your pew bible, we hear Paul explain an important part of that which Christians need to understand about their relationship with God and with one another.

The New Revised Standard Version The Purpose of the Law

23 Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. 24 Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. 27 As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.

Since it’s not that long, I’d like to read that same section of scripture from the Message version of the New Testament, and there we read this translation:

The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language Chapter 3

Until the time when we were mature enough to respond freely in faith to the living God, we were carefully surrounded and protected by the Mosaic law. The law was like those Greek tutors, with which you are familiar, who escort children to school and protect them from danger or distraction, making sure the children will really get to the place they set out for.

25–27 But now you have arrived at your destination: By faith in Christ you are in direct relationship with God. Your baptism in Christ was not just washing you up for a fresh start. It also involved dressing you in an adult faith wardrobe—Christ’s life, the fulfillment of God’s original promise.

The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language Chapter 3

28–29 In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ. Also, since you are Christ’s family, then you are Abraham’s famous “descendant,” heirs according to the covenant promises.

In the first century, when followers of Christ were trying to figure out what being a Christian meant, and what rules applied, and where everyone fit in, Paul was at the center of the issues of being Jewish and becoming a follower of Christ, and of being a non-Jew, or a Gentile, and becoming a follower of Christ. One of the biggest issues was whether someone needed to first become a Jew to become a Christian. Did a non-Jew need to come under the Mosaic Law or the Torah, the Laws and covenants found in the first five books of the Old Testament, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Did a non-Jewish male, for instance have to become circumcised, did a non-Jew need to observe all the purity rules pertaining to preparing food, ritual washing, did everyone need to conform to Jewish customs to be righteous before God? Remember those of the Jewish faith had numerous rules and procedures to follow in almost every aspect of life in order to be considered pure before God. These rules and procedures, the Mosaic Law, as well as the Mishnah, the recorded rabbinic interpretations of the Law served as the guide to one’s relationship with God. If you religiously followed the rules, you were in right relationship with God. The law served as a disciplinarian, a supervisor of sorts over the everyday and Spiritual lives of the Jewish people.

But, Paul was telling the Galatians that while the Law had its place, it did not replace the promises, the covenants of God that came before the Law. He says, “We were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed,” or as the Message read, “ Until the time when we were mature enough to respond freely in faith to the living God, we were carefully surrounded and protected by the Mosaic law.” Paul uses the prison reference because in those ancient times, prison was not so much a place of punishment as it was a “holding place” where undesirables were kept until it could be decided what to do with them. It was a temporary situation. Author, Doug Bratt wrote, “If this is correct, then perhaps Paul is saying the Law served as a place where God “held” people until Jesus Christ came to live and die for us. It served as a kind of protective custody until Christ came to free us.”

In these verses Paul describes the law to be a disciplinarian, or like a supervisor for the Jewish people. Here he is referencing a Jewish tradition whereby a trusted person in the household, usually an older trusted slave would be assigned temporarily as the guardian of the children to watch over them as they were going to school, or somewhere else, to ensure that they arrived safely where they were supposed to be and didn’t get distracted or get into trouble. Once the children had made it to their destination, the guardian’s duty to watch over them was done. Paul is telling the Galatians that similar to the guardian supervising the children, the Mosaic law served the same role to guard the Jewish people. But, that now, with the coming of Jesus Christ, they had arrived at their destination. Now they had a direct relationship with Christ.

The Mosaic law, the law by which the Jewish people lived, purified themselves, and set themselves apart gave them strict guidelines by which to be made justified before God. If they followed the laws and the rules, they became acceptable to God. It was their code for being right with God. But, part of the purpose of the law was to set the Jewish people apart from those they understood to be unclean. And they understood that the law only applied to Jews, and so was a barrier of sorts for others.

But, Paul told them that now that Jesus Christ had come, Jesus had broken down that barrier, all could come to Christ directly through faith, all were one in Christ. There was no need to delineate Jew from Greek or non-Jew, male from female, slave or free person. Those things didn’t matter anymore, because we are all God’s children, and as children of God, we are the beneficiaries of the promises and covenants that God has made. In Paul’s day, these were radical concepts for the people to consider, and not as easily absorbed as they might be today.

Christ broke down all the barriers that humankind kept building over the centuries. The categories that Paul listed as those things that make no difference anymore, Jew or Greek, male or female, slave or free, may be seen in a broader context as well. Jesus made us one, in spite of our human made barriers based on racism, xenophobia, ethnic differences, our sex and our sexuality, our economic and social status. Unity even as we are unique from each other, even in our diversity, we are one in Christ. Unity, not uniformity. Paul doesn’t insist that we get into lockstep, and he doesn’t obliterate racial, socio-economic or gender distinctions. He simply insists that because of what Christ Jesus has graciously done, no member of God’s family is somehow superior or inferior to any other.

The church universal may need to take another look at what Paul was telling the ancient church in Galatia. The history of the church, ancient and recent, is rife with barriers and separations that we humans keep erecting. Some of those differences are fundamental to the core beliefs of the churches, as between Catholic and Protestant (one of the main differences is the issue of transubstantiation (whether the communion elements become the actual body and blood of Christ, or whether they are seen as symbolic of the body and blood). Some churches have split over who should be allowed to take communion, one of the issues that led to the formation of the Disciples of Christ in the early 1800’s. Theological differences over whether it’s OK to do something only if the Bible specifically says you can, or whether you can because the Bible doesn’t say you can’t, as in whether there should be instrumental music in the church. Some differences have been over the place and the expression of the Spirit, as in speaking in tongues, or emphasizing the emotional aspects of worship more as compared to others.

You may have heard the old story of the man who walks into a mainline church and sits on the front pew. When the congregation stands to sing, he lifts his hands high into the air. When the pastor prays, he mumbles incoherently. During the sermon, he shouts, “Amen, brother! Praise the Lord!” No one knows what to think. Finally, one of the elders walks down the aisle and says, “Mister, what is your problem?” “Problem?” he says, “I don’t have a problem; I’ve just got the Spirit, that’s all.” The elder looks at him and says, “Well, you certainly didn’t get it here!”

Differences over whether women should be allowed to be ministers, or deacons, or elders. Differences over accepting people for who they are as human beings. And for each of these differences, people will quote something from the Bible that they believe justifies their stance, without considering the overall message of Jesus Christ to just love one another.

Some conflicts in different churches have seemed pretty silly in retrospect. One pastor told of a church that split over whether the piano should be on the right side or the left side of the chancel. Another told of a disagreement that led to some leaving the church because Betty Lou brought some vanilla syrup for the coffee, and it looked too much like liquor. Another told of a similar exodus because someone hid the vacuum cleaner and didn’t tell others where it was. We are all one in Christ Jesus. Unless you think we should of all things allow drums in the sanctuary, or whether you didn’t vote for the right guy, or if your politics lean too far left or right.

I know I’ve dwelled on some of the things that God may see broken in our churches, and in our society today. Sometimes we may think that all the efforts at unity are exercises in futility. How can we ever live into, in a real way, what Paul tells us is the unifying factor in our lives? The fact that in Christ, we are all children of God through faith.

We have been given the gift of a savior, who gave his life that we could be made right with God; to give us that direct access to God, who is the ultimate hope in our broken world. There are no barriers between us and God; we have a wide open channel to the ultimate being in the universe, who wants more than anything else to be in relationship with us, his children. Even as we as individuals, and we as part of the church, the Body of Christ may express our faith differently than another church, as long as we express it in harmony with the prime commandment of Jesus to love one another, the unity that Jesus is leading us to, that the Apostle Paul points to is a worthwhile pursuit. May we pray that one day we may see not necessarily just one denomination of Christ’s church, but churches that are true to the unifying message of Christ, being expressed in unique and wonderful and creatively spiritual ways when God calls us into worship.

The baptismal waters wash away all of those differences as barriers, but leaves intact our uniqueness, as we clothe ourselves with Christ. “All human categories are subordinate and ultimately irrelevant to our primary identity as members of the body of Christ. God has, after all, made us “all one in Christ Jesus.” Amen

Pastoral Prayer:

Our God in Heaven and on Earth, we live because of the blessings you have bestowed on us; blessings that are too numerous to count. We pray that the tithes and offerings we have given today reflect our love for you and for the life of your church, and that they will be pleasing in your sight.

Lord, we have said aloud the names of some of our friends and loved ones who need your healing touch. And there are those whose names are carried in our hearts who likewise find need of your compassionate care and healing. We pray that they may be strengthened in their bodies and minds and be restored to health and a meaningful quality of life. Be also with those who travel life’s journey with them. Give them strength and patience as they continue to care for and assist their loved ones. Thank you, Lord, for loving us so.

Dear God, with the passing of each week we hear the news of more mass violence by disturbed individuals with firearms as the weapon of choice, taking lives and causing untold pain and heartache all over our country. Each time, the outcry is, “Enough…enough.” We grow weary, almost to the point of numbness, when we continually hear of tragedy after tragedy, and we again find ourselves in bitter disagreement over how to best turn the tide of such violence. Do we try to control the kinds of guns that people have access to, do we invest more significantly in addressing mental health issues, do we increase the depth and effectiveness of background checks for those purchasing guns, do we hold gun manufacturers accountable for the increase in these types of incidents, do we invest in greater safety systems in our schools where our little children can have a greater chance of coming home alive? We truly do not know, dear God. It is an extremely complicated problem. What we do know is that we must cry out to you for your wisdom to prevail; for your Spirit to fill the places where decisions are made, to guide our leaders to common understandings and agreements that it is truly enough, and it is time to take actions that can begin the slow process of finding solutions that work. We cannot do it alone, Father. We pray that through your power to change our hearts, you lead us into a transformation of hearts that can put an end to the great losses, and the pain that accompanies them.

Lord, in a similar vein, we pray for an end to the hostilities in Ukraine. Our prayer is that peace talks will be fruitful and will finally allow for a ceasefire and a lasting peace for those who have lost so much, whose lives have been turned upside down, and for whom the horrors of war have become all too real. Be with the people, dear God. Guide them to safety, to food and water, to a sleep devoid of the sounds of guns and bombs. We thank you, Lord, for those brave and compassionate ones who are on the ground providing the basic necessities and helping people to find safe passage. We thank you for the alliance of nations who have vowed to assist Ukraine in their efforts to protect their homeland, and its people. But, Lord, your peace must reign once again, and we pray that one day it will. And that war will no longer be an alternative, and the weapons of war will finally be silenced. We pray fervently for your will to be done.

We pray, dear God, for all those in our community who make this a good place to live. From the businesses that serve and provide goods, and jobs, to our law enforcement officers, our firefighters and paramedics, to those in the medical community who provide the best care they can, and the educators in our schools, we say thank you, Lord, for all of these. Each plays such an important role in our wonderful community. We thank you for our service clubs and non-profits who provide services unique to their organizations. Thank you for those who volunteer in numerous capacities throughout the area that makes possible services, and resources that enrich our lives. Thank you for all in the farming community, who work endlessly, in all weather and conditions to produce the food we eat. All of these, dear God, make the tapestry of our lives rich in so many ways in the place where we live. We pray too for those in public office, and we ask that you lend your wisdom in the decisions they make and actions they take to make this a better place to live.

Lord, in spite of the realities of life that we encounter each day, we also know that we are truly blessed with your presence in the world. You continue to give us hope that your Spirit is working in the world in ways that we may not see or understand. Help us, dear Lord, to continue to strive for the unity of faith that Jesus has made possible through his great sacrifice. Even as we are unique in our expressions of who we are, and how we choose to worship, let us always have in common the unifying fact that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, that we are all one in him, and he commands us to love each other as you have loved us. We pray all these things, assured that our prayers are heard, in the name of your holy son, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Communion:

We are all one in Christ, and it is here at this table where that fact is most apparent, as God invites and welcomes us all to partake of the bread and the cup in remembrance of the one who made that possible…On the night that Jesus was betrayed...

After communion:

From this table, dear God, we go forth proclaiming what God has done for his people. We go forth proclaiming the miracles of Jesus, and we go forth proclaiming the unity of all peoples. Amen

Benediction:

May you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity.