Getting along

This week has been a big week for many people as it has been the week when children and teachers have gone back to school.

There is a story of a head teacher who was making the rounds of the school when he heard a terrible commotion coming from one of the classrooms. He rushed in and spotted one boy, taller than the others, who seemed to be making the most noise.

He seized the boy dragged him into the corridor and told him to wait there until he was excused.

Returning to the classroom, the head teacher restored order and lectured the class for half an hour about the importance of good behaviour.

He then asked if there were any questions, to which one girl put up her hand and said, ‘Please sir, can we have our teacher back?’

School is an interesting place and this week my Facebook page has been full ofpictures of children off to school for the first time, back to school. One of myfriends has a young daughter who was off to nursery for the first time. She looked very smart in her uniform but when she came home she had fallen over, grazed her chin and announced to my friend that she didn’t like her teacher and so would never go back to school! Two other little girls I know could tell me excitedly about their new teachers and how fun it was to see their friends.

All this made me think of the Church. From the little girl with the grazed chin to the excited girls we can all identify with times in Church when we have been upset with people and maybe fancied hiding away for a while or perhaps times when Church has been so good meeting up with people,  great worship and obviously preaching that we can’t wait to go back.

The biggest problem with the Church is that it is full of humans trying to do their best to worship God but not always rubbing along nicely with one another.

Mark Twain used to say he put a dog and cat in a cage together as an experiment, to see if they could get along. They did, so he put in a bird, pig and goat. They, too, got along fine after a few adjustments. Then he put in a Baptist, Presbyterian and Catholic; soon there was not a living thing left.

The readings this morning have reminded us of the need to get along well. It is useful to read about the need for reconciliation in the gospel this morning. This need is addressed as a need to get along well.

When there is an issue with another person we are to go to them and talk. Pray before you do this. If this doesn’t work tell others and see what they think, this is not in a way that gossips - this is in a way that seeks to ease the situation. There is nothing more divisive and hurtful than to know that others are talking about you behind your back but they will not be honest enough to address the issue to your face. Then if the problem persists we need to go further. The reading is pointing to the absurdity of an issue getting to this level. When people are honest with each other, when they really show each other love then things get better.

This was backed up even further from the reading from the epistle to the Romans which reminded us of the need to love one another, to love our neighbours.   This is no easy task. Love would always be so much easier if other people weren’t involved surely … it is much easier to love an idea than a reality.

I love the idea of long walks, beautiful countryside, surfing, body boarding,snowboarding, being prime minister, the Queen, the president of the Unitedstates and that’s all before 11:00 in the morning. The reality is that I don’t like walking for too long, I get fed up of beautiful countryside unless  I have a book to read, someone to chat to, music to listen to, I am seriously clumsy and so avoid all sports, I can be shy at times which precludes the prime minister bit, I am British which precludes the U.S. president part and I am not a Windsor which obviously makes the queen bit hard. The love of the idea and the reality can be very different.

I love people and I love the idea of always getting on well with people … but the reality can be different. I am sure the Church would be a better place if we were all perfect and didn’t need advice on getting on and dealing with conflict. I am sure the world would be a better place if we could just all get on.

At the moment the world is quite a frightening place with the problems of I.S, the difficulties in much of the Middle East and in Ukraine, the bubbling of potential wars never far away… peace would be great if…

The point is though that as the readings today have shown us, love and peace never need to be far away from us. As believers we are called to make the idea a reality. We are called to make a difference by spreading over and over again the message of love the good news that Jesus came to bring.

We need to move beyond petty issues to the reality of love, love that costs us, love that makes us different.

During World War II, Hitler commanded all religious groups to unite so that he could control them. Among the Brethren assemblies, half complied and half refused. Those who went along with the order had a much easier time. Those who did not, faced harsh persecution. In almost every family of those who resisted, someone died in a concentration camp.  

When the war was over, feelings of bitterness ran deep between the groups and there was much tension. Finally they decided that the situation had to be healed. Leaders from each group met at a quiet retreat. For several days, each person spent time in prayer, examining their own heart in the light of Christ's commands. Then they came together.  Francis Schaeffer, who told of the incident, asked a friend who was there, "What did you do then?" "We were just one," he replied. As they confessed their hostility and bitterness to God and yielded to His control, the Holy Spirit created a spirit of unity among them. Love filled their hearts and dissolved their hatred.

When love prevails among believers, especially in times of strong disagreement, it presents to the world an indisputable mark of a true follower of Jesus Christ. 

This is the answer… this is love. It is not an issue to do with who sits where on a Sunday, who said what, who does this, who does that. Who seems intent on making changes that we do not agree with … we are called to be one to accept one another. When we love each other truly- then we can love the world. We need to pray that we will be one. AMEN