Unity !?!?
Today we find ourselves about half way through the week of prayer for Christian unity. Perhaps it’s suitable therefore that the readings actually fall in with that principle of unity very well. In the reading from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians (12:12-27) he writes of the fact that the Church is made up of many members, all part of one body, and that all are equal in the sight of God, and all are useful for the proclamation of the good news of Jesus.
And then in the gospel (Luke
In short, what Jesus was reading out in that passage was the duties of every Christian person, regardless of denomination, background, brand of churchmanship, age or anything else… Christians throughout the world are united in their belief of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and in their worship of Jesus, who has brought salvation for all who accept his gift, and Christians worldwide are committed to proclaiming that message through their words and actions at all times.
Sadly this message is one that we fail to listen to so often – I looked back at my sermon for this time last year, and I talked about unity, I suspect I did the same the year before and the year before that – and that is what we so often do with regard to unity in the Church – just talk about it or think about it…
And so this morning I’m not going to go into too much detail about the need for unity, I think and I hope that we are all agreed on that, but I do want to lay down two challenges – the first is to come along to the united service at Pisgah Chapel on Thursday of this week. There may be only a small number of Churches represented there but it is an opportunity for people throughout this area to come to worship God together.
Obviously, there may be some of you who are unable to make that service, and if you are one of those then please set aside some time this week just to pray for
And the second challenge is to work at unity in our own lives and in our own Church. Churches have a habit of being great places for people not getting on – people often dislike others, sometimes talking about them in hushed tones and so on - it could well have been in a Church setting that Mark Twain offered his famous quote, ‘Last week, I stated this woman was the ugliest woman I had ever seen. I have since seen her sister, and now wish to withdraw that statement.’
There are many people who we will find it difficult to like – it is part of being human, sadly sometimes even when we make the effort it will be thrown back at us, but that doesn’t mean we can stop trying. The Christian Church is built on love – a family of many different members bonded together by the love of God, and love for each other.
Our duty as Christians is not to be perfect – but it is to try, and it is to allow God the space to work to change us. Jesus offered that quote from Isaiah as a basis for our faith today – it had been written long before Jesus read it, but it still applied, and today 2000 years on from when Jesus read it, it still applies.
There was a student was preaching his first sermon. He meant to say that "God called me to heal the sick, raise the dead, and cast out the devil." However, rather nervously what he actually said was, "God called me to heal the dead, cast out the sick, and raise the devil."
As with this man the Christian message has often been confused – it has often been portrayed as a message of buildings maintenance, or sometimes it has been like offering out invitations to people to come and join an elite social club… Our lack of unity and love for each other sometimes acts as a very poor witness to those looking in from the outside – we often offer a confusing message, but it shouldn’t be – it should be very simple.
Instead of the Church seeming to be judgemental and critical of people, we should be loving, caring and offering hope to people. In a meeting this week that I was in somebody said that instead of the Church pointing a million wagging fingers at people, we should be extending two million arms outstretched with love.
Jesus said, ‘bring good news to the poor.’ The poor are all around us, not just financially, but physically and spiritually – we have good news of a Saviour who came to offer the greatest riches a person can ever have – the gift of love. That is good news for everyone. However the message we offer must be a unified message – if we talk of love and practice something totally different then we have lost the plot !
And Jesus said, ‘he has sent me to bring release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free…’ Many people are today walking in darkness, searching for something and someone that they don’t know. Jesus has told us to go and tell them about him, and show them the light that they are looking for – the best light of all that must shine through our lives and through our Churches.
On that first Easter Day Jesus did not just roll away a huge stone in front of the tomb, but he offered to break the chains of misery and sin, and pain and grief and loneliness forever. He offered a message of hope and peace to be proclaimed by all his people.
And so on this Sunday in the week of prayer for Christian Unity, let’s challenge ourselves to go out and do something that really makes a difference to the Church, and to someone else, because in doing that we will be truly proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favour, and the week of prayer for Christian unity will not be just a week that happens once a year, but a lifetime lived in service of others, and in fellowship with all of God’s people, with God at the head of our family. AMEN
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