AtomThat We May be One and They May See Jesus
“And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one.”
Pastor Dave and I celebrated 25 years of ordained ministry last week at the Synod Assembly in Moorhead. Almost 30 years ago we were students at Wartburg Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa. One lasting memories I have of our experience there was riding the bus to school with all those other “soon to be pastors.” This bus ride was necessitated by the fact that during our time at Wartburg the seminary did extensive renovations to their buildings. These were much needed. When we arrived the roof leaked, the windows were less than energy efficient, the heating and cooling system was ancient. So, during the year of renovation, we bussed to the campus of the Roman Catholic seminary. They were gracious enough to invite us to share their spaces. So, every morning 40 or 50 of us would climb on the school bus and head across town.
What I remember is looking at this gathering of students-soon-to-be-pastors and thinking, “What a curious group we are.” And indeed we were…all different shapes and sizes, men and women, quiet and loud, young and old. Some of my classmates, like me, were recent college graduates, but others had lived much of life already. One, Roger, was retired Air Force. Another, Donna, had taught for nearly 30 years in the public school system. Another Roger was a geologist; George was a physicist; Marie had been a public health nurse; Bruce was a realtor; Stuart designed computer software. There were others. And I thought to myself: “What does a pastor really look like? What does a pastor sound like? What does a pastor teach and preach like?” Many of you have had a long experience of the church; you have experienced many pastors in your life time. You have seen that we are all unique with different gifts and different passions. We are not all the same…nor are any of the members of the Christian church, the Body of Christ.
Yet Jesus prays here in his “High Priestly Prayer” that “they may be one even as we are one.” How are we one when we are so different?
This 17th chapter of John is a comforting piece of our gospel good news. You may recognize that this is Jesus praying in the upper room on “the night in which he was betrayed.” Jesus had just shared supper with the disciples, had washed their feet, had said, “A new command I give you, that you love one another as I have loved you.” He had then begun to tell them of his dying and his leaving, but had also assured them – and us – that they would not be left alone and without resources when he was gone. “I will send the Comforter,” he said, “the Holy Spirit,” to lead and guide, direct and counsel. And then he prayed for them, his followers, and for us, I believe: “Father, protect them. They are in the world – living as other people do in this world – yet not of the world. They belong to me – to you Father – they have a higher calling, a greater purpose, a yet-to-be-revealed future. Protect them from the evil one, from temptation and despair.”
Jesus prayed for us. It is a comfort. And…he prayed that we might be one – which continues to be something of a mystery. I looked at my fellow pastors to be on that bus and saw that we were not the same, did not have the same backgrounds or education, did not have the same interests or hobbies. And I look at you today and think the same. You are all quite different from the ones worshipping with you today. You may even disagree with each other from time to time. I have heard rumors of husbands and wives, parents and children, neighbors and friends even arguing with each other from time to time. And yet… Jesus prayed that we might be one…
I also think of our differences in the larger community. We know that there are Christians of all flavors worshipping in this morning here in DL…Roman Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, Congregationalists, Seventh Day Adventists, Christian Alliance, Christian Fellowship, and Vineyard. And Jesus prayed that “we might be one.” Huh. Has his prayer been so ineffective?
I was at the Synod Assembly last week as many of you know. Much of that assembly is about worship and hearing about the ministries that we do together - ministries that are more efficiently done by our individual churches working together than by each one of us having our own hunger or disaster relief program, or campus and outdoor ministry team. But you also know that in Assembly we talked about some weighty and difficult matters having to do with our human sexuality – particularly the reality of homosexuality among members of the church. We have been talking and praying long and hard about how we should understand this other orientation in light of the Word of God, and how we should welcome and treat one another in the body of Christ, and how we should assign or allow leadership. What kinds of relationships are allowed for leaders of the church? You no doubt know that there is a good deal of disagreement on this matter even among Christians. This was evident at the assembly. There was great passion from those who spoke. Individual Bible passages were cited, pro and con, and an overarching sense of the gospel of Jesus Christ was also proclaimed. What would Jesus do? And at the end of the session – two votes were taken – 236 to 219 on forwarding the Human Sexuality statement to the national Assembly in August, and 225 to 223 on retaining our present stance on allowing homosexual leadership in the church only if these leaders were celibate. You read these things in the paper. It was on the television. It is news. I wish it wasn’t the only news out of a much larger assembly. I use it this morning to illustrate once again the differences in the body of Christ.
In the last week of his life, our Lord prayed that his followers might be one. But what does that mean? There are those who will suggest that he wanted all believers to be identical to one another in their understanding of the faith; that there would never be disagreements among God’s faithful people; that all true believers would be able to live with the same thoughts and attitudes. But I fear that is not unity but rather uniformity
As I looked out over that gathering of 800 or so folks last weekend, I saw many differences. Some of us are politically conservative; others quite liberal. Some are Republican; some Democrat; some somewhere in-between or on the edges. Some of us are athletic, aggressive, and energetic; others prefer a quiet night and a good book. Some of us live simply, enjoying the unadorned life; others surround ourselves with toys and pleasures. Some work for stability in our life together; others thrive on change. We come to this community with our personalities and preferences intact, and make up a diverse group. As we give ourselves to this church, we bring to it the wealth of experience that makes us who we are as individuals. And we are different.
At the same time we come together, called by our Lord, united by our Baptism, and gathered into a oneness that only can have its origins in God. A pastor friend of mine told of hearing of another’s visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. This person had the opportunity to view Seurat’s “Final Study of the Grande Jatte.” He was awed standing in the presence of this painting, one that he had seen many, many times in art books. It is a painting of a couple having a picnic, the woman with the parasol, the dogs, the children, and all that shimmering sunshine - you may remember this painting. It was breathtaking, and standing in front of it, the crowd seemed hushed, as if they knew there were in the presence of greatness. But as he continued to tell his story, he said that when they moved closer, they were intrigued by the detail. That is when they remembered how Seurat had created that masterpiece. It was made from “confetti” - millions of tiny colored paint dots that the artist had painstakingly placed side by side to create the beautiful study in oil. This Impressionist technique is called “Pointillism.” Standing close to the canvas, it is a blur of colors. But from a distance, the familiar scene comes back into focus, in a way that seems to be filled with light and life and motion.
In the same way, the body of Christ today includes many different people, with many different perspectives. - a union that is far more beautiful than the best of the Impressionist masters - a oneness that images the presence of the risen Christ in our midst - a oneness that gives us a corporate strength far more powerful than anything we could ever experience on our own.
What is the source of such unity? It is the belief that this Jesus in whose name we gather today is one with the Father, is God come among us – the clearest revealing of the heart and presence and love of God that we can ever know. What is the source of our unity? It is the belief that this Jesus died on God Friday, having taken all the brokenness and rebellion and sin of the world upon himself that he might destroy sin’s consequence and make us clean and forgiven before our God. What is the source of our unity? It is our belief that this Jesus was raised from the dead and because of that upon our death we will be ushered into a new life – a next life that our God has prepared for us.
What is the source of our unity? It is the belief that because Jesus loved me, I should love you, and that because Jesus is passionately concerned about our well-being that we should be passionately concerned about the well being of others. It is the belief that because he welcomed me from whatever corner I come from, I should welcome you…whatever our differences might be in appearance or race or politic…and in so doing, the world will see not see our individuality so much as the image of Christ in us. Get up close and you see us as individuals, but from a distance, the world, the community should see the love and life of Christ embodied in us.
As helpful as the image of “pointillism” and that famous painting might be, with the individual flecks of paint representing brothers and sisters in the family of faith - brothers and sisters who have been a gracious blessing to us from God – even better might be this portrait of our congregation. (Show poster) It is a poster of the cover of our congregational directory…individual pictures pieced together to make up the image of Jesus as seen from a distance…each of us in our individuality together presenting to the world the image of Jesus and of God’s great love for the world. We are not all the same, but together we are the image of Christ.
“Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.” (John 17:11) May we be the answer to Jesus’ prayer and in so doing may our world see Jesus! Let us pray…
Page 1 of 1 comment pages