"Divine Work"
Sermon Presented May 8, 2005
John 17:1-11, 20-21
A couple of months after I began corresponding with your search committee, I received a telephone call from Sara Miller. Until that time, most of my contact had been with Beulah as we exchanged e-mails, questionnaires and church documents between Wisconsin and Kansas. Sara began the conversation with these words: "You and I have a great deal in common!" Then she told me that she was born a short distance from me - St. Joseph, MO and Hiawatha, KS are only about 40 miles apart - and that only six weeks separated us in age. She mentioned several other things, but what I heard was that we had several things in common and she cared enough to call and tell me that. Deep down we all want to know that there is common ground and that we are acceptable.
But even though we look for commonality in others, it's usually the differences between individuals that make life and relationships interesting and valuable. Most people marry someone who is different than they and many of our friends reflect differences. Life would be stifling if we only surrounded ourselves with those who are just like us, and frankly it wouldn't be healthy.
Our text this morning is the prayer Jesus prayed on behalf of a very diverse faith community the night before his death. John pictures the disciples as confused and unable to comprehend the significance of what is happening. In this prayer, Jesus entrusts their future to God. It's a prayer that we are privileged to overhear - a prayer that focuses on the well being of Jesus' followers after his physical departure. Jesus knows that unless the disciples stick together with a common purpose and love for one another, their witness to the world will be lost. He recognizes the havoc caused by divisions, and so he prays.
Hear his prayer. John 17:1-11, 20-21 (read text)
Jesus isn't asking for the impossible here, even though this request sounds impossible. He doesn't just ask God that the disciples might be united - as one - but that they might be "one" as he and God are one. Let's look at what is meant by being "one."
First, let me explain what it isn't! It doesn't mean that all of Jesus' followers will walk in lock step - thinking alike and believing the same thing. One commentary I read suggested that models for unity must embrace diversity - not sameness - and must cherish a multiplicity of minority voices. This model invites inclusiveness in a "round table" and not a hierarchical church. Another commentator uses the diversity of the New Testament canon itself to model unity in diversity, noting that the canon places Christian authors with divergent perspectives alongside one another without trying to harmonize them (David Rhoads in new proclamation Year A, 2005, p.76.)
At a marriage ceremony, the couple is said to be "one", but that doesn't mean that they become the same person. It means that their goals and dreams come together in a loving covenant relationship so that they want the best for each other. They bring their different personalities into the marriage, but the status of being separate individuals doesn't change.
The same concept holds true for our nation. When we became the United States of America, there was no intention that the states would be alike. I see little similarity between Kansas and California. But the states form a union - one nation, under God, indivisible.
Families can be "one" but not share the same personhood. Even identical triplets are individuals and may not have appreciated being called "the triplets" when they were young. When I lived in Platte City, MO there were identical twins next door. Even though they were extremely close - as were the men they were marrying, they chose to have separate weddings six weeks apart so that each could have a day when she was an individual and not one of the twins. Judy and Jane are "one" and yet are separate!
Christians are also to be "one" and yet we don't all agree on what it means to follow Jesus. Neither did the disciples or the early Church. But when we maintain unity - with our diversity - we show the world that Christ lives in us.
When there are divisions within a family, a neighborhood, a church, a community or a nation, there is grief. Divisions make it difficult to celebrate the good times. Divisions can cause war. Divisions can diminish the productivity of a company. Divisions can kill a church, an organization, and relationships.
Please note that I am not speaking of disagreements or differences of opinions. There will always be disagreements in families, communities, churches, political parties and nations, just as there were disagreements and differences among the followers of Jesus - both before his death and following his death. You who have been attending Lawrence Stewart's series on Heresy and Orthodoxy in the Early Church know that differences in how scripture is interpreted have always been present. There have always been accusations of heresy, resulting in imprisonment and even death to the accused.
In this prayer, Jesus isn't asking that we think alike, have the same theology or agree with the views of one another - or those in leadership. He is talking about unity with diversity. Because of our diverse backgrounds, we look at things through different lenses. For example, when it came to choosing a new Pope, most Catholics in Third World nations wanted a Pope who ascribed to liberation theology. Most in Europe wanted a Pope who affirmed traditional Catholic values, and most in the United States were looking for a Pope who would relax the Church's stand against married and female priests and birth control. Our experience is the lens through which we look at scripture. Having people with differing experiences in families, denominations and government is healthy in that it introduces diverse ways of looking at life. However, the health of a body is determined by how we treat one another as we express our differences.
So what do we do with Jesus' prayer? Do we decide that from the looks of our world and the church today that God didn't answer the prayer and forget it, or do we see how we can be a part of the answer to the prayer? I suggest the latter option!
The question for the early Christians was: "How do we follow Jesus in the light of his absence?" The answer: We act in love toward one another where we are planted because that's how others will see Christ. When we have the desire to live in a right relationship with God and with one another, God will help us to become forgiving, accepting, and loving, and these qualities will bring us into community, dispelling the illusion that we are self-sufficient.
I would like to tell you a story - a contemporary parable that speaks to God's patience with each of us - individually and in community. It's called Rag-Tag Army, by Martin Bell.
"I think God must be very old and very tired. Maybe he used to look splendid and fine in his general's uniform, but no more. He's been on the march a long time, you know. And look at his rag-tag little army! All he has for soldiers are you and me. Dumb little army. Listen! The drumbeat isn't even regular. Everyone is out of step. And there! You see? God keeps stopping along the way to pick up one of his tinier soldiers who decided to wander off and play with a frog, or run in a field, or whose foot got tangled in the underbrush. He'll never get anywhere that way. And yet, the march goes on.
"Do you see how the marchers have broken up into little groups? Look at that group up near the front. Now, there's a snappy outfit. They all look pretty much alike-at least they're in step with each other. That's something! Only they're not wearing their shoes. They're carrying them in their hands. Silly little band. They won't get far before God will have to stop again.
"Or how about that other group over there? They're all holding hands as they march. The only trouble with this is those on each end of the line. Pretty soon they realize that one of their hands isn't holding onto anything-one hand is reaching, empty, alone. And so they hold hands with each other, and everybody marches around in circles. The more people holding hands, the bigger the circle. And, of course, a bigger circle is deceptive because as we march along it looks like we're going someplace, but we're not. And so God must stop again. You see what I mean? He'll never get anywhere that way!
"If God were more sensible he'd take his little army and shape them up. Why, whoever heard of a soldier stopping to romp in a field? It's ridiculous. But even more absurd is a general who will stop the march of eternity to go and bring him back. But that's God for you. His is no endless, empty marching. He is going somewhere. His steps are deliberate and purposive. He may be old, and he may be tired. But he knows where he's going. And he means to take every last one of his tiny soldiers with him. Only there aren't going to be any forced marches. And, after all, there are frogs and flowers, and thorns and underbrush along the way. And even though our foreheads have been signed with the sign of the cross, we are only human. And most of us are afraid and lonely and would like to hold hands or cry or run away. And we don't know where we are going, and we can't seem to trust God-especially when it's dark out and we can't see him! And he won't go on without us. And that's why it's taking so long.
"Listen! The drumbeat isn't even regular. Everyone is out of step. And there! You see? God keeps stopping along the way to pick up one of his tinier soldiers who decided to wander off and play with a frog, or run in a field, or whose foot got tangled in the underbrush. He'll never get anywhere that way!
"And yet the march goes on…." (The Way of the Wolf, Martin Bell p. 89-91)
Achieving unity is divine work! It's what Jesus asked God to do for us. And God continues to answer that prayer as God stops time and time again to gather us to him and assure us that we are loved and accepted. Through love and the unity of the body, we will move forward in our march with God. We may be out of step or marching in circles at times but God is patient and will help us to be the positive witnesses to the world that Jesus prayed we would be - that we would be one!
BENEDICTION: Ubi Caritas (Written 1200 years ago - before there were separate denominations.)
(refrain)
Where true love and charity are found, God is always there.Since the love of Christ has brought us all together,
Let us all rejoice and be glad, now and always.
Let everyone love the Lord God, the living God;
And with sincere hearts let us love each other now.Therefore when we gather as one in Christ Jesus,
Let our love enfold each race, creed, ev'ry person,
Let envy, division and strife cease among us;
May Christ our Lord dwell among us in every heart.Bring us your saints to behold your great beauty,
There to see you, Christ our God, throned in great glory;
There to possess heaven's peace and joy, your truth and love,
For endless ages of ages, world without end.
