Sermon 13B 2015: We Are One Body Because God Makes Us One Introduction: Divided Bodies Every year, we choose a theme to help us grow in our understanding of God; And in what it means to be a Christian here, at St. David s, and out there, in the world. It s always been my hope that focusing on one aspect of the Christian life; Will help us grow in every area of the Christian life As we re drawn into a deeper life with Christ and one another; And in our mission to know God in Jesus Christ and make Christ known. Some years, the theme works better than other years, and you can be the judge of that; I m sure many of you have; But over this past year our theme, our focus; has been on what it means to be One Body; What it means to be the Body of Christ in this place, here at St. David s; And out there, in the world. It s a theme that was inspired in no small part by our 300 th anniversary celebration; As we remember all those who have gone before us since the early 1700 s, Those of us who are here now and those who will come after us. And so this Sunday, as we draw close to a new year and a new theme to help us in the way; I want to take one last crack at how we become One Body; And how being the Body of Christ defines who we are and what we re about; Here at St. David s and across all churches and denominations; Because our very strong tendency as people and as Christian communities Is to focus on what divides and separates us. Funny Distinctions A man named Stephen was walking alone one night; Out by the bridge that crosses the river on the outskirts of his town; As he came up on the bridge, he saw a man standing on it As if he was ready to jump off the railing; It was a long way down to the river and the fall and the rocks would mean certain death. 1
Stephen was concerned that the man might be trying to take his own life; And thought that if he started talking and found something in common; Perhaps the other man would change his mind and decide to live. Tell me something, said Stephen, are you a religious person? Yes, I am, the man replied; Good, so am I, said Stephen. Are you of the Christian religion, or Jewish religion or perhaps some other? asked Stephen; I m a Christian, the man said. Good, said Stephen, so am I. Are you a Protestant Christian or a Catholic Christian? The man answered, I am a Protestant Christian. Good, said Stephen, so am I. Do you belong to the Methodist Church or the Baptist Church or some other? I belong to the Baptist Church, replied the man on the railing. Good, said Stephen, so do I. Are you a Southern Baptist or a Northern Baptist? I m a Northern Baptist, the man said. Good, said Stephen, so am I. Are you an independent Northern Baptist or a denominational Northern Baptist? I m a denominational Northern Baptist, the man said. Good, said Stephen, so am I. Are you a fundamentalist denominational Northern Baptist Or a liberal denominational Northern Baptist? The man, now very interested said, I am a liberal denominational Northern Baptist. Good, said Stephen, so am I. As a liberal denominational Northern Baptist, which creed do you subscribe to The New Hampshire Confession of 1833 or the Abstract Principles of 1859? Why, I subscribe to the New Hampshire Confession of 1833. Die, you heretic! cried Stephen and pushed him off the bridge. 2
A man was marooned on a tropical island by himself for ten years; He had been a builder before being marooned; And so filled his days constructing structures to keep himself busy While he prayed and waited for his rescue. Finally the day came when a ship ventured near the island; He signaled with a large fire and a group of sailors came to rescue him. He was overjoyed to see them and they were equally amazed by the fact that he was alive And that he had been so industrious in his time on the island; Because the shipwrecked man had built a small town. The man, seeing their interest, asked if they might like to take a little tour of the town he d built; They agreed and he began showing them through houses, stores, and the beautiful church; As they got to the end of the town, one of the rescuers noticed a church on a hill On the other side of the island; he asked what that other church was; The man scoffed and said, That s the church I used to belong to. These denominational differences or becoming fed up with one church are well known to many; As are different approaches to the Christian life or preferences within an individual church. Some denominations and people focus on the promise that we are saved by God s grace For good works; While others want to see those good works as proof that someone is saved. Some of us are appalled at the institutionalized black-white racism in our nation And in our own community, as we witnessed these past days with the Friday family And want the church to turn its attention to change things as our primary focus; While others of us want to keep our spiritual life and the world apart. Some of us like longer sermons that delve more deeply into the scriptures and Christian life; While others would prefer our sermons short and sweet. 3
Some of us want more outreach activities in church While others of us long for more spiritual teaching, Bible challenges, and prayer. When we allow these preferences, these differences to rise to the surface; And become the lens through which we view the Body of Christ and one another; Then we will always become divided; And miss the whole point and the incredible promise and genius of our God. And that whole point and promise and genius and grace of God is this: We are one body, we are connected to one another in the deepest and most profound way; Not because we agree with one another all the time; Not because we don t have different views, interests, experiences And ways of approaching and living the Christian life. We are one body, we are connected on to another because God makes us one body; It is our belief in God, our turning to God, our trust in God alone That draws us together; that keeps us together; That draws others in to join us. The Scriptures and Our Connectedness In the Gospel this morning, Jesus is toying, Jesus is playing With those who were fed by the miraculous multiplication of the loaves and fishes; Those who were fed and have come to Him seeking more to eat; More miracles to improve their physical well being in this life. Jesus, who knows all persons hearts, presses them about what they re really seeking; And the people realize that Jesus isn t going to pull another miracle out of his robe; So they tell Jesus that they want to do the works of God So that they may be in right relationship with God have God s approval. Is it more prayer? More regular attendance at synagogue? Will they be right with God if they learn more scripture or perform more acts of kindness? 4
And Jesus, knowing that all these activities can be Godly activities, brushes them off To tell them the promise and genius of God; To teach them that all that is required is that they believe in Him, the One whom God has sent; If they will turn to Him and trust in Him, Then they will be in union with the God of all creation And will never be hungry or thirst for what matters ever again; All these other activities and attempts to gain God s favor are secondary. St. Paul, in a passage well known to those of us listening during the Baptismal services; Speaks to the promise and genius and grace of God in a slightly different way; In this passage from the letter to the Christians in Ephesus and to us; He writes there is one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, One Baptism, One God and Father of all. Our unity, our connectedness to God and to one another comes only from God; And though we have varying gifts and interest and activities That are important for building up the body; That is not where our unity, our oneness comes from; Our unity, our connectedness, the body comes through our belief And our focus on God, who makes us one. Focus on the One Thing When I was in seminary, we talked one of our professors into teaching a small seminar class On the theologian, Jean Calvin, and his work known as Calvin s Institutes; Not sure where we got the idea, but Calvin was a brilliant reform theologian Who spoke and read French, German, Latin, Hebrew and Greek; Who translated and commented on almost all of the Bible All while building up the large Christian community in Geneva, Switzerland. I remember some of what Calvin wrote and what we talked about, Though would disagree with Calvin s view on the idea That God predestines some of us to heaven and some to that other place. 5
But over the course of the semester, I learned a Latin word, and I know few of them; A word that Calvin used often, even in talking about predestination; And that word is Adiaphora; Adiaphora means secondary things or of having lesser importance. I remember that word because I know how much we human beings tend to like adiaphora; Be it denominationalism; the rightness of our personal or community opinions; Our practices, our interests, our political opinions, our social standing And even, at times, our station or importance in the church. But the truth is, these are all adiaphora, all of secondary importance In comparison to the incomparable, wonder, beauty, grace and love of God; Who desires that we raise our sights, Who calls us to lift up our hearts to what is truly and only important God, The God who created us, who loves us, who makes us one body. And so, as we draw near to the end of this year of focusing on being One Body; On our connectedness to God and one another, to those who have come before us And those who will come after us, here, at St. David s; I invite you to pay primary attention to what truly makes us One Body; I invite you to pay attention to God and God great love for you and for all. For if we will, if we will pay attention to God first and foremost; Then we will be drawn together in a bond of love That surpasses human love and human knowing and human ability; We will know God in Christ more and more; And will have God s power working in us and through us to make God known to others; So that one day, we all may be one. Amen. 6