EASTER 7A - Acts 1:6-14; Psalm 68:1-10, 33-36; 1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11; John 17:1-11 -

3 May 2008 - A sermon given by The Rev. Peter A. Munson for St. Ambrose Episcopal Church, Boulder, Colorado

One in the Spirit

INTRODUCTION - The Preposterous Prayer

I sometimes refer to it as “the preposterous prayer”. According to John’s gospel, Jesus, just prior to his betrayal and arrest, prayed for his disciples. That wasn’t preposterous. What was preposterous was when he prayed that all his disciples would be one. He didn’t just pray that one time, either. In what we know as chapter 17, Jesus kept pounding this theme in his prayers to his Father in heaven.

Verse 11: “Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.”

Verses 20-21: “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one.”

Verses 22-23: “The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

Jesus prayed that his followers would be one! Did he know what he was really praying, what he was asking of his Father? Did he foresee that in 2002 - roughly 1,970 years after he prayed this prayer - that there would be 34,000 separate Christian groups in the world? Did he envision that most of those denominations and independent churches would be formed because one group split off from another group that they have formerly been living with and worshiping with and serving with, because they disagreed over some theological and/or Biblical and/or political concept, and decided that their disagreement was so significant that they couldn’t worship or be in community together anymore?

UNITY IS NOT UNIFORMITY

Perhaps I am getting ahead of myself. Jesus prayed that we would be one, as he and the Father are one. He prayed for our unity. And unity does not equal uniformity. We don’t all need to look the same, or even believe the same things. We don’t even need to vote for the same political candidates.

Even within our own Anglican/Episcopalian tradition, there is nothing that looks like uniformity. Depending on which Episcopal Church you walk into, there could be quite a different flavor to your worship experience, and the way you experience the culture of that particular community of faith.

It might be “high church” Anglo-Catholic, with the priests wearing two times the number of vestments that I do, some of which I don’t even know the names of, and there might be incense ascending to the rafters all through the year, and people genuflecting throughout the service.

It might be “low church” evangelical, with communion only once a month, and 40-45 minute sermons the norm, and you would hear much more emphasis on folks “being saved”.

The church might exhibit a very contemplative spirituality, with much more of an emphasis on quiet. The main culture of another Episcopal Church might be one of social justice, where everyone is out in the community doing works of mercy and doing whatever they can to build or reform the social and political institutions, so that the structures around us are more just.

And, of course, part of the beauty of the Episcopal Church is that you might walk into an Episcopal Church and find a congregation whose members have all of these different leanings!

So Jesus’ prayer was not a prayer for uniformity. And I suppose that makes it a bit less preposterous. We can and do have all sorts of diversity. That fits with Paul’s image of the Church being one body, with many different parts. Diversity, as I see it, is a tremendous gift, a tremendous blessing, and also a sign. Diana Butler Bass puts it this way: “...diversity serves as a sign of God’s love for all humanity.” (Christianity for the Rest of Us, p. 148) I think it’s true that the more diverse our church membership becomes, the more we become a more complete and accurate sign of God’s love for all of His creation.

HOW DO WE HAVE UNITY?

And yet, how do have unity, in the midst of all this diversity?

I think there is only one answer, and there can only be one answer. To the extent that we have unity, to the extent that we are one in the way that Jesus prayed that we would be one, it is a gift of the Spirit. You’ll recall that the risen Lord told the disciples to stay in Jerusalem until they had “been clothed with power from on high.” (Luke 24:49) In today’s reading from Acts, right before he ascends into heaven, Jesus reminds the disciples to wait for the coming Holy Spirit, which will empower them to be his witnesses. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

It is that same Holy Spirit that makes us one. It is the Spirit that unites us, despite all our ethnic, racial, political, social, and theological differences. The Spirit moves in us and among us, in all our diversity, and suddenly we experience being one.

When are we one here at St. Ambrose? When and where do you see it? (Wait for answers)

I see it when we gather around a particular person and pray for him or her.

I see our unity when we give generously to those who are less fortunate than ourselves. That can be through our financial giving, but it is especially evident when we serve together - at the Kidstuff Sale, or at the Homeless Shelter, for example.

I have seen our unity when we talk about controversial issues and still respect each other and keep living with and loving each other, long after those particular conversations are over.

I have seen our unity in the way that we welcome the newcomer, and in the way we offer love and hospitality to those who are going through challenging times - by bringing them a meal, or calling them on the phone, or praying for them, or offering a hug.

I see our unity in our worship - in the prayers we say together, in our singing, in the attention we give to the Word of God, and especially when we come up to the altar together to receive communion. In that time of being fed by the body and blood of Christ, our differences are transcended, and we are one.

Whenever you and I confess our sins together, or look for and see the Christ in our neighbor... whenever we respect the dignity of everyone we meet... whenever we praise God and express gratitude for all that God the Father or Jesus or the Holy Spirit has done for us, we are one.

Whenever we step out in faith as a community, and trust that God will be right here with us to help us through challenging times, we are one.

Our unity is not something that we cause. It is not something that we make happen. It is given to us - as pure gift - by the Spirit of God.

As we used to sing a long time ago when I was in high school, and as we still sing today:

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord.

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord.

And we pray that all unity will one day be restored.

And they’ll know we are Christian by our love, by our love

Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.

Listen to these radical words from Paul: “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there in no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:27-28)

Or how about these words from Ephesians: “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us.” (Ephesians 2:13-14)

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, one of the greatest Anglicans of our time, writes:

“In God’s family, there are no outsiders. All are insiders. Black and white, rich and poor, gay and straight, Jew and Arab, Palestinian and Israeli, Roman Catholic and Protestant, Serb and Albanian, Hutu and Tutsi, Muslim and Christian, Buddhist and Hindu, Pakistani and Indian - all belong... God’s dream wants us to be brothers and sisters, wants us to be family... In our world we can survive only together. We can be truly free, ultimately, only together. We can be human only together, black and white, rich and poor, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and Jew.” (From God Has a Dream: A Vision of Hope for Our Time, by Desmond Tutu, pp. 19-29, as quoted in Christianity for the Rest of Us, by Diana Butler Bass, p. 152)

CONCLUSION

Let us continue to live into Jesus’ prayer for us. Let us continue to live into God’s dream. Let us celebrate and be grateful to God for the unity that He gives us, in the midst of all our diversity. From many, we are indeed one in the Spirit. Let us not try to be uniform. Let us celebrate the creativity of God, in making us all so different. Let us be thankful for the “spice” that comes with that variety. And let us receive and celebrate the gift that is given to us - that unity that comes when the Spirit settles over us, and all our divisions cease, and dividing walls come down, and strife comes to a merciful end, and we are one.

Let us celebrate whenever and wherever we see Jesus’ preposterous prayer being answered.