Sunday 20 January 2008

18 JANUARY 2008 JOHN 17: 13 – 26 IN THE STEPS OF THE MASTER:UNITY. ROBERT

Between October and Advent last year we ran a series of eight sermons on the theme of the Christian Pilgrimage, which we called FOLLOWING IN THE STEPS OF THE MASTER.

We looked at the Christian life in terms of a journey (rather like John Bunyan in Pilgrim’s Progress) and took as our inspiration the life and spiritual example of Jesus.

Advent, Christmas and Epiphany have intervened, but today and next Sunday we complete the series. Today the theme is UNITY. Next Sunday the theme will be THE POWER OF PRAYER TO CHANGE THE WORLD.
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If we see ourselves as Christian pilgrims, it stands to reason that we travel better if we walk together rather than singly, and that we make every effort to be in harmony, otherwise the journey is hindered instead of helped.

If we look carefully at today’s Gospel Reading from John chapter 17, we see further very important reasons for Christians, and the Christian Church in general, to be united. This Gospel passage is part of an enormously important and deeply moving prayer which Jesus prayed, and which is recorded for us. At its heart are the following words from verse 20: “I pray for those who will believe in me...that all of them may be one....” (in other words, totally united in heart, mind and action).

And we need to note the reasons Jesus gives for this impassioned plea.

Jesus wants us to be united in the same way as He is united with God the Father. “That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me, and I am in you.” It is impossible to think of a more fundamental reason for Christians living together in unity and harmony than that. When we place our faith in Christ, we become one with him in the deepest sense, and so we are caught up eternally in the perfect union that exists between Christ and God the Father. There can be no greater incentive for us to put aside our differences, and live and work together for the sake of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. St Paul calls the Church ‘The Body of Christ’.

Jesus prays that we may all be one “so that the world may believe...”. A Church that is disunited must be ineffective in mission. We need to keep asking ourselves ‘How do we look to the world outside? When people look at the Church, do they say to themselves – what a wonderfully loving and harmonious group of people! I want to join them! In this prayer of Jesus you will have noticed that Jesus says that Christians are ‘in the world’ but ‘not of the world’. When we become Christians we are not suddenly transported to heaven. We go on with all the same relationships and problems, but we become new people. And at the heart of that ‘newness’ is love. One of Jesus’ last commands to his disciples was: “Love each other as I have loved you.” (John 15:12). Why should people want to join us if we look just like secular organisations or their work-places – competitive, and marked by criticism, gossip, envy and the rest? We need to be radically different – and at the heart of that difference is harmony created by love.

So there is a huge onus on us to be in unity and love, one with another. And we mark this each year with a special week of prayer for Christian Unity in January.


We need to look at this in practical terms at three levels.

The first is the personal. Are we at odds with someone – or some people – in our own Church or Christian circle? So far as in us lies, we need to put it right. At the heart of our service of Holy Communion is the stated requirement for us to be at peace with God, and at peace with our neighbour. The ‘Peace’ is intended to be much more than a British polite handshake. It is intended to be symbolic of a deep harmony and Christian love. We need to examine ourselves and, if necessary, repent and take practical action to put our relationships right. Not easy – but highly necessary. Each one of us needs to think, to look, and to pray.

The second concerns our Church. We have very necessary, important and ambitious plans for this year. They are all part of our essential mission to the world on behalf of Christ. We will not accomplish them unless we are all totally united. Now that is actually very difficult. It won’t come naturally. But it can come super-naturally if we all commit ourselves to pray.

The third concerns the worldwide Church. We need to work and pray about how the Churches in Camberley can unite to bear witness to our faith and to Christ so that we become much more effective in mission than we are at present.

And 2008 is the year of the Anglican Lambeth Conference. The Anglican Communion is deeply split – especially between the African and American Churches on the issue of homo-sexuality. It promises to be the most difficult and contentious conference imaginable. And it promises to be an absolutely dreadful advertisement for the Christian Church and for Christ himself. The media will have a feast – and none of it will be good. It will serve only to bring the Church and the Gospel into disrepute. We need to pray for our Church Leaders, for love and listening and understanding, and – above all – for the Holy Spirit to give humility and discernment.

Each sermon in this series has a Key Verse. This week’s is from the letter to the Colossians 1: 19,20 – and with this I close. It reads: “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in Christ, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

We need to have always in the forefront of our mind the cost of peace, reconciliation and harmony. Christ died on the cross to bring us together in faith and love and peace. What Christ went to the cross to bring together, let no man put asunder.


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
Do you agree that Christian fellowship and unity are vital? Or is being a Christian more a matter of personal faith and individual pilgrimage?
Does Unity mean mainly agreeing with everybody, or is there a place for honest disagreement? What should we do if there is?
Thinking about St Michael’s, how can we get to know, understand and love each other better? Consider the place of small groups, prayer meetings, personal hospitality, special events, and setting aside Thursday as a day of fellowship and prayer. This is a time for new year resolutions – is there some action or commitment you think you should make?
Do you think the major building and other necessary works planned for this Church will bring us closer together, or tend to divide us? How can we make sure it is the former?

Which of the arguments for Christian Unity do you find most convincing? Does it lead you to any specific conclusion or course of action?

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