Unity in the Spirit was presented to Trinity UMC, Lenoir City on June 19, 2022. The two sermons: Unity not Uniformity and Unity in the Spirit, were given about one year apart. The theme and most of the content is the same, just as the themes of unity and division persist in the greater church and society. This version, Unity in the Spirit, was given shortly following the Holston Annual Conference.
The video of the entire worship can be found at https://youtu.be/AJ3LQ3pa38Y
Words from Bishop Deborah Wallace-Padgett, Holston Annual Conference, June 2022:
Bishop Wallace-Padgett shared what she termed “Glimpses of the Future” in her remarks at the ordination and commissioning service.
She believes that the majority of church will remain in connection with the UMC
and that UMC will be a place where traditionalist, centrist and progressive view will be respected and honored
She urged the the leaders and people Holston Conference to focus on discipleship rather than programs – to become known for our discipleship
and that we care less about being correct and care about being connected with one another
Bishop James Swanson, our former Bishop, in his preaching reminded us that we are all on this Christian journey because God has reach out to us, individually and personally. He reminded us that Jesus prayed for you and me: John 17:20-23 (Jesus is praying for his disciples, 'them'): “I'm not praying only for them but also for those who believe in me because of their word (that is you and me). I pray they will be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. I pray that they also will be in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me. I've given them the glory that you gave me so that they can be one just as we are one. I'm in them and you are in me so that they will be made perfectly one. Then the world will know that you sent me and that you have loved them just as you loved me.” He reminded us that our beloved United Methodist Church needs us to be the church of Jesus Christ and that the world needs us.
Galatians 3: 23-29; Ephesians 4:1-7
In his letter to the early church, the Apostle Paul wrote often and consistently about unity and diversity. Those folks were not so different than us. They had squabbles and disputes that threatened to tear apart their churches. They fought about who was to be included and who should be excluded. They struggled with how to bring into their fellowship new Christians who had very different cultural backgrounds – different than the Jews who were birthing the new church. Paul was trying to hold together faith communities that were much more diverse than any we see in this country today, especially in the US South, churches that were made up of people from many different backgrounds and all walks of life, maybe even different languages. In Galatians 3:26-28, he writes, “You are all God's children through faith in Christ Jesus. All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither slave nor free; nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” If I were to try to paraphrase this in contemporary terms, I might say “there is neither white, nor black nor brown; there is neither rich nor poor, white collar nor laborer, nor is there male and female and lesbian and bisexual and gay and trans nor any other, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Take a minute and look around at the people here this morning. What do you see? What I see are some similarities, but many differences. I see young and old, male and female, some with family, some single, some dressed casually, some dressed formally, a few in uniforms, no two alike. I see similarities, too. Fair skin, lots of gray hair. There are also differences and similarities among us that aren't visible. I know you all well enough to know that there are conservative thinkers and liberal thinkers present today, but I can't tell that just by looking. In fact, I may have already offended some of you, but I hope you'll stick with me for the next few minutes. We all share in common a commitment to Trinity United Methodist Church as demonstrated by our regular presence and participation here, by physically and financially supporting the church, and even by joining in virtual worship.
What I have to say this morning is that our differences are just as important to the vitality of our community of believers as are the values we hold in common. Unity does not require uniformity.
Let's take our musicians as an example of the critical balance between unity and uniformity. Our choir members along with Warren, Cindy and Walter wear matching choir robes and stoles, a uniform. Why is that? That uniform appearance keeps us from focusing on them as individuals and lets us see them as a harmonious group. And harmonious is the key word. Within the group, each singer performs their own part – the bass, the tenor, the alto, the soprano. Together they produce a whole that is more beautiful than if everyone sang the same part. I'm not a musical expert, but I think it is important that they all usually sing the same melody and try to sing in the same key. I don't know how to do that! That's why I'm not in the choir. And Walter and Cindy at piano and organ, each produce their own sound. They don't play the same notes or just single notes. They play beautiful, chords composed different notes which all together produce a harmonious whole. Again, it is best they are both playing the same melody and key as the choir is singing. You get the point. It is the differences that make the whole richer and more beautiful, as long as there is a unity of purpose and spirit.
I regret to see that in our popular culture, differences are now seen more as threats than as assets. After years of divisive public speech and the social isolation due to the pandemic, we all buried deeper into our cocoons, our comfort zones. We get our information mainly from sources that confirm our pre-held beliefs and those ideas are reinforced. We have been taught to fear the “other.” It is not a left or right, liberal or conservative thing. We can see it all across the spectrum of society. We can even see it in the church. We saw it at Annual Conference, although not as dramatically as in some years past. The extreme traditionalists are entrenched in their sincerely convictions about right and wrong and acountability. The extreme progressives are equally convicted in their beliefs about diversity and inclusion. Each seems angry that the “other” just doesn't get it. The large group of centrists say “Why can't we all get along?” We talk diversity, but we don't practice it much. And often we are reluctant to express views that we think aren't in the mainstream of our group because we fear backlash. Trouble is, no one knows anymore where the mainstream is flowing.
Our Bishops have called us to unity, unity in Spirit. But is it really necessary for us all be alike, to think alike, in order to have unity. You and I may not think just alike. I hope not. If we do, then I have nothing to learn from you. Fr. Richard Rohr teaches, “Unity, in fact, is the reconciliation of differences, and those differences must be maintained. We must actually distinguish things and separate them, usually at a cost to ourselves, before we can spiritually unite them....The great wisdom of the Pentecost is the recognition through the Spirit of an underlying unity amidst the many differences.”
I stand here today to celebrate our differences and promote unity, not uniformity of thinking. We grow when we are willing to hear new ideas or think about old ideas in a new way. One of the things I like about our little faith community here at Trinity, is that we have found ways to work together without having to agree on everything. Like a family. Wouldn't it be boring if we all looked alike or thought alike. If we all had the same talent or gift, how could society, much less the church, survive. I hope that we can all learn to celebrate our differences, and not be afraid of them. I mean both secular differences and theological differences. In our Trinity family, we've done a pretty good job of agreeing on the main thing, represented by the cross which is in the center of our vision, and agreeing to disagree about other things.
Paul reminds us again and again that our differences are ok. In fact, they are necessary. In order to have a beautiful, harmonious whole, we need lots of different people, each playing their unique part. All the gifts of the spirit are needed to make our church function: preaching and teaching, evangelism and mission. If I were to use contemporary roles, I would add administration and media, visitation and kitchen work, property maintenance and musical offerings. All the different parts are needed to make the whole. The same is true about our thoughts, ideas, opinions and beliefs. We need all our different thoughts and ideas and opinions, expressed with love, in order to grow into whole body of Christ.
Let me emphasize the point that we not each doing our own things in our own way for our own glory. In our highly individualized culture, it is easy to think that we can develop personal spirituality and personal holiness without the messiness of getting involved with a very imperfect church. It is important for us to develop our own personal spirituality, and to grow personally in faith and knowledge. That is part of discipleship. But that is not enough to unite us as the body of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 12:7, Paul adds: “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. If we desire unity for our community, if we want our community to thrive and grow, we must work toward a wholeness that is more than just personal holiness. I'm just one part of the whole body of Christ. I need the connection of our church family in order to participate whole body of Christ; in order to participate in the holy wholeness to which Jesus invites us. Going back to our choir metaphor, we each do our own thing, not for our own glory, but as a part of the harmonious whole.
And Paul gives us the key in which to sing in our passage from Ephesians: Therefore, as a prisoner for the Lord, I encourage you to live as people worthy of the call you received from God. Conduct yourselves with all humility, gentleness, and patience. Accept each other with love, and make an effort to preserve the unity of the Spirit with the peace that ties you together. You are one body and one spirit, just as God also called you in one hope. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all, who is over all, through all, and in all. God has given his grace to each one of us measured out by the gift that is given by Christ.
The 4th chapter of Ephesians ends with these familiar and beautiful words which I learned as a child in the King James: “be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.” I encourage you to go a step further with me, not just forgiving each other our differences, but celebrating them as essential elements in building our faith in order that we may become the whole holy body of Christ. In the name of Jesus who embraces us all. AMEN
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