Of The Many, One
Of The Many, One by Rev. L. John Gable
October 3, 2021
Listen again to these words of the Apostle Paul:
“I, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
Could there be any more timely words than these for us today, on this World Communion Sunday? I think not.
You don’t need me to tell you that we live in a divided and contentious culture and climate. Every day we see evidence of that which threatens to divide us: globally, nationally, locally, personally, over issues of politics and religion, practice and policy. I can hardly think of a single issue of even minor importance over which people are not willing to argue and disagree in ways and means which would have been totally unacceptable even a decade ago in what we think to be a civil society, and what saddens me most is that we who name the name of Jesus are party to much of it.
How is it that we, and I don’t mean we so much here at Tab as I do we who are members of the Body of Christ the Church, have so easily forgotten and abandoned the high calling to which we have been called: the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace? The answer I give is simple, but I believe not simplistic. It is this: we have allowed the convictions we hold on the issues of the day to take center place in our lives, the place which is reserved for God and God alone. And when we allow that to happen, in the Church or in our hearts, we are willing to enter the fray because we have allowed ourselves to become “issue-centered” rather than “Christ-centered”, and issues, by definition divide; only Christ unites.
The central theme of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is the unity we find with one another because of the reconciling work which God has done for us in Jesus Christ. In chapter 2 we read, “But now in Christ you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He is our peace; in His flesh He has made both groups in to one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us…that He might create in Himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace.” What is the worth, the value, the cost of our salvation, of our right and restored relationship with God and God’s people, of the high calling to which we have been called which Paul is referring to in our passage this morning? It is nothing less than the sacrificial gift of the life of God’s Son on the cross of Calvary, so shame on us when we disregard that cost and abandon that high calling by dividing ourselves along the fault lines of the issues of the day, especially we who claim to be united under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
So, Paul writes, “I beg you (I urge you, I plead with you)…to make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Listen carefully to what he is saying here. This is not an appeal to simply smile and nod and act as though we all agree with one another. Our responsibility is not to create the peace, God has already done that for us in Jesus Christ. No, our responsibility is to make every effort to maintain the bond of peace which God has given us, which means we must be willing to work at it, value it, do our part to cultivate it and enrich it, and, when need be, to restore it. How do we do that? By refusing to allow anything to threaten or fracture the unity we have in Jesus Christ.
One of the cornerstone principles of being a Presbyterian is that “persons of good character and principle may differ.” There are many issues over which we, as committed followers of Jesus Christ, can, and perhaps even must, disagree. I believe it was Soren Kierkegaard who once said, “Where everyone is a Christian no one is a Christian”. What I believe he meant by that is that when we all agree with one another we assume that Jesus is in agreement with us as well, and that is not necessary so. We must be careful never to assume that we uniquely know the mind of Christ on any given issue. Rather we are better to assume that we are at our best, and perhaps most intent on seeking the mind of Christ, when we are with other people who are also committed followers of Jesus, with whom we disagree.
Do you recall that President Lincoln filled his cabinet with those who ran against him and were some of his harshest critics? Doris Kearns Goodwin writes of this in her book, Team of Rivals. Why would he do such a thing rather than surround himself with those who would simply nod their heads with him in agreement? Because he believed that the difference of opinions expressed around that table would call out the best possible solutions. Where on earth did he get that hair-brained idea? From Jesus. Look at who Jesus called to be His most intimate friends and followers. What an odd and motley crew, two of which were sworn enemies given the political viewpoints they held: Matthew was a tax collector and Simon (not Simon Peter, but the other Simon) was a Zealot. Matthew was despised for being a collaborator with their Roman oppressors, a traitor and turn coat who was over-collecting taxes from his own people in order to fund the evil empire and line his own pockets. And Simon was part of a company of first century guerilla fighters who were intent on overthrowing the establishment by any means necessary. Toss in there a couple of salty fishermen and we can only imagine the discussions they had around their dinner table. Why would Jesus do such a thing? Because He knew their hearts. He knew their desire and commitment to follow Him despite their different means of doing so. He knew, long before we Presbyterians came along, that “persons of good character and principle may… will…do differ”, which leaves us open to the very real possibility that we, individually or collectively, may not have a corner on the truth and that that person with whom we most strongly disagree may end up being more right on some issues than we are.
So, how do we work to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace? Again, my simplistic but very practical answer is, by refusing to allow any issue to take the place which is reserved for Christ alone. By remembering that the One who unites us is greater than anything that seeks to divide us and acknowledging that those things can and will divide us only if we allow them to. By admitting that we are better together, and perhaps closer to discerning the will of God and the mind of Christ together than we ever are alone. And by admitting our fault and confessing our sin when we allow points of disagreement to divide us, lest we abandon the high calling to which we have been called.
Let me ask you to do a little gut check. Think for a moment about the last time you got in to one of these arguments or disagreements with someone over one of the myriad issues of the day. Think not about the rightness of your position and the wrongness of the other’s. Think not about how rudely or angrily they responded, but only about your own responses. Consider, how strongly you wanted to make your point, to convince your opponent and win the argument regardless of the hurt feelings and the fallout it may cause to your relationship. Ask yourself, in the heat of the debate, “Was there any evidence that I was humble? Gentle? Patient? Was I willing to put up with the other in love? Did I in any way do my part to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace?” If you did not, rather if I did not, then perhaps I am more a part of the problem than I am the solution. This is the attitude and behavior Paul begs us to demonstrate in our times of disagreement. Why? Because these are the fruit of the Spirit, these are the virtues of Christ, the One we are called to emulate and follow. Let me say this plainly, we do nothing to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, much less further the work of the Kingdom of God, when the passion of our convictions allows us to abandon the fruits of the Spirit.
Paul knew that there would be much which could divide the early Church as it grew and spread and faced the challenges of different cultures and world-views, so in this letter to the Ephesians he lays out one of the earliest creedal statements of our faith. What is it that every Christian, regardless of where they lived or under whose teaching they sat, could agree on? What beliefs can all followers of Jesus hold in common? He offers this, that there is:
- One body – One Church, despite its differences in preference and practice
- One Spirit – the third member of the Trinity, united as One with the Father and the Son
- One hope of our calling – our salvation, our destiny in Christ
- One Lord – the earliest of the Christian creeds, “Jesus is Lord”
- One faith – one Gospel message
- One baptism – the outward sign that Christ lives within us
- One God and Father of all – the essential claim of the Judeo-Christian tradition – there is but One God who is above all and through all and in all.
While there are many other aspects of our faith over which we can, and perhaps even should debate and disagree as we seek God’s truth, these are the essentials on which we must agree. And when we disagree on issues other than these we must make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace to which Christ has called us, for when we choose to separate ourselves from others with whom we disagree over issues other than these we are denying the high calling to which we have been called. No issue of the day is worthy of the damage such division can cause to the unity of the Body of Christ.
Centuries later these essentials of our faith would be restated in the confession we call the Apostles’ Creed. As followers of Christ, intent on “leading a life worthy of the calling to which we have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”, let us stand and confess together that which we believe:
“I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried; He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from whence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.” Amen
Rev. L. John Gable
Tabernacle Presbyterian Church
Indianapolis, IN