“All Together Now”
John 17:20-26
May 20, 2007
Lake Harriet Christian Church
Minneapolis, MN
I want to open this morning with a story of something that happened to me a few years ago. I was volunteering for a candidate for the Minneapolis school board and I was busy dropping off campaign literature just a few blocks north of here. As I was walking, I noticed a man in ahead of me walking his dog. We passed each other and then the man decided to ask me a question. He asked me if I was “saved.” I knew he meant if I had accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, so I said yes. He asked what church I belong to and I told him, Lake Harriet Christian Church. He then asked if the congregation accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior. I told him yes, though I now wished I had been a bit mischevious and said we worship Lord Voldemort of Harry Potter fame.
All the while I was feeling pretty uncomfortable. I felt like I was being interrogated for no good reason. And it was going to get worse.
He then asked if my church was in agreement that sex outside of marriage was wrong as well as gay relationships. Oh, boy the other shoe really had dropped.
Having been a member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) , I knew that our tradition allowed each individual and each congregation to come to their own views on such issues faithfully. I knew that we Disciples had a wide range of opinions on everything including matters of sexuality. What was wonderful was that we were still all one, even though we had different political and theological views.
I told the gentleman just what I told you. We have different opinions on this issue, but adhering to our tradition we are one in Christ.
Any sense of satisfaction that I might have had in giving such an answer, was gone pretty much in an instant. The man then began to share a verse from the Bible, which was wildly misinterpreted, I must say, that the light should have nothing to do with the darkness or that which was damned. He talked about his wonderful church that had the “correct” view on this issue and said that many churches were “dead” because they allowed “other viewpoints” which were wrong and also sinful. I won't get into what else happened during this conversation since this is a family audience, except to say that he did a good job of getting me steamed.
Today's scripture is the conclusion of what has been called Jesus' “Priestly Prayer,” where he prays for his Disciples and the yet to be born church. As I read the text over and over again, I reminded of the phrase, “that they may all be one.” Jesus seems to be making a case here for unity.
Unity. That is something that we just don't have these days. We live in times that are very divisive, where people try very hard to divide people instead of bring them together. Politically, we've become a place where liberals hang out with liberals and conservatives with conservatives and never the twain shall meet. The other side is viewed not just as different, but as evil, as something that needs to be wiped out, instead of reasoned with, let alone prayed for. I don't know about you, but when I hear all the sniping and griping by people, I just want to say, “can't we all just get along?”
But Jesus isn't simply calling for people to just get along, he is calling for us to be grounded in God. We are not to be united for unity's sake, but to be united in God, so that the world might see that God loves them.
We Disciples have an interesting, slogan: “No creed but Christ.” The phrase came out of our early heritage and states, that we are not grounded on a particular creed or statement of faith, but on God as revealed in Jesus Christ and on that alone.
Lake Harriet has tried hard to uphold to that slogan, but also to this text. As most Disciples, we don't agree on everything. We have divergent opinions on everything- and yet we remain united, not on a creed or political position, but in Christ. That is what gathers us together as a community and sends us out into the world. This church, all churches, are to be a peek into God's coming reign where love rules.
Is it more important to be right or to be loving? This week, we heard of the death of the Reverend Jerry Fawell. For many, Rev. Fawell was a divisive figure because of his opposition to gay rights. I'm not here to condemn Fawell. But I do think the late reverend serves as a warning to us. Sometimes we get so caught up in trying to be right, that we might end up hurting people and damaging our witness of Christ.
The man I met on the street a few years ago thought he was being loving as well. But he was also caught up in trying to make sure he was correct and so was everyone else on a particular issue.
Lake Harriet Christian Church has been a place where we strive to be loving and united. I hope it remains that way. I hope that we can be a witness to the world of what God's kingdom is like, a place more concerned with loving each other and God than in trying to be right. I hope that we can be a shinning example of what true community is all about.
I feel sorry for that man I met. He missed the opportunity to see what it meant to be truly united in Christ. I wasn't expecting that he'd change his mind, but it would have been nice if we saw each other as brothers in Christ. But I am proud of this small community that serves as an example of being One in Christ. Amen.
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