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January 1, 2006
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Unity
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Pastor Brian Shimer
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"THE SOURCE OF CHRISTIAN UNITY"
John 17: 20-26
- In a few moments I want you to take some time to share how God has worked in your life this year along the lines of and around this theme of unity.
Last January 2nd 2005 I spoke about a marriage I had participated in on December 31st In that ceremony as at many marriage ceremonies, we illustrated the oneness of the couple by lighting the Unity Candle. Now everyone knows that the candle is not the experience of oneness, but is just the symbol of what God will do. That couple's oneness will occur as they love one another and allow God's love to empower them to learn to live united not as separate units.
For the children's moment on that same Sunday, I used this Brio train from home and illustrated how the cars are meant to be joined together. The train is not a train without thus being connected, and we are not the church unless connected with one another. A rail car is just that by itself however when connected with the others becomes a train.
Unity is not something sourced in ourselves, indeed, Jesus said it was sourced in the Father for he prays to God His Father and our Father as he asks that we be made one even as He is one with the Father and the Father is one with Him.
"I have given them glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me" (John 17: 22-23).
We have been linked with others by God's plan that we be part of something bigger than ourselves, the Body of Christ. God's desire is to bring us into unity, not organizational unity - as something that we produce through plan or action - but the unity that God has. That unity is a unity of Love.
As I said last January, "Our God is the living, triune God. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are each separate persons, yet are one in essence. The Father is not the Son and the Son is not the Holy Spirit, but they are all God." And how is that triune unity expressed? It is expressed as ours is, in love. 'God is love," the apostle John wrote, meaning God dwells dynamically in other directed love for members of trinity and love towards us and all creation.
God is one for God lives in love. So, we are united in the Body of Christ, the church, and are meant not to live as individual, separate, units, unto ourselves, but meant to live in other directed Love for one another, as God does.
Living in love with one another does not mean we will like everyone. There are days I don't like myself, but I am stuck with me, so there will also be days I may not like you, but I can choose to love you, to believe the best of you, and to be committed to God's best in you.
- Today, on this first Sunday of the new year, I wanted to take a moment to remind us that God is not done with unity. I will not be focusing our time in worship on the theme of unity any longer, but we are never done. Unity is something we must continue to "keep" as the Apostle Paul wrote: "Keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace."
I know many of you have experienced attacks against unity in this body during this year. Some have experienced difficulties not previously known in long term friendships. These have been inflicted by the enemy of our souls who loves it when we get hurt and hold the grudge. The enemy loves to create factions in the body, produce cliques, and disrupt unity. But through this we have stood. This is good news.
In this passage of Scripture, Jesus has told us this oneness in the Body of Christ is first found in God Himself - in the relationship of the trinity. God is the source of unity. God has produced unity in the church.
So, what can we do to "keep" this unity that God has produced among us by His Spirit? Jesus answers that question in this passage in John 17. Unity is kept through communication.
A. What is Jesus doing here? He is praying. To whom? To God the Father! So, since unity is sourced in the Father, we too had better be in communication with God the Father as Jesus was.
When reading through the gospels you find Jesus praying lots. He prays all night before naming the 12 apostles. He prays to gain direction, to fellowship with the Father, to stay in communion with God, that common union He enjoyed as a member of Trinity. And he prays that we will be one as He is one with the father, one with Him, first, and then one with one another.
So, if Jesus found it important to pray, it is important for us too.
Jesus prays about what God had called him to do on earth, he had accomplished what God had sent him to do; he prays about those who are then with him and about us who will follow centuries later. Jesus spent time communicating with God the Father, about himself, and about others. So, we too need to be talking to God the Father and to the Son in the presence of the Holy Spirit about our own lives and about others in the body. Lift people to God. When you have difficulties in relationships, don't try to fix it yourself, or talk to other people to sort it out, instead, first, be praying to God the Father. Lift people in your life to God, it is the beginning of holding the unity of the body together.
That's where we begin. Keep communicating with God the Father.
B. But don't stop there. Communication established with God the Father must continue with people around us. We meet with God so that we can clarify truth, so that we can see what He is teaching us about ourselves through difficulties in relationships, and then we need to go to those who have harmed us and speak to them too.
Refuse to hold onto your impressions about a person. Remember the glasses?
The are a symbol of the way we filter out the good stuff that may be in a person and see only what we believe is true about them. The glasses were a reminder that we have a tendency to treat people as if they are what we believe they are.
But we cannot afford to develop opinions about others, and then wear our glasses as if what we think is true and not allow any other impressions of their lives to impact us.
If we are like train cars, or better yet, like cells in the body, then we must be communicating with one another. We cannot afford to hold onto unforgiveness or anger against a sister or brother. And we certainly cannot afford to entertain false beliefs about someone.
So don't believe every thought about someone else that pops into your head rather, talk about it, listen for "their side of the story," go willing to be convinced other than what you are thinking.
This is crucial. We need to keep committed to taking off these glasses and learn to see people through the eyes of the Lord. Often people hold onto these impressions about people and then refuse to believe anything else. They become convinced that what they believe is the only thing that is true about someone.
So, this takes us back to prayer. We must go to God. We must ask God to help us see what is true and what is false about another. We must take our hurts and the roots of the false impressions and ask God to change them.
This year, don't allow the enemy to destroy the relationships God has given you, instead, hold onto them, make them deeper by commitment and love and be present to them.
To communicate in love and believe the best of one another is your best armor against the fiery darts of the enemy.
Unity, my friends, is on God's agenda. God is the one who created the unity of the Body in the first place. It is unity that brings blessing, it is unity that brings evangelism, for all the world to know that the Father has sent the Son. It is unity that brings great glory to God's name in the earth. So, we must continue to be about keeping this unity, this gift of living as one body not individual parts, as one unit not individual units.
That is my reminder.
Now, I want you to share. I want you to share how this topic over the year has worked in your life. What have you learned about God's unity and ours? What have you applied to your life?
Some of you may be thinking: I cannot remember a thing about last year….
Jan/Feb: We journeyed through the Purpose Driven Life together as a church body, doing the study and meeting in small groups and preaching the principles found in God's word and expressed in that book; Mar/Apr we looked at Isaiah 53 and the focal point of our faith found in the Cross of Jesus Christ. May/Jun We spent several weeks looking at the members of the Trinity and the unity found in their relationship. Jul/Aug We looked at the "one anothers" in the New Testament speaking about the call of God to love, encourage, forgive and forbear with one another. Sep/Oct/Nov We spent time on what is the core of faith and doctrine and how to keep unity in the books of 1 Corinthians and Ephesians. Dec: We shared about the one story of the coming of Christ and the impact of God upon the characters who experienced Him.
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