WELCOME & INTRODUCTION
- Speak on the goodness of our being together this morning
- This series called “We Are Better Together”
o Intentional in pointing our minds to unity as a church family and as part of the churches of Christ.
“SERBIAN-CROATIAN CONFLICTS”
In 1991, the first of many conflicts began in the old greater Yugoslavia. From 1991-2001, there were several wars within a war over the struggle for independence. A few of the smaller countries in Yugoslavia wanted nothing to do with the communism of old. While at the same time these countries were vying for independence, the Serbians led by President Slobodan Milosevic wanted to replace communism with Serbian nationalism and regain the borders of Yugoslavia. He stoked a lot of the ethnic tension and helped fund the varying armies fighting against each other, hoping they would wipe each other out so he could go and pick up the pieces of what was left.
These wars were Europe’s deadliest conflicts since World War II and marked by ethnic war crimes and genocide. Over 4 ½ million people were displaced and 140,000 killed. Many of the leaders involved were indicted and sentenced to war crimes, ethnic cleansing, rape, and murder. It took 24 years for the International Criminal Tribunal to try all of the cases. Some of these including Milosevic died before being sentenced.
These wars have since still created tension between the different ethnic groups that live in that region of Eastern Europe. My friend was here this week sharing some of his work with Eastern European Missions and told several stories of people receiving Bible and learning about Jesus for the first time. They are amazing stories of faith.
One he tells, is about 2 missionaries to different countries in that region: Serbia and Croatia. One day these 2 men were sitting in a café and talking and laughing. Another man comes in and hears some of what they are talking about and walks up to them and asks them who they are and where they are from.
The first missionary says, “I am from Serbia,” in a boisterous way. This large man was clearly a Serbian. The second missionary says, “And I am from Croatia.”
This caused the 3rd man alarm and he backed away from the table a bit knowing the strife between the two races. He asks, “How is it that you two can be at the same table and not want to kill each other?” The missionary to Croatia says to the man, “Do you see that chair? Jesus is with us.”
The powerful testimony of how Christians can be unified by something greater than any past conflict, any past pain, the differences that seem insurmountable. By the love of someone greater: Jesus. That is what I want us to think about when it comes to unity.
As we wrap up our series on unity, let’s recap our past lessons.
We began by looking to the early church in Acts 2 and how the first century church had everything in common…
We then spoke about the disciples going out in pairs to teach the good news to everyone they encountered and how we have one another’s backs to encourage and help when times are tough…
And when we encounter tough times between each other, we learned about why we should reconcile with each other…
And we had to ask the hard questions about who it is we actually follow. If we follow our own way then it will be difficult. If we follow Christ, then we can be united with one another…
Last week, we discussed how Communion—the Lord’s Supper is our proclamation to the world about Jesus and how we unite behind this message to show our commitment to each other.
This morning, we conclude our series with this question? What unifies us?
We want unity. Many times, our wants and desires and our emotions can guide us to the wrong ways to go about having unity. We think unity comes when we all have the exact same conclusions about everything in our theology, doctrine, teaching, and practice. But for Paul, our practices were just a part of this and in some cases, the Jews and Gentiles didn’t do things the same way and they were imposing their opinions on each other. When writing to the church in Ephesus, Paul refines the faith back into the main things we need to be united under. Let’s read this passage together as we conclude our series this morning.
EPHESIANS 4:1-6
1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Paul has spent the first 3 chapters teaching the church again that their views on the old law, circumcision, and their works may be different, but they should be united as one in Christ. Here in chapter 4, he then tells them how that is even possible with the differences they had.
First, Paul teaches them that our lives reflect unity in how we carry ourselves:
OUR LIVES REFLECT UNITY WHEN WE
1. Walk worthy.
Our actions should match our words. If we are walking worthy to our calling, then we will speak and act like Christ in everything we do.
Jesus teaches us that our words will be about his good news and then our actions reflect that in how we treat others. As someone saved by the blood of Jesus, I now seek out to help others who also want to know about him.
So, walking through life, I share the good news of Jesus with others. I find ways to worship him every day and live out that worship of God in my actions. I will talk with God and seek His will. I’m striving to become more holy every day. Practically, when I see someone who has physical needs, I do what I can to help.
My walk should become a light in me that others can see.
OUR LIVES REFLECT UNITY WHEN WE
2. Bear fruit.
This walk will bear the fruit of the Spirit. In Galatians 5:22-23 we can read that there are deep, heart and soul sharing fruit that we see in someone who is following and seeking to live that worthy life. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Here in Ephesians 4, Paul says someone walking in a manner worthy of the calling will reflect this: He lists a few of them in this way:
• Humility
• Gentleness
• Patience
• Bearing with one another
These fruit here are what you see when you’re striving for unity.
OUR LIVES REFLECT UNITY WHEN WE
3. Eager to maintain unity.
What Paul says here is not just an “Ok, I will bear with your faults and I won’t complain—at least not out loud—well, at least not when you’re around and can hear it.” And then we act put out and annoyed because we still don’t like the things they do. Bearing with one another in love is a separate act. Here Paul says that someone reflecting unity is eager to do it. The NIV puts it this way: “Make every effort to maintain the Spirit of unity in the bond of peace.” Sounds like an active desire to not just want unity, but to anticipate that unity is going to happen at least coming from my side of this.
People who want unity, live lives that reflect unity and we actively seek to be unified. This is a worthy calling. This calling takes effort. This calling takes some selfless action. It takes a heart that is softened to the broader scope of the Kingdom of heaven and who is included. This calling puts me and my desires last.
My desire is not only that I don’t cause division, but that I seek out unity.
So what then are we to be completely united with?
These are the things that I believe Paul is calling us to seek unity with others. Let’s go through them.
THE SEVEN “ONES” OF UNITY
1. There is One Body.
Can we agree that we are called to be One body? Paul wrote to the church in Corinth about this. A church that couldn’t get along needed to hear this message. Paul says, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:12-13)
He then talks about the responsibility that each one of us has within that body. Practically speaking, this means that we are each part of each other. We have a duty to our brothers and sisters that place membership here to be part of each other’s lives. That includes the good: rejoicing with those who rejoice, praising God for his blessings on each person. And it includes the bad: weeping and mourning with those who weep and mourn. It also puts each of us in a place of duty to the leaders of this body.
“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.” Hebrews 13:17
We hear the things our leaders are teaching us, we submit to their leadership, we can be disciplined if we do not listen and are stubborn. Do you hear that part? We are called to follow them even if we aren’t sure we like the direction. That’s a high calling that the leaders have. If we don’t like something, it doesn’t mean we go off to the next congregation hoping they do things I like and when they disappoint me…well, now I’m off to the next.
We have unity by being One Body.
2. There is One Spirit.
We have one Holy Spirit promised to us by Jesus before his death. He told us we would have this Spirit to guide us and lead us daily. The Holy Spirit protects us when we listen to His leading. Without this Spirit, we are aimless. Is there another Spirit? Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:12: Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.
The spirit of the world—Satan—would love for us to follow him. But we are following One Spirit. The only one that matters.
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)
Our battle is not with other people. It’s not against other Christian denominations. Our battle is not with people within churches of Christ. It’s not even with people who have another religion or no religion. We have to trust the Spirit to guide people. When we speak ill of other Christians because they don’t do things the way we do, we are not eagerly maintaining unity in the Spirit. And if people see us dividing over this, I dread that they don’t want anything to do with us.
We have unity under One Spirit.
3. There is One hope.
We all have this one hope in the return of Jesus Christ. We throw the word hope around flippantly: I hope I can go on vacation. I hope my dog is ok. I hope I can get a new outfit. Those are wishes, not hopes. Hope is a very specific word. Hope is anticipation that something is going to happen and that it has already been decided to happen. We have hope in Jesus’ return because we know he has already been resurrected. He is alive. And now I hope in the promise he has given that he will return. As Christians, we can have unity because we hold this same hope. And I also hope that I will be with him in paradise for eternity.
We have unity in the One hope.
4. There is One Lord.
We have but one Lord. Many times, we make other things our Lord. We place objects or famous people or our time and energy into the place that is reserved for the one Lord of our lives. Jesus is our One Lord. We must be willing to take those other things down and walk away. It will be difficult in some situations.
We have unity because of our One Lord Jesus.
5. There is One faith.
We have just this one faith. It isn’t something I get to decide. We put our faith in Him or it isn’t faith…it’s fantasy. Our faith is essential. Many people lose their faith because God isn’t moving the way they want Him to. They walk away. In order to have unity, we must place our faith in God. People are going to let you down. The government is going to let you down, no matter how left or right they lean (whichever you prefer). Hollywood is going to let you down. Your family and friends will let you down. But we have unity because of faith in God. Continue to have this one faith and don’t doubt just because we don’t have all the answers to every situation. The world has fewer answers, believe it or not.
We have unity in our One faith in God. God is where all my faith rests.
6. There is One baptism.
Jesus set the model with baptism. It was in Jesus’ baptism that God reveals His plan for salvation. We die to our old life of sin, die to our selfishness, we are buried in the water symbolically, and then we raise to new life and are resurrected with Christ. We believe in that baptism. It’s the only one.
We have unity by believing that One baptism is the one we practice.
7. There is One God and Father of all.
God is the only God. He is our Father. He is our Creator. He is the Judge. He is the Provider. He is over the entire universe in time and space. Our God is greater than all.
We have unity under One God who is our Father of all over all and through all and in all.
When we have this list of 7 “One” statements, we can see the things that are most important. These seven Ones should unite us. And if we can agree on these seven Ones, we should seek unity. But Mike, you’ve definitely said things I don’t agree with this morning. Okay, should that divide us? Does that make us enemies? Or can we disagree and still love? I am sure I don’t agree with everyone either. Each person in this room has things they don’t agree on. But we are called to maintain unity. Why? Because of these seven Ones. We are a body—family! We have the same hope and the same faith. We have the same goals.
This should cause us joy! Our unity is no longer about the other things in this world. It should cause us relief. The weight I was feeling is now off my shoulders. Because God’s got this.
I am afraid we have divided over things in our past (and even in the present) that aren’t things we should be dividing over. I am afraid that we are losing people to the world’s spirit when we do that. Our children suffer because of it. I do not want to be the cause of my kids running from the church when churches of Christ already have issues with declining numbers each year.
Remember when I said a while back the statistics that a church of Christ is closing her doors every ~6 days? Well now the new number is 2 churches a week. I don’t want this to happen on my watch. As long as I am alive and able, I want to see churches of Christ thrive. I hope you do too. In order to do this we must be a positive light in this world and maintain the spirit of unity and not one that is critical of people who don’t agree with me. Let us be a church that sets the model standard for good news in our world.
We have unity because these seven essentials of the faith are more important than my own thoughts and my own preferences.
MY FRIEND
I have a friend. I will still call him a friend. We met in college and did a lot together. We didn’t agree on everything. He was pretty brash and harsh in the way he talked to people. He let emotion get the best of him and didn’t treat them the way I would have. He also tended to get in trouble. At one point he decided to drop out and work. He also dealt with Crohn’s disease. There was a time when he didn’t have a place to live and I let him sleep in my dorm room for a few weeks without telling our Resident Director so he wouldn’t have to pay because he was having a terrible bout with Crohn’s and didn’t want to have to move home. I admit that was not the right thing to do…but he is my friend.
Well, several years ago, I knew he was again having a really bad bout with Crohn’s. He was actually on death’s doorstep. I wanted to know what was going on so I tried to contact him but he just would not return my phone calls. So I finally contacted his wife and asked her what was happening.
It was then I learned that they had decided that we were in a different place in our lives and we just don’t agree on the role of women in the church. I am complementarian and they are egalitarian. [See me later if you don’t know what that means]
I continued to love them even though I do not agree on this point of doctrine. I wanted to continue in our friend relationship even though I don’t think they are correct. And I didn’t ever question their salvation because that issue isn’t a salvation issue. I think it’s wrong, but it doesn’t condemn them.
But for them, they could not maintain unity with me and cut off all ties. We haven’t spoken since. This is a man who was a part of my life for many years and was even part of the greatest moment for Janna and I—our wedding. I still love him and pray for him and his family. I hope (wish) God will help us reconcile one day. It will take some softening of hearts.
But friends, unity is good. We must maintain it even when we don’t agree.
I am going to leave it here. I hope I have stepped on toes all around. I know I have stepped on mine today. That’s what I do when I preach…
INVITATION
