Cathedral Sermons
Seventh Sunday of Easter, May 16th 2010
Readings: Acts 16:16-34; Revelation22:12-14, 16-17,20-21; John 17:20-26
For some reason today’s gospel passage has probably had more impact upon me than any other piece of scripture.
In trying to analyse that – I think it might be because of the intense passion that Jesus is expressing. It was something of that passion that influenced me to be ordained a priest. It was this overwhelming desire for a better more united, inclusive, accommodating and understanding world.
The Church should and must reflect this possibility in her own life and witness to the world. It is so easy to accept the fragmented and divided nature of Church and Society and to give up making the effort to change the situation. Our combined worship with the Methodist Church next Sunday evening and our annual Ash Wednesday Liturgy with Roman Catholics are examples of our commitment to Christ’s call.
Although in the gospel this morning Jesus is praying for the Church – the same passionate prayer can apply to every area of life. For Jesus’ fervent prayer is that we love one-another. The way he phrases it – three different times in this prayer – is that we all may be one.
The cynic in us may diminish this as a naive hope – but how tragic it is that we can be so unbelieving that a better and different future is possible!
During the last week of the Easter season we celebrate the doctrine of Christ’s Ascension. Many find this a difficult physical concept but as Bishop John Robinson explained what actually happened was not important, it is the dynamic theological expression of faith that is so profound. He wrote: ’The Ascension is quite simply the assertion of Christ’s ascendancy – Christ’s claim to control the entire universe. That’s why the Ascension has been called the most political of all Christian doctrines. It makes tremendous claims about the ultimate sovereignty of this world’.
The gospel writer of John is having Jesus express in today’s passage a deep desire that the church, the followers of Jesus, be able to experience the same kind of love and unity in the spirit that Jesus himself experiences with God, that reaches to the ends of the earth, and that is available to all. “May they be one, just as I am in you and you are in me.”
Why is unity so important in the Church - and I’m not speaking of sameness, or necessarily physical and organic unity - but unity expressed through a spirit of generosity and the celebration of difference.
Firstly, unity is important because how we relate to each other and how we act, says something to others about who God is. As Christians in a pluralistic world, we do not have to believe that Jesus is the only way to God; but as Christians it is important to believe that we do have something particular to bring to the dialogue about who God is, and to do so passionately. By knowing Jesus intimately we are able to know god; and we learn from Jesus that God’s nature is one of generous love and forgiveness. We also learn from our relationship with Jesus that God’s spirit gives us guidance and wisdom, and energises us not only to experience healing and wholeness in our own lives, but also to work for healing and wholeness in the world.
However, if we in the Church are seen to be fighting among ourselves and judging others, then it would seem that the very message we say we believe is nullified! Of course sometimes we get it wrong, but we are committed to trying again, for at the heart of faith is community, and that is where we learn to be loved and be loved, to be forgiven and to forgive.
Having said that; it is not acceptable for bad behaviour to be the norm in any community, and why would anyone want to be part of a group in which there is regular bickering, infighting and division?
Therefore, one reason it is important for the Church to experience unity is so that who God is can be embodied, and the Church can be a positive force for good in people’s lives, not be one more place to find distress and confusion. The fruits of the Spirit are (and listen carefully) love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and self control. These are things that bring unity, they heal divisions, they do not add to the chaos of the world.
A second reason that unity is important is that we need each other. We need the comfort, instruction and gifts that others possess. We also deprive ourselves of great joy when we divide.
But we need to remember that unity is not uniformity. Jesus did not pray, “that they all may be the same”; he prayed “that they all may be one”.
Variety is valuable, and difference is not deficient. It is however precisely because we are different that spiritual unity is usually a struggle.
It is important to acknowledge that our differences serve a very important function: They keep us from grievous error. When everyone marches in locked step all the time it is easy to be led astray without even realising it. Hitler led a nation astray by silencing all competing viewpoints.
Differences keep us fresh and alive. Differences force us to think about what we believe. They keep us growing. When we’re in a place where everyone thinks exactly alike we can stop thinking – and that is dangerous. Differences keep us mentally awake and alert. For instance: I need what you know about God to keep my knowledge and experience of God expanding. As a team building manual puts it: “all of us is smarter than any one of us”. So, what part of God do you know about that the world needs? Our winter study series, with the first session on Sunday June 13th, will be a place where we can reflect together on a variety of spiritual understandings.
As we enter the last week of the Easter season, and celebrate the theology of Ascension (that Christ is over all, in all, and with all - at all times and in all places), and anticipate Pentecost (the celebration of God’s abiding spiritual power) we are reminded of the challenge to be an inviting, open minded and pluralistic community of faith. To be a church in which different interpretations of scripture, different backgrounds, different tastes, and different political views can come together in community. We have the opportunity of showcasing to the rest of society what is possible!
Jesus’ passionate and heart-felt prayer was ‘that they all may be one’. One, so that all people everywhere would come to know the extraordinary love and unity that Jesus himself experienced with God. The prayer indicates that when such unity occurs in community, the gift of God’s healing and holistic Spirit can be received.
No-one of us can make such unity happen all on our own. It is one of the paradoxes of the Christian faith, that it is not all up to us, but each of us has a responsibility to play our part.
One has to desire unity to achieve unity.
There is much to be learnt from the axiom: “We are to work as if everything depended on us, and pray as if everything depended on God”.
Christ is risen alleluia! He is risen indeed, alleluia!