Unifying Members

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 Ephesians 4:1-3 John 13:34-35
Today is part two of a three-part series based on scriptures that reflect on topics from the

book, I Am A Church Member by Thom S. Rainer. Last week we talked about being functional
members. If you weren’t here, then you missed out on your opportunity to participate in a trust fall!
It was pretty amazing. John, who just joined two weeks ago, stood on a box my grandfather
made that was labeled “The Promises” so that he could “stand on the promises of Jesus.”

One of the volunteers was Liam, one of our children who just recently moved up from the
Young Disciple’s class and he took responsibility for the alignment of the group and made
sure that John’s head would be protected. John was caught by a good mix of new and older
members in both age, gender, and tenure of membership. It was about as perfect an illustration
for what it means to be functional members of the church as you could have, thanks be to God.

I probably could have stopped right there, but you know, preachers gotta’ preach.
The one other thing I’ll remind you of is that I closed by asking you to think of your role
in the church based on what we would miss if you weren’t here. Today happens to be the
day we celebrate All Saints Day in this congregation, and so it seems like a good time to
follow up on the idea of your unique role in the church as it relates to our unity as the
Body of Christ. Now, you may recall that I talked with the children earlier about saints.

Does anyone have a guess for how many saints have been canonized by the Roman Catholic
Church? Over 10,000. Records from the early church are unclear, so that’s why it’s a little
ambiguous. Any idea how many saints there are in the PC(USA)? That’s right. We don’t
deny the fact that some people have been elevated to a higher level of recognition for
their contribution to the faith. Some PC(USA) congregations are even named after a Saint,
though I honestly do not know why. So, how many saints? The answer is more than
1,352,678 because that’s just counting the ones that are still alive!

I know, it was a trick question. In scripture, Paul talks about the members of the church
as saints. He thanks them for “contributing to the work of the saints” in other towns
and communities through financial contributions, and you know what that means?
That means that you and I are saints. If that troubles you, just think of the way
Martin Luther described us as equally saint and sinner at the same time.
Every moment – every chance interaction – is an opportunity to express or deny the love
of Christ, and nobody bats 1,000 every game.

The idea that we are saints takes us to some interesting places, though. For starters, it

leads us to consider how we can help each other out. If I’m a saint and a sinner and so

are you, shouldn’t there be something about our fellowship that brings out the best in

each of us, and is that really something unique about the church? How is being a part of

this congregation really different than any other team or group?

Maybe in some ways, it’s not, but in a very particular way, it is very different indeed.

Wes Cady is a saint of the church who transferred her membership to the church

triumphant way too soon for those that knew and loved her. She taught me many

things before her passing, and one was about the difference that she found in this

congregation. FPC had gotten down to about 30 members on a Sunday before I came,

and she was telling me about a member with whom she had locked horns more than

once. Then she said, “We love each other in spite of our differences because we have

no choice.”

Wes was describing something unique and beautiful bout the church, but it was also

something motivated as much by a desire to survive as anything else. While we have

grown since then, the reality is that we aren’t far from the same need. Yet, I believe

that the emphasis has changed in recent years from surviving to thriving, if for no other

reason than we have around 65 saints in the pews on a given Sunday.

Numbers are still no reason to expect that what we do here is any different than any

other club or organization, so let’s talk about that a bit. I don’t know about you, but

what I love most about being the church is simply the fact that we connect (or at least

we can) on a deeper level in this space than anywhere else. It leaves me with a hunger

for more and a desire to care about and for others that I might not have without it.

All of us have either had, or we long for, some kind of spiritual connection that lets us

know we aren’t alone in the world. My hope is that you find it here. The first time I can

recall feeling it in a real and complete way wasn’t actually at church, though. It was at a

youth conference in Montreat, NC. The conference closed in the usual way. I’d been

there before. We shared communion, then we went out and gathered around Lake

Susan. 1,500 youth were circled around a lake, each of us holding a candle and singing

songs of praise.

Suddenly I had a deep realization that each candle represented a soul beloved by God,

and I was one. Each of us was unified in that one reality, whether we knew it or not. All

of us, in coming together, were a part of something that spanned the distance between

us and was unique in all the earth. It was intoxicating and liberating and beautiful. It

was the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

This unity is what scripture calls us toward every day, not just on Sunday and not just in

this place but every day, everywhere, with everyone. The wisdom of Ecclesiastes

reminds us of the value of the friends we find through God’s loving-kindness, for two

can withstand one. It goes on to say that a three-fold chord “is not quickly broken.” In

the past, and in my closest relationships (this passage was actually read at our

wedding), I’ve thought of God as the third chord, but in light of today’s topic, I’m seeing

it differently. What if the third chord is actually the one that the two were able to

withstand? God is certainly still in the mix, but stay with me on this.

It tracks with Jesus’ command to love and pray for your enemies, does it not? Not only

that, but I think it connects with what Paul has to say to the church in Ephesus when he

begged them to lead lives worthy of their calling in Christ Jesus. Unity takes hard work,

even in the best of relationships. That’s because we aren’t called to uniformity, apart

from the calling to love as Christ loved that is. In fact, our unique perspectives and

complex relationships are what make the church more wonderful! We simply have to

remember that our work toward unity must be grounded in the work of the Spirit of

God.

How do we do that? Jesus told us. Love one another as he has loved – that’s how

others will know that our faith is genuine and true! The calling card of the church is

mutual submission for the sake of Christ’s love, and what does it mean to love as Christ

loved? Well, there are really only two words I would use to describe loving like Christ,

as I see it witnessed in scripture. The first is self-offering, and the second is forgiveness.

Now, why would we need forgiveness in the church? Cue Martin Luther: we are all

100% saint and 100% sinner at the same time. Our good friend Thom Rainer suggests

that while Paul gives us a laundry list of moral failings in Romans, the most consistent

and dangerous sin to the church listed in scripture and in his experience as a Christian is

gossip. That’s right, idle chatter, or as I like to say, talking about someone instead of to

someone. We all do it, but as the book of James reminds us, the tongue sets fires that

burn out of control.

Gossip is like cancer in a faith community, and yet we all do it from time to time. Why

else would 1 Peter 3:19 say that if we love life we need to keep control of our tongue?

What then do we do? Mr. Rainer offers the following advice. First, he says, “Don’t do

it.” OK, easy enough, sort of. Then he says that we should stop others and redirect

them. Still doable, but awkward. Then he lowers the boom and reminds us to forgive.

The important thing to remember about forgiveness is that it doesn’t mean the same as

permission for the offense. The other day my daughter brought this home for me. I was

apologizing for something insensitive that I had done or said, and she said, “I forgive

you.” I said, “Wow! Thank you. Those words are very powerful.” She said, “I’m trying to

change my language. I usually say, ‘it’s OK’ but that basically says it was a good thing

that you did whatever you did. If I say, ‘I forgive you’ it means that I still love you even

though the thing you did was not OK.”

You see forgiveness is essential to unity because we are going to do and say things that

are not OK. That’s because we are not seeking uniformity. It’s like the time when some

saint said to me that we sometimes have to decide if it’s more important to be right or

to stay married. Sometimes it’s more important to work toward unity in the hope that

we might be made right in the eyes of God.

We experience that here; at this table; where even Judas was served; where even the

divisive one (which all of us can be at times) becomes part of the chord that binds us in

the spirit’s tether.

Thom Rainer says that those that seek unity in the Body of Christ are actually

demonstrating the love of Christ, and Jesus assures us that others will know us by our

love. The beautiful thing about all of this is that regardless of whether we are surviving

or thriving, we still have no choice whether or not to love each other regardless of our

differences (and maybe even because of them) if we want to be the church.

So, let us celebrate our common calling to unity, not just here but everywhere, in ways

that span the distance between us and is yet unique in all the earth. Next week we’ll

talk about membership in the body of Christ as a concrete experience of the grace and

mercy of God. Now let us join our voices and be made one as we sing God’s praise!