(Comm)Unity

John 17:1-11, 22-23  

^17:1 After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, ² since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. ³ And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. ⁴ I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. ⁵ So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

⁶ “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. ⁷ Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; ⁸ for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. ⁹ I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. ¹⁰ All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. ¹¹ 

And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.

²² The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, ²³ I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

Ephesians 4:1-16

^4:1 I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life 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 making every effort 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 of your calling, ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

⁷ But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift. ⁸ Therefore it is said, “When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people.” ⁹ (When it says, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? ¹⁰ He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.) ¹¹ 

The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, ¹³ until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. ¹⁴ We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. ¹⁵ But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body's growth in building itself up in love. 

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What community are you part of?

I heard an interview this week on the radio with the leader of a Michigan LGBTQ rights organization. She was being asked to share her feelings after the horrific massacre, the mass shooting that took place in Orlando a week ago today. She said, the people who were targeted, the people who were killed, they are our community and so we grieve them as if they were our own.

And I thought to myself, isn’t that my community too? I know and love numerous people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer. And also parents of LGBTQ individuals. They are in my hometown community, and they are in this church community.

I read an article about a mom whose 30 year old son was trapped in the bathroom at the Pulse nightclub where the shooting took place, and was texting his mom to tell her that he was going to die. She spent almost an hour trading sporadic texts with him, hearing the horror unfold, and sharing whatever details she could with the 911 dispatcher, until the texts from her son stopped. It was 15 hours before she knew his fate.

And as I wept I knew that she was part of my community too, the community of parents of adult children who trust in God that they are OK, now that they are off on their own. The community of parents who pray every day and night that they will never get the sort of call that this parent and so many others received last Sunday.

All week long my clergy colleagues have been acknowledging the silence of too many churches, whether congregations, pastors, or denominational leadership, about the need for church to be safe space for those who are marginalized. And especially these days that is the LGBTQ community. LGBT youth in America make up 7% of the total youth population, but they represent up to 40% of youth who are homeless. 42% of LGBT youth say the community in which they live is not accepting of LGBT people. And LGBT youth are 4 times more likely to attempt suicide as their straight peers. There is a desperate need for safe space, for sanctuary, for a community that embraces, not rejects, LGBTQ individuals. And so often, too often, the church is seen as the opposite of that – either because the church takes a stand that excludes them from the fullness of life in Christ, or because the church is simply silent.

And I had to ask myself, will I be part of the clergy community, of the church community, that speaks out in the name of Christ, or will I be silent?  And, as always, the scripture text for this week gave me my answer.

In our scripture text today, Jesus is speaking to the disciples, giving last instructions, so to speak, before he goes to the cross. And his words to them are to be one – to be completely one – one with God, one in Christ, one with one another, just as God and Christ are one. Jesus expresses the unity of the world as being one with the unity of God and Christ.

In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, even though he is in prison, he calls for those of us who call themselves the church, to lead a life worthy of our calling. What does that life look like? It is a life of humility – not considering ourselves as better than anyone else. It is a life of gentleness, of patience, of mutual forbearance in love. It is a life of unity. He begs us to make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. He goes on to describe us as one in so many ways – one body, one Spirit, one hope of our one calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. Not of all Christians. Not of all who are baptized. Not of all people who look like us, or act like us, or even people who intend good of us. But one God and Father of all people. The God who is not only above all, but also through all, and also in all. All people.

Who is in your community? And more importantly, who is not?

The Presbyterian Church in the USA received a letter this week from the Presbyterian Church of the Republic of Korea.

Dear friends and partners:

The Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea is much saddened to hear of the senseless and dreadful loss of life that happened at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida, early Sunday morning. We grieve for those who were killed and those whose lives are shattered by the deaths, as well as those who are struggling to survive even now and will have to suffer the guilt of survival from such a trauma. We also grieve the blind anger that led one man to take the lives of so many others, we grieve the intolerance and hatred that gives vent to such violent action, and we seek to support you, our Christian partners in the USA, as you once more call for gun control which would not allow the irresponsible purchase of such destructive weapons.

On Saturday, the Gay Pride parade was held in Seoul. People marched in solidarity with sexual minorities who still seek consistent and basic human rights in the Korean society. As they marched, they were confronted by the anger of people who protested acceptance of sexual diversity. We are so saddened by this verbal violence, which is such an affront to our understanding of the gospel that calls us to ‘love one another, for love is of God’ (1 John 4:7). ‘If anyone says, ‘I love God’, yet hates his brother, he is a liar (1 John 4:20), and yet hatred spews from those who stand under a cross as they shout.

So our grief stemming from these words of violence and hatred were multiplied as we heard about the Orlando shooting, and we pray for the day when all people know security and peace in their lives. ‘There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives our fear.’ (1 John 4:18)

Please receive our prayers and the comfort of our solidarity as you, brothers and sisters in our partner churches minister in the face of this tragic circumstance.

And it is signed,

In the comfort and love of Christ,

Rev. Bae Tae Jin, General Secretary, The Presbyterian Church of the Republic of Korea.

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Over the past six months this congregation has been actively participating in the New Beginnings process. Its purpose is to help us define who we are, the community in which we serve, and what God is calling us to be and to do at this time and in this place.

This past week, the Session heard from the mission statement completion team, who took the draft mission statement work from every table in our second congregational workshop, and prepared a statement for approval – a statement of who we are and what God is calling us to be. After a motion and discussion, this statement was unanimously approved as proposed.

(on screen)

“Assured of the new life we have received in Christ, we will live out our faith together through worship, prayer, education, fellowship, and mission.  Being called to love all people, we will use our gifts to serve God in an imperfect world.  Equipped with our faith and filled with the Spirit, we will:    

• reach out in acceptance to a diverse community;
• embrace the marginalized and show love to all;
• feed the hungry and care for the sick;
• search for peace and work for justice.”

Who is our community?

We are called to love all people.

What is God calling us to do?

To use our gifts to serve God in an imperfect world.

To reach out in acceptance to a diverse community.

To embrace the marginalized and show love to all.

To feed the hungry and care for the sick.

To search for peace and work for justice.

Paul calls us to speak the truth in love, and to grow up in every way into Christ, the head of the church.

As a community, this mission statement is the next step in our process of maturing as disciples, as growing up in every way into Christ. It is a framework for how we are called to speak the truth in love.

In unity with Christ…unity with – this is true community. Based on the same root as communion. Union with.

May we live out this call, in prayer and in works, making our church home and our homes places of peace and community, helping especially those who have reason to feel rejected by their communities, to know that New Life Presbyterian is a safe space and a sanctuary, a place of communion, a place to experience God’s love and to learn about God’s peace and unity, in word and in deed. May we live out this call, as our ordination vows express, with energy, intelligence, imagination and, above all, with love, with great love, with unconditional, unending love. The love with which God has loved us in Christ.

Amen and Amen.