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Last month we looked at some of the Psalms of Ascent, which were the psalms the people of Israel read and sang as they traveled to Jerusalem three times a year for worship. One of those psalms reminded the people that unity was a blessing and that as they came together from a variety of places, unity wasn’t just going to happen, they had to work to make it happen. Unity has been a theme that has come up several times recently and we approach it again today because one of the things that Paul prayed for was unity.
This month we are looking at what Paul teaches us about prayer and in each teaching there is a similar format. Paul says,
I pray ______________ so that _________________.
The first week, Paul prayed that we would know the power of God’s love so that Christ’s power might be part of life. Knowing God’s power and love is with us, we should pray big, bold and specific prayers. Last week, Paul prayed that we would be active in sharing our faith so that we might know every good thing we have in Christ. This week we see that Paul prayed for unity so that as one, the church might glorify God.
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. Romans 15:5-7
Here is Paul’s prayer, may God give you the same attitude of mind toward each that Christ had. In other words, be united in your love for God and your love for each other. This is also what Jesus prayed for.
My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us… John 17:20-21
Jesus wanted us to be one just as God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one. Jesus prayed we would be one. Paul prayed that we would be one. We need to take seriously the call to be one in Christ with all our brothers and sisters, not just one in Christ at Faith Church but one with fellow believers in our community, nation and around the world. One reason we need to pray and work for unity is because Satan loves it, and Satan wins, when we are not one.
If Satan can keep the body of Christ divided, then our witness of God and His love in the world is diminished. The old saying is true, united we stand but divided we fall. If the followers of Jesus around the world could unite, we would be the body of Christ in this world and as the body of Christ, nothing would be able to stand against us. Divided, however, we not only tear apart the body of Christ, but we can’t share God’s love as effectively with the world.
I had this before when we looked at unity, but let me say it again, unity does not mean uniformity. Being one in Christ doesn’t mean we all have to worship the same way, serve the same way, be in mission the same and even believe everything the same way. In many things, it is ok to disagree and have our likes and preferences. It’s ok to like a certain style of worship. It’s ok to feel more comfortable in a traditional service or a modern service. It’s ok that some churches are much more expressive in worship and others are more contemplative. It’s ok that some people really like small churches and others like large churches. And as long as we can agree that Jesus is the son of God who died to take away our sin, forgives us, and leads us back into a relationship with God, it can also be ok to disagree on some minor points of theology.
What’s not ok is to look down on others who think or worship differently, or to insist that our way is the only way, or the right way, or the best way. Unity doesn’t mean uniformity, it means being willing to accept one another and love one another. That’s what Paul says will help us be of one mind and voice, accept one another just as Christ accepted you.
This tells us how we should accept one another - the way Christ accepted us. I don’t know about you, but when Christ accepted me, I wasn’t perfect. I didn’t have all the answers, I didn’t live a very faithful life, and at that time, I was a mess (At times I still am). Despite all my failures and shortcomings, Christ accepted me and loved me and began a work in my life. As Christians, we need to accept one another and love one another even if we don’t agree. We have to accept one another and allow God to shape us and teach us what it means to be His one body in this world.
To help bring about unity among churches, one attitude we need to guard against is seeing ourselves in competition with other churches and realize that we are all on the same team. Other churches in our community aren’t our enemy, we are partners in the gospel. We need to celebrate and lift up what others are doing and not be jealous of what others are doing or boastful about what we are doing. In our own community, if we can show real support and love for other churches - we open the door for common ministry and together we are better able to lift up the name of Jesus. While it’s not easy, maybe the first thing we can do is stop putting other churches down and start lifting them up in prayer.
Let me share three more reasons why unity among God’s people is so important. The first is - we need each other.
Paul often used the analogy of the human body to talk about how we are all needed in the body of Christ. Paul said,
For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. Romans 12: 4-5
We all belong to the same body, which means that we need each other. In the human body, every part is needed. The legs need the arms, the eyes need the mouth, the liver needs the spleen, the bones need the blood. I’m always amazed that if the smallest bone in the body which is found in the inner ear should break, a person could lose their hearing. Every part of the body is needed for the body to be healthy and strong.
The same is true with the body of Christ. Every person is needed and every church is needed. There is not one church that will reach every person. All churches are needed if we are going to reach all people and share with them the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is only together that we are able to fulfill God’s mission because God’s mission is for us with one mind and one voice to glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ in all the world. This is why Paul prays for unity.
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.
We can not fully praise God and glorify God in all the world if we try to do it on our own - we desperately need our brothers and sisters to make it happen. In so many ways we need our brothers and sisters in Christ both here and around the world. When Ruslan and Archie were here and talked about living for Christ in Ukraine, my own faith was challenged because I realized how blessed I am and how easy I have things at times. We don’t live under the threat of bombs and we don’t live with the kind of scarcity that many people do in Ukraine and in other parts of the world. I need their faithfulness in difficult situations to help me be more faithful. I need their witness to be more generous and sacrificial.
We need the witness of the church in persecuted areas to remind us of what it means to stand up for faith. For us, persecution might be someone thinking we are a bit odd, but for many people it means being arrested, imprisoned and maybe killed. I need their witness to give me courage and strength. And they need us to stand strong for them, and pray for them, and support them and give to them when we can. We desperately need each other.
We also need to pray and work for unity in the church because
the world desperately needs God’s love.
It is only when we are united as the body of Christ that we are able to show the world God’s love. If we can’t love and accept each other, there is simply no way we can show the world God’s love. If we in the church put down or look down on other Christians because of how they worship or what they focus on, we can not show the world the love of God. Even just here in our own church, if we can’t accept and love one another, then there is no way we can show the world that we love them or that we really love God.
Paul tells us to accept one another and the word “accept” is a complex word that means to embrace and then walk with people hand in hand. It means accepting and then walking together and working together. The world needs to see this kind of acceptance and love action and they need to see it in and through the church. If the world could see this kind of love, maybe they would be drawn closer to Jesus and find salvation, hope, and new life.
The third reason unity is so important is because
we can do so much more together.
Missing trips are great examples of this. The last few years we have partnered with Brookside Wesleyan Church and together we have been able to transform people’s lives by working on their homes. Our mission team has certain gifts and skills and their team has certain gifts and skills and when we bring them together - great things happen.
For years we also worked in missions with Mt Calvary UMC in the Harrisburg area. My first trip with Faith Church was with the Harrisburg group to South Dakota and it was a fantastic week of working, fellowship and faith building. This fall there will be another trip with the Harrisburg church to South Carolina and then our mission week here starting Sept. 23. On our own we can do some good things, as the body of Christ we can do all things.
We get a glimpse of what can happen when the church comes together as one from the early church.
All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. Acts 4:32-34
When God’s people were of one heart and mind, and came together as one and there was not a needy person among them. Think about that. No one went hungry or thirsty. No one went without shelter or clothing. Orphans and widows were cared for and became part of a family. If Christians around the world could come together as one today, we could end poverty, hunger and homelessness. There would be drinking water and medical help for all. All orphans and widows would be cared for in families. Not only that, but everyone would be able to see Jesus, they would hear about God’s love and more and more people would accept Jesus and have their lives transformed.
We can do so much more when we work together and the world will see God glorified and experience God’s love if we are united. People are sick and tired of hearing about God’s love and then not seeing it in God’s people. In fact, that is often how Christians are seen and thought of, as people who judge and are against others. If we can’t be loving and supportive of our brothers and sisters in our church and in God’s larger church, what hope is there for us to love the world or to show the world God’s love?
Jesus said, A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13:34-35
Jesus said, love one another as I have loved you.
Paul said, accept one another as Christ accepted us.
When we do this and become one body in Christ - we glorify God and show the world God’s love and let them know that God loves them and the world desperately needs to see God’s love and know that God’s love is for them.
This week, here are two very practical things we can all do to work for unity. Pray for unity. Pray that we might be one in Christ in our church and that we might be one with our brothers and sisters in our community, and that we might be one with our brothers and sisters around the world. If you have a friend who attends another church, ask what they are doing so you can pray big, bold and specific prayers for them.
Pray for unity - but then work for unity. Let’s make sure we never put another church down but lift them up. Let’s not allow negative comments about other churches or the way other believers worship be part of our thinking or speaking. Let’s celebrate our differences and give thanks that other churches do things differently so they can reach different people.
And then let’s find ways to support others. We can support our brothers and sisters in Ukraine through Raising Hope Ukraine. We can work for unity by being part of one of the mission weeks coming up this fall where we can literally work with people from other churches.
I pray that we might be one, so that as one body in Christ we might glorify God and all would come to know the power of God’s love and grace.
Next Steps
Pray- Unity
When have you been part of a larger Christian community for worship or service? What was the experience like? What were you able to accomplish together?
What keeps churches in our own community apart?
3 Reasons Unity is so important:
1. We desperately need each other
● Read Romans 12:4-5 and 1 Corinthians 12:12-27
● What does the body of Christ analogue tell you about our need for each other?
● What gifts does Faith Church have that can be a blessing to others?
● Only speak positive things about other churches.
2. The world desperately needs God’s love
● Where do you see the need for God’s love in our community?
● How has God’s love touched you through the lives of other Christians?
3. We can do so much more together
● Read Acts 2:42-47 and Acts 4:32-34
● If all the churches in our community came together, what needs could we meet?
● Pray for opportunities to work together with others to meet those needs.
This week:
● Ask a friend or neighbor who attends a different church in the community how you can pray for that church.
● Pray for a different church in the community each day this week.
● Commit to one of our fall mission work weeks.
