What brought you here this morning? It seems an obvious question
with an even more obvious answer. But where have we all come from that we are
here now gathered in this place. Each one of us here has gone through different
things this morning, perhaps, some of us woke up early and had a nice leisurely breakfast, perhaps others, barely got out
of bed in time to get here. Perhaps some have already gone through trials this
morning, difficulties within the home or with family and friends away. Each one
of us, has journeyed here to this place at this hour. From different places and
different experiences, but we are all here.
Although we have all come to this one place together today, there are many things that
would seek to pull us apart. As humans we are inundated by things grabbing for
our attention and allegiance at every turn. We are constantly having to put ourselves
into groups, like those who like to watch American Idol, those who would rather watch the newest Law and Order. Groups like those who prefer to spend a quiet evening in versus being out on the town ‘til dawn. We are constantly being put into groups, our political party of choice, our nationality,
our birth states, our lineage, our jobs, our children’s success, each of us without really realizing it belong to dozens
if not hundreds of groups.
It is something that for the most part cannot be avoided. For example, a game the youth enjoy, if I were to ask you to stand up and answer the following questions
by going to the corresponding corner, like if I were to ask what is your favorite season of the year, and one corner represents
those who prefer Spring, another winter, another summer, and the final corner fall.
If I asked you to answer the question by heading to your corner of choice, you would be in fact joining a group which
believed the same thing you do. I give you this example as a way of showing how
quickly and easily we can be made to fit into a group, and of course there are those of you out there thinking, well I don’t
have a favorite season, where do I go? And I would answer you can come stand
with me, because I don’t have one either. And thus, still joining a group.
Every day we are put into groups, even here in the church, there are those of you who
like to sing and are part of the choir, or those who like to teach, or those who like to organize events, or cook, or lead,
we all have our niches. But there comes a point when our little differences come
between us. And this is where our passage meets us.
Paul is talking to the church in Corinth about some things he has been hearing. How the town, which was made up of many house churches, were starting to stand apart,
they were starting to follow different teachings and listen to outside teachings, and were starting to pull apart from each
other. Paul was trying to show the people that they need not separate themselves
based on who baptized them, or who they first heard the gospel from. The people
had begun making some baptizers better than others, and making themselves more special.
How often do we see this play out in the church?
With different groups of people believing different things about the direction that the church should go in. We see this both in the whole Christian, through the dozens if not hundreds of different denominations,
who all claim Christ as Lord and Savior. We see this within our own denomination,
when differences in opinion about how certain people should be treated and or accepted, has caused churches to break away
from the denomination.
We also see this within our own church. Whether
it relate to building improvements, or how to spend money, or what to teach our children, the church if you will has different
factions, or camps of agreement. Are we alone in having camps of agreement? Not at all. Having a background in political
science I am often brought back in to the similarities. I think now of the Federalist
Papers, that group of papers that were written in support of the ratification of the Constitution.
In Sunday school you always hear that the right answer is always Jesus, as a political
science student you hear that the right answer is always Federalist paper number 10.
I mention that now because it talks about factions. An excerpt if you
will:
“The latent causes of faction are thus sown in the nature of man; and we see them everywhere brought
into different degrees of activity, according to the different circumstances of civil society.
A zeal for different opinions concerning religion, concerning government, and many other points, as well of speculation
as of practice; an attachment to different leaders ambitiously contending for pre-eminence and power; or to persons of other
descriptions whose fortunes have been interesting to the human passions, have, in turn, divided mankind into parties, inflamed
them with mutual animosity, and rendered them much more disposed to vex and oppress each other than to cooperate for their
common good. So strong is this propensity of mankind to fall into mutual animosities
that where no substantial occasion presents itself the most frivolous and fanciful distinctions have been sufficient to kindle
their unfriendly passions and excite their most violent conflicts. …”
As a people we become passionate about what we think and what we like, that we sometimes forget to listen
to others. We get so caught up in our own opinions and beliefs that we would
rather argue our point than to hear something different. But as Christians, we
gather together to pray, and through prayer and love we are able to meet at the table, to hear each other out. The key though is to put our pride aside in order to grow from the experience. Much like the church in Corinth, today’s church gets caught up in defending what they think before
hearing the other side.
Many
times the reason why we can’t hear another person is because we are having trouble hearing ourselves. As Henri Nouwen puts it in the book Reaching Out: the three movements of the Spiritual life.
“But life can teach us that although the events of the day are out of our hands, they should never
be out of our hearts, that instead of becoming bitter our lives can yield to the wisdom that only from the heart a creative
response can come forth. When the answer to our world remains hanging between
our minds and our hands, it remains weak and superficial. When our protests against
war, segregation, and social injustice do not reach beyond the level of a reaction, then our indignation becomes self-righteous,
our hope for a better world degenerates into a desire for quick results, and our generosity is soon exhausted by disappointments. Only when our mind has descended into our heart can we expect a lasting response to
well up from our innermost self.”
As Nouwen points out, if we are fighting battles that are not getting anywhere, and we are creating division,
perhaps it is out of our own need, and that we have lost our way. Our actions
and are words, need to come out of love and care, not out of being right. We
must be able to see the cross in those moments when we are causing a disturbance within the community.
Paul tells them that the cross was not divided, that Jesus did not die differently
for different people, but that Christ gave his life on the cross for all of us. Not
just for those of us who like American Idol, or those who prefer golf to football. Christ
died for all of us, and each of us. But instead of spreading the good news, we
like those who Paul was talking to look for differences. We differentiate between
denominations and upbringings, we seek out differences to stand apart.
Our church is about to enter a time when we can all be on the same page. When we can not only hear the same message on Sunday mornings or evenings, but also to be reading the same
chapter of the same book every day for 40 days. We will be joining together in
small groups for study and for prayer. We have the opportunity to get to know
each other on a deeper level and also to grow deep in our walk with God. This
opportunity we have before us, is a blessing, it allows us to follow the leading of Paul in Corinthians, to not be separated
or allow our differences to come between us, but instead to gather together to experience God in a new way, as one.
It is a time to get to know our neighbors better and also our pew buddies. It is a time to enter each other’s homes and meet their pets, to experience fellowship on a new level. I know the idea of small groups sounds a little intimidating, for one it is a commitment
to bringing your faith home with you on a different level. It is so easy to leave
here on Sundays, and think about the message for a little while, but then forget all about it until you re-enter these doors
the following week. By joining in with this 40 Day journey, the message you hear
on Sunday will continue through the week through your daily readings and through your participation in a small group.
Paul warns many times
in his letters to churches that faith takes work and practice, that we need to come together and to pray. We need to break down the walls that separate us and create a space that is open and welcoming to all. As the hymn we just finished singing says, “we are one in the spirit, we are
one in the Lord, we are one in the spirit, we are one in the Lord, and we pray that all unity may one day be restored, and
they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love, yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love. We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand, and together we’ll
spread the news that God is in our Land. We will work with each other, we will
work side by side, and we’ll guard human dignity and save human pride. All
praise to the father, from whom all things come, all praise to Christ Jesus, God’s only son, and all praise to the spirit,
who makes us one. And they’ll know we are Christians by our Love.
If we allow love to guide our paths, the things that separate us from each other and
from the love of God will be a distant memory. It is up to each one of us to
reach out from our own hearts to bring unity to the church, to come together to seek God’s will in our lives.
Rev. Janice M. Tiedeck
