Good morning. How is everyone this morning? Thank each of you for being here. I would like to ask you a few questions this morning. I would like to quote to you some sentences and you tell me if they are in the Bible.
"Money is the root of all evil." 1 Timothy 6:10
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Luke 6:31
"The lion shall lie down with the lamb". I think this one is in an Elvis song
6 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling[a] together; and a little child will lead them.
Is. 11:6-9
"Spare the rod, spoil the child." From a poet during the English civil war named Samuel Butler published in 1662
We get the idea from verses found in Proverbs 13, 19, 22, 23, 29 and Hebrews 12
"God helps those who help themselves." Famous quote by Benjamin Franklin
Well, the first 2 are close to being quoted correctly and the others they are good meaningful, inspirational quotes. Does it really matter that we wrongfully misquote or place these in the Bible? I believe it is important to remind all of us here today that what we say, what we read, what we misquote as truth doesn’t simply fall into the abyss and dissipate. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 18:21 that “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” Did you hear that; so many of our words are life and death? Do you believe that? Jesus said in Matthew 12:37 “for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
I want to tell you a story…it is a true story and a story that I am telling as someone with firsthand knowledge of all the details. This story is about someone very special to me. Someone that has been very influential in my life: physically, emotionally, spiritually and especially since entering into Christ’s ministry.
This is the story of a preacher; a preacher that had been preaching for over 25 years and has been serving the same church for over 20 of those years. In those years he had raised his two girls, been blessed with his first grandchild and rejoiced as God had blessed his church with growth and with a united body, that was for the most part, devoted to each other and to its pastor and his family. This church is in a small town where everyone is close or related. This is the type of church that was always eager to come to the rescue of their community and to the members of their church. One day a single disgruntle member of the church happened to be keeping an eye on the parsonage and noticed a vehicle belonging to a member parked in the driveway. It was not that unusual as the vehicle was often there as the owner of the vehicle and the pastor were close friends and often fished or hunted and did upholstery work together. Somehow this day, this observer decided and made the proclamation that the owner of the vehicle was having an affair with the pastor’s wife….and though unfounded that was all it took to start a civil war within this once united and dedicated church. Even after the church learned that there was absolutely nothing to substantiate this claim, the bond of trust…the bond of unity, the bond of friendship was broken and the pastor and his family made the decision to leave. They left the parsonage with no home to move to, they left their business, their friends and their family …not knowing where they were going and not even sure how they would survive financially but knowing that they “had” to move on for the betterment of the church.
You see friends’ words do have the power of life and death in them. Think about it, If your boss instructs you with words to do a certain task, you don’t it, when he says you’re fired… you’re fired. When I umpired girls’ softball whatever call I made in the game, it was binding. When a judge speaks in court, it can have consequences that value in the millions of dollars. If our natural words are so permanent today then how much more value can the words of our Savior be in instructing, healing, and equipping us through His divine spoken permanent words?
Will you please stand in honor of the reading of God’s word?
John 17:1-5; 9-11; 20-23 Unity friends. That is what Jesus is speaking about in each segment of His prayer. Unity with God for Himself as it was before the creation of the earth in the first section, unity for the disciples in the second section, and unity for us as the future believers!
Do you know why unity is the goal brothers and sisters? It says plainly in verse 21, “so that the world may believe that You have sent Me.” Why is that so important? Vs.3 tells us, That they may know you , the one true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” This is eternal life!
Jesus’ prayer is also a prophecy to us; for when we stand together as one, the world takes notice, our community takes notice, and through our love for and message of Christ, lives are changed! The Bible gives one example—only one—of how the world will know we are followers of Jesus: by our love for each other. I don’t prove to the world, I don’t prove to Searcy that I love Jesus by how often I attend church or by how much money I give, what boards I sit on, or by how many hours I spend in prayer. I show my faith by the fact that I chose to love and serve each of you, even those of you who do not like me. We show our faith through our love for each other and we help fulfill Jesus’ prayer.
When there is unity, we see the Glory of God manifest. Think about it! Let’s look at an example in the second chapter of Acts 2: 42-47. Christians have the capacity for great things through unity St. Paul. Through unity you’ve left Moore St. to become the church we are today. Three weeks ago you pulled together and had a successful, enjoyable, remember able Valentine’s banquet that would not have happened if you hadn’t come together.
The bible also shows, in unity, we have the capacity for evil….The tower of Babel, children of Israel with the Golden calf, and the members in my friends’ church.
You know the #1 reason most Christian ministries fail? It isn’t persecution, political turmoil, environmental hardships, or lack of funds—it’s a failure to get along with other believers! It’s also the #1 reason people leave churches—they have a run-in with someone, harsh words are spoken, and instead of being tolerant, instead of trying to reconcile, they get their “feathers ruffled” and they leave the church.
Unity takes on an interpersonal aspect….we recognize the value of diversity within the church. What if everyone here had the same interests, the same personality, the same talents, the same everything? How man you you would still come to church here if everyone was just like me? We need to appreciate the differences that make us more versatile/multi-faceted. The supreme spiritual challenge is to see God’s image in people who are not in our image.
John Wesley gave us many great examples of daily Christian living and evangelism. He also gave us a great example of unity. Within the Methodist Church there was a strong doctrinal disagreement between two of our early leaders, John Wesley and George Whitefield. Someone asked Wesley if he thought that he would see Whitefield in Heaven. Wesley said, "Probably not, for George will be so close to the Throne of God that I will hardly catch sight of him!" Although the two disagreed on some theological matters, Wesley was careful not to create problems in public that could hinder the proclamation of the Gospel. We can disagree without being disagreeable, even over controversial matters. We can choose to remain dialogical.
The devil uses this to split and distract us. We must remember, the people we don’t like or disagree with are not our enemy, Satan is our enemy!! We should be united in wanting to snatch everyone out of the fire! Every time we celebrate communion, part of the celebration is remembering the hope we have in the second coming of Christ. With that, we should be united with a sense of urgency in doing the Kingdom work. It is only when we are about the business of God that we see our common ground more clearly… we are all at the foot of the cross, everyone of us a sinner saved by grace! What unites us is our shared relationship with Christ, which is greater than anything that could divide us.
My friend urged his church continuously to be more like Jesus. To be less like a business and more like a family, less a police force and more like a hospital for the
hurting, less a social club and more a spiritual ministry, a lot less worldly and lot more heavenly.
I urge us to do the same for we still have so much more we can become and so much farther to go.
I started this sermon by asking you questions and that is how I’m going to end it. I want to know; how do you think St. Paul can grow in unity to better serve God? How can St. Paul grow in unity to better serve each other? How can St. Paul grow in unity to better serve the lost and the hurting outside these walls?
As we prepare our hearts and minds for Holy Communion may we reflect prayerfully upon these questions?
I offer this to you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!
