In the 1600s the King of Sweden was Gustav Adolf II - and he was considered one of the great military strategists of the age. As with all great military strategists, the King was thinking ahead to how to control various areas around his nation, and one of the areas he had his eye on was Baltic Sea. In order to control these waters he needed a formidable navy and he was convinced the jewel of that navy would be one of the biggest and baddest warships ever created. And thus was born the idea for the “Vasa”. The Vasa was a huge ship. Her builders used 1000 oak trees in its construction, her mast was over 150 feet tall (roughly equivalent to a 15 story building) and she carried nearly twice as many cannon as any ship afloat - 64. She was to be one of the most intimidating and destructive ships ever to sail the 7 seas.
On August 10, 1628, as the crowds of Stockholm crowded the wharf to see the Vasa launched, it set off on its maiden voyage…and within 30 minutes (Pause) she sank. She sank! But why? Because she was top heavy. She was top heavy because her designer put everything they could on the ship. But in the process of giving this ship everything she might possibly need to go into battle, the designers forgot the single most important thing a ship is supposed to do. What is the most important quality of any ship? She has to be able to FLOAT! If she doesn’t float, a ship isn’t of much use to anyone.
(http://beyondharan.blogspot.com/2016/12/what-sinking-of-vasa-can-teach-american.html)
Now in Philippians, Paul is writing to a church that he obviously admires. One scholar said one few letters Paul wrote with NO words of condemnation. Apparently this was a great congregation. But even in this great congregation, Paul senses the need to stress something that no church can survive without… UNITY.
A GREAT church MUST have good doctrine.
A GREAT church MUST have a powerful love for Jesus.
A GREAT church MUST focus on winning people to Christ.
But, if a church is not UNIFIED it won’t be a GREAT church!!!
That’s why Paul wrote: “… let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in ONE spirit, with ONE mind, striving SIDE BY SIDE for the faith of the gospel.” Philippians 1:27
As I was studying for this week’s sermon I was amazed at how often Scripture stressed this concept of unity. Way back Psalm 133:1 God declared “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in UNITY!”
In 1 Corinthians 1:10 Paul wrote: “I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be NO DIVISIONS among you, but that you be UNITED in the same mind and the same judgment.”
And one of the most powerful passages on this idea of unity is found in Ephesians 4:1-6 “I … urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is ONE body and ONE Spirit just as you were called to the ONE hope that belongs to your call—ONE Lord, ONE faith, ONE baptism, ONE God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
So obviously it is important to God that we be unified. We need to be of one mind and one purpose as a church. BUT WHY? Why do we need to be unified? Well, Jesus told us why when He prayed in the garden before His crucifixion: He asked the Father that Christians “may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you.”
Jesus said ONE of the reasons was “that they also may be IN US.” John 17:21
In other words a church that is not unified… is not IN Jesus. It’s not IN God.
ILLUS: I once preached in a church that had some serious problems with divisiveness. One time there was some quarreling going on over a decision that was coming up. Several of them were seriously upset because they knew they weren’t going to get their way in an upcoming vote and they were getting pretty nasty about it.
I know I may appear to be a gentle, inoffensive kind of guy, but at times like that I can kind of get into people’s faces. So I gently addressed the issue from the pulpit. I asked them if they ever saw kids quarreling at home. And, of course they had. And I asked “Have your children ever argued?” And of course they had. Then I asked “Why do children argue?” Well, they argue because they want to get THEIR way. And the children usually argued the angrily when their parents were NOT in the room. But once mom or dad entered the room… the fighting usually stops. Why? Because Mom and Dad have the final say.
I explained that when a church is arguing with each other it means God is not IN the room. Literally, a church that is constantly arguing is NOT in God/Jesus. A church that is constantly arguing is not concerned with what God wants…they only care what THEY want. So they are not IN Jesus. Their lack of unity declares that they’re not in the same room with God.
So, the 1st reason we need unity is – “that they may be in us”
They 2nd reason Jesus said unity was important was “… so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” John 17:23
Earlier in John 13:35 Jesus said “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
You see, unity - loving one another - is the mark of who we are. If we love one another, the world recognizes WHO we belong to.
ILLUS: A few years back the Universities of Purdue, IU and Ohio State did a joint research project. They studied the attitudes of numerous college students on their campuses when it came to how they viewed people who were known to criticize others. And they discovered the most amazing thing:
• Gossips, who talked about the immorality of others were seen as immoral.
• And Politicians who claimed that their opponents were corrupt – seen as corrupt.
Now, by contrast – those who praised others were often respected. For example: art critics who praised the work of an artist were often perceived as being talented themselves.
It’s called "spontaneous trait transference." (You know psychologists – they have to have a fancy name for everything). Spontaneous Trait Transference is the term they use for the phenomena where - when people hear a person say positive (or negative) things about someone else, they often attribute those same qualities to the speaker. So, a person who praises others… is often considered worthy of praise.
Thus, when we love one another, there’s a “TRAIT TRANSFERENCE”. People (when they see our love for one another) tend to transfer our unity to Jesus. As Jesus said “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
(Uncle John’s All-Purpose, Extra Strength Bathroom Reader, p. 113)
Our unity as a church speaks volumes to a world mired in criticism and hate. They don’t often see that kind of behavior and they marvel that Jesus can do that type of thing in His church.
Now, let’s get back to Philippians 1. Paul writes that we should be: “standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel” Philippians 1:27
But then Paul tells us WHY that’s so important (having one mind/ one spirit/ striving side by side). It was so that we might “… not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. Philippians 1:28
In other words: our unity/our love for each other – not only tells the world WHO we belong to but it also gives us courage to face the very people who would oppose us. When we’re united, we’re not frightened of what our opponents might do.
ILLUS: When I was a boy I loved to sing (I still love to sing). And I remember a song from choir. If you know it, sing it with me:
“Give me some men who are stout-hearted men, who will fight, for the right they adore,
Start me with ten who are stout-hearted men, and I'll soon give you ten thousand more. Oh…”
And that’s all we’re going to sing of that this morning.
(Sigmund Romberg/Oscar Hammerstein II)
The next few words of the song say “Shoulder to shoulder and bolder and bolder, they grow as they go to the fore. Then there's nothing in the world can halt or mar a plan, When stout-hearted men can stick together man to man.”
And I remember thinking back then: “What a great song!” (Deep voice) Stout hearted men. Shoulder to shoulder and bolder and bolder. Willing to fight for that which is right. That which is just. That which is moral.
That’s GREAT stuff!!!!
ILLUS: John Wesley once said: “Give me one hundred men who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not whether they be clergyman or laymen, they alone will shake the gates of Hell and set up the kingdom of Heaven upon the earth.”
And that was what Paul was challenging the church at Philippi to do. Stand shoulder to shoulder and side by side. When the church would do that, no opponent would be able to stand against them. And that is what God is calling us to do.
ILLUS: A few years back you sent me to that Preacher’s conference in Pigeon Forge, TN (the Barnabas Retreat), and there was a preacher there that caught my attention (Linwood, Smith, Windor, GA). He was a good ol’ southern boy who had a powerful southern accent (I tried to copy his accent as best I could during the illustration). He got up stage, put a plastic grasshopper on the podium and started talking about Grasshoppers.
He said “Back in the book of Numbers we’re told about 12 spies who were sent into spy out the promised land (10 were bad and 2 were good). When they returned from their mission Caleb and Joshua told about how wonderful this new land was. It was a land flowing with milk and honey. And - with God’s help - they could take possession with no trouble at all.
But the other 10 spies were frightened, and one of them declared: “we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers and so we were in their sight” (Numbers 13:33). That spy was saying that ‘we’re too small. If we try to take the land … they’ll squash us like bugs!!!”
But those cowardly spies didn’t know much about grasshoppers! Once a friend of mine asked me to help him on his farm. He wanted me to bush hog his field. So I took the bush hog out to his field and I began to mow down weeds all around the outside of that field. Well about the 2nd time I was bush hogging around the edge, I ran across a nest of grasshoppers. And before I knew it the air was filled with them. They were everywhere. They were in my hair, they swarmed my face, they landed on my skin, and they stuck to me so hard that I couldn’t hardly get them off of me. I was so overwhelmed fighting off those grasshoppers that I lost control of the tractor I was on. And before I knew it I was mowing down the crops in the field.
So now, don’t you go telling me that grasshoppers can’t do nothing. When they get unified and set their mind to it, there ain’t nothing they can’t do!”
And that’s what the church is like when it decides to be unified. When they work shoulder to shoulder and side by side, there ain’t nothing we can’t do.
But now – here’s the deal: you can’t be unified unless you decide to love each other. That’s why there are so many verses in Scripture that say “Love One Another.” In fact James tells us that this is the “royal law” of the kingdom. But why would the Bible tells us to do that so often? Well, God keeps emphasizing it, because it isn’t always easy to do. There are times when it’s hard to even LIKE one another – let alone love one another. Folks will say things or do things - or won’t say and won’t do things – and we’ll end up getting really ticked off.
Have you ever had that happen? Have you ever had a fellow Christian do something that? Of course you have. And so have I!
Did you know that the Bible says about that? It says “Love Covers A Multitude Of Sins.” (I Peter 4:8)
Did you know that???? Yeah. If you love someone you’ll forgive them. If you don’t love them you won’t forgive them. If you can think of somebody who annoys you, makes you feel bitter or angry, etc., then to the degree that you still harbor and repeatedly repeat why they’ve annoyed, embittered or angered you…THEN you don’t love them. And not only do you not love them... you’ve disobeyed Jesus. Because Jesus said “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you MUST love one another.” John 13:34
That command (Love one another) is repeated over and over again throughout Scripture. It’s important to God… therefore it must be important to us.
CLOSE: Now usually I try to close a sermon with an illustration, but this morning I’m going to close out with a powerful Scripture from Ephesians 4:29-5:2. It starts out like this:
“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but ONLY such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Have you ever had a leak under the kitchen sink? The pipes underneath have been corroded or “corrupted” to the point where water dumps into the cabinet and makes a terrible mess. That’s the kind of image God is using here to describe language that tears down and tears apart other people. God says “Don’t do that.” If you’re going to say anything at all, look for ways to build each other up and encourage each other. Sometimes it may be hard to find something to say that’s encouraging about that other person… but this is what God expects of you and I.
Then Ephesians says “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” Every time a Christian says something nasty about a brother or sister in Christ, they have GRIEVED God. That other person (no matter how unlikable) is made in the in the image of God and they’ve been remade in the image of Christ. So God takes it kind of personal when we tear down that image He’s trying to build up.
And this passage ends by saying “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a FRAGRANT OFFERING AND SACRIFICE to God.” Did you catch that last part? When Jesus loved us and gave Himself up for us he lifted up a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Now if that’s true for Christ… I have a strong suspicion it’s also true for us. Whenever we forgive others and “cover a multitude of sins” we “smell good” to God. It is like a pleasant perfume in the throne room of God. And God says “They’ve got it! They understand!”
INVITATION
