We lived for 7 years up in Winthrop Harbor, the Cornerstone of Illinois. Our house was 6 blocks from the Wisconsin border and about 2 miles from the Lake Michigan shoreline. We were maybe 5 miles from the Zion Nuclear Plant. We had several good friends who worked there.
This week I’ve been thinking about a nuclear plant as an analogy for the church. I’ve been reading up on it a bit this week. I got out my old World Book Encyclopedia. And now that I’m an expert nuclear engineer, let me explain it to you. It catches something important about the life of the church.
In the center of a nuclear plant is the reactor, filled with highly processed uranium. If you dig a ton of uranium out of the earth, most of the uranium atoms will be fairly stable, pretty much self-contained, with a nucleus and electrons whizzing around it.
But in a ton of uranium ore there will be scattered a very, very few uranium atoms that are different. They are called U235. And those atoms are highly reactive. They are quick to shoot off an electron here and there. And if another U235 atom gets hit by one of those electrons, it will split and shoot off another of its own. And so if you make a pile of this highly refined uranium, with just U235 in it, an amazing chain reaction can begin, where they all are stimulating each other, creating incredible energy, a nuclear reaction. And when it works right it can produce enough electricity to light thousands of homes and power industries and do all sorts of good things.
But it’s important to be able to turn the reaction off sometimes for repair, and to regulate it to keep at a safe level. So the reactor has rods installed, made of the rare metals, cadmium or boron. And if you slide a cadmium rod into this reaction, it dampens it. It muffles it. The cadmium just absorbs those bouncing electrons and doesn’t give anything back. And the reaction cools.
So if you start the reaction up, it will just feed itself and grow in the energy it produces.
But if you push the rods into the reaction, they will dampen it and slow it down and sometimes intentionally shut it down.
The church is a lot like that. God catches us in pretty rough, unrefined condition, like raw uranium ore, with a lot of gunk that doesn’t accomplish much at all. And he changes us from being dull molecules where the electrons just spin around ourselves all day. He energizes us to be able to reach out in love and stimulate one another to love and good works. In the New Testament book of Hebrews, chapter ten, verse 24, we read, “And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds.”
And when God has done his purifying work in his people, this wonderful reaction starts to happen where we encourage one another and stimulate one another and love flows all through the church and this incredible power is released. You can feel the hum when the reaction is working. And all this incredible power flows through the church and out into the world and does all sorts of good things. And you can just listen to the tone of the buzz on Sunday morning and watch the faces as people greet each other and maybe even hug each other, and ask with real concern, ‘how are you today?’ and you can just feel the warmth begin to flow as the reaction is working.
But there are damper rods in the church, too. They provide an important function in a real nuclear reactor, but in the church, you can’t love too much and in the church they only sap the power and the life and the love.
A few harsh words in the church and this barrier comes up between too people. The chain reaction is blocked. The love stops flowing. Somebody’s feelings are hurt and they pull away, and the reaction slows. Somebody decides they are going to just focus on themselves, so they stop connecting with the others, and the reaction slows. In a nuclear reactor there are only very rare metals that can dampen the reaction. But things that dampen the reaction in church are all too common and cheap. And in our text for this morning the Apostle Paul calls on us to make every effort to keep them from breaking our unity. “Make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
Our text for this morning is, again, Ephesians 4:1-6. 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.
The Apostle Paul says to us today, make “every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Keep that reaction humming. Keep the power flowing. It is the unity of the Spirit that allows God’s love and power to flow. Break that up. Scatter the U235 atoms apart again, and the power is gone. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement once said, “to make Christianity a solitary religion is to destroy it.” We need our connections with one another.
Now, notice that Paul says to “maintain” the unity of the Spirit, not to manufacture it. We don’t have to create it. God has provided everything we need, and some of his provisions are listed in verses 4, 5 and 6.
He has brought us together into one body, with each of us an essential part and each part having other parts there that can meet all of its needs if it stays connected to them.
“There is one Spirit”. If we all follow the Holy Spirit, he will guide us together. Take a hundred musical instruments and tune them all to one tuning fork, and they’ll all be tuned to each other. Start fussing about which pitch each one likes and there will be chaos. One Spirit is the way to go.
“There is one hope of our calling”. We’re all headed to the same place, the same reward. If we are going to spend eternity together, we’d might as well get used to each other here. Things will be a lot closer there.
“There is one Lord”, so we are all supposed to be working for one purpose, his purpose. If we are really putting service to our Lord first, we’ll all get along just fine. And if someone is working in a different part of God’s vineyard, but still doing God’s work, even maybe doing it in a different way from what we like, that’s just fine. We are all still on the same team.
“There is one faith.” The Bible lays out the road map to show us where to go and we can all study it together.
“There is one baptism”, through which we have entered that one body.
“There is one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.” He’s here every day to keep us on track. He is working in our hearts.
With all those things in place to keep us united, it should be a snap to keep the reaction humming. But there are those cadmium rods that just keep dampening the reaction.
There are a thousand excuses for just plain not showing up when the family is together. And every time we listen to them, the reaction cools down and power is lost. The power of the church is hurt when we don’t show up. There’s no getting around it.
If there is impatience in our hearts it won’t be long until we snap at each other. And every time we do it, the reaction cools down and power is lost.
There are a thousand distractions that pull us other ways so that we neglect our ties here. And every time we do it, the reaction cools down and power is lost. The church is weakened.
And the world just might look at the church in a moment when it feels its need for God. And it just might conclude, “There’s nothing special here.”
So Paul told the Ephesians to make “every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
And how can we do that? There are really a lot of ways that are very simple.
You’re serving coffee after church. You could just hand someone a cup, but a little extra smile, a little extra effort to serve shoots out one of those electrons, and if they are halfway listening, they may feel it and be stimulated to respond back to you and then go sit down and encourage someone else as well. You’ve sparked the reaction. And we’ve all felt that working.
When someone walks in the door, you don’t have to greet everyone. But when you do, you are building your connection with them, expressing even a little bit of God’s love to them, and the reaction is fed. The power flows. A greeting may seem like a small thing, but in Romans 15:7, Paul wrote, “Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” A warm, accepting welcome brings glory to God. Remember that.
In Romans 12:10 Paul told them to “outdo one another in showing honor.” There are so many easy ways to do that. Notice what someone does well and point it out to others. Honor them. Create an environment of valuing each other.
Point it out to them. Encourage them. That’s not hard. And it makes the reaction just hum.
These are obvious and natural for many of us. But some of us have to work on them. I grew up in a family that is sparing and careful with words. Sometimes I think a long time before I open my mouth. And there are a lot of times that has saved me from saying something stupid. But there have been a lot of times when I really could have said something that encouraged someone and it never got out of my mouth. So I’ve had to work on that. And I appreciate the opportunity to study God’s word and be pushed to obey it because it’s good for me.
In 1 Peter 4:9 we read, “Be hospitable to one another without complaining.” To be hospitable is to create a welcoming space. Some of us are so good at that. Let me encourage you. That is an important, biblical ministry. You create an environment that really enhances the relationships.
And maybe you have noticed that I’m mostly using those Bible verses that use the phrase ‘one another.’ They are the life blood of fellowship because they lay out the things that help us maintain the unity that Christ gave so much to provide for us.
In Colossians 3:16 we read, “…teach and admonish one another in all wisdom…”. There’s power when the church sits down in small groups and each one shares the lessons they have learned, teaching one another. It’s in small groups that we really get to know and understand each other. It’s in small groups that we can find safety to open up and talk about the things that are hard to bring out. But that’s where the power is, when we really dare to come close, to really connect. And small groups and classes are the place where we can especially be intentional about those connections.
There’s power when God’s people admonish one another, gently, lovingly urge each other to do better. How much we need those who will say, “You can do it!” or “We can do it!” How much we need those who will pull us aside and say, I love you and I want you to be effective for Christ, and I think you could be even more effective if you….
If you have love in your heart, those aren’t difficult. And if the love is not in your heart, then you need to get alone with God and talk this out and get it right. And I would be glad to work with you on it. The church needs every member to be really connected. Either you are feeding the reaction or you are blocking it. And every one of us can learn to feed it.
There are other ways of maintaining unity that are harder, but so important.
If you have done something that hurt someone else, you need to go to them and make it right. And this is so important that Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount that if you are even on your way to church to turn in your offering and you remember a brother or sister has something against you, stop, turn around, and get it right before you bring your offering to church. Right relationships in the church come before money.
Is the Finance Committee going to chew me out for saying such a thing? No. Because broken relationships do more damage to church finances than anything else. When we are loving each other, generosity comes easily. Don’t make the excuse that you are a good member if you just send in your money, while you are neglecting the relationships. In God’s family people come before money.
And another harder thing comes in James 5:16, “… confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed….” It’s one thing to share our joys with one another, that’s fun. It’s a little harder to share our burdens with one another. But the hardest may be to confess our sins with one another. And, of course, we need to be wise in who we share with. But when we build relationships where we can share both our prides and our shames, where we can be totally honest, totally close, then the power and the love can flow. Then we can really pray for each other and know we are hitting the spot where it is most needed. Then our love for each other will be based on reality. When we have built those relationships and tested them with true honesty and found that its safe and we can work together through our failings, then we are truly blessed. Then we feel the warmth of God’s love flowing through us as we have never dared to trust it to do before. Then God’s grace can truly flow among us.
So today we finish these first 6 verses of Ephesians 4. They give us the recipe for a unity and love that will demonstrate to the world what God is like. God has done so much to make it possible. And when we respond with all humility and gentleness, patience and love for each other, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit, his power will flow among us.
I invite you to join me in the prayer of St. Francis. May it be our prayer for God’s help to love one another. May it help us power up to a new level of experiencing God’s love together.
Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace;
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved, as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive,
And it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
