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Unity across the Body of Christ!
Ephesians 2:13 – 22, John 15:1 – 8
Our church is one of several in the Richmond and Waimea Plains areas – perhaps too many
churches some might say. If we are not careful we can compete with one another. That is not
the way God wants it. God’s call is to unity across the body of Christ.
On the 30th of October 1990, at the Coliseum in Houston USA, a historic moment occurred.
Pastors and churches gathered to pray for revival and spiritual awakening at an event they
called “Breakthrough Houston.” Thousands came from dozens of churches, denominations and
ethnic groups to pray and seek God together. The charismatic, evangelical, and liturgical
pastors met backstage for prayer then sat together on the giant stage.
The crowd worshipped and interceded together. They repented of sin – committed by
individuals, the church and the city. They asked God to replace a spirit of pride with humility,
racism with acceptance and anger and violence with peace.
They prayed for children, homes, schools, businesses, industry and churches. They cried out
for God to break the crime that was rampant. Each person was given a prayer covenant and a
corporate declaration to take away and continue their intercession.
The atmosphere was electric and the people believed their prayer had made an enormous
difference. They felt they had broken spiritual strongholds. But had they? Or was it just superspiritual hype? The people asked God to confirm that something had indeed happened. Then
they completed the evening by having Communion together.
On that night a mysterious event occurred in the sky. The mystery of the strange lights in the
sky was never solved. Still they asked for something more concrete. From that night crime
began to drop. The Houston Post reported that violent crime dropped 29.2% in the first year
following Breakthrough Houston. By 1995 the Houston Chronicle reported that violent
offences had fallen a further 31.9%.1
At that prayer meeting, differences were overlooked, unity was enhanced and the city was
changed as a result.
Could something like that happen here? Would it be possible for us to lay aside our
differences in order to seek God together? We tried it and it was not easy. Would it be more
likely that it is possible for us to work and minister together? How could that happen? Is that
what God wants?
What does unity really mean and what might it look like for us here in Richmond?
First we need to acknowledge that unity comes from the heart of God. It is a consistent theme
throughout the scriptures. It is why Jesus came to earth, why he lived, died, was brought back
to live again and rose to be with his Father in heaven.
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Loving your City into the Kingdom. Ted Haggard and Jack Hayford 160-162
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Listen to Ephesians 1: 9-11
For he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his
purpose which he set forth IN CHRIST as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite ALL THINGS in
him, things in heaven and things on earth. Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we
have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes ALL THINGS
work out according to his plan.
In this letter Paul explains God’s greatest purpose – unity for individuals, families, communities,
nations, the universe as a whole. Our Lord wants to reconcile all things to himself and to each
other. This is huge! Our God does not have small plans!
Let’s turn to the reading we heard earlier from Ephesians 2. It’s so important for us to see that
true unity is not based on good feelings towards one another, camaraderie or even liking one
another much. True and lasting unity comes only through Jesus Christ.
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of
Christ. It was his sacrifice that makes unity possible.
The passage goes on to talk about how Jesus broke down the the dividing wall of hostility so
that there would no longer be groups at odds with one another. His purpose was to create in
himself one new humanity … thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to
God through the cross.
That reconciliation is for everyone. Jesus came and preached peace to you who were far away
and peace to those who were near. Paul is referring to Jews and Gentiles of course. Through
him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
Now we can all be fellow citizens with God’s people, members of his household. Paul goes on
to draw this wonderful picture of a building with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.
It is Christ that makes all of this possible. It is Christ who builds us together.
We have spoken before about being united within our own church family. And yet God’s
purpose is so much greater than this. He wants unity to extend across the body of Christ and
then across the whole world.
So why should we be unified with other churches?
I believe the primary reason is that unity across the body of Christ allows the wider community
to see Jesus more clearly. When churches work together people can see that our differences
are not the most important thing. The most important thing is what we have in common, or
who we have in common.
The second reason we should be in unity with other churches is that we are more effective in
every way. TEAM – together everyone achieves more.
When people are in agreement, then much can be accomplished whether the cause is right or
wrong. Our sentence from Gen. 11: 6 actually cites the situation where the people united
against God. The Lord is concerned about the results that unity will bring.
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“They said let us build a great city with a tower that reaches into the heavens.” When the Lord
saw it he said: “Look! The people are united and they all speak the same language. After this
nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them!”
Of course it is best when our unity is in agreement with our Lord! This is the unity that God
blesses.
Ps 133:1 How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! Another
translations puts it a little stronger: Where there is UNITY God commands the blessing.
In August our local Minister’s Association had a Retreat together. We shared on the
importance of Unity and began to explore what that might look like. Let me read to you from
the 2006 Richmond and Waimea Churches’ Statement of Commitment
We believe we are called to be one Church, made up of many church families to serve the One
God, Father, Son and Spirit. That the one Gospel of Jesus Christ, affirming Jesus is Redeemer
and Lord, may be made known clearly and responsibly to our communities.
We therefore make the following commitment
A.
To the Church at large
1. We are committed to our unity in Christ as one Church made up of interdependent
fellowships.
2. We believe that we are sharers in the common task of proclaiming Christ to a needy
community.
3. We are committed to an openness to and appreciation for all who make up the Church
– the body of Christ; therefore we shall never publicly criticize another’s church or
ministry within the Association.
4. Although each fellowship has its own distinctive values and expressions of our one faith
in God (as expressed in the creeds) we will affirm and support each other in our
common work for the Kingdom of God in this place.
5. We commit ourselves to search out God’s strategies and pursue his plans for building
his Church in our community and districts.
B.
To each other as pastors and leaders
Various clauses
C.
In our lives as pastors and leaders
Various clauses
We therefore commit ourselves to the cause of God and his Kingdom in Richmond and
Waimea.
Isn’t that a fantastic statement? We are one of the few Ministers’ Groups in the country to
have a statement like that and to have such a good accord among us.
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Eleven or twelve years ago when Kevin and I lived in Westport, the churches did a radical thing.
They celebrated Easter together. I think it was Easter Sunday. You might say “That’s not very
radical.” But you’d be wrong. You see we held the service in the Catholic church – it wasn’t
just the Protestants celebrating. That would have been a great thing anyway. I don’t
remember much about the church service itself. I’m pretty sure we didn’t share Communion
together. Catholic Church rules prohibit that. But I do remember the great sense of joy as we
focused on what united us – our love for Jesus. When the Protestants and the Catholics
joined, the wider community really noticed. I think it was even reported in the Westport
News.
In Richmond our churches have worshipped together in the past. Sadly our numbers kept
dropping so we haven’t done that for a while. It seems our different worship styles, or our
busy-ness, or something keeps us apart on that level. I don’t believe we should give up on
finding a way that we can worship and seek God together.
Worshipping together is a great expression of unity. It is only one expression though. Our
Minister’s Association is another. I greatly appreciate the unity we enjoy at our meetings
where we pray for each other and share with each other, often at very deep personal levels.
Another example of working out our unity is 24 – 7. That is one of the clearest ways we have of
showing that what we have in common is more important than our differences.
I long for the day when we are able to express that unity more clearly in the wider community.
Please pray and dream with me about how we can do that. Please seek God for a stronger,
greater visible unity with the other churches in our area.
Let’s all echo Jesus’ prayer. He said:
I am one with them (his followers), and you are one with me, so that they may become
completely one. Then this world’s people will know that you (God the Father) sent me. John
17:
May the people see and come to know Jesus through the unity across the body of Christ.
Reflection questions:
Where do you see examples of churches working together?
What would interdenominational unity look like in Richmond?
What small step could you take to be part of making that happen?