©2005-2006 The United Church of Christ at The Villages, FL |
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Ephesians 4:1-7 & 11-16
1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to one hope when you were called-- 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
It seems quite significant that the first three of the seven characteristics of What We Believe in the United Church of Christ all have to do with UNITY. The first one, we remember, focused on the prayer of Jesus, "That they may all be one." The second, on the statement probably made by St. Augustine, "In Essentials Unity, in Non-essentials Diversity, in All Things Charity." And now the third, and the last in this series on Unity, addresses the belief that the "Unity of the Church Is Not of its Own Making".
This third characteristic, however, is focused more on the faith issue of gifts rather than on unity. The belief that the unity of the Church, rather than being something that comes from us, the members of the churches, directs us to the realization that the Unity of the Church is a gift from God. Therefore, the focus of this characteristic is on gifts on the manner in which God gives us gifts, and on the difficulty we have in receiving gifts from God.
People receive gifts in very different ways. Take Christmas gifts, for example. Some open one gift at a time so that all may share in the joy of receiving the gift, celebrating the happy appreciation of the gift and participating in thanking and affirming the giver of the gift. Others quickly tear open each gift only to quickly set it aside to look for the next gift. No joy! No celebration of either the gift or the giver. Only the emptiness of never quite finding joy and happiness in the receiving of a gifts and in the thanking of the one who gave the gift.
The Unity of the Church is viewed by some as a gift from God. They believe that Unity is the foundation of the Realm of God on this earth. They eagerly look forward toward the full realization of the gift of unity. They thank God for the gift. They celebrate the wonder of the gift and its contribution to our abundant life.
Others, convinced with absolute conviction of the favor they hold in the eyes of God and of the urgent need to do whatever is necessary to cause everyone to come to their perspective, see unity as the divine justification to coerce others to become like them.
And, still others, would have the church refrain from taking any stand which may be controversial so as to avoid, in the name of unity, the possibility of different ideas and opinions coming to the surface. These people fear that such differences will cause those on one side of the differences to leave the church. So, in the name of unity, they would have the church A play it safe at all times
The World Council of Churches adopted The Canberra Statement in 1991 at a meeting held in Canberra, Australia. It places urgent emphasis on our acceptance of God's gift of Unity.
It states the unity of the Church to which we are called is a koinonia given and expressed in the common confession of the apostolic faith; a common sacramental life entered by the one baptism and celebrated together in one eucharistic fellowship; a common life in which members and ministries are mutually recognized and reconciled; and a common mission witnessing to all people to the gospel of God's grace and serving the whole of creation. The goal of the search for full communion is realized when all the churches are able to recognize in one another the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church in its fullness. This full communion will be expressed on the local and the universal levels through conciliar forms of life and action. In such communion churches are bound in all aspects of their life together at all levels in confessing the one faith and engaging in worship and witness, deliberation and action.
The church finds its unifying principle in the covenant promise, "My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people" (Ezek. 37:27, Lev. 26:12). This finds fulfillment in Jesus as Emmanuel ("God with us," Matt. 1:23, Jn. 1:14), who came as the mediator of the covenant of grace to redeem and purchase this people for his dwelling by his blood. The ultimate consummation of the promise is the new Jerusalem, the Bride of Christ (Rev. 21:3).
The Canberra Statement identifies 17 New Testament passages which emphasize God's gift of Unity:
The issue, then, of this third characteristic of What We Believe in the United Church of Christ, need not be the question of the importance of the Unity of the Church, in God's eyes. Nor is it the question of whether the Unity of the Church is a gift from God. The issue is whether we acknowledge the gift, whether we accept the gift, whether we give God thanks for the gift, and, whether we give the gift its proper place in our lives.
While I was doing some of the course work which was part of my Doctor of Ministry studies, I learned a word which has become very important in my life and in my faith. I want to share it with you. The word is prolepsis. The dictionary defines prolepsis as ANTICIPATION: the representation or assumption of a future act or development as if presently existing or accomplished b : the application of an adjective to a noun in anticipation of the result of the action of the verb. The Encyclopedia Britannica defines prolepsis as A a figure of speech in which a future act or development is represented as if already accomplished or existing. The following lines from John Keats's A Isabella (1820), for example, proleptically anticipate the assassination of a living character:
So the two brothers and their murdered man
Rode past fair Florence
Describing the man as a murdered man while he is still alive is an illustration of prolepticism.
I believe that the only faithful way for us to truly accept God's gift of Unity and to give God honest thankfulness for the gift is for us to live Unity proleptically. I believe that means we should now be behaving in a manner that not only suggests that we believe in God's gift of Unity, but that illustrates that we are now living the gifts as if God's Unity is already accomplished, as if it now existed completely. Then, and only then, God can see the extent to which we receive God's gift of Unity and the extent to which we give God thanks for the gift.
15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Amen.
©2005-2006 The United Church of Christ at The Villages, FL |
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