A Sermon by Pastor Tom Lacey . . .

One plus one equals ... one

John 17:1-11, Preached at Congregational Church of Boca Raton, May 4, 2008

A Roman Catholic Church was hosting a community Thanksgiving service. This was to be a first for the church and for the community. With great dignity the priest led his three Protestant colleagues toward the chancel area when suddenly he realized that he had forgotten to put out chairs for his guests to sit in during the service. In a state of great agitation, he whispered in the ear of one of his elderly laymen, "Please get some chairs for the guest pastors." The elderly gentleman was quite hard of hearing, so he asked the priest to repeat his request. The priest did so a little louder: "Please get up and get three chairs for the Protestants." The old man had a puzzled looked on his face as he rose to his feet. Turning to the rest of the congregation, he said with a loud voice: "Let us stand and give three cheers for the Protestants." Now that’s the way it should be.

Our text is about togetherness. Being together, being in accord, is the goal. It is the end that gives purpose to means. It is the reason behind why we should be doing things. What I mean is that it isn’t good enough just to be right because we can’t be right if we leave out a whole bunch of other people. If it’s my way or the highway, I may just be the one who ends up taking a long lonely walk. You can’t be a leader if you don’t have anyone following you, and you can’t be doing God’s work if nobody wants to be doing it with you. Too often disagreeing turns into being disagreeable. But disagreeing is a matter of opinion or content while being disagreeable is a result of bad process or communication. The truth is even when we do not agree, it doesn’t mean we can’t be of one mind. This may sound illogical but that’s because opinions and content really aren’t as important as people and concern. I know I don’t agree with each and everyone one of you on every matter under the sun, even some important ones, but this simply doesn’t matter when it comes down to how I feel about you, what my level of personal and pastoral caring is for you, and what you mean to me. We are together because I believe God has brought us together, and we are meant to stay together in spite of thick or thin, or perhaps even because of thick and thin. As scripture says, “There is one body and one Spirit, ... one Lord, one faith, one baptism….” Eph 4:4 Now in the context of the complete passage, this doesn’t refer to a straightjacket of doctrinal truth, but this oneness expresses the goal of how we are together and why we are together. So let us bear with one another in love. Make every effort at maintaining this body together united in the bond of peace. Be patient with one another. Seek to draw a drifting brother or sister back into the care of our Christian fellowship. None of us are perfect, but we are perfected by our being together.

What we want to see this morning is staying together is the act of religious and faithful people, reasonable and moral persons.

Disruption and dismemberment are the acts of reactive and fickle people, irrational and compulsive persons. Now of course there is no one hundred percent rule in this regard but it takes heart, it takes brains, it takes faith to keep together. Peace is not an easy outcome because letting passions, short-sidedness, and physicality is so much easier than employing patience, faith and spiritual strength. There are always going to be disagreements, division of interests, and concerns legitimate and otherwise between individuals and peoples. But stay in there. Use at least as much energy sticking it out as will be required by the angry heart to tear things apart. Search for solutions to problems. Trust that patience and the power of prayer can buy enough time for the Lord to make a difference. So keep your cool for longer than you thought was possible, and then keep it longer.

In the pioneer days of the Old West, a wise settler had a beautiful ranch. He and his family were happy, with many nearby neighbors who were true friends. Trouble with neighbors was unheard of. One day, as this wise settler was sitting on his front porch, a wagon pulled up. The traveler in the wagon was looking for a place to put down roots, so he asked the settler, “What kind of neighbors do you have?” The wise settler answered with a question of his own: “What kind of neighbors did you have back East?” “They were cranky, unfriendly and cantankerous,” the traveler replied. “Well, I’m afraid you’ll find the same kind of neighbors here,” the settler told the traveler. So the man drove on, looking for a better place to live. The next day another wagon stopped at the settler’s home. That traveler also was looking for a place to homestead. He, too, asked about the neighbors. The settler asked him the same question, “What kind of neighbors did you have back East?” “My neighbors were the nicest and friendliest neighbors in the world,” the traveler replied. “Well, you’ll find the same kind of neighbors here, too,” the settler said. So the second traveler decided to stay, and he found great neighbors.

In our text we read Jesus' words, "I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one." And later on at verse 11, we read the United Church of Christ’s scriptural motto, “so that they may be one, as we are one.” Of course this is a prayer; this is Jesus’ hope that things will turn out this way. But oneness has never been a quality the church has had much opportunity to celebrate. In the church's first few centuries it was so concerned about establishing a creed of theological orthodoxy that it saw heresy and treachery everywhere. And, since the time of the Protestant Reformation, the Church has become churches, defined by denominations that have been obsessed with establishing differences rather than similarities, which reminds me of the story of Stephen. Stephen was walking alone one night, out by the bridge which crosses the river on the outskirts of town. As he came up to the bridge, though, he saw a man standing on it as if he were ready to jump off. Stephen decided he would try to stop this suicide. He figured that if they started talking and found something they had in common, perhaps the other man would decide he wanted to live. "Tell me something," said Stephen, "are you a religious man?" "Yes, I am," the man said. "Good," said Stephen, "so am I."

"Are you of the Christian religion, or the Jewish religion, or perhaps some other?" asked Stephen. "I am of the Christian religion," the man said. "Good," said Stephen, "so am I." "Are you a Protestant Christian or a Catholic Christian?" The man answered, "I am a Protestant Christian." "Good," said Stephen, "so am I." "Do you belong to the Methodist wing of the Protestant Christian church, or the Baptist wing, or some other?" "I belong to the Baptist wing of the Protestant Christian church," replied the man on the bridge. "Good," said Stephen, "so am I." "Are you Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?" "I'm a Northern Baptist," the man said. "Good," said Stephen, "so am I."  "Are you an independent Northern Baptist or a denominational Northern Baptist?" "I am a denominational Northern Baptist," the man said. "Good," said Stephen, "so am I." "Are you a fundamentalist denominational Northern Baptist or a liberal denominational Northern Baptist?" The man said, "I am a liberal denominational Northern Baptist." "Good," said Stephen, "so am I." "As a liberal denominational Northern Baptist, which creed do you subscribe to - the New Hampshire Confession of 1833 or the Abstract of Principles of 1859?" "Why, I subscribe to the New Hampshire Confession of 1833." "Die, you heretic!" cried Stephen, and he pushed the man off the bridge.

Perhaps our greatest problem has been distinguishing Jesus' promise of oneness from our own concept of "hegemony." Hegemony refers to the situation where only one way of thinking, one way of seeing, is allowed and accepted. Jesus did not come to establish the hegemony of the church. He came to enable us to become a community united by love. In our post-modern culture the Self is still Numero Uno. The church needs to recognize that its purpose on earth is to incarnate a very different Latin phrase—the unum humanum—one humanity. This does not mean we will all be the same. We will still have different languages, different colors, different countries, different religions. But it will mean we will not find these reasons to differentiate because we will have better things to do with our time, better things to create with our energy, and more important problems to solve with our abilities.

Nikos Kazantzakis, author of The Last Temptation of Christ,  once described an experience of returning to his native Crete. As he walked along, an elderly woman passed by, carrying a basket of figs. "She halted and lifting the two or three fig leaves which covered the basket, she picked out two and presented them to me. 'Do you know me, old lady?' I asked. She glanced at me in amazement. 'No, my boy. Do I have to know you to give you something? You are a human being, aren't you? So am I. Isn't that enough?'" With her, one plus one still equaled one: one person in need, one answer to give.

You know, recognizing our common and mutual equality isn’t just some twenty-first century humanist hope. It should be an even more powerful idea and ideal among those who believe in God as Creator. Scripture itself asks the rhetorical questions, “Have we not all one father? Didn’t one God create us?” Mal.2:10 Of course, Absolutely. So even though there are six billion persons alive, there is only one truth among us all: We all belong to the same Life. We all carry the same last name, so to speak. We are all brothers and sisters to one another. Even with our differences, it is God’s hope that we may all be one. So look past the surface and reach to what matters. Remember as members of one human body we are called to live in harmony. Practice peacekeeping wherever you can. Keep your cool in order to keep together. Make it your mission to express Christ’s prayer of unity in your words, thoughts, and actions.

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