That All May Be One – 8 May 2016 – Seventh Sunday of Easter

In recent weeks, I have been looking at the research on––especially interviews with––people who consider themselves to be “spiritual but not religious.” One of the many critiques such people have about the Christian Church is that we are judgmental not only about non-church people but about each other. What is the point, they ask, of belonging to an organization so filled with hostility?

The stakes are high regarding Jesus’ prayer that we “all be one,” because our disunity unmasks the unjustifiable self-righteousness that keeps creating religious antagonism.

Taking Jesus’ prayer for our unity to heart on this Sunday, let us preach a vision that moves beyond pet theological stances. Let us lift up the ways in which churches are working together in mission and in scholarly understandings because of our unity in Christ.

From the perspective of God’s love for this world in Christ Jesus, the Alpha and Omega, we have a strong and stable common ground on which to stand for the sake of the life of the world.

John 17:20-26

In the years since Christ's return to heaven, many divisions have crept into his church. Perhaps this is the very reason that Christ felt compelled to pray for the future generations that would be entrusted with practicing the faith and telling the story. It is quite possible that he knew how difficult it would be for us to all get along.

Signs of improving unity among various traditions within the church abound; numerous agreements and statements of concord have been drafted among representatives of the Roman Catholic, Orthodox Catholic, and Protestant churches in recent years.

Unfortunately, some of our worst divisions are within our own traditions—Baptists versus Baptists, Episcopalians versus Episcopalians, Catholics versus Catholics, and so forth. Perhaps there is no better time for us to return to the prayer of Jesus. . . .

Jesus invokes the love of the Father for the Son—a love that he has sought to share with his disciples—as the basis for living a life pleasing to God. – John P. Fairless

Acts 16:16-34

The unity we are called to work toward includes not only the churches but those the church is called to serve. We might continually ask ourselves the question put to us by Burton-Edwards:

In the name of Jesus, Paul and his companions confront economic and spiritual systems in Philippi, sing hymns to God, and behold God setting prisoners and a jailer free. How does the ministry of your congregation confront unjust primal forces of your culture and set captives and captors free? – Taylor Burton-Edwards

Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21

When asked by Christians, “Don't you think we're living in the last days?” my answer is. “Of course we are!” But my answer is not based on current events or speculative obscurities in apocalyptic prophecy, but on the clear promise of scripture. . . . Because Jesus has overcome the powers of darkness in his death and resurrection, because he ascended to rule with the Father and has poured out his Spirit on the church, because these things have happened, the last days are upon us. . . .

Our character in this age is to be shaped by the knowledge that “everything old has passed away; see everything has become new!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). We can no longer live in the idolatry of thinking that our job or our weekly paycheck is our source of security and comfort, because Jesus reveals a God who claims that role in life. . . .

The final words of Revelation offer three invitations. The first two invite the Spirit and church together to cry for the return of the Bridegroom. To establish righteousness, justice and peace. The third invitation is to the world: “let everyone who is thirsty come: take the water of life as a gift” (22:17). . . .

In this vision, the Spirit-indwelt church calls out to both Christ and to the world. This is the mission of God's people: to gather in the Spirit as the holy bride of Christ—an open sign to the world of the world that is yet to come. By living and worshiping as the “end times” people of God, we are able to call out to the world: Come, drink freely of the water of life! – Michael A. Van Horn

Taylor Burton-Edwards is the Director of Worship resources for the United Methodist Church.

John P. Fairless is senior minister of the First Baptist Church of Gainesville, Florida.

Michael A. Van Horn, an Evangelical Covenant pastor, served Trinity Church of Livonia, Michigan, for ten years and is now a missionary with the Rock of Ages Ministries, Cleveland, Tennessee.

Homily Service 40, no. 6 (2007): 29-36.

Breakfast with the LORD – 10 April 2016 – Third Sunday of Easter

Following the story about faith in John 20, we now have an account that is about provision. When our nets are empty (or our hearts or our plans or our bank accounts), who will provide for us? The gospel points us to Christ. – John P. Fairless

John 21:1-19

Whatever it is that we lack, Christ has not abandoned us—though we may not immediately recognize his presence in the day-to-day experiences of our lives. When faced with the evidence of our emptiness, we can choose one of two responses: we can acknowledge and face that lack, or we can lie to ourselves and say that we have what we need, even when we do not. In making the sometimes painful or embarrassing admission that we cannot help ourselves, we make it possible for help to reach us from any number of possible sources. Christ's loving provision is certainly not the least of these!

Finally, in one of the least noted lines of this story, there remains an intriguing hint of the role Jesus would have us play in our own well-being. “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught” is Christ's invitation to participation in the process. While Jesus is evidently completely capable of providing all that we need, he repeatedly reveals a predilection for asking us to assist ourselves, as well. We are not alone, and it is true that Jesus is all that we need. But it is also true that his invitation to follow him is a shared journey; part of the blessing is that we are allowed—and expected—to help bear the burden with him. – John P. Fairless

Acts 9:1-6[7-20]

For those who are assigned this portion [Acts 9:1-6] for reading in worship, it is helpful to note the connection between the experience of Saul, as he is called to follow the risen Christ, and the other disciples. Notice that when Christ speaks to Saul on the way to Damascus, Saul responds with the question, “Who are you, Lord?” That really is the key to any response that a disciple must make. No one will truly follow Christ until they have settled the issue for themselves of who Jesus is.

Though this account of Saul's “conversion” is dramatic, he really receives no further or different instructions than any other disciple. He is called to obedience, and is expected to respond in faith. “Get up … you will be told what you are to do.” Like all other disciples, he really has nothing else to go on but Christ's call to “take up your cross and follow me.” – John P. Fairless

For those who wish to include the entire story of Saul’s/Paul’s experience on the Damascus road, the matter of obedience broadens to include the support given by the whole church to each individual. Ananias, in this case, is the church––sent to a dreaded foe who is to be made whole by the love extended even to the enemy. Saul’s eyesight (his vision, as it were) is turned and restored. He “sees” his enormous blindness about the followers of Jesus of Nazareth. He makes the same proclamation we heard from Thomas last Sunday.

[T]he shaping of [Paul’s] faith is like that of most of us who grew up in the faith. It is the story of ordinary folks who break the bread, tell the story and care for their neighbors, in the midst of what seems to be ordinary and uneventful. Except what springs from such a routine may not be a “Damascus Road” story, but the product of Christians such as you and me. That, my friends, is an extraordinary testimony. – Sara Webb Phillips

Revelation 5:11-14

This reading from Revelation forms the language of the classic Hymn of Praise sung at the beginning of the liturgy. It serves to make the point that much of what is said and sung in worship in many of our churches is biblical language. We hear and say the word of God in many ways throughout the year in our assemblies, keeping its rhythms and images in our ears and on our lips, forming us in faith.  

Sara Webb Phillips is a United Methodist minister serving North Springs UMC in Sandy Springs, Georgia.

John P. Fairless is senior minister of the First Baptist Church of Gainesville, Florida.

Homily Service 40, no. 5 (2007): 67-75.