ONE!
Today is World Fellowship Sunday! This is a day set aside
by the Mennonite World Conference for all Mennonite churches to celebrate
together our common faith in Christ.
I am not
entirely comfortable with this limitation. It reminds me of the old joke where
a man dies, goes to heaven, and is given a tour of heaven. An angel or some
other guide shows him various rooms where Pentecostals are singing
‘hallelujahs’ and Anglicans are reading the Common Book of prayers. But when
they come to one room, the guide tells the man to tread quietly. Why? This room
contains the Mennonites and they think they are the only ones here.
I want
to go a step farther then, and call attention to the global community of faith
beyond the Mennonite circle. As a sub-writer for the new baptism book for the
EMC, EMMC and CMC churches, I know that we share a common faith in Christ with
a variety of church denominations throughout the world. This common faith is
best expressed by the adherence of the majority of churches to the Apostles’
Creed (show slide).
I BELIEVE in God,
the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.
We share our faith in Christ with Christians throughout
the world and we want to celebrate that this morning. As How Chuang Chua of
Singapore writes, “The church is the worldwide people of God, the community of
those who have been redeemed by the work of Jesus Christ. The church transcends
ethnic, cultural, and racial lines, being comprised of all those who have repented
of their sin and trusted in Christ alone for their salvation. The church is the
single most important institution on earth, the organism through which God
advances his kingdom.”[i]
In an
effort to encourage unity in the church at Philippi, Paul reminded the
believers there of the doctrine and the practice of being One in Christ. These
principles were applied to the local church, but they are a reminder to us as
well of the elements that bind us as a church (KEMC) to the Global community of
faith that calls Christ “Lord.”
1. The Faith that makes us One
a) The Unifying
Marks of Christian Faith – If there was a problem with division in the
Philippian church, the issues were trivial. But trivial matters can quickly
become the wedges that divide us. Paul takes care to remind the local church of
the theological foundations that make them a church in the first place.
In our
text there are four “if” clauses in verse one. While “if” usually implies
uncertainty, here Paul means to say “If, as is certainly the case…” We might
want to say “since” to clarify the meaning, as in “Since you have been
encouraged from being united with Christ…” These four clauses are the basis for
their unifying faith. Consider these clauses:
1) Sharing the Christ connection: Jesus calls on
each of us to join Him in the walk of life. He calls us to faith in Him and to
be united with Him in His death and resurrection. Since this is tremendous
privilege and joy for you or me, we share a wonderful connection because of our
faith in Christ.
2) Sharing the Love (God’s): If you know the love
of God, you know the truest consolation of life. Through Christ we know the
greatest comfort for our sorrows, the grief we feel over our sins and failures.
Since you know this love, and I know this love that comforts, we agree that
God’s love is consoling.
3) Sharing in the Spirit: Through faith in Christ
I have received His Holy Spirit in my life. But to possess the Spirit is to
know that part of the Spirit’s work is to draw me (the individual) into fellowship
with God and other believers who love God (the church). If you or I experience
the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, can we live any other way?
4) Sharing from the gut: “Tenderness” is the inner
source of our emotions (the heart); “compassion” is the emotions reaching out
towards the object of our tenderness. To have known the mercy and grace of
Christ on the cross yet fail to express tenderness and compassion is a denial
of saving truth. In the church we experience the mercy and grace of Christ through
our interactions with each other.
Now
these four elements of faith were meant to draw the individuals in Philippi
into oneness, whatever their disagreements over other matters might be. These
elements are essential to the harmony of believers all over the world. Notice
that Paul basically gave us the doctrine of salvation in its classical
Trinitarian form as the work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. If you meet a
person from Bangladesh who agrees and accepts these clauses, you and that
person are ONE in Christ.
Jesus is
the starting point of this shared faith. Jesus is central to our faith. Jesus
is the lens through which we see God and understand the OT.
It
surprises and concerns me then that MWC resources for this Sunday downplayed
the role of Christ. (show slide and explain). Missing from the Emmaus story is
Jesus Himself. Those two disciples were not suddenly united through philosophy
or debate, but by the living, breathing crucified Jesus, who explained the OT
prophets to them.
Not all
Mennonites agree on the central tenets of our faith. So let us not celebrate
our oneness with Mennonites, but with Christians (and not the political types
either, i.e. Trump).
b) Complementing
Faith with Action – Paul was not content with rehearsing doctrinal
commonalities; he wanted this faith to unify them visibly, “then make my joy
complete…” These elements of faith were to unify the church in three ways:
1) Thinking the One way: Paul wanted the
individuals of the church to have one mind. This does not mean that we see every
matter exactly the same. Nor does it mean we set aside essential truths for the
sake of unity. Instead, we must train our minds and hearts toward Christian
love so that we seek the highest good of one another. We are allowed to disagree;
we are allowed to think differently and to confront error. But we do so with
this one mind, a mind inclined to love. We have the mind of Christ (1 Cor.
2:16).
2) Possessing the same love: Love is not so much
an emotion as it is an attitude. Paul begs for this love to be the same as that
of Christ Jesus expressed in His taking on human flesh to be with us. His
incarnation was meant for this sole purpose: to be with us and to show us God.
And this attitude found its fullest expression on the cross (2:6-8).
3) Moving the same way: Unity is not automatic; it
must be cultivated and nurtured. We learn unity through the rough and ready
ride of living and worshiping together. Riding a horse is not as simple as
climbing into a saddle. To be one with the horse takes experience and time. To
be one in spirit with other believers, I must deliberately set my mind on being
one with those who truly know Christ, even if I don’t agree with them on
everything. But we learn to share a common purpose: “being minded on the one
thing.” That one thing is the faith of the gospel, the corporate witness of the
body of Christ. When we love each other visibly, we testify to that Oneness.
2. Deliberate Gestures of Oneness
a) Reversing our
self-estimate – Working towards a global perspective of the church requires
a re-working of our mindset regarding our flavor of faith. I grew up in the
milieu of the EMC and a father who trumpeted the impression that “we had it
right.” If we were “right” that made others “wrong.” Others would include
Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, Baptists, and even the Mennonite Brethren
(according to Dad). This sense of elitism is not unique to old EMCers; everyone
feels their church is the right church to some degree. Why else would they go
and worship there?
There
are qualities of the Anabaptist/Mennonite perspective of faith I do feel are
good (see list).
–
1) A high view of the Bible
–
2) The centrality of Christ
–
3) Emphasis on the NT church
–
4) The believers’ church
–
5) Adult Believer’s Baptism
–
6) Importance of discipleship
–
7) The mission/missional emphasis
–
8) The life of peace
Appreciating
the One Church, the Global church of Christ, however, means reversing this
self-estimate. The world’s way of resolving conflicts is to teach you to stand
up for your rights, to be assertive, to negotiate, and to have proper
self-esteem. The problem is the world’s way does not deal with the root
problem, which is pride or self. In contrast to the world’s way, Paul teaches
that Christians must do nothing from selfishness or vain conceit (empty
self-importance).
Considering
others as better than yourself is not only biblical, it is also healthier than
self-focus. Dr. Karl Menninger was once asked, “If someone felt a nervous
breakdown coming on, what would you suggest that he do?” “If you feel a nervous
breakdown coming on, I would urge you to find somebody else with a problem—a
serious one—and get involved with that individual, helping him solve his
problem.” In helping that person with their problem, you may find that your own
problem lessens. You’re not thinking internally. You’re not letting things gnaw
at your gut. You’re no longer disturbed about yourself because you’re not
thinking about yourself. You’re thinking about others.
Living
on the defense when it comes to other churches can have the same effect. If we
truly see something in other denominations that troubles us, we need to pray
for them. I would suggest adding a church to your daily prayer requests
anyways, be it next door or in another country (or both).
b) Taking an
interest in others – We are naturally self-centered. We see what is before
us and scarcely consider the world around us. We’re so selfish that we’re like
fish in the water who don’t know they’re wet. A new husband went up to a ticket
counter and bought only one ticket. When his new bride pointed it out, he made
a quick comeback saying, “You’re right dear, I’d forgotten myself completely.”
What I
think is important to me would also be something that is important to someone
else. So that’s a starting point. What we are concerned about for our church
will be a concern for churches around the world.
John
defined love in his first epistle this way: “This
is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we
ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material
possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the
love of God be in him?” (1 John 3:16-17). We can apply this to the global
church as well. Whether Burma needs bunk-beds or Guadalajara needs teaching
materials, our love for these brothers and sisters compels us to act and send —
our love for Christ compels us!
Today is World Fellowship Sunday.
How can we take an abstract idea and make it real?
One way
is to go and visit a church in another country. David Platt in his book Radical
shares the importance of this one act. He writes:
I
remember when I was first preparing to go to Sudan, a nation impoverished by
years of civil war. The trip was going
to cost me around three thousand dollars.
It wasn't easy to travel into Sudan since they were still at war, and we
would have to charter a plane and spend a few extra days to make that happen. I
remember one dear lady in the church coming up to me and asking, "Why
don't you just send the three thousand dollars to the people in Sudan? Wouldn't
that be a better use of money than your spending a week and a half with them?
Think of how far that money would go."
I
wrestled with that question. Was I wasting these funds in order to go when I
could simply give the money instead? Should I even be going? I continued
wrestling with that question until I got to Sudan. There I had a conversation with Andrew that
shed some light on the question.
Andrew
was sharing with me about his life in Sudan over the last twenty years. He had
known war since he was born, and he described facets of the suffering and
persecution his people had been through.
He told me about the various groups, most of them secular or government
organizations, who had brought supplies to them during that time, and he
expressed thanks for the generosity of so many people.
But then
he looked at me and asked, "Even in light of all these things that people
have given us, do you want to know how you can tell who a true brother
is?" I leaned forward and asked,
"How?"
He
responded, "A true brother comes to be with you in your time of
need." Then he looked me in the eye
and said, "David, you are a true brother. Thank you for coming to be with
us."[ii]
Sending
money is important. Going to be with our brothers and sisters is Christ-like.
Jesus did not send money; Jesus came to be with us.
You sent
Sharon and me to Mexico to see church planting in action. We see things
differently now. We now have a connection with Dallas and Tara and the rest
that we did not have before. We have met a family that was saved through this
ministry and now we have a connection.
In two
months and a bit we will send our youth to the same place, to Guadalajara. It
is a lot of money to send them. But you are giving an incredible gift to these
youth – you are showing them the global church. The Church is bigger than
Kleefeld and they need to see that; GDL needs to see that too. And when all is
said and done and this world comes to a close, we will all see that we who
believe in Jesus Christ are ONE!
AMEN
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