GC Session-95-Sermon

"Unity in Fact"
G C Session Sabbath Sermon, July 8, 1995
By: R S Folkenberg

Five years ago you asked me to serve as your pastor. This has given Anita and me an opportunity to meet many of our members around the world. We were able to get a taste of the world church - and it's a good taste.

From Bangalor to Bucharest, from Palau to Pittsburgh, from Ulaan Baater to Utrecht, from Moscow to Mexico, we have shared in our great world family.

We have shared the joy of the opening of Mongolia and Albania and the tragedy of Rwanda.
We have together experienced the excitement of Satelite Evangelism during Net '95 and the anxiety of a missionary hiding out in Kuwait during the invasion by Iraq.
We have known of the happiness of baptisms in Gongjulin, China and the pain of stalwart workers who have gone to their rest without seeing Jesus return.
These experiences have drawn us together as a family of God. As Paul said in most every letter he wrote, "I thank God for you!"

I thank God for you:

in Antioch, and Antigua,
in Corinth, and Croatia
in Galatia and Guadeloupe
in Rome, and Romania,
in Thessalonika, and Taiwan
in Phillipi, and the Phillippines
in Ephesus, and England.

I thank God for you! I thank you for your faith, for your love, and for your prayers. I can't adequately express my joy today in being here with you - my family. We have had a wonderful family reunion for 10 days here in Utrecht. We have renewed acquaintances and made new friends.

Now like many family reunions, we have had some disagreements, we have had some arguments. In fact I would say that we have differed deeply on some very important issues.

Some of us felt that the organization should be one way and some felt that it should be another.
Some of us felt strongly that certain people should be elected, and others favored someone else.
Some of us felt that women should be allowed to be ordained, and others felt that such an action would be wrong.
Some of us felt that the Church Manual should read one way, and others felt it should be worded differently.

It would be an understatement to say that we have not had uniformity of opinion. The nice thing about a family is that in spite of deeply differing convictions we are still in the family.

Fortunately "Unity in Christ" does not depend on uniformity of opinion.
Fortunately being one in Christ does not mean that we all have to think alike.

In Isaiah 2 we read Isaiah's vision of the future: "They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks." (Isaiah 2:4)

I call on the family of the Seventh-day Adventist church today to come together and

Let us beat our ecclesiastical swords into evangelistic plowshares,
Let us turn our argumentative spears from each other toward the enemy of the faith.

Under the power of the Holy Spirit we have spoken our peace, we have made our points, we have expressed our opinions, but under the power of the Holy Spirit we continue to come together as the family of God.

Sisters, ... Brothers, during this week it seems I've spent most of my time functioning as president, but now I want to speak to you as a pastor..

Turn with me to your Bibles and let us look at our scripture. In Colossians Chapter 3 Paul is writing believers. Let us begin our reading with verse 11 and read through verse 17. (11) "Here there is no Greek or Jew circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all." (12) Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentle ness and patience. (13) Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (14) And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. (15) Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts since as members of one body you were called to peace, and be thankful."

Notice how Paul begins this passage: (11) "Here there is no Greek, or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all."

May I paraphrase? Here in Utrecht, Here in Christ, Here we say NO to those things that separate. Here we say no to walls between the developed and the developing world.

Here we say no to splits between laity and clergy.
Here we say no to the dart and arrows that splinter the cross of Christ.
Here we say no to barriers between Asia and Africa.
Here we say no to segregation between races, and tribes, languages and cultures.

God crossed the great divide and traveled from heaven to earth to unite what Satan seeks to separate. Satan builds walls and God brings us together in Christ. Let us say no to all that divides us. And let us also say yes to all that unites us - notice - the next verse, verse 12: "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."

These are the gifts of the spirit and these gifts bring unity. Being clothed with these spiritual gifts is easier alone at home than with the crowds. These gifts come easier with friends than with those with whom we differ.

It is easier to be kind when we are at worship than when we sit in the Nominating Committee.
It is easier to show patience when we are with those who look and talk like us, than it is when we are with those who are different than we are.

But we must continue to say no to division and yes to wearing the unifying clothes of the Spirit.

When I was living in Central America, I took off in my airplane on a trip from Guatemala to the United States. I wore my normal garb to fly in, it wasn't a shirt, a tie or a suit, but a one-piece bright green jump suit. I arrived Friday afternoon in Northern California where I was scheduled to preach the next day. Sabbath morning I was horrified to discover that I left my garment bag with all of my dress clothes back in Guatemala, and clearly no one in church was my size. I had no option but to preach on Sabbath morning before the congregation in my bright green jump suit. Needless to say, I felt I was inappropriately dressed.

We must clothe ourselves appropriately for our task. Our task requires the clothing of the Holy Spirit. Being clothed with the gifts of the Spirit and talking about those gifts are two different things.

Having truth is one thing; living it--or better yet--letting it live in you is quite another. There will be tithe paying, Sabbath-keeping, Spirit of Prophecy believing vegetarians in hell, won't there? If all it took for salvation was knowing truth, we'd all be heaven bound.

But I want to remind you today that God wants to use the power of truth to change, not only those out there in the world but those in here in the church."

It's one thing to say that the Bible is the word of God.
It's another to allow that word to change our lives.
It's one thing to say that you believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins;
It's another to allow the grace of Jesus fill your lives.
It's one thing to say that the 7th day is the Sabbath of the Lord our God.
It's another to experience God's rest on the Sabbath.
It's one thing to accept as truth the time prophecies of the Bible.
It's another to live every day with a sense of urgency.

When Paul says to the Colossians let us clothe ourselves "with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." He is saying "Let us live it!" "Let us walk the walk when we talk the talk." In verse 13 Paul tells us how we make those gifts real in our lives, he tells us how to put on the clothes of the Spirit. (13) "Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." How are we to forgive? "Forgive as the Lord forgave you."

Some speeches during this session have no doubt offended some. Let us not leave this place without God's grace filling us with forgiveness for each other. We need not be asked for forgiveness before we extend forgiveness. We forgive before we are asked, even if we are never asked. For a forgiving spirit is not just for the benefit of the person we are forgiving, rather it is an experience of grace for the person who forgives.

There is much that we as a church need forgiveness for:

We need forgiveness for excluding from leadership those who have been under-represented.
We need to repent of slipping standards as we fall under the influence of secularism.
We need to repent of our intolerance of diversity.

In Verse 14 of our passage in Colossians Paul speaks of the glue of unity: "And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." Our unity is bound in love. It is love that brings us into perfect unity.

Unity is not produced by new rules but by love.
Unity is not brought about but by amendments to the constitution, but by hearts joined by the love of Christ.
Unity will not come because we have reorganized the church but because our hearts have been transformed by Jesus.

We don't lose our identity when we are one in Christ. We are still Greeks and Jews. We are still black and white. We are still French and Filipino. We are still men and women. But those distinctions don't separate us. They only make the rainbow of our differences more beautiful.

Our planet is fractured by chasms based on culture, tribe, race, color, gender, language, wealth, national origins, and political ideologies. Our world is being split and divided on hundreds of issues, some large, some small. Sadly, some of these differences and divisions show themselves among us in the body of Christ as well. My brothers and sisters, I plead with you today to allow the gift of God to transform you into an agent of healing in the family.

Each of us must ask:

Am I a Christian first? Or am I Dutch, or American, or Russian, or Brazilian, or Kenyan first?
Am I a Christian first? Or am I a Hutu or Tutsi, Serbian or Bosnian first?
Am I a Christian first? Or am I white or black, Asian or Hispanic first?
Am I a Christian first? Or am I a male or female first?

As the Apostle Paul wrote of all those who have been baptized in the name of our Lord, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28 NIV). Check reference!

Paul continues his appeals for unity in verse 15: (15) Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts since as members of one body you were called to peace, and be thankful.

Is there something that rules in your heart that is other than the peace of Christ? We are called to peace.

We are not called to getting our way.
We are not called to being right.
We are called to peace.

There is an old story about two brothers who farmed the same parcel of land. One of the brothers was married and lived in his own home with his wife and seven children, but the other brother was single and lived alone with no family. After each harvest they divided the grain evenly between them. But one day the brother that was single thought to himself, "It is not fair how we divide the grain, that we both get half. My brother has a wife and many mouths to feed, and I live alone. He should have more. Each night I secretly will take a sack of wheat from my grain barn and take it over to my brother's barn." And that is what he did. Each night the brother took a sack of grain and placed it in his brother's barn.

Now the other brother, who was married and had seven children, was also thinking, and said to himself "It is not fair how we divide the grain, that we both get half. I have such a large family to take care of me in my old age and my brother has no one. Each night I will secretly take a sack of wheat from my grain barn and take it over to my brother's barn." And that is what he did. Each night the brother took a sack of grain and placed it in is his brother's barn.

Each morning both brothers were puzzled to find that, like the biblical widow's vial of oil, they still had as much grain as they had before.

One night the two brothers chanced to meet on their way to each other's barn. Suddenly they realized why their grain was not depleted. They embraced with a fuller understanding of the love that they had for each other. May we spend our lives filling each other's barns. This is highest test of our walk with God.

May we be clothed with compassion to see our brothers needs as more important than our own. May we with humility and kindness return our mission offerings to carry the gospel to those who haven't hear it.

There once were two men--a father and a son. The son had left home, and rejected his father but in a far country he had come to his senses, he had repented of his sin and determined to return to his father. And from a long way off his father saw him and ran to embrace him. He said to his father, "I have sinned, I am not worthy to be called your son. Let me just be a servant. Let me clean the stables, Let me wash dishes, Let me sweep the floors and polish the brass." And the father says to his son, "Son, what you have done has caused your mother and me more pain then you can ever understand. Don't you know that:

There are not enough stables for you to clean,
There are not enough dishes for you to wash,
There are not enough floors for you to sweep
You cannot pay for the suffering you have caused--the only way I can let you back into this family is to forgive you. I forgive you, my son--welcome home!"

Soon, very soon, our heavenly Father will burst through the heavenly gates to take us home. When He comes we will be tempted to say, "Father, we are not worthy to be your children, let us be your servants. Let us clean the golden streets, dust the pearly gates and clean the mansions for those who are worthy." And Jesus will reach out to us with His nail pierced hands and say, "Don't you know the pain you have caused me. There are not enough streets for you to sweep, gates for you to dust or mansions for you to clean to atone for what you have done. The only way I can let you in is to forgive you and I forgive you, welcome home my children."

I can't wait to hear those words, "Welcome home my children." Are you anxious to hear those words?

Will you commit yourself to serving your brothers and sisters around the world. so when the Lord returns we can say, "Lo, This is our God, we have waited for him and he will save us."

If you commit yourself to that kind of unity in Christ would you stand with me at this time.

I look forward to that day. I pray for that day. I am ready for that day. Let us march together toward that day with the only leader we have, "Lead on, O King eternal."