Acts
1: 6 - 14
Psalm
68: 1 – 10, 33 – 36
I
Peter 4: 12 – 14, 5: 6 - 11
John
17: 1 - 11
This is the homily given at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania on Sunday, May 21, 2023 by Fr. Gene Tucker.
“WHAT SORT OF ONE-NESS?”
(Homily text: John 17: 1 – 11)
“Holy Father, keep them in your name,
which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.”[1] These words are part of what has come to be known as “Jesus’ High Priestly
Prayer”, a subtitle given to it by biblical scholars.
These words, and the remainder of
chapter seventeen of John’s Gospel account, are the culmination of the events
that took place during the Last Supper. John devotes five chapters to these
events, chapters thirteen through seventeen of his account.
Jesus prays for His disciples, those
who will continue in a world which was hostile to Him and to His message and
work, and which will continue to be hostile to His followers as they make their
way out into the world, carrying the Good News (Gospel) of what God had done in
sending Jesus Christ into the world.
A prominent theme in this High Priestly
Prayer is the appeal for unity among the Lord’s followers. We hear it in verse
eleven, with which we began this homily this morning, and we will read it again
three more times near the end of the prayer, in verses 21 through 23.
What about being one? What about unity
within the body of Christ?
After all, a common witness to God’s
power, made known in the person, work, ministry, suffering, death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ, is a requirement, if the power of God is to be
effective in the world.
If we do not have commonality of
purpose and witness, then the Christian voice merely becomes one of many
competing and conflicting voices calling out to the world’s peoples for
attention and for influence. Alas, there are many such voices, many, many more
than there were even a few years ago. The result can be cacophonous.
Where do we stand, in this, the year of
Our Lord 2023, in the matter of Christian unity and common witness.
I think, if we are honest with
ourselves, we’d have to say that there have been some gains, but also some
losses.
Looking back over recent decades, we
can see more interaction between various Christian bodies. For example, in our
own local Forum of Churches, Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Baptists, United
Church of Christ, Church of the Brethren and others are represented, in
addition to our own Episcopal/Anglican presence. As good as that ecumenicity is,
there are missing voices, those of the more traditional evangelical ones.
It wouldn’t have been too many years
ago that Roman Catholics wouldn’t have had anything to do with a group like the
Forum of Churches. Indeed, it’s only been since Vatican II in the 1960s that
attitudes among Roman Catholics toward other Christian bodies has begun to
change. But, in all candor, we also have to say that the reverse is true, that
Protestants and Anglicans (like us) wouldn’t have had much, if anything, to do
with Roman Catholics, either.
So there’s been good movement toward
unity of purpose in recent times. A good development, to be sure.
However, even as various Christian
churches have come together, even – in some cases – leading to actual unity,
there’ve also been divisions. Consider, for example, the current struggles of
the United Methodist Church, which is now dealing with some of the issues that
have vexed other Christians, leading to departures from the denomination.
Our own Episcopal Church hasn’t been
immune from these – and other – struggles. Over the past 50 or so years, we’ve
dealt with issues of adopting a new Prayer Book, women’s ordination and
sexuality issues. Our membership has declined from about 3.5 million in the
1960s to about 1.5 million today. It’s small comfort that other Christians are
dealing with some of these same issues. The result for them, as it has been for
us, has been a series of splits in denominations, departures for new Christian
bodies, or – much more sadly – departures of those who now have no Christian
affiliation at all.
Unity within denominations, then, has
been a series of successes and failures. To be honest about the failures, it’s
probably true that some of the issues that are before the Church today do not
have a common ground of understanding, and little-or-no room for compromise.
That said, however, St. Paul admonishes us to be at peace with everyone, as
much as it depends on us to create conditions for peace.[2]
Unity between – and within – Christian
bodies is critical to our witness to the wider world.
But so is unity within the local
congregation.
If a local church is torn by competing
factions for dominance and influence, or when members of the local community
fail to put the overall congregation’s welfare over their own preferences, then
the local congregation’s mission will be impeded. It’s even possible that a
newcomer will be able to sense the tension within the congregation. Any steps
the congregation might undertake to extend a warmer welcome to newcomers will be
undercut, as a result. (One thinks of the divisions and the competition for
power and influence that was present in the early church in Corinth as an
example.)
How might we move toward greater
one-ness in Christ, both within our own local congregations, and between other
Christians? I think the answer is that we must submit our own wills, our own
preferences, our own perspectives, to the power of the Holy Spirit. For it is
the Spirit’s domain to be the changer of hearts and minds.
May we, then, surrender our wills to
the Father’s will, to the Son’s example, and to the power of the Spirit.
AMEN.
[1] John 17:11
[2] Romans 12:18
