“One is not ALWAYS the Loneliest Number”
The Closing Sermon of the Eastern District Synod presented by the Rt. Rev. Sam Gray at College Hill Moravian Church, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Ephesians 4:1-16
John 17:20-26
Our worship booklet tells us that this is the concluding worship, but really, it’s the conclusion of a worship service that began at 1:00 on Wednesday afternoon.
As part of this four-day worship service, we’ve heard several sermons, we’ve joined in prayer together, and we’ve sung. We’ve heard many different voices reading scripture and offering words of wisdom, we have engaged in true liturgy, the work of the people. Even the reports and resolutions have often been inspirational, speaking to our hearts as well as our minds.
And so, as we come now to the conclusion of this service, I wonder, what else can I say?
I said quite a bit at the beginning, and now it’s my turn again.
Well, I thought that maybe instead of preaching I could just give you a power point presentation.
So that’s what I want to do right now.
I want to point you to a powerful picture of the Body of Christ. That’s my power point.
I’m going to ask you to look not up here (no screen), but rather to look around.
Can you see it?
Can you see the powerful point that I’m trying to make here?
You might have to stick your neck out, or even move a little. But I think you can see it if you look carefully and if you are not a seeing person I think you can probably feel it. You are the Body of Christ and individually members of it.
And yes, you are individuals, but you represent something much greater than yourselves.
Who is representing, say, Castleton Hill? What does that mean? What are you representing?
You know what it means. Castleton Hill is not a building. It’s not a place. It’s not a program or a set of by-laws. It’s people.
And the same goes for agencies and ministries. Moravian Manor is not just a building. Hope Center is not just a bunch of buildings.
No, these are all people. Human beings whom God has created and who God loved so much that God gave God’s only Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life
It’s way bigger than this
It’s way bigger than US.
Can you see the powerful point that I’m trying to make here?
But maybe Power Point is a little outdated, so perhaps I should move up to Media Shout
This time when you look around, shout out the names of some of the people who are the reason that you are here, the ones in your congregation or the ones with whom you minister in Christ’s name.
Ready? Shout!
No, no, it’s way more than… us!
We’ve got all those folks in Ohio and Pennsylvania and New Jersey and New York and Maryland…
Did I miss anyone?
Oh yes, of course I did!
I did because this District is part of a Province. And that Province is only part of the Moravian Church in North America. And that entire North American Moravian Church (in the United States and Canada) makes up less than 5% of the worldwide Moravian Church.
We’re part of a worldwide Unity, 19 provinces, soon to be 21 (if Unity Synod adopts the decisions of Unity Board). We’re all over the world!
And that’s without even beginning to look beyond ourselves, beyond our Moravian world to our ecumenical partners in mission, or to people of other faiths, or to those without faith and without hope in the world.
But let’s stick with Moravians for a moment.
I don’t know if you’d had a chance to look at the digital composite photos on the wall in the Union building - (I always manage to be last in line for lunch, so I’ve had plenty of time to look at them!) They are photographs of a combination of faces of different ethnicities.
And as I looked at them, I got to thinking, “what if we would try to come up with a composite photograph of a Moravian – one that would accurately reflect the composition of the worldwide Moravian Church – what would it look like?”
Well, one thing is certain: it would not look a lot like me.
No, it would probably look more like… (a Moravian model walks across the front of the sanctuary, wearing items of clothing from all over the world and carrying items from the synod.)
That’s who we are – we are:
different colors,
different cultures,
different countries,
different customs,
sometimes even different convictions,
and in the midst of all of that, we hear the words of our Lord Jesus Christ
who has the audacity to suggest that we might be ONE.
One?!?
What in the world does THAT mean?!?
Or, better yet, what does that mean in the world?
Well, it means a lot in the world.
And it means a lot TO the world.
In fact, not only did our Lord say that we could and should be one, He went on to say that that’s how the world will believe that He was sent from God. THAT is how the world will believe that God and Jesus are one.
How? By seeing that WE are one.
I remember learning about the Trinity through object lessons, when I was growing up. First I learned that the Trinity was like Kool Aid. You’ve got the Kool Aid powder, and the sugar, and the water, but all together they are one substance that can’t be divided.
Well, there were a couple of problems with that. First of all, MY Kool Aid powder always seemed to settle to the bottom of the glass, and didn’t look very much like one substance. And then they came up with pre-sweetened Kool Aid, and I wondered if the trinity was also going to be reduced to 2 persons?
Any time we use an object lesson, we’re taking a risk.
What if that balloon doesn’t inflate like it’s supposed to? How will the kids learn about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit?
A friend of mine tells the story of showing the Jesus film in a remote area of India, but he was using a battery-powered projector. Now the film was two hours long, but the battery was showing that it only had one and a half hours of life left in it.
And he thought: what if the battery dies right after the crucifixion? How will they know that Jesus rose from the dead?
Amazingly, he decided to take the risk.
He considers it a miracle that the battery lasted the full 2 hours and many people were able to hear and see the good news of Jesus Christ.
It was risky, though, and I’m not sure I would have tried it.
Imagine the risk that God has taken with us. There’s a lot that could go wrong!
But somehow God has decided that the best object lesson God can offer to the world for the world to understand how God and Jesus and the Spirit can be one, the best way for them to see that and know that is true - Is us!
We’re the object lesson that God offers to the world.
But how can they see ONE when they look at us?
We have so many differences, even within one district!
If I were to take a poll this morning and ask you all to agree on the proper way to do a lovefeast, I might get a variety of answers.
Do we use buns or sugar cake or Moravian cakes or cookies?
Do we serve coffee (regular or decaf? Cream and sugar or black? How much sugar?)
Or is it hot chocolate? Or apple cider? Or maybe even ginger beer?
And when we are all served what is the Moravian grace that we say or sing together?
Be present at our table, Lord?
Or Come, Lord Jesus?
Not to mention whether or not we use a second verse, and if we do, which version we use?
And who serves the lovefeast? Sacristans? Or dieners?
Or do we serve each other?
And what do the sacristans wear?
And what kind of music do we sing while the serving is taking place?
Hymns or choruses?
Organ or guitar?
I doubt we could come up with a common answer for these questions even in one district of one province (and don’t even think about bringing the Southern province into the debate).
And yet, the Synod planning committee (like Jesus) had the audacity to suggest that we might be ONE in mission and ONE in call!
Again, what does that mean in the world?
Well, when the world began, back in the beginning (according to one of the creation stories in Genesis), we WERE one (literally), there was ONE human being (Adam).
Isn’t that what God wants?
Well, interestingly, after looking at everything else in creation (in the first story) and saying that it was “good” (it’s all good) in the second story God looked at this ONE creature and said “it is NOT good that this creature should be alone.”
Now, my message is not intended to be a theological defense of Christian marriage.
No, I believe God has given us a greater principle here that applies to everyone, married or single - that is that, very simply, we are more complete in community.
You see, all ONE is not the same as alone. They look pretty similar on paper:
a-l-l o-n-e
and a-l-o-n-e,
but there’s a world of difference
In fact, when we are all one, then we are NOT alone.
Unity is not the same as unison.
It’s certainly not a solo, and we’re not all singing the same notes.
No, there seem to be lots of ones and when all of those ones come together, somehow they can still be one, but a more complete one than just one.
Did you notice all of the ones in our first lesson today? (Ephesians)
One body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father
And the fact that there are seven ones kind of gives us a hint that they are complete when they are together.
The same thing happens when WE come together as one.
And the same thing can happen when we go out as one.
When we go out as one our varied gifts are united --- our ministries are different, but our purpose is the same.
When I was ordained, the congregation sang a hymn that dates back to the 10th century, it speaks of the seven-fold gifts that the Spirit gives us for going out into the world.
I always wondered what the seven gifts were, so I did a little research and discovered that this refers to a passage in Isaiah 11, where it says that the seven gifts are Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, and Fear of the Lord
But, you know, I still prefer to believe that when we are one, the gifts of the spirit come to completion in us.
I may be ordained and even consecrated, but as far as I can tell, I don’t have all seven of those gifts.
The good news is I don’t have to, because I’m not alone!
But if WE are ALL ONE, then yes, we will have ALL of those gifts, and God’s Spirit will use them for ONE purpose:
To touch the lives of others by God’s surprising grace.
Some of you know that I carry a cross with me wherever I go. No, really, I CARRY A CROSS. It’s in two pieces, not just because it’s easier to carry around that way (one inch shorter than what TSA calls a clubbing device / may we never again use the cross in that way) but (2 pieces) to remind me that we are not only called to be one (showing the vertical piece of the cross) this way with God, but we are also called to be one (showing the horizontal piece of the cross) this way with each other, and sometimes that can be the harder task.
How do we do that?
Well, let me show you (remember, this is a power point presentation, not a sermon).
Sister Blondel, could you please stand. New York City knows that we are called to be one and Blondel looks out across to the west and sees sister Marie over here in Ohio. Blondel goes and moves and takes the initiative to be one with Marie. She decides to stay awhile in Ohio.
Meanwhile, sister Karen doesn’t have to look so far away, she’s in Lititz and she sees brother Mark, also in Lititz, and she says, “we’re close, geographically, and yet there might be some barriers that would keep us apart.” She doesn’t want that since she knows we are called to be one so she takes some important steps (Karen joins Mark). She stays in Lititz awhile with Mark where they enjoy the pretzels, and the chocolate, and the chocolate covered pretzels!
Meanwhile Katie is right here in Bethlehem, at Central Moravian, but she looks across the state and across the river and sees another young person over in New Jersey. His name is Ben and she says “cross this river and let him know that we are one in Christ.”
All of these moves are good things but what do we have?
We have some new configurations or new clusters but the danger exists that this cluster might start to get comfortable with the way they are and there has to be a better way.
These folks were very obedient. They did what I asked them to do. They went where I told them to go leaving everything behind, but it really didn’t work.
Maybe they need different instructions?
With that in mind, instead of trying to get closer to each other, I’m going to ask you all to do something else.
All of you, from your different regions, come and get as close as you can to this cross and then take it up together.
(the individuals join at the front of the sanctuary and take up the cross Sam presented earlier – each one holding onto some part of it as a unified group.)
What happened? It wasn’t the primary instruction I gave them; I told them to get closer to the cross; but in doing so, they ended up closer to each other!
Jesus said, “may they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
We have to be called in before we can be sent out!
It begins with God, but it doesn’t end there
So, right now you are one in call. We’ve fulfilled half of our theme, but you’re not yet one in mission until, together, you take this cross, this treasure out into the world.
So, I’m going to challenge you to do that.
We will sing “we all behold one vision, a stark reality, the author of salvation was nailed upon a tree…”
Ask you to carry it out to the door as we sing
(The group of individuals, now a unified group, makes their way up the aisle to the door, each carefully maintaining their touch to the cross and their closeness together – symbolizing the movement together to take the cross out to the world.)
That was a symbolic carrying of the cross out into the world. The way we do that in real life is by responding to God’s call to serve.
We are one in mission, one in call!
