The Power of Humility (Sunday, January 22nd, 2017)

Bible Reference(s): I Corinthians 1:10-18

Sermon by Rev. Terri Thorn

Let me just say that I have been thinking about this message all week but decided to wait until after Friday's inaugural events before I wrote anything.  You see, given the all the tension surrounding the election, I was afraid something would go horribly wrong...from a security standpoint...on Friday.  I was concerned I might need to re-think the message if it did.  Thankfully though, things in DC went pretty much as planned on Friday...and the history-making women's marches across the US and the world were all quite peaceful.  For both of these things, I think we all need to say, thanks be to God.

The question being asked in churches this morning, though, is: "what now"?  What are we, American Christians, supposed to do next?   How do we respond to the recurring call for national unity while upholding the godly values of justice and mercy, as well as welcome and compassion?  How can we be agents of unity in the midst of what is clearly broad, wide, deep division?  How do we reflect the oneness of Christ's church in a nation that is clearly not one?

Now, it's God's providence, not my choosing, that this part of Paul's letter to the church at Corinth is our reading today. Of course, Paul's concern was not about a nation's unity...but about what was happening in the church.  "There is to be no division among you!"  he says.  "Be united in one mind and one purpose."

It's very inspiring, but a stroll down the lane of ancient church history indicates that Christians have never been very good at this.  Paul was always addressing conflict of some sort in the original congregations of the church.   Over the first few hundred years, the early church fathers and theologians regularly argued over various doctrines and understandings.  Eventually, around 700AD  the Greek Orthodox church split with the Roman Catholic church to form two very separate churches.  Both of whom, by the way, to this day still consider themselves to be the one true church.   

About 700 years after that came the Reformation.  The protestors..also known as Protestants...broke away from the Roman Catholic church in protest of certain theology and doctrinal practices...and formed national churches under different leaders in various countries.   Eventually, as America was settled and independent folks began to experience freedom from the national Church of England, even more variations of the church emerged.  Today, it's hard to even quantify how many different flavors of church exist.  There are numerous independent churches that fall into no particular denominational structure...and several denominations, including our own, which have more than one official "order" within. 

The point is that, while there is still only one Body of Christ, and one true church, it's almost impossible to read these words of Paul, "there is to be no division" among the church with a straight face. Our entire history seems to be made up of nothing but division.

So what is it that we mean when we talk about Christian Unity? 

I don't know about you, but I can feel my guard go up when I hear people start talking about being unified - especially in the religious and political context.   It's been my experience that more often than not it feels as if what unity really mean to some people is that I'm supposed to give up my thoughts, my ideas, and my beliefs to embrace theirs.  And that scares me.

In fact, it reminds me of the most frightening movie I've ever seen - a 1972 thriller called, "The Stepford Wives". 

The plotline of the movie is about a community in which all the women are models of perfection...the absolute ideal wife, parent, and neighbor.  They cook, clean, care for their family, keep a lovely home and submit to their husbands always.  They never worry, never frown, never contradict or challenge anyone.   

Well, it turns out that the women of the town of Stepford are so nice and compliant because they are robots.  The men in the community have all replaced their wives with robots.  Except for one.  There is one human wife who figures out what is happening and tries to escape.  Now, for me, the tension of whether she would figure it out in time and whether she would escape or not wasn't the scariest part.  The evil of the husbands who did away with their human wives wasn't the scariest part either.  To me, personally, the most horrifying thing was the thought that there could be a place where everyone was forced to be exactly the same...to think the same things...to believe the same things...to do the same things. 

So I must admit, I grew up with some personal resistance to Paul's words about no division among us and about being of one mind and one purpose.  Was he advocating for some Stepford version of Christianity...where we have to agree on everything...or at least pretend that we do?  I have also wondered....doesn't it feel as if Paul was asking the church to do the impossible? No division, ever?  The thought is about as incredulous as  the response of the disciples in the gospel reading.  No division?  Drop everything and just follow?   How are these things possible?

In the disciples case...it's difficult for most of us to imagine being willing to do what they did.  Putting down their fishing nets represents letting go of everything they hold dear...their identity, their security, their purpose, their family business...all to follow Jesus...to go where he went...to learn from him...to do whatever he asked.  Now, yes, most of us want to be like these disciples...to put everything down and do whatever Jesus asks. But, realistically, we are not always able to do so.  We can't always bring ourselves to offer the forgiveness he asks us to offer...or show the mercy...or welcome the stranger...or see someone else's perspective.  We aren't always so eager to be a prophetic voice, brave the criticism, or challenge the establishment in the name of Christ.  

Sometimes, the humility and submission required of us in order to follow Christ is more than we can fathom.  Yet, like the disciples, in those moments that we actually take ourselves out of the way and allow God's Spirit to work we find a power that we also never fathomed.  An inexplicable power, an inner strength, a peace that passes understanding.  Like the first disciples, in the meek moment of humility, we are given confidence to do as Jesus asks, even in the face of all uncertainty. 

Humility is difficult...but it's not impossible.

I think that is actually Paul's point to the church at Corinth.  Humility, which is at the heart of unity, is difficult...but it's not impossible.  One scholar describes the context of the letter like this: the Corinthian church is a diverse, lively community, seemingly with social tensions around matters of wealth and need, perhaps also concerning education.  There are strong feelings and a corresponding assertiveness and folk are being drawn into groups, possibly to gain a stronger sense of shared identity, or special belonging.  Some are gravitating to certain leaders. (FOTW, year A, volume 1)

Clearly things were becoming divisive in the church at Corinth.  Some were in, some were out.  Some claimed Paul's authority, others claimed Peter's, and still others got behind someone named Apollos.  Then, there were also those who asserted that when it came to following Christ, they had the corner on the market. They believed they were more righteous than others in the church.  Later in the letter, we learn there were conflicts over a number of doctrinal issues including circumcision and eating meat.  So, maybe the issues of the church have changed a little...but the potential for division in the church over them remains the same.   

That said, Paul's concern about division was not just about whether people disagreed or not. His call for unity was not a call for everyone to think and do the same things.  It wasn't about Stepford church at all.  I mean, how many times does he talk about the Body of Christ and point that some are hands, some are feet, some are ears? Or gifts?  He regularly reminds the church that different people have different spiritual gifts.  Clearly Paul appreciates the diversity of the church and the uniqueness of all the members. Likewise, when it came to the meat-eating issue, he said, "those who eat meat, eat it.  Those who don't eat meat, don't eat it.  But those who do eat it, don't try to make those who don't eat it start eating it."  Respect the different understandings seems to be his message.  

I believe Paul's deep grievance with division is that he knew that it is always a power issue.  Division creates insider and outsiders...but it can also create a hierarchy of worthiness based on completely contrived criteria. You see, division is not only rooted in dissention and self-interest, it tends to result in some groups being perceived as more valuable than others.  Not to mention, the more one becomes invested in the division, the more committed they are to maintaining division.  Once the wall of division is built...pride keeps it standing firm. 

Paul understood that Christ's church could and would withstand disagreements and differences, but he also knew that division was the disease powerful enough to kill the church's mission.  This passionate call for unity is his heart begging the church to avoid death-dealing division.  

Be united in one mind and purpose.  For Paul, this was a very simple call to the church...one that would be as difficult to achieve as drop your nets and follow.   You see, to be united in one mind and purpose means being humble enough to drop our defensive postures, to loosen our grip on our opinions thoughts, and beliefs, to admit we can never be 100% certain, in order to reveal the one mind and purpose of Christ  - which is to reconcile and bring peace.   

And that's just not easy to do.  We're too afraid that to let go would mean giving up all we hold dear...our identity, our security, our purpose, our point, our argument, our position.   In the worldview of scarcity, to let go is to lose...to become less than.

Yet that is exactly what Christ calls us to do. To become less than so Christ is revealed greater, in and through us.  Isn't that what happened on the cross?  Jesus could have done any number of things to avoid being crucified, but he did not.  He spoke out.  He challenged.  He made a name for himself...then he set it all aside and chose to bear the humility of the cross in order to reveal God's kingdom to the world. 

As Paul points out, this posture of cross-bearing humility looks foolish to those who don't get it...it looks like you are powerless...as if you have lost.  Yet, those who have experienced the grace of God through Christ know that it is anything but.  The willingness to empty ourselves the way Christ did, in order to be filled with God’s love and his peace...well, it gives us a completely different kind of power...one that those who are unwilling to be humbled may never truly understand. 

So, folks this unity thing that Paul advocates?  It begins with humility...and 2000+ years later the church is still trying to get it right.  We still dig in our heels on issues and positions. Good, faithful, Christian people often stand on opposing sides of things; we believe different things; and, we often interpret scripture differently.  Yet, the good news of God's grace in the church is that none of those things need be divisive.  They may differentiate us...they may even distance us from each other...but none have to lead to the kind of separation that Paul feared.   None have the power to divide when we unite in one mind and one purpose of Christ's love.

So, I don't have to tell you that there's a lot of public talk right now about the need for unity in our nation.  It resounds even louder after this weekend.  Likewise, I don't have to tell you that there are a lot of different definitions of what that unity looks like.  Some fear that it's a another word for "agree with me or else".  And, when it comes to the political world...that just might be the case.  Mostly because no one wants to take the first step toward humility.

Let us remember, however, that we, the Church, are not called to conform to the political definition of unity...we are called to reveal Christ's definition of unity to the world.  To live in oneness with him and with each other.   So what does that look like? 

For me, the orchestra metaphor comes to mind.   Every musician plays his or her own instrument.  Every musician plays the notes written on his or her own music.  Each creates his or her own sound.   Every musician has a unique time to play and a time to stop playing...and there may even be times when a musician is playing alone...but it is only a symphony when they all come together with one mind and one purpose -- to create something beautiful.  

To many, it looks much like the beautiful hope that emerged when millions of people, of diverse backgrounds, opinions, and causes, were able to gather across seven different continents and walk as one…in peace.

Unity in the church means we come together to reflect the one mind and purpose of Jesus Christ...to help build his beautiful realm of abundant life - filled with grace and peace.

Unity in the church means we lead with compassion and mercy and forgiveness.

Unity in the church means we express love in and through all things...including our disagreements.

Unity may mean Christians think twice about that our FB posts and consider how they might affect another. It might mean a lot of scrolling or type, consider, delete.

Unity in the church calls us to put the need for our relationship with one another above the need to convince each other of our point of view.   Surely we have our differences, but we never let them create the kind of division that leads to death and destruction in the community of faith.  

Unity emerges when we seek the presence of Christ in each other...when we approach each other with same humility with which we approach Christ - emptied of ourselves..putting down our nets...opening ourselves to receiving his blessing, mercy and grace from one another.

So, Church in America, listen to Paul.  There shall be no division among us.  We have the opportunity to show the world what unity looks like...because I mean really, take a look around.  No government, no politician, no special interest...no worldly entity has the power of humility that is in the Christian church.  Praise be to God, it is entirely up to us.

It will be difficult...but with Christ, nothing is impossible! Amen? Amen.