At the height of a political corruption trial, the prosecuting attor= ney attacked a witness

“CALLING ALL CHRISTIANS= ”

Isaiah 49:1-7

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Introduction. “Church bells chime. Two muscle-bound men stand arms-cr= ossed in front of a (church). A gay couple approaches holding hands. ‘Step aside, please,’ say the muscle-bound guards. They speak similar words to an African-American girl, a Hispanic man, a young man in a wheelchair. Then, just as we realize that the = two large men are ‘church bouncers,’ the scene fades to black and t= he tag line reads: ‘Jesus didn’t turn people away. Neither do we.’ This 30-second commercial from the United Church of Christ ignited weeks of national debate after CBS and NBC refused to air the spot, claiming it was too controversial.” (Mark Ralls, “Living by the Word,” Christian Century, January 11, 2005, p. 16) This commercial not only ignited d= ebate within the media, but also addresses some of the hot-button issues within t= he Christian community.

Move 1. And speaking of Christian communit= y, is there a “Christian community?”= Christians are far from united in many ways. Most of us in the Christian world = often seem to have different views on a multitude of topics, and even more importantly, different beliefs about God.&= nbsp; We can see this when we look at the tsunami disaster, and how people= of faith have attempted to reconcile the disaster with who God is. Several leaders in different world religions, including Christians, were interviewed recently on NPR.

On= e person with the last name of Feshbach says he “does not believe God created = that wave as a punishment. ‘= God may have known about the tsunami ahead of time,’ he says, ‘but = God could not intervene….God does not micromanage the universe.’ Feshbach gives a situation in whic= h a father loses his grip on his three-year-old daughter who then gets dragged = out to sea, and he then asks, ‘What could she have done to deserve this?<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> I find it offensive. It’s not a notion I can live with. It’s not a notion= I can deal with and if I need to stand here and say that…God does not contr= ol everything in order to clear God of such a crime, I will do so.’” Though Fesh= bach is a Jewish rabbi, I daresay he probably represents the views of many Christians.

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Th= e senior pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, John Piper, gives quite another view. He believes that “every person is stained by sin and deserves punishment.” When he hears of a calamity like t= his, he says that “’God is telling me, “Be amazed you weren’t under the wave,” and so my biggest interpretation is Go= d is calling the world to repent.’ (Piper) says that God is loving but also holy and just, and…sa= ys that it is God’s mercy that restrains (Him) from exacting even more judgment and tragedy.”

Ca= tholic Bishop Joseph Fernando takes a type of middle ground when he discusses the mystery of “’why a God who glories in people would wipe them ou= t….I don’t believe that God wants to destroy human life in that sense, (Fernando says,) but, biblically, also we find that along sometimes with ev= il people, some innocent people also perish.’” (Barbara Bradley Hagerty, “Analysis: People of Different Faiths Interpret the Tsunami = and its Devastation in Different Ways,” NPR, January 10, 2005)

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Wh= en Christians have such radically different views about who God is, and about = how God is acting in our world, will we ever find common ground, a place where = we can agree? Christians are far= from united.

Move 2. But, one body of believers is what= comes across in scripture. One grou= p, somehow united under God through Jesus Christ, is what the Bible assumes as normative; not conservatives and liberals, Presbyterians and Assemblies of = God, black and white—but one group.

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A “fellowship with…Jesus Christ our Lord,” is what Paul says God has called the Corinthians to be. The image of one world body is also used by Paul, when he begins his letter, “To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Chri= st Jesus and called to be saints, together with all those everywhere who call = on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours.”

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In= our other scripture today from Isaiah, the nation of Israel is that body through whom God displays splendor, but that is not enough. “A light for the Gentiles,&#= 8221; for all people, is what God will use to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.

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The Session, which is our church’s board of elders, recently met for an afternoon retreat to discuss its purpose and values in leading and serving = our congregation. Each person at = the retreat, about 15, were asked by retreat leader Mike Imperiale, each on the= ir own, to circle a few of about 45 words describing foundational values, what= we desire to as a church, and then to rank them. Words and phrases included bold, dedicated, friendly, honest, loving, visionary. When finished, each member of Sess= ion was asked to name out loud their top-ranked word, and about 75% put down the exact same #1 answer—“Christ-centered.” “Christ-centered.” And some others had it within thei= r top 5.

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&#= 8220;Christ-centered” is exactly what the church everywhere should be; one body of believers, all eyes on Jesus Christ.

Move 3.  Nevertheless, differences are real, whether in thoughts =
about the nature of God, discussions over sin and salvation, or actions rel=
ated to how we treat people different from us.  And truth must be spoken.  Truth cannot be the victim of unity simply for the sake of u=
nity, for that would be a false unity.&nbs=
p;

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Ba= ck in the early 1950s, Clarence Jordan was invited to preach at a country church = in North Carolina. At a time whe= n the segregation of blacks from whites was very real and extreme, Jordan found to his surprise that this congregation was 50/50, black and white, and that th= ey were seated mixed amongst one another.&nbs= p; After the service, Jordan asked the white, hillbilly preacher how th= ey had gotten this way. “W= hat way?” the old preacher asked. “You know, integrated like this, black people and white people together.”

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&#= 8220;I’ll tell you how we got this way,” the preacher said. “A few years back, we were a= small church of about 20 members…”&n= bsp; Now, Jordan had noticed not 20, but hundreds of people in the church. “We were about = 20 members, and one day, our preacher died.&n= bsp; We couldn’t find a preacher no how, so after about three month= s I went to the deacons and said, ‘If you can’t find a preacher, I’d be the preacher.’ So the next Sunday I got up to preach, and I opened the Bible and pu= t my finger down, and it landed on a verse that said, ‘In Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female,’ and I told ‘em that in the church, when it’s really a church, they donR= 17;t know any of these racial or ethnic divisions, that everybody’s one in Christ Jesus! I preached that= to ‘em.”

&#= 8220;After the service, the deacons called me into a back room, and told me that they didn’t wanna hear that kind of preachin’ no more.” Jordan asked, “So what did y= ou do then?” The preacher sai= d, “I fired them deacons!” Jordan asked, “How come they didn’t fire you?” He said, “They never hired me….Well, once I knew what bothered them people, I gave it to ‘= em every week!” Jordan ask= ed, “Did they put up with it?”&nbs= p; The preacher said, “I preached that church down to 4!” “Well then what happened?= 221; Jordan asked. “Well, fr= om then on, we wouldn’t let anybody in that church unless they really lo= ved Jesus.” “How coul= d you tell?” “Well, when people love Jesus, they love each other, no matter who the other person is. And we had people who lov= ed each other, and they didn’t see each other as black and white, they j= ust saw each other as brothers and sisters, and then we knew they were Christians.” (based on = story told by Tony Campolo, “Church: God’s Instrument for Changing the World,” www.tonycampolo.org)

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Di= fferences are what drove some of the people out of that old North Carolina church, because a unity was sought based on the gospel, and the gospel truth—= that sharpened sword, that polished arrow of Isaiah--does sometimes divide. Truth, a truth based on love, must= not become subsumed beneath a quest for unity, but rather hopefully will one day lead to a real unity of hearts and minds and bodies in Christ.

Move 4. It is to this unity, to this fello= wship, we are called. We are called,= both into the fellowship of Jesus Christ, and to be saints.

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Wh= oa…wait just a minute. Most of us com= e to church, we praise God, we live pretty good lives…but saints? No way. The label doesn’t fit. And even if we sometimes feel a bit saintly for shoveling an elderly person’s driveway here or going to a Bible study there, we don’t need any more pressure to be better than = we are. Maybe the Corinthians we= re saints, but for the most part we have no desire to answer such a calling.

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Ye= t, maybe we misunderstand the word “saint.” What if we define it as someone who attempts, not always successfully but maybe sometimes, to witness to God’s love in the world? What if we define a saint as somebody who has an open heart and mind to allow God’s grace in, to grow “more into the character of Christ̶= 1; each day? What if a saint is a person who is not first a doctor or teacher or clerk or parent who just hap= pens to be Christian, but rather a person who is a follower of Christ who just happens to be doctor, teacher, clerk, parent? (John Throop, “Preachin= g on the Lessons,” The Clergy Journal, October 2004, p. 41)

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An= d, what if we do not have to be saints on our own?= (Throop) The Corinthia= ns are told by Paul that, together, they are not lacking in any spiritual gift. We, too, in this congregation, hav= e all the gifts that we need to be church, though I daresay that some of us hide = our gifts well. Maybe you are one= who is scared to step out…maybe you feel you aren’t good enough…maybe you are just waiting to be asked. Let me encourage you…donR= 17;t wait to be asked, and don’t wait to be “good enough.” Come talk to me, or one of our church’s leaders. We ar= e a church, a body of Christ, who is strengthened when each person here opens themselves to that nudge from God—a calling--and steps forward into o= ne of many ministry opportunities—maybe to pray for and care for people = both within and outside of our congregation; maybe to take some responsibility f= or our property or our worship services; maybe to sing in the choir or play be= lls; maybe to help with one of our church’s tsunami relief efforts; maybe = to deepen your faith through Bible study.&nbs= p;

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We= do these things together, and together are strengthened by God in the process. And when we do these things, we strengthen not only this particular body at First Presbyterian, = but also the body of Christ throughout our valley, and our nation, and the worl= d.

Conclusion. As we move into the Week of Prayer= for Christian Unity, let us be called into the fellowship of saints, together.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Let us be Christ-centered. Let us be called to recognize that= our unity comes through loving one another, through forgiving one another, and through serving together in the name of Jesus Christ.

January 16, 2005

Rev. Dave Hedgepeth

First Presbyterian Church

Logan, Utah