Resurrecting Hope Part 4 - A Deeper Dive
Message Recap
This week Pastor Don concluded the sermon series Resurrecting Hope with a message entitled Hope for Unity. During the previous three weeks, we’ve looked at how the resurrection of Jesus gives us hope. We learned that Mary Magdalene’s shock from finding an empty tomb turned to hope when she saw firsthand that Jesus was alive. We learned that even though Peter denied Jesus three times, the love and grace of the resurrected Christ restored Peter’s hope in a repaired relationship. And we all find hope in knowing Jesus made it a priority to reveal himself to common ordinary believers before he appeared to his chosen eleven. We have hope because Jesus lives. In the final message of this series, we consider how the resurrection of Jesus gives us hope for unity.
As a person comes to the end of their life, they often don’t regret the trips not taken, the possessions not acquired, or the projects not completed. Instead, they wish they had spent more time with friends and family. They wish they had repaired broken relationships. Family and relationships are of utmost importance in the end.
When Jesus prays in Gethsemane on the night of his arrest, he first acknowledges that his time has come to an end. He knows what is about to happen and even asks God to “take this cup” if that is God’s will. In these final moments, facing what he knows will be a horrific end to his life, Jesus begins to pray for others. First, he asks for blessings on the ministry he leaves behind and the disciples who will carry his message forward. Next, he prays for the believers who have chosen to follow him.
“20 My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
He prays for not only the present believers but all those who will come to believe in him through the message of his disciples. He prays that all believers - past, present, and future - find complete unity in him, just as he is unified with the Father. Once that unity is achieved, the world will know Jesus is the son of God.
When we look at our world today, do we see the unity Jesus prayed for? Do we see attempts to create that unity? God gave us free will, and as an imperfect creation, we find ourselves fractured. We are divided along racial and ideological lines. Even within the body of believers that share so much in common, there are divisions caused by differences in theological interpretation. Yet, despite all of this division, God loves every one of us. God’s love doesn’t depend on where we’re from, what we look like, or how we worship. No one is out of reach of the love of the Father. In fact, God loves us so much that he was willing to give the world his one and only son. Jesus came to bring unity under God’s love.
Pastor and writer A.W. Tozer wrote,
“Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow”
While a tuning fork might seem like an outdated reference, the analogy between tuning instruments to a single standard note and placing Jesus at the center of all we do is a good one. When individuals within the body of Christ focus on the message of Jesus, they are automatically closer to one another. They are united by the message of God’s love and grace.
Unity does not mean uniformity. The resurrection hope of the world is not predicated on every Christian looking the same, acting the same, or practicing the same. Instead, we work in concert with one another because of one unifying factor. The tuning fork for us is God.
Unfortunately, the church has not fully fulfilled the hope Jesus prayed for. We have fallen into the trap of focusing on our differences rather than uniting around what we have in common. As a result, we often fail to be the beacon of hope for a dark and broken world. While we repeatedly proclaim our mission to love God and love others, non-believers often see the church as a group of hypocrites who are quick to judge others.
How do we become more unified in God’s love? Paul tells the Ephesians to be humble and gentle, to have patience, bearing with one another in love. Through the bond of peace, we will find the unity of the Spirit. Perhaps it’s time to take a step back and refamiliarize ourselves with the simplicity of the early church. That is the subject of this week’s Deeper Dive.
Unity and the Early Church
The Book of Acts offers one of the most powerful images of the early church:
“42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
Where was the focus of these early Christians? It was on teaching and fellowship, breaking bread together, and praying. They spent time together, not only in corporate worship, but they shared meals in their homes. And at all times, they praised God with glad and sincere hearts.
The scripture also says they “had everything in common.” Some are confused by this statement, trying to interpret it within our current political context by suggesting this is some form of socialism. With this statement, Luke, the author of the Book of Acts, points out that the early church is fulfilling Jesus’ wish for unity. Through the apostles’ teaching, the people receive a common message about Jesus. They followed a common goal to take care of people in need. They were living out the essence of Jesus’ command to love God and love others.
And what was the result? Their numbers grew. Non-believers could see the sincerity in the words and deeds of these early Christians. There was no division. Of course, we know the rest of the story. Maybe it was inevitable that division would occur as the church grew and spread across the world. Like the old game of telephone, the message of God’s love delivered by the apostles became misinterpreted as the message passed from one group to the next. Paul would spend much of his ministry attempting to resolve divisions within the churches he planted.
But isn’t it comforting to think back on the church described in the Book of Acts and long for the simplicity of worshiping, praying, and being in fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ? So instead of continuing to focus on divisive things like trying to prove that our interpretation is correct, shouldn’t we get back to the basics of loving God and loving others?