Experiencing The Spirit: Unifier - Ephesians 4:1-6

The commercial was from the 1980’s and opened with a guy gluing his helmet to a steel girder and hanging there swinging with it holding all his weight.  The pitch following that stunt that I don’t know as I would try, the pitch was, “…it bonds almost anything...a plastic knob, a plastic plug, a rubber boot, a metal broach, a fishing rod, a cycle grip, model planes and model trains, a door knob screw, a flashlight case, broken trim on any car….”  What was the product?  That’s right…Krazy Glue…or, thanks to The Lego Movie, “Kra..gl….”

We have experienced the Holy Spirit as the “wind of God” or the “breath of God,” bringing new life wherever it is found…with it is the birth of our world, the birth of humanity, the birth of Jesus’ ministry, the birth of the disciples’ mission, and the birth of the church…new life erupting anywhere it is present.

We have experienced the Holy Spirit as water and fire…the water of our baptism binding us to Christ, removing our sin, and placing Christ’s righteousness upon us…baptized by fire whether it is being confronted with our own sin, facing the consequences of our decisions, or enduring difficult situations…we feel the chaff of our sin being burnt away as God makes us holy and shapes us more fully into the image of Christ.

We have experienced the Holy Spirit as oil…marked and set apart by God for His purposes.  We are given the task of “[bringing] good news to the oppressed, [binding] up the brokenhearted, [proclaiming] liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; [proclaiming] the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; [comforting] all who mourn; [providing] for those who mourn in Zion—[giving] them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.”

Last week we experienced the Holy Spirit as Light…the Light of God that exposes our sin, that reveals our need for a Savior, that shines forth God’s grace, and that leads us in the direction that God would have us go.

Now we gather to experience the Spirit as a “unifier.”  I know that everyone is sitting there and wondering what in the world a “unifier” might be.  It is that which unifies us, that which unites us, that which binds us together, that which glues us together stronger than any Krazy Glue.

We live in a world that is very fractured.  We are divided in so many different ways.  We are divided along national lines and ethnic backgrounds.  We are divided by age.  We are divided by gender.  We are divided by social class.  We are divided by educational levels.  We are divided by regionalism.  We are divided by political alliances and over social issues.  We have social networks which are supposed to help bring us together, but in many ways further isolate us and separate us from one another as we claim “connection” but live in isolation, or online arguments explode without facial expression and eye to eye contact available to diffuse or temper the situation.  We are told and taught and believe that a “my way or the high way” attitude is a good thing to have and if folks don’t like what we like, think what we think, dress like we dress, talk like we talk, then they need to go somewhere else.  We have readily seen this division take center stage in places like Ferguson, Baltimore, Walkerton, Greshem, and Richland.

Sadly, all of this division has infiltrated God’s Church, where we find ourselves resembling life after the Tower of Babel more than the Church after the Holy Spirit’s entrance at Pentecost.  We see God’s Church split into almost more denominations and churches within denominations than there are grains of sand on the beach.  We see divisions within congregations over everything from social and political issues, to support of the pastor, to the style of music, to the frequency of communion, to the length of service, to the ministries offered, to how funds are spent, to the color of the carpet in the sanctuary or the type of grass in the front yard. Probably among the worst of all is the fact that sixty-one years after schools were desegregated that the time of worship remains in many places the most segregated weekly event in the United States.  This is not God’s desire or design and what we find in God’s Word makes that clear.

The confusion of language and the division of earth’s people at the Tower of Babel was the result of our sin—the consequence of sin, not part of God’s original design.  To emphasize the forgiveness of sin and the restoration of God’s design following the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, we read that as God’s Spirit was poured out upon His followers at Pentecost and that despite the many native languages and ethnicities in Jerusalem on that Day of Pentecost, all heard the message of the Disciples in a common language.

Paul’s correspondence with the churches of the region over and over again emphasizes God’s desire for His people to come together in true unity:

·      Romans 12:3-5:  For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.  (Later in Romans Paul takes on those who are strong in the faith and again warns them against the arrogance of thinking themselves more than they should, telling them that they should compromise their own actions for the sake of those who are new to or are weak in the faith.)

·      1^st Corinthians 10:17: Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.

·      Galatians 3:28:  There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

·      Colossians 3:11: In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!

It all seems to culminate in Ephesians where Paul first writes:

·      Ephesians 2:11-22:  So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called “the uncircumcision” by those who are called “the circumcision”—a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands—remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.

And then in the almost doxological statement found in our reading today:

·      I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

Over and over and over again Paul stresses that God’s design for His people is that they come together and live in unity with one another.  Central to the unity of God’s people in Paul’s plea is the role of the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit of God, which is also the Spirit of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, is poured out upon the people of God for the purpose of not only uniting us with Christ, as we considered with Baptism, but also for the purpose of uniting and binding us together as one body.  The Spirit draws us together, unites us, and binds us to one another into the living presence of the Body of Christ.

When we make the decision to follow the world and divide ourselves into different groups based on skin color, language, politics, financial resources, intellectual levels, gender, disagreements, or any other basis, it is like we are pouring acetone (the prime ingredient in fingernail polish remover—known to dissolve the adhesiveness of Krazy Glue) over the Body of Christ, seeking to dissolve the adhesiveness of the Spirit of God and break it apart again.

My brothers and sisters, we cannot continue to break up the body…the Spirit brings us together for the sake of continuing to build up the body, not pull it apart.  We must honor and respect the unifying work of the Spirit and seek to live in peace and harmony and unity with one another and all the children of God.  That means embracing those who are different from us as brothers and sisters.  How do we allow the Spirit to bind us together in this way?

Elsewhere (Romans 12:28) Paul says, “If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”  How do we allow the binding of the Spirit to hold us together? It begins with each one of us making the effort to live in peace with one another.

Maybe it means that we make the intentional decision that we will refuse to listen to anyone telling a joke that makes fun of someone from a different ethnic group.  Maybe it is to self-police ourselves in order to ensure that we do not use language or phrases that belittle someone else or a group of people.  Maybe it means that we confront in love those around us who talk in a way that puts down people who are not like us.

Maybe it means that we remember that our calling of Jesus as not only Savior but also Lord, means our allegiance is to God, not to a particular political party, social organization, or even nation.

Perhaps we are called to go further.

Maybe we intentionally work to ensure that we surround ourselves with a community of friends and acquaintances that are as diverse as the community in which we live.  Maybe we ensure that the folks we invite and welcome to worship with us and fellowship with us reflect the community around us.

Maybe rather than grumble about folks not learning our language and accepting our culture, we make an effort to learn their language and about their culture.

Maybe rather than close our ears and refuse to listen to folks whose ideas and opinions differ from our own, we commit ourselves to entering into dialogue with them.

Maybe rather than harbor grudges and grievances toward others, we offer grace and forgiveness.

Maybe it is surrendering our wills to the Will of God and allowing the Holy Spirit to truly bind us into the Body of Christ with such adhesion that the world cannot separate us, but sees in us the One whose Spirit binds us…Jesus.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.