Arise and Be United
John 17:20-26
May 19, 20, 2007

Today we are concluding an Easter season sermon series. The theme for the messages has been based on a phrase that we often hear as people emerge from the waters of baptism: "Arise and Walk in the Newness of Life!" We have been listening for God's words to us through words in the Gospel of John. We have been thinking about different dimensions of discipleship. What does it mean to walk in the "newness of life?" What does it mean to be a disciple of Christ? We have reflected upon various facets of being a follower of Jesus. The lectionary texts have provided some important reminders. We are invited to "Arise and Believe." We are challenged to "Arise and Follow." Of course, following Jesus is not enough-we also need to pay attention to him-"Arise and Listen."

But words heard and received also fall short, so we are called to "Arise and Love One Another." Today's lesson deepens the demands for discipleship. "Arise and Be United." We know all too well that pulling that off is much easier said than done.

THE PASSAGE WE HAVE HEARD FROM JOHN 17 IS A PART OF WHAT SHOULD BE CALLED THE "REAL LORD'S PRAYER." After 20 centuries, this would be a hard habit to break! But the prayer we pray together every week in worship should probably be called "The Disciple's Prayer." Jesus' closest followers yearned for a prayer of their own. And Jesus gave them some of the most meaningful words that have ever been offered-words that have stood the test of time. And yet, here in John 17 is Jesus' own prayer. Do you remember the context for the prayer? If we lose sight of the circumstances, we will lose a sense of the tremendous passion and intensity of his words.

On the eve of his betrayal and death, Jesus pleads with God. After praying for himself, he prays for his disciples. He is leaving the future of the Church in the hands of his followers and friends-that's a scary thought-because some of them still didn't get it! And then he offers a special prayer for future believers-and that's where we come in! He pleads with God that we may experience the "unity of love" as the bond that binds us together. And he knows that we cannot pull this off by ourselves! He prays that the gift of the Spirit will make us one. This unity is absolutely crucial, because Jesus identifies it as the characteristic which will probably be the most effective witness in the world. The "real" Lord's Prayer gives the Church a sense of identity-one God, one Spirit, and one mission-to proclaim God's love to the world.

"ARISE, AND BE UNITED!" Unfortunately, we know that is much easier prayed than practiced. One night a high school student came home from the youth choir practice earlier than usual. Her dad wondered, "What brings you back so soon?" She said, "We had to call off choir practice this week." "The organist and the choir director got into a terrible argument about how to sing, 'Let there be Peace on Earth.'" "So we quit for tonight." I also chuckled at a recent story in the newspaper that the Associated Press was circulating. The headline read: "Religious Tolerance Misses Goal."

You'll love this one. In Oslo, Sweden, there was a conference to promote interfaith dialogue between Muslims and Christians. As a part of the conference, somebody had the great idea that they should have a little fun together-a bit of recreation at the end of their meetings. So they arranged for a soccer game between Muslim imams and Christian priests. Unfortunately, the imams didn't get a kick out of this. Their beliefs prohibit them from being in close contact with strange women. And there were some strange women on the mixed-gender team of priests. Trying to compromise, the priests forfeited their females from their team. But the captain of the priests cried, "Foul!" He walked out in protest. Organizers of the event blew the whistle on the contested contest and canceled it. Ironically, the conference theme was "Shoulder to Shoulder." Unfortunately, it became "Shoulder to Cold Shoulder."

Blessed be the ties that bind, our hearts in human love! But we can't even play soccer together! How are we ever going to become united in the church, or with people of other faiths, or with people of no faith at all? Two well-recognized religious figures have been in the news this past week. One was the Pope, who has written a new book about Jesus. I really appreciated his comments in the preface of the book. He says that the contents are not "official church teaching, but merely an expression of his personal search" for Jesus. Millions of people believe that the Pope's words are God's words-but here he is-inviting people to contradict him. This is wonderful-and invitation to build bridges through dialogue!

On the other hand, there was another story about the Pope heading to Brazil because of great concern that the Catholic Church is losing members to evangelical and Pentecostal churches. What's the subtle message here? Is it possible that in Vatican City there is the belief that other expressions of Christianity are lesser expressions? The other figure in the news was Jerry Falwell, who passed away last week. The headline in USA TODAY was oxymoronic-they described him as a uniter and a divider-and he was! But isn't that a challenge for all people of faith? The more convicted we become about a set of beliefs or a certain theological perspective-the more likely it is that we will bring people together who agree with us. And yet what often happens is that we also build walls to keep out those who don't!

Can we play soccer together? Can we play Church together? Can we become united?

I confess that I even experienced a Freudian typographical error as I was preparing this sermon. I meant to keyboard the phrase, "Arise and be united!" But I made a mistake. And my computer spell-checker didn't catch it because my mistake was a real word. It was only after a close reading of my notes that I noticed it. I accidentally transposed the "I" and the "T" in the word "united." You'll quickly figure out what my new sermon title was: "Arise and Be Untied!" Whoops! I hurriedly began to make the correction… But then, for some reason, I stopped. I stared at the phrase. The words began to roll around in my heart and head. Perhaps the Spirit was nudging me a bit, pointing me in a new direction? I don't know. I was fighting against it-the phrase didn't fit with my neat little, five-step discipleship plan.

And yet, the "mistake" may be one of the most important steps? Before we can become united, maybe we have to "arise-and be untied?" Now, help me here-think about the possibilities-untied from what? Untied from stereotypes? Untied from being judgmental? Untied from egotism? Untied from prejudices? Untied from racism? Untied from sectarianism? Untied from denominationalism? Untied from nationalism? Untied from profiling? Untied from ignorance? Untied from apathy? Untied from pride? Untied from elitism? Untied from certain theological or political points of view? Is it possible that before we can "arise and be united…" Before we can sing "blessed be the ties that bind our hearts in human love…" We have to get down on our knees and pray, "Dear God, forgive us for the ties that bind our hearts and keep us from being the people you want us to be." "Forgive us for the ties that blind us from loving other people." "Spirit of God, unleash us, set us free, break the chains, lift us up! "Untie us-so that we can arise and be united."

SO, WHERE DO WE BEGIN? Some of it has to do with educating ourselves about our differences and working together to find common ground. I have been so pleased with the response we have had to the World Religions class that Duncan Ferguson has started. Over half of our adult Sunday School classes are participating. And I may be over-interpreting the response, but I think people are hungry to learn about other faiths. This weekend he is talking about "radical" Islam-which is much different than Islam. I think most of us realize that "radical" anything-Islam, Christianity, whatever-eventually divides and destroys, rather than unites and unifies.

In his book Channeling Grace, Carl Jech, recognizes the frustration of trying to bring about religious unity through doctrinal, philosophical or theological dialogue. But he has found that a great many people have latched on to the Golden Rule as the ultimate expression of their faith. It is provocative and inspiring to discover the remarkable universality of this ethical principle. In Hinduism it is stated like this: "Those gifted with intelligence should always treat others as they themselves wish to be treated." The Shinto version is: "The suffering of others is my suffering; the good of others is my good." In Buddhism it is: "People can minister to friends and familiars by treating them as they treat themselves." Taoists say: "Regard your neighbor's gain as your own gain and regard your neighbor's loss as your own loss." In Islam: "No one is a believer until they love for others what they love for themselves." For Sikhs it is: "As thou deemest thyself so deem others; then shalt thou become a partner in heaven." In Confucianism and Zoroastrianism, the rule is stated "Do not unto others what you would not they should do unto you." The Jewish equivalent in Leviticus 19:18 is: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Perhaps it is difficult to measure or identify, but there seems to be a growing sense of awareness that we are one people on one planet? Maybe it has something to do with environmental concerns and questions about global warming? Could it be that we are beginning to develop a sense of common destiny? In the language of bumper-sticker philosophy, maybe we are beginning to see that we must "think globally and act locally." Perhaps one of our greatest challenges has been to distinguish Jesus' prayer for unity and our own concept of "hegemony." Hegemony refers to the situation where only one way of thinking, one way of seeing, is allowed and accepted-exclusive viewpoints. Could it be that Jesus did not come to establish the hegemony of the Church? Is it possible that he wanted the church to recognize that its purpose is to embrace one humanity? Could it be that it is Jesus who wants us united-not just as Christians, not just as people of faith, but as one family on this precious planet we call "Earth?" I may be wrong here, but is it possible that God never intended our boundaries to be less than the whole world?

If that is the case then God must love revelations like these from a crew of astronauts who came from different places around the world. One of them said, "When we were in space, the first day or so we all pointed to our countries." "The third or fourth day we were pointing to our continents." "By the fifth day we were aware of only one Earth." Friends, that is a God's-eye view of our planet. We are in this together-we are all connected.

Author Nikos Kazantzakis describes an experience of returning to his native Crete. As he walked along, an elderly woman passed by, carrying a basket of figs. He writes: "She stopped and lifted the fig leaves which covered the basket." "She picked out two and presented them to me." "I wondered, 'Do you know me?'" "She glanced at me in amazement." "No, my boy-do I have to know you to give you something?" "You are a human being, aren't you?" "So am I…isn't that enough?'" You are a human being-isn't that enough? You are a child, I am a parent. I am a child, you are a parent. You are a mother, I am a father. We are brothers and sisters…that's enough. "I am your God, you are my people…that's enough." "Arise, and be untied!" "Arise, and be united…."