Isaiah 9:1-4 (paraphrased from the NRSV)
But there will be no gloom for those who were in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep Darkness—on them light has shined. You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as people exult when dividing plunder. For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.
1 Corinthians 1:10-18
Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. What I mean is that each of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power. For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Matthew 4:12-23
Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.” From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him. Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.
Before I begin, I would like to lay a little ground work with you all. And in order to do so, I need you to do an exercise with me, building on last week’s sermon and recognizing that we live in a community of great diversity, even though on the surface we may look alike. Find a partner. I am going to ask you a couple of questions.
Think of a time when you were an ally to someone who was different from you—in race, in class, in mental or physical abilities, etc. Think of a time, in other words, when you stood up for someone who was in that moment unable to stand up for themselves.
Now this is the harder one: think of a time when you had an opportunity to stand up for someone but did not.
That feeling you get when you know that if you had it to do over again you would do it differently, or you wish you had the courage to do it differently: that is the point of the Gospel lesson this morning. The exact moment at which Matthew picks up the Gospel story is the moment when Jesus picks up John's prophetic ministry and makes it his own. Jesus' call is to repent, for God's reign is near. This was the message of the prophets; it was John's message before his arrest. This becomes Jesus' message and the church's message of good news across time. Repent and the Kindom of God will be yours.
We here at OPUCC, and in the UCC in general, are people who have been Catholic, Baptist, Pentecostal, Presbyticostal, Methodist, Lutheran, and all manner of other denominations, and to varying degrees the word REPENT has been used in a less than favorable way. It is, therefore, not easy in communities like ours to talk about repentance. No one wants to be told by someone else to repent. And so it is a word that is largely absent from progressive theology.
Repentance means simply to become aware of one’s present course in life. And if our behavior is in fact shutting down the opportunity for closer connection with God or with others, we are invited to consciously make the effort to shift gears and head in another direction. Now the word of course has been used by Christians to hurt other Christians. The word takes on particularly oppressive overtones when it is used in conjunction with a particular set of teachings on sin and morality. I believe, however, that to dismiss the word because it has been used to do damage to Christians by Christians, is to have missed the point.
To become so self righteous in our progressivism as to think that the word repent does not apply to us is a load of hooey. There is not a one among us who has outgrown the need to engage in honest self evaluation; to choose, choose and rechoose, paths that lead us back into right relationship with ourselves, with God and with one another. Daily repentance followed by action is a healthy spiritual discipline. Why wait for a twelve step program of the Landmark Forum to tell us to make reparations with people whom we have wronged? The Gospel says it over and over again. Do it every day, do it continuously. Evaluate, discern discord, and if at all possible repair. That is repentance. We will have lots of chances to explore repentance throughout Lent.
So now to the title topic of the sermon. Last week I promised a proper exploration of the topic of unity. You know when you were a kid and you used to say a word over and over again until it didn’t make sense anymore? That’s kind of my experience with this word: the more I focus on it, the more elusive understanding becomes. Given the world in which we live it is little wonder that it is a seemingly impossible concept to grasp.
Take, for example, the Presidential Inauguration this past week. Here we have a country technically united under a common flag, and yet it is full of people who are deeply divided over the country's chosen leader, and over the appropriateness or lack thereof of a 40 million dollar celebration for a president elected to serve a second term. “Sure, he should have gone ahead with it—he earned it,” say some, and they have a point. Others would argue that our military's inability to feel adequately equipped to protect themselves in the face of a battle left over from the first term ought to be of more concern to a returning President than what he should wear to a fancy dinner and who might or might not be on the guest list. Still others might argue that a President professing to have such strong positions on matters of faith and morality seems to have lost sight of the Gospel imperative to cloth the poor, feed the hungry and care for the sick. I doubt anyone who spent several thousands dollars to have a seat at the Inaugural Banquet would have gone hungry if not for the foie gras dished up on the Presidential china. Perhaps a more unifying choice would have been to forgo the festivities and put the money where it might really have made a difference. Same country, same flag, a whole lot a differing opinions. Forced unity in this context would amount to a loss of democracy. The thought of it feels a little reminiscent of Nazi Germany. No, in this country we are blessed with the privilege to disagree.
That brings us to Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, a letter that artfully extols the virtues of unity and oneness in Christ. Well, I don’t need to tell you that feuding amongst Christian is an ongoing issue—nor do I need to tell you that division is ensconced in the very foundation of Christianity. One might even go so far as to say that the one thing Paul worked so hard to avoid has become Christianity’s distinguishing mark: not love, not compassion, but disunity. Let’s look at Paul’s letter for a moment. Paul had a formula, and it went something like this; a gracious salutation, followed by an affirmation of spiritual gifts, and then some inspirational platitudes designed to strengthen the personal testimony of commitment to Christ Jesus. And it worked every time—at least that is what the Bible tells us; and judging from the endurance of the churches that Paul founded he was sure doing something right.
His letter opens on a positive note and draws the reader into the message, stirring up anticipation and excitement about the affirmations to come. We can imagine at the onset of a letter like this, folks are kind of giggly, saying he likes us, he really likes us. But today’s reader knows that Paul’s letter is intended as much more than a pep talk to our friendly Corinthians. What is about to happen is an official “Early Christian Father Smackdown.” One, two, one, two, and before you know it Paul is telling these folks they had better get their acts together, cause this division thing isn't cutting it. “The hostile quarreling and jostling for prestige that Paul finds among the church of Corinth is perplexing and upsetting (to him). The community is not sharing a common vision.”
They are acting as sisters and brothers in name only, and are not yet comfortable with the notion that following Christ means welcoming everyone you meet along the way to be a part of the family. Jesus speaks of a discipleship of equals. No one is more faith-privileged than another. In the realm of God that Jesus proclaimed, everyone is entitled to a seat at ONE table. There are no kiddie tables in Jesus’ living room, just one table big enough for us all. The Corinthians had not yet embraced the big picture. So, Paul appealed to them to lay aside dissension and become united in the mind and soul of true koinonia (fellowship). “Division” in Greek is schisma, “restored” in Greek is katartizo. Paul appeals to the church at Corinth to be restored in the name of Christ.
We know from previous writings of Paul found in Acts that there were plenty theological issues that divided followers of Paul, Peter, and James, the brother of Jesus. The divisions involved questions over whether all Christians should follow Jewish dietary customs, be circumcised, and refrain from sacrificing burnt offerings to idols. Amidst all these issues, they chose unity in the name of Christ. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians can be summed up in one line, “Let all that you do be done in love.” (16:14, NRSV)
The 18-25th of January is traditionally set aside in the Christian calender as a week to celebrate Christian Unity. Last night was a beautiful slice of unity. If someone had told me when Katie and I arrived in Princeton one year ago—if you recall I started with Open Prairie the first Sunday in February, and we were unpacking boxes this time last year—if someone had told me that one year later, there would be folks from the Baptist church, the Methodist church, from Hampshire Colony and more, I would have said well, that’s pretty optimistic. But look what a year has done! Last night we all came together and offered our very best on behalf of someone else. For the people in Southeast Asia we raised over $2,000 together. That gives me a lot of hope. I am proud of you, Open Prairie; you are doing a great job. Paul’s message is of vital importance to us today, as we continue to find our way as a new church. He said, “be united in the same mind and the same purpose,” be united in love, serve God and serve one another. You are doing it, Open Prairie. Keep up the good work!
Amen