Easter 7 A + One in the Spirit + 5.17.26

M. Campbell-Langdell

All Santos, Oxnard

Easter 7 A + 5.17.26

(Acts 1:6-14; Psalm 68:1-10, 33-36; 1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11; John 17:1-11)

 

“We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord

And we pray that all unity may one day be restored

And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love

They will know we are Christians by our love…”

This is from the well-known song “They’ll Know we are Christians,” beloved by our Dave Matthews and many here at church.

Christian unity is a favorite topic for hymns and praise songs, but it is hard! With all the division in our world, it is hard indeed to find places of true Christian unity. I have now attended two meetings of the African American Church Council in our area, and I was impressed by how unity is their singular goal.

In today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we see the Ascension of Jesus, an event we marked this past Thursday. Jesus has departed physically, and he is no longer in our presence. He has left us with his Spirit, about whom we hear more in the week to come at the celebration of Pentecost. But the gospel of John also says that he has left us here on earth, along with his Spirit. To be his hands and feet in the world. We heard about that a couple of weeks back from Sheila, Diocesan President of the Daughters of the King – that we must be Christ’s hands and feet in the world (of course, this is a paraphrase of a quote from Teresa of Avila).

But it’s hard. Because we don’t always remember which club we belong to.

To explain, I was in a sermon brainstorming group this week, and my friend Aleese mentioned that she saw her Dad, a huge Cubs fan, getting ready for a game. That man was dressed head to toe in Cubs gear. She said there was no mistaking which team he was rooting for. She said, for us as Christians, who are we rooting for and how do we show it?

Of course, we can wear crosses and religious-themed t-shirts and so on, but do our actions show that we are Jesus followers? I must admit that I wonder if anyone who broke into the homes of immigrant activists early Wednesday morning identifies as a Christian? If so, it must have broken their hearts to act in a way so different from the loving way that Christians should be. Because we belong to each other. It is painful to hear about community members being treated in this way.

Another person told me this week that, to be part of the Jesus fan club, we must belong to one another. For me, this means not being blind to each other’s pain. The reading from First Peter today is all about enduring hardships. But you may ask me how we can do this. How can we see suffering in the world without getting overwhelmed by it all? Yes, we must be open to the world's pain, but we must not let it overwhelm us. As one stronger than I said it this week, “they want to intimidate us – it's not going to work!” This was in a specific context, but I think it relates to how we see the world in general. It is so important not to be overcome by all the events because that leads to isolation. Isolation is a necessary self-defense mechanism we need to engage in from time to time, but we then need to re-enter the world just enough to help heal it. So, let the pain of your sibling come to you, then place it in God’s hands, and remember Jesus’ sweet words today. He says: “Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.” By this we know that God wishes to protect God’s children.

So let us place the pain of the world in God’s hands, knowing that God is sustaining and caring for all of us. The Spirit will not leave us comfortless, as we heard last week. We have a Defender. If we know this, if we hold onto this, then we can take one step, take one small action for the good of the world. For the good of our siblings in faith. We can’t do everything. But as we say with the Daughters of the King, we can do something. Lord, what will you have me do?
This is good news, not just for those who appear to be in physical pain. It is also good news for all of us. We are on God’s team. We can’t do everything, but with the help of the Spirit, we will see a positive change. We have faith in that. When we work together.

To conclude, we must recall that unity does not mean uniformity. God made us marvelously different. We don’t have to be the same, nor should we be. That is why we in the church delight in God’s diversity made manifest in our world. For this reason, we continue to invite our friends and neighbors to church, even those who may not consider themselves church-goers, because we are in the world but not of the world at the same time.

And we gather at this table.

At this table, we are united. At this table, we are strong. At this table, the powers of the world don’t have the last word. God does! At this table, we remember that we have a Helper, an Advocate who is with us today and every day.

Amen.