The Unity of the Spirit
THE SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
Many important and foundational themes run through the Liturgy we have inherited from our forefathers, the service for Holy Communion, which we are celebrating this morning. The Liturgy we have inherited in the Book of Common Prayer is not only the form by which we worship God in common but serves as a teacher as well, catechizing us in the great tradition of the Christian faith.
"Teach us to pray" is the request of every serious disciple of Jesus. Through the Book of Common Prayer, Mother Church teaches her children how to pray correctly. Our prayers and liturgies passed down to us through the centuries are rooted in scripture and grounded in apostolic orthodoxy. Liturgy forms prayer and establishes doctrinal boundaries to safeguard our common worship from heterodoxy or, God forbid, heresy. Liturgy makes her children better theologians as we learn to pray the faith we profess.
Liturgy helps us to pray rightly. That's the second time I've made this point to which some of you might be thinking, "Why would Fr. Michael classify prayer as either right or wrong? Lordy Vicar that seems slightly pharisaical. Is God grading my prayers? I'm I capable of wrongly praying? Aren't my authentic and heartfelt words acceptable? Goodness, do I have to take a class in professional prayer?" No, you don't.
These are all fair questions and a reasonable reaction to my putting forth the idea of 'praying correctly' if the primary lens one filters prayer, spirituality, worship, and Christianity through is the lens of individualism, not the corporate. Was anyone here NOT born into a relationship with someone else?
I know I may be on thin ice here in the current philosophical and metaphysical climate we find ourselves in, but I presume we all had a mother. I was born into a family, an existing community comprised of parents and siblings. From my first breath, I was "in relation" to others. Even before taking its first breath, a child in utero is literally tied to its mother: human existence necessitates community.
And this was God's plan from eternity, that humanity would enjoy communion instead of autonomy and loneliness. Consider Adam, whose first conscience thought of himself was being alone. In Genesis Chapter two, Moses tells us that in response to man's aloneness, God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him." So from the earth, God made all sorts of animals and birds to be Adam's companions, but none of them, according to the scriptures, was a 'helper' or companion, fit for him (Gen 2:20).
And because God loved Adam and desired for him to be whole and happy, he gave him a fit and indispensable companion, the woman, a creature like him yet distinctly different; a beautiful creature who supplied all that was lacking in the man. Together, constituting the image of God, humanity was complete; whole; fulfilled through the gift of the other. The man and woman fulfilled through perfect union with each other and their God.
By Divine design, to be a human is to be in communion. But the fall frustrated the design. Sin ruptured union: between the man and the woman, between man and the creation, and finally, severed man's union to his God. Thus, we are born into a people, a community, a family, but these are imperfect. And every child born is a miracle of God, who brings life from the womb. Being sons and daughters of Adam, we are like our parents before us, who dwell outside of the Garden, estranged from God, far from him, hiding in the shrubs and bushes. We rejected God's law and became a law unto ourselves.
St. Paul puts it this way in his epistle to the Ephesians, "you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world; we were by nature children of wrath." (Eph 2:1-2) In Romans, Paul calls this walking according to the flesh with hostility towards God. Think of it as willingly walking, as fast as one can, in the direct opposite direction of God, heading the call of the world walking, running after earthly and self-determined desires.
But God has mercifully sent a divine calling from heaven, the calling of God unto salvation through faith in His only Son Jesus Christ. Through His church, God is calling every rebel-sinner to return home; to receive the forgiveness of sins; to be clothed with the robe of righteousness (a righteousness not of ourselves), and inherit a kingdom- an eternal kingdom of riches and blessings.
Think about it: God made the world and everything in it. And instead of worshipping him and giving thanks for their very existence, they turned on Him, worshipped everything but Him, and thumbed their nose at his every word. And yet, God calls sinners to repentance and salvation. Just as he was within his rights to destroy Adam and Eve in their transgression, so too would he be justified in doing the same to everyone who breaks his laws. And yet, he doesn't; he calls.
Have you ever contemplated the forbearance and mercy of God? Or do we have such an optimistic and high view of self that the thought of God ever finding anything wrong or sinful in us is absurd? We have a far more optimistic view of ourselves than we should and a far lower opinion of God's holiness than is helpful. No one, according to scripture, is born loving God; certainly not more than self.
All are born into Adam and at enmity with God; this is the sure witness of Holy Scripture. No one is born deserving of the Kingdom of Heaven because humanity forfeited their rightful claim to their inheritance when they gave up an entire garden for a single tree. Like Ishmael, who gave up his birthright for a cup of stew.
Dear Christian, do you see how gracious and loving God is who calls his enemies and offers more than a truce, but victory over sin and death, and into the blessing of Himself? So don't be so quick to read past Paul when he reminds us today that we have been called, for the call of God is the initiating love of God to save sinners. Not because of anything we have done, or yet to do; or for any merit or worth we may possess, but purely because he loves us and is faithful to his promise made to Abraham: to call a people out of the world; to bring a people forth from the nations beyond numbering; to be their God and they his people. All of this is God's doing, and it is marvelous in our sight!
The call of God is an invitation to union, a return to the One we deserted. The call is answered by belief, by exercising faith and turning from our sin and coming to the waters of baptism, to the fount of regeneration where we are born again through water the Spirit who hovers the waters and recreates our disfigured chaotic hearts into hearts of flesh; the Spirit of God takes residence in the soul, bringing order to disorder. God comes to us in baptism; he sends us another comforter, a fit companion to make up for our deficiencies as he did for Adam; the Holy Spirit the comforter, our indispensable companion, who is making us wholly human again.
In the ceremony of Holy Matrimony, the priest pronounces these words: "those whom God hath joined together, let no man put asunder." You see, it God who forms union not man. God is the God of communion, that nothing and no one should be alone, for it is not good. And we have been called into the union of our souls in the mystical marriage of Christ, and this is not a private affair, with each of us struggling to be first with God, but in union with one another through the Spirit.
And this brings us back to our common Liturgy, which God gives to his church to maintain unity. Because, what God has brought together, he intends to remain united. Common prayer and worship are given to a church to praise the God of our salvation with one voice and one heart. Together we are reminded of God's law which is our common duty; united in purpose, we lift up our hearts unto the Lord; with singleness of mind, we confess the one faith in through the catholic creeds and confess our failings to God and one another. And, being united in our human frailty, we stand humbly before God as a people in need of mercy and absolution.
Liturgy brings us together, uniting a peculiar and diverse group of people in the love and grace of God. For "there is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in 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 you all." He in us and we in him: the mystical union of Christ with his church. The mystical communion of the saints in which the Spirit of God has drawn us because, in love, he called us to himself because he is the faithful bridegroom who will not abandon the Bride. "What God hath joined together, let no man put asunder."
On this 17th Sunday in Trinity-tide, let us heed the apostle's exhortation to "endeavor (or strive) to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." The unity of the Spirit, that is, the unity we enjoy within Christ’s Church, solely being the work of the Holy Spirit, is maintained by how we walk, which is a metaphor for conducting oneself as a member of God's family. We are to "walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called." Our lives, all that we think, say, and do, should accord with the Gospel of our salvation and reflecting Christ.
How then are we Christians to walk in accordance with our calling? With all lowliness. The lowly man walks in virtue because he reflects on the unwarranted salvation he has received from God's gracious hand. And, knowing that all is of grace, he humbles himself. The lowly man is a generous and grateful servant, and he puts others before self-saying, "friend go up higher." For he knows that he has done absolutely nothing to receive the blessings of God.
The lowly man is to be meek, displaying a gentleness with friend and foe alike, for it is possible for a lowly man to be angry and harsh; therefore, Paul adds meekness to the Christian walk. To these, he adds longsuffering and forbearing one another. To walk worthily is to extend grace and to be patient with others.
And when patience runs thin (and it does), we are to forebear one another or restrain ourselves from acting out of frustration or anger; just as God is patient with us and restrains his rightful judgment, so we are to suffer and bear with imperfect people as God deals with our imperfections. Doing all things in love, which is the grand summation of the Christian walk: we are to walk in love.
The apostle Paul tells us that Christian unity is the work and gift of the Holy Spirit, bringing together what man cannot. And yet unity can be fractured, even destroyed, so the apostle exhorts us to endeavor or work mightily to maintain the Spirit's unity through the bond of peace. Peace is the glue that binds; peace with God and peace with one another. For peace maintains unity.
And not simply that we are at peace, not simply that we love one another, but that we should be even as one soul and one body: like Adam and Eve, united humanity. What once was separated is now brought together by the calling of God and united in Christ by the Holy Spirit. Bound to one another- as Paul was bound as a prisoner in chains- through the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
But the bond of peace neither bruises the wrist nor cramps the hands. The bond of peace frees us to love one another as Christ loves. If bound to the weak, then may the stronger brother not let them perish. If tied to the sorrowful, then let the joyful lift them from the ashes. Brothers and sisters in Christ bound in peace to stay the course that all may walk according to the calling we have received.
Therefore beloved, I "beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." And remember, "What God hath joined together, let no man put asunder." Amen+
