Walking Together in Unity

Romans 15:4-6 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. ⁵ May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, ⁶ so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

In case you haven’t noticed, our nation is a little divided right now. 50% voted for one presidential candidate, 48% voted for the other candidate. And both political parties have pretty strong opinions about what is wrong and right about our nation’s future. We may call ourselves the United States of America, but, right now, that may be in name only.

So, what a blessing that we can leave politics at home and disparaging rhetoric to Facebook, so that we might come into God’s house this morning to celebrate our unity in the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. In the Greek language, the word synod means “walk together.” That’s a fitting picture for what we do as a national church body. We “walk together” with our fellow Lutheran brothers and sisters. We walk together in following Jesus. We walk together in our confessions of faith – the Creeds, Catechisms and Lutheran Confessions. We walk together being united in the doctrines and teachings of Scripture. And we walk together by working together on the same projects, toward the same goals.

But, sadly, like our fractured nation, we too often like to walk together separately. We see and experience this all the time in our church and church body. Parents get upset at their child’s teacher, trusting that their child is always telling the whole truth and not talking to the person whom God has called to teach that child. Members get upset with the pastor for something he has said or done, or not said or not done, so then they stop coming to church thinking they are punishing the pastor by doing that. Pastors criticize each others ministries and sermons, without talking to their brothers in the ministry. Churches do their own thing without considering how it might impact the other WELS churches in the area.

Satan loves division. He cherishes disagreement. He fosters displeasure. When divisions surface among like-minded Christians, success of God’s kingdom work is hindered – errors increase, quarrels become more passionate, confusion grows, and a spirit of condemnation ensues. When this happens, how many lose the foundation upon which their faith is built! When the poor world sees how disunited Christians are among themselves, it finds little reason to embrace the faith and is even comforted in rejecting it. Many are offended who might have been won over to Christianity.

How sad that members stop coming to church because of disagreements about the color of the carpeting or the cuts that have to be made in the church budget? How many souls have we hindered from ever entering our church or school doors because of the way we have denigrated our pastor, teachers or other members? How can we hope to stand before God one day when we have been guilty of discord and division within the Church?

Satan loves disunity! He relishes us walking together separately!

How necessary it is, then, that the Christian Church cultivate with the greatest care and zeal, peace and unity among its members! Paul strove for this Christian unity when he wrote to the Romans, who had been divided between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians over food restrictions, “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Christian unity always produces a blessing. God Himself works through the teaching of His Scriptures to produce this unity. “Unity” literally means “to think the same thing as each other.” Paul is asking the Lord God to give not just any kind of unity, not a unity based on a false hope or a false standard, but a unity that agrees with Christ Jesus and everything He says and stands for. A unity in agreement with Christ Jesus is a rock solid unity, and differences of opinion or diversity about styles cannot shake or damage such a unity.

This unity is built upon Jesus Christ. In perfect unity with the Father and the Spirit, from eternity, it was determined that the Son would enter our new world which had been plunged into division, disunity and discord. He is the Christ, the One anointed and set apart to obediently accomplish the Father’s will. He is the Savior, the One who removes the curse of sin’s condemnation. He is the Redeemer, the One who pays the price to secure freedom from Satan’s dominion. He is the Good Shepherd, the One who knows His sheep and brings them together into His sheepfold. He is the Victor, who subdues our enemies, so we don’t need to fear governments, economies, or persecutions. He is the Intercessor, who reconciles us sinners with our holy God.

We need an obedient Christ because of our lack of obedience. We need a powerful Savior because we are powerless. We need a faithful Redeemer because we are spiritually bankrupt. We need a loving Shepherd because we like to get lost and stray. We need an almighty Lord because we are weak and burdened. We need a calm Unifier because we are broken and fragmented.

We are united in Christ. Because it is through His sacrifice and resurrection, His Scriptures and Sacraments, and His working with the Holy Spirit, He creates unity between God and man, then unity between brothers and sisters in Christ, and then unity between Christian churches into a Synod.

Satan knows all too well what kind of power the Christian Church possesses when it is united in Christ. It not only bears fruit, but it also stands invincible against all of its enemies, conquering them and converting them. May we be united in our church and church body, in the same way the early Christians were united in Christ and His Scriptures. When the first Christian Church stood in blessed unity, Scripture said of its members, “And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied” (Acts 9:31). The Church also had “favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47).

How quickly the holy bond that binds Christians together can be torn apart! But how amazing and wonderful is the unity that we find in God’s Church when we walk together in Christ!

Christian unity always produces a blessing. Let me give you a few examples of the amazing blessings of that unity, from just this past week at Epiphany:

What a blessing to be at the hospital on Tuesday with Ryan and Amanda in welcoming their new baby, Alexandrea, into the world, for Jesus loves little children.

What a blessing to give chapel to our WLS children and teach confirmation class to our public school children because it is only through the Scriptures that they might have hope.

What a blessing to spend the past 10 weeks teaching God’s Word to our 10 adults who are joining our congregation this morning. They came to Epiphany for various reasons – their children or grandchildren attend our school, their spouse is a member, the church is just around the corner. But now they are staying and becoming members for other reasons, which they shared with me at our last class – because we don’t teach opinions, only the truth of God’s Word; because they desired the unity of a congregation, a church body, and a family of faith; because they get to hear about Jesus and only Jesus.

What a blessing to use water and the Word this morning for the private baptism of Mazen. Mazen was just recently brought out of the darkness of unbelief into the light of Christ through the Holy Spirit working through His Scriptures. For the 19 years of his life, Mazen had been an unbeliever. But his girlfriend, Hannah, brought him to Epiphany to worship and attend Bible studies with her. I asked Mazen the other day if he knew when he became a Christian. He said, “no,” but if he had to guess it was probably Easter. After being at every Holy Week worship service – seeing Jesus triumphantly enter Jerusalem as our King on Palm Sunday, solemnly offering His body and blood in the Lord’s Supper on Maundy Thursday, on Good Friday witnessing the darkness of the Savior dying on the cross for the sins of the world (and now Mazen beginning to believe that Jesus was also his Savior, on the cross for his sins), experiencing the reversal of that darkness in anticipation of the resurrection with the Easter Vigil, and then on Easter morning believing that Jesus had walked out of the grave and walked into his heart to raise him from the death of unbelief to a new life in the Risen Christ.

What a blessing to be with Vernie on Wednesday morning in her nursing home apartment to feed her faith with Word and Sacrament. During our conversation she told me with a deep sigh, “Pastor, I can’t see. I can’t hear.  I can’t walk. This is no way to live.” And in God’s amazing grace, this blessed 87 year-old saint now lies in a hospital bed at All Saints Hospital in hospice care. What a blessing to hold her hand on Friday morning, and though she is in a coma, read the 23^rd Psalm and “Abide with Me” to her, to pray with her and let her know that God was finally answering her prayers. The gates of heaven would soon be opening so that Christ’s angelic host could escort her home.

I share these ministry stories with you to let you know what walking together in Christ is all about. Having a grade school that is bursting at the seams so that we are looking to expand is amazing! Having a church that has grown by 25 new members since this summer is fantastic! Hearing 11 area Lutheran high schools sing God’s praises in their sacred concert this afternoon at Shoreland will be inspiring! Realizing that our pastors and teachers have been theologically trained because of the prayers, monies, efforts and support of Wisconsin Synod Lutherans like you around the United States is gratifying!

But this is what it is all about. This is why we support our church, grade school, high school, college, seminary and synod with our offerings, prayers and effort. It is about souls. It is about Christ. It is about Jesus Christ loving and coming for lost souls. It is about Jesus Christ bleeding and dying for sinful souls. It is about Jesus Christ washing and feeding these souls with His Sacraments. It is about Jesus Christ granting endurance and encouragement through the Scriptures to our souls. It is about Jesus Christ granting us a spirit of unity among ourselves as we follow Him. It is about standing together, praying together, singing together, praising together, confessing together, walking together so that with one heart and mouth we may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ – now and throughout eternity. Amen.