May 23, 2004

Seventh Sunday of Pentecost

Luke 24:44-53

"Getting Our Act Together"

     I have been singing with the First Church Senior Choir for three seasons now and have yet to be featured as a soloist!  Believe me, there's a good reason for that.  I'm not exactly soloist material, but I do like to sing, and when I have Matt Miller and Peter Hawkins beside me I can sometimes even hit the right note!  I'm a little concerned about next Sunday, though, Matt and Pete are going to be away.

     I sing better when I sing with other people.  Not only do they cover my sour notes, they give me the confidence I need to come in on time and on pitch.  For a choir to work well, each person adds their unique voice while listening to and blending with the other voices.

     I was very impressed last Sunday evening when the New England Chamber Choir and Orchestra performed here.  Not that I’m crazy about classical music, but I am impressed when I see so many fine musicians working so well together. 

     I would guess there were about fifty vocalists and twenty instrumentalists.  They watched the conductor and listened for each other. Youth and adult singers, woodwind, strings and brass players and percussionists came together beautifully.

     Diversity is essential in a choir or orchestra or a blues band for that matter.  Divisiveness, however, is a nightmare.  If an oboe player or guitarist or vocalist decides in the middle of a number to strike out on their own without regard for the conductor's lead or regard for their neighbor, there is chaos.  The whole band, choir or orchestra suffers.  The audience suffers.

     We have to work at working in concert like the musicians did last Sunday because our natural tendency is often to do our own thing.  That's why we need a good Conductor and need to be willing to follow his lead.

     Jesus wants us to find ways to work in concert, to work together productively, to live together peacefully.  The Good Lord made us wonderfully diverse but not with the intention that we be divisive.  We are designed in such a way that we can accomplish far greater things together than we can on our own.

     Today is Ascension Sunday and it marks the time when Jesus left this earth to be with the Father, entrusting the Good News of salvation to his small band of followers.  This was all new to them.  They hadn't been schooled for this and they had precious little training.  How were they going follow in the Lord's footsteps?  How could they possibly get it right?  Jesus knew they would be better off working it out together, each of them adding their unique voice to a chorus proclaiming salvation, so he prayed for them and all who would follow after them:

"I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one.  As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us."

     This afternoon, the New London Association of the United Church of Christ will meet for the spring meeting.  During that time, it's quite likely we’ll hear this verse from today's Gospel repeated.  It is, in fact, the motto of our United Church of Christ:

"That they may all be one."

It has appeared on the logo of the United Church of Christ for the past 47 years.

     These words have been around since the prayers of Christ, but I think they have special significance for the time we are living in now and I believe our United Church of Christ has a calling in this time to not only proclaim these words but to embody them.

     We live in a terribly divisive time.  There is conflict everywhere it seems.  We saw the wall between East and West Germany fall but now another one goes up between Israel and Palestine.  Intolerance pits one religion against another and millions are dying in wars and acts of terror around the globe.

     I wish I could say this divisiveness is limited to international politics, but of course, it isn't.  It's close to home.  It's in our homes, too.  And Christ's prayer sounds like so much wishful thinking:

"That they may all be one...O Lord...that they may all be one."

       It is Christ's wishful thinking.  It is the Lord's wish that we work on this, that we find a harmonious chorus and build peaceful community.  Our world is so fractured now.  Our world needs peace now. 

     So Jesus died for the sins of the world.  I think it's important to remember this.  Christians don't have exclusive rights to the mercy of God.  God loves all people.  Christians, of all people, should be embracing the world’s diversity, serving as ambassadors for peace.

     Our United Church of Christ celebrates diversity, welcomes into dialog people of all social, political, ethnic and religious backgrounds.  The UCC was founded on and has remained true to the belief that Jesus wants it this way, that all might be one, that bridges of understanding and compassion might be built in both our personal relationships and in our communal relationships.

     There are two United Church of Christ congregations in this city, about three blocks apart.  That's something of an oxymoron I think  - "United" Church of Christ congregations, "apart".  For most of our 360-plus year history we were united, but about 170 years ago we went our separate ways.  Now, we are talking again and praying together and working together.  This summer, we will worship together.      

     This past Sunday we had a discussion at our congregational meeting about our relationship with the people of Second Church and there was a consensus that we continue our talks with them and continue to seek to cooperate with them and to look into the possibility of a covenanted partnership with them, one that might even lead one day to merger.

     Is this what God is calling us to now, to be a symbol of community and unity in a broken world?  Can we be a center of peace and reconciliation in this city?  This is what we seek to discover...together...in concert, watching the Conductor, listening for each other, adding our diverse voices to the choir.

     Jesus prays that we will all be one, if not in a physically merged sense, then certainly at least in a spiritual, purposeful sense, letting go of our prejudices, affirming one another, seeking common ground, a unified voice.

     Our church can be a place of peacemaking for our families and neighbors.  Each of us can be peacemakers, creating community, helping others see and follow the Conductor, recognizing and encouraging diversity and unity.

     This is not the time to throw our hands in the air as we face a turbulent world.  It’s time to trust the One who prays for us and goes with us.  There is great work before us.  Together, with God’s help, we can do great things.