John 17:1-11
“May [they] become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them.”
The Uniting Church officially came into being on June 22, 1977. Some of you may have memories of the time of union. Some of you may have been at the old Milton Tennis Courts on that cold evening as the three churches came together. This stole was worn on that occasion.
However, there are many of you who don’t remember because you were too young, or not born, or not part of one of the churches that came into union. I was only 8 years old at the time of union and have no personal memories of the event.
My father was the Presbyterian Minister in the small town of Quirindi in NSW at the time. He shared the story with me that the year before union the Methodist Church in Quirindi one Sunday morning walked out of their church, closed their doors, and walked around the corner to join the Presbyterians. I have always idealized this move in the country town when in so many other places disagreements occurred over properties and power sharing through the process.
At the heart of the decision was an understanding that unity was God’s gift and will for the church. This desire for the unity of the churches and the unity of humanity more broadly was drive by a response to the events of the two world wars that occurred at the beginning of the 20th century. The talks about church union in the 1950s were part of a global response which saw the establishment of the World Council of Churches, the United Nations, and over 50 United or Uniting churches across the globe.
Union in Australia was far more than an act of ecclesial carpentry but a desire for a deeper faithfulness to what is expressed in Jesus’ prayer of John 17. A desire for unity within the church and more broadly among all human community.
Furthermore, rather than being trapped in history and sentimentalism, the Basis of Union, the document that drew the uniting churches together, was meant to inform our ongoing life. This morning, I am going to take us through four reflections on some of the elements that make up the DNA of the Uniting Church. Before we engage in these four reflections let us sing the song ‘May we be one.’
Song May we be one
The four strands on our DNA that I want to explore with you are:
- We are people of humility.
- We are reconciled people.
- We are people seeking constant
renewal.
- We are people who have been sent.
As a congregation who declare that we are “Growing lifelong disciples of Christ” these 4 strands of our DNA should influence our journey.
We are a people of humility.
Firstly, we are people of humility. The words that we heard from John’s gospel this morning are a part of a long discourse which occurs during the last supper. The pray of John 17 could be consider the pinnacle of this discourse in which we find the disciples at times confused and misunderstanding Jesus’ teaching. Decades early Paul had written to the Corinthians that we only ever glimpse God through a glass, darkly.
In the process of union the Presbyterian, Methodist and Congregationalist churches recognized “that none of them has responded to God’s love with a full obedience.” (Basis, Paragraph 1) This recognition of our unfaithfulness was shaped not simply by the understanding the divided church can only ever provide a broken witness but that that in coming together we had not arrived but were changing tack on our journey with God. Union was a confession of the problem of the division of the church and humanity as much as it was a witness that joining together was an act of faithfulness.
The difficult of the moment of union was for those congregations who chose not to unite the act of union was a schism. In addition, whilst 3 traditions came together the problem of the ongoing institutional division of the church remained. To this end the Basis made the bold claim:
“The Uniting Church in Australia lives and works within the faith and unity of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. The Uniting Church recognises that it is related to other Churches in ways which give expression, however partially, to that unity in faith and mission.” (Para 2)
The word catholic here means universal and the word apostolic for the Protestant tradition refers to receiving the message of the first apostles who were sent out with the good news of Jesus death and resurrection. The Reformed Church theologian Miroslav Volf in his book After our Likeness argues that one of the marks of the church is its openness to other churches.
The claim that the Uniting Church is related to other forms of the church is a vital response to the notion that the church should be one. But, as long as the denominational and institutional divisions remain the capacity for witnessing to God’s love for us is marred. This is why Paragraph 2 has the sunset clause saying that, “The Uniting Church declares its desire to enter more deeply into the faith and mission of the Church in Australia, by working together and seeking union with other Churches.” (Para 2) Whilst the energy that lay behind the mid twentieth century ecumenism may have dissipated the question of church unity remains.
As people of humility the Basis has an echo of the need to recognize our imperfection in its final paragraph. It says, “The Uniting Church prays that, through the gift of the Spirit, God will constantly correct that which is erroneous in its life, will bring it into deeper unity with other Churches, and will use its worship, witness and service to God’s eternal glory through Jesus Christ the Lord.” (Para 18) We are called to constantly look into the mirror as individual persons, congregations, and as a denomination to reflect on what needs to change and be renewed. This understanding of the constant need for renewal ties back to the motto associated with the Reformed tradition, “Ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda," which means "the church reformed, always reforming".
Earlier in the year I quoted an Aboriginal minister and Elder Rev Ken Sumner who reflected that he could not find his song lines in the Basis. In 2009 the Assembly accepted a Preamble to the Constitution of the Uniting Church which was a significant step to making space for the voices who were missing from the Basis. Recently, a book called The Present and Future of the Basis explores the formation document through the eyes of those who have come to be part of the Uniting Church on its church. Alongside the voices of Indigenous Australians are the voices of the migrant communities who have joined us.
As the Uniting Church we are called to be people of humility ready to hear God speaking to us through marginalised voices and as the Basis declares, “look for a continuing renewal in which God will use their common worship, witness and service to set forth the word of salvation for all people.” (Para 1)
We are reconciled people. (Paragraph 3)
In Jesus prayer he prays, “And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” John 17:3 Through baptism we are drawn into Jesus’ life by the power of the Holy Spirit. We come to know God because in and through Jesus we are reconciled.
J. Davis McCaughey in his commentary on the Basis tells us that the third paragraph of the Basis is “the most fundamental paragraph in the Basis.” Why? Because it speaks of what God has done for us in and through Jesus. It is the only paragraph which contained a direct quote from the Bible. It says that in Jesus Christ “God was reconciling the world to himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19 RSV). In love for the world, God gave the Son to take away the world’s sin.” (Para 3)
As a theologian it sometimes amazes me that the three churches were able to come together. The understanding of the good news and what it meant were vastly different. To bring together churches shaped by the contrasting theologies of prevenient grace and predestination was astounding. This paragraph did not completely desert these theologies but opened the way for holding Chrit as central. It reminds us, “God in Christ has given to all people in the Church the Holy Spirit as a pledge and foretaste of that coming reconciliation and renewal which is the end in view for the whole creation.” (Para 3)
We are people seeking renewal.
Part of the response to being reconciled is that we receive this news with joy. Jesus prayed, “Now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves.” As we experience and encounter that joy our lives are renewed. And, as we recognize those places in which we encounter things which are erroneous in our lives we seek renewal.
This vision for renewal is grounded in the Scriptures as well as the first paragraph of Basis. The uniting churches “look for a continuing renewal in which God will use their common worship, witness and service to set forth the word of salvation for all people.” (Para 1)
The answer to the perennial question “Are we there yet?” is “No!” So, as we have heard there was a theme of renewal, at Synod. We celebrated the gift of the Holy Spirit a couple of weeks ago and recognized the constant need for its presence to open us to the new possibilities of how we understand and express our faith.
Renewal is found in our response of lifelong discipleship and our capacity to respond to the good news. Again, Paragraph 3 of the Basis says, “To God in Christ all people are called to respond in faith. To this end God has sent forth the Spirit that people may trust God as their Father and acknowledge Jesus as Lord. The whole work of salvation is effected by the sovereign grace of God alone.” (Para 3) Trusting in God through prayer and reflection on the Scriptures is important as is our willingness to engage with the world around us.
One of the
legacies of the Reformation was the focus on the scriptures through the catch
cry sola scriptura. However, those who wrote the Basis also
understood the importance of engagement with scholarly thought. The said, “In particular the Uniting
Church enters into the inheritance of literary, historical and scientific
enquiry which has characterised recent centuries, and gives thanks for the
knowledge of God’s ways with humanity which are open to an informed faith.”
(Para 11) We listen with open hearts and minds to understand the context of the
world in which we live and where necessary we are called to challenge the world
as we seek to live differently.
One of the most difficult and confronting phrases that sits within the Statement to the Nation from 1977 challenges the heart of our consumerist culture. It says, “We will challenge values which emphasise acquisitiveness and greed in disregard of the needs of others and which encourage a higher standard of living for the privileged in the face of the daily widening gap between the rich and poor.” (UCA Statement to the Nation 1977) Our whole consumerist culture is built on teaching us to covet, to desire the things that we do not have and spend money on them. The question of discipleship and renewal invites us to contemplate how we live within economic systems which have a tension between who we are called to be in Christ and how we get along in our daily life.
In being the church, we are called not to simply be disciples but apostles. Jesus prayed, “As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” John 17:18 A disciples is a student or follower, an apostle is one sent into the world to share what they have learnt. When I asked the question who are you seeking to help in their discipleship I am not simply speaking about people who come through our door but the people who we encounter in our daily lives.
One of my friends and colleagues at an induction service reminded the congregation that at the end of a service we are “sent out” not sent home”. To be able to engage with this world we need to understand this world and to find ways to creatively engage with sharing the message of Jesus. Paragraph 11 of the Basis invites us into this space as it says, “The Uniting Church thanks God for the continuing witness and service of evangelist, of scholar, of prophet and of martyr. It prays that it may be ready when occasion demands to confess the Lord in fresh words and deeds.” (Para 11)
We seek to confess the Lord in fresh words and deeds ad we do so seeking to engage with and serve the world for which Christ died. To return to the Statement to the Nation it says, “In the spirit of His self-giving love we seek to go forward and will use its worship, witness and service to God’s eternal glory through Jesus Christ the Lord..” (UCA Statement to the Nation 1977) Putting our own needs and desires to the side we seek to find ways to help others encounter and know that the reconciliation of all things is a gift for the whole world to receive and live through.
To conclude today I want to share with you a fresh affirmation of faith written by my colleague Reverend Will Nicholas. It will be shown on the screen. As you watch it think about all that you have heard. What is God saying to you today?
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