The Most Divisive Issue

SUMMARY

In this sermon on unity from the "Domino Effect" series, Karl explores how Paul's letter to the Ephesians reveals unity as God's plan from the beginning. Drawing from Ephesians 1:10, he explains that God's purpose was "to bring unity to all things in heaven and earth under Christ." While the world naturally tends toward division and decay, Christ came to create "one new humanity" (Ephesians 2:15) by breaking down barriers between people.

Karl emphasizes that unity doesn't mean uniformity—like four-part harmony in singing, unity harnesses our differences for God's kingdom. Paul instructs believers to "keep the unity of the Spirit" (Ephesians 4:3) through humility, gentleness, patience, and bearing with one another in love. The challenge for Christians today is to prioritize unity over being right, to speak truth in love, and to remember that our unity is built not on opinions or preferences but on our shared identity in Christ, who is the "one Lord" over all.

TRANSCRIPTION:

Well, it is good to be with you this morning, Church. If you have your Bible, I invite you to turn over to Ephesians chapter 4. We'll spend most of our time together there. This morning we're in a series called the Domino Effect where we've been thinking about some of the decision points that we have to make and just asking what if? What if we chose to follow the way that Paul lays out, the way that Jesus led us?

And what might, what impact might that have on the people around us, on our own lives, on the workplaces that we find ourselves in our communities, in our cities, in our church here at Brooklyn? Each week we've come up against a different opportunity, a decision point that Paul gives to us. The first one was belief in week one. Well, we really believe in this great story that God has invited us to be a part of. We talked the next week about grace.

What if we really became people who live by grace, who understood it's all about grace? And therefore how we live is a reflection of that incredible grace that's been shown to us. A couple of weeks ago, we spent some time thinking, reflecting on by Chad's message on peace. What does it mean to be people who make a decision to choose and pursue peace, to be peacemakers? How might that impact the world around you?

Last week we talked some about the power of prayer. If we really chose to be people committed to and living out prayer, not just for the little things, but for the overall, the grand things that we might become the people that God has called us to be. You know, each week you've heard from the call to worship. Sarah gave it this morning a different opportunity to say, would you be praying church? That you would open our eyes beyond just our own daily life, beyond the end of our nose to think about how might we be a blessing to our community?

This week I want us to spend some time reflecting on an issue that back in Paul's day and sadly still in our own today, is maybe the most divisive issue that we could talk about, and that's unity. Now, that may seem kind of an odd thing to be the most divisive topic, but I hope that you'll hear exactly what I mean. Now, one of the things that I find so fascinating about this issue, especially as a born and raised church of Christer, is unity should be pretty intuitive for us, right? I mean, shouldn't it be? I mean, think about our own worship experience this morning.

One of the things that we're known for in churches of Christ is a cappella Singing. And we talk about it being in what, four part harmony, right? Four different parts. They're not singing the same notes, they're actually singing different notes. And yet together they're creating this beautiful sound by singing the same song.

I mean, so every week, church, we are living out unity in how we worship. Isn't that amazing? Have you ever thought about that? Like, we're trying to literally be unified in our worship to our great God. Now all too often, one of the other things we've been known for in churches of Christ in our history is our lack of unity.

How it kind of stops at the four part harmony part, that we get beyond that. And all of a sudden now we're looking for all the ways that we're different and we're not unified. So this morning, I hope, as we hear from Paul, this challenge again, to think about the power of unity. Because there's no such thing as one part harmony. That's just a noise.

So let's listen again to Paul's wisdom here. Actually, back in chapter one, I invite you to turn back a couple of pages and notice how he draws this young church back to the heart of the gospel. This heart that he says God has been planning from the very beginning with all wisdom. In verse eight, he says in understanding, he, God made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ to be put into effect when the times reached their fulfillment. Why?

To bring unity. That God's plan from the very beginning, in fact, he's given us a little window into that. He's revealed this mystery to us. He says God's plan has been to bring unity to all things, heaven and earth under Christ. That that's been his goal from the beginning.

Where sin breaks and it separates, we see God's healing, love and grace unites and it restores. I mean, that was his point of working through Israel. He wanted Israel to be a people who could show the world around them there is a different way to live, that there is a God out there who loves and who restores and who redeems. And in living out as those people, they would be a blessing to all nations and that all things would be restored, brought back under Christ. He says in chapter two, therefore remember that formerly you who are gentiles by birth and called uncircumcised by those who call themselves the circumcision, which is done in the body by human hands, remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.

But now, in Christ Jesus, you who were once far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace who has made the two groups 1. And he has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulation. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace and in one body, to reconcile both of them to God through the cross by which he put to death their hostility. Jesus came to be God's peacemaker, to create one new humanity out of two.

His purpose in coming was unity, to bring it all back, unified back to God, to restore us back to our Heavenly Father who creates us, but also to restore us back to relationship with one another. Now, why? Because that was God's plan from the beginning, from the start. That was his hope.

Don't quote me on this because I'm not a physicist, but there's this thing called the second law of thermodynamics. If you're not super familiar with it, welcome to the club. Here's essentially what that says. Everything is slowly deteriorating, just left to itself. Over time, things tend to break apart.

Things tend toward chaos and disorder. That's the way of the world. You can leave an orange out or a banana out on your cabinet, and it doesn't stay bright yellow and wonderful as long as it's there. No, it slowly starts to decay. We feel that in our world, don't we?

I mean, we feel that in our own bodies, that if left to itself, our own body just sitting on the chair watching television deteriorates, right? Our relationships, if we don't put any work into them, if we don't intend anything, those slowly begin to deteriorate. That's the way of the world. Paul says that's not the way of the kingdom. That was not God's plan from the very beginning.

That's actually the result of sin and brokenness in the world. That's not the way that Jesus lived. Did you ever notice that? That when Jesus in his ministry interacted with people, there was so much fear around him, kind of from the religious leaders of don't touch those people, don't go beside those people. Don't spend time with those people as if they had something that might infect Jesus, that Jesus completely blew that out of the water.

He lived and acted as if his way of life and the power that flowed through him was stronger than that was in the world. And so he didn't have any fear to actually engage with other people, to draw them into relationship. Jesus lived very different. In fact, a little bit later in chapter two, Paul says it like this. For through him, Jesus, we both have access to the Father by one spirit.

Consequently, you're no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his household. He's reminding them of what they now have in Christ. You used to be on the outside looking in. There used to be an us versus them. And you were the them.

You were not the us, but in Christ. Now all of them have been brought in to be us. That in the kingdom of God, there's no longer an us versus them. It's an. It's an us.

It's we. Because of Jesus, we now have access, he says, to this reality that has been God's plan from the very beginning. And it's breaking through in little places and opportunities when people choose to live in it, to begin to live that way, that all of a sudden we see this radical inclusivity of the kingdom. It starts to break through and it's powerful. And in some way, shape or form, we have all, every one of us been impacted by that.

Because there was a point in time where we were on the outside looking in and somebody said, why don't you come with me? Why don't you come and sit by me? Why don't you come and be a part of me, part of our friend group, a part of our relationship, a part of this office. See, the question then becomes to us, will we choose to follow the way of Jesus into the way of unity? Paul says in chapter three that he says, this is what I've staked my whole life on.

This reality, this beautiful story, this narrative that God is at work in the world and he's trying to bring unity and harmony back into the world. Not only between the world and God, but even in and amongst the world. Paul says, I've staked my life on it. In fact, he writes it this way. I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of grace given me through the working of his power.

You see, for Paul, getting to partner with God and seeking unity was a gift of grace, not a chore. It wasn't something he had to do.

It was something he gets to do that I get to be a part of. This seeking unity is actually a gracious thing. Now just imagine for a moment church. If that's how all Christians pursued unity, if that's how we as the church saw our role in the kingdom. It's not that we have to, but we get to.

God is so gracious. He's given us a chance to actually be a part of what he's doing in the world. How could I turn away from that? That means so much more. That's so much more powerful.

That's why we heard Paul pray at the end of chapter three, the way he did last week. He said, I'm praying church that you'll come to know and remember we talked last week. Not just know, but that you would know the love of God, that you'd be so gripped by it, that you would know it down deep in your soul. How wide and long and high and deep is this love? Because if you did, and your pursuit of unity would be so.

It would be the outflow. What else could I do? How else could I treat other people's? Which then leads us right to the words that Ruth read for us just a moment ago. Beginning of chapter four, Paul says, then as a prisoner, therefore, as a prisoner for the Lord, I urge you to live a life worthy of this calling.

Live a life worthy of the calling that's been placed on your life. I love this, the language here we lose a little bit in translation, but he says, I want you to live commensurate with what you've been given. That literally, the wording there, the Greek to English, means to walk, walk worthy. It's the same word that in Revelations 5, when John Revelator is talking about this beautiful picture of an angel, this Revelation of an angel, saying, is there anyone worthy to open up the scroll, to break the seal and open the scroll? Is anyone worthy?

That's the same word. It's the same word that Paul would write to Timothy. And in chapter five of that first letter he's written him. He talks to him about elders who take their job seriously, who love and pastor and shepherd. Well, he says, they're worthy of a double honor, same word.

They're living out the gospel. That's worthy living. Paul says, live a life worthy of this incredible calling that you've been given, and that worthy living is going to look like something right. Verse two, he says, so be completely humble and gentle. How do I live a life worthy of the calling that I've been given, worthy of the invitation that's been extended to me, to live into this kingdom, to pursue unity?

He says, it's going to look first by humility and gentleness.

He says, I want you to be patient with one another. I want you to bear with one another in love. And then he says, make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit. Keep it through this bond of peace, right? Committing ourselves to being peacemakers.

He says, keep the unity. He doesn't say, create unity, build unity, restore unity. He says, keep it. Unity is not something that we bring. I don't know if you noticed this.

Just read the local news. People aren't very good about bringing unity much. He says, no, no. The Holy Spirit is the one who brings unity. Our job is to keep it well.

How do we keep it well? Let's start with being humble. Let's start with being gentle and patient with one another and bearing with each other when people make mistakes. Not looking for different ways to say, well, sorry, you're out now. We can't be in relationship anymore.

He says, no, no, no, we gotta bear with each other. One of the primary ways that a worthy life looks like, Paul says, is keeping the unity that the spirit brings. And then he reminds them that in order to live this life, this worthy life, it's going to take tapping into a power that's beyond them, that's more than what they can manufacture on their own. I don't know about you, but it's hard to stay humble and to be patient with people, especially when they're wrong. And I'm right, right?

It's hard to be humble when you write. One of my favorite writers and teachers, a guy named Dallas Willard, was teaching a class and he had this journalist who was watching and listening to him and kind of writing an article about him. And at the end of class, the student makes this comment. I mean, it's. It's just wrong.

It was so wrong. But Willard doesn't say, you're wrong. He just says, okay, I think that's a good place to end class for today. Class dismissed. Everybody leaves.

And the journalist walks up to him and is like, what are you doing? He was clearly wrong. And I love Dallas Willard's comment. He says, I'm practicing not having the last word.

I don't want to practice that. Can I just be real a second? I like having the last word, and especially when I'm right. Paul says, well, that may have more to do with you than the kingdom of God. How about you practice not having the last word?

Why, Paul? Why? And he says, okay, listen. Verse 4. Because there's one body, Carl, and there's one spirit, and it ain't yours, it's mine.

There's one body and there's one spirit, just as you were called to one Hope when you were called. There's one Lord, Carl. There's one faith, Carl. There's one baptism, Carl. There's one God and Father of all.

Carl.

And he is over all, and he's through all, and he is in all. There's one.

Seven times in these three verses, Paul says, there's one, there's one, there's one, there's one, there's one. It's not you, so be humble.

There's one and it's not you, so be gentle. Bear with folks who think they're the one, they're not the one. Because sometimes that's you. So we're going to forgive and we're going to work hard. Excuse me.

What are you trying to say, Paul?

Some of you may remember a movie that came out in 1991. There's a famous scene. Two main characters are sitting on horses. One of the characters named Curly, looks at the other character and he says, you know what the secret of life is?

No. No. What is it?

One thing.

What's the one thing? He says, well, that's what you've got to figure.

Not followers of Jesus. Paul doesn't say, there's one thing and good luck figuring it out. Paul says, no, no, no. There's one thing. There's one God.

There's one faith, there's one baptism, there's one hope. There's one Lord. There's one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. There's one.

Keep your eyes on him. He's called you into something, into his plan that's been at work since the very beginning, the creation of the world. And he wants you to be a of it. He doesn't need you to try to figure out who's right and who's wrong and sort out. No, no, there's one.

He'll take care of that. Pursue him. Let's love him. Let's follow him. Let's spend our life chasing after him.

Why? Because our unity is not in our opinions. Our unity is not found in our preferences. Our unity is not found in our political affiliation. That's not what unites us.

It's built on our shared identity as there's one. There's one God. You see, we've got to have people who are maturing in the way of Jesus if we're going to live out this unity. And one of the ways that we see maturity happening in the life of the church is a church that's fully committed to unity, to seeking partnerships.

Excuse me. A couple of weeks ago, I told you, we were traveling in Africa and Gary and I got to spend some time with a man who had been born and grown up Muslim and had become a Christian. And he was just referencing, talking about this issue. He said, you know, I find it kind of interesting. When I was a Muslim, I could travel anywhere and I could go to a mosque and they would just welcome me in.

Come and pray with us. He goes, man, Christmas is not like that. You show up at somebody else's church. Who are you? Where are you from?

Now, what church did you grow up in? Okay, now what do they believe about? All of a sudden it's like 20 questions. He goes, what's going on with that? Well, we've lost a sense of.

There's one. And I know we may think some things differently and I know some people may be wrong on what they think. And Paul doesn't say, just stomach it. No, no, no, you're going to hear in just a second, he's going to say, speak the truth, tell the truth, but you do it. How in love, right?

Have these conversations. But those conversations are not your excuse to say, well, I won't be a part of you anymore because I disagree with you and I disagree with your understanding. Paul says, no, no, no, there's one and you're not it. So when it comes to being unified, we defer to the grace. Paul, I love how he says, I was given this opportunity to be a part of this plan as God's grace.

He again calls it grace in verse seven. To each one of us, grace has been given. To each and every one of us, grace has been given. So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers to equip his people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up until when we all reach unity. Unity in the faith and unity in the knowledge of the Son of God.

And in doing so we become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Right? Remember Paul's definition of the church, how it's so much higher than ours? In Ephesians chapter one, he says to his body, Christ's body, the church, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. Paul says, how did we get there?

Well, it becomes by unity, by pursuing unity, by pursuing the way of Jesus. First and foremost, unity isn't about everyone doing the same thing.

Unity doesn't erase our differences, it actually harnesses them for the sake of the kingdom. And again, think back to our four part harmony. Example we started with, unity is not all singing the same note. Unity is saying, take these four different parts and blending them together, we get a sound of richness and depth that we could not have if we were all just singing the same note. So this diversity, it's key to being the body of Christ.

We each have a part. You see, unity isn't everyone doing and being the same. Unity is everyone being faithful to the part that God's given us, to being a part of his body. And when the church lives this out, oh, man, it's powerful. It's a powerful witness to the world that there is a different kingdom, there is a different way to live.

It gives us credibility to the gospel that is unfathomable. Because so much of our world is built upon division and disunity. That to see a group of people who think differently and sometimes believe differently, and yet are committed to the same one God, and they won't let anything get in the way or distract from that to say, we're gonna live and we're gonna try to work it out, well, isn't that hard? Yes, it's incredibly difficult. Well, sometimes people believe some really silly things.

They do. They do. But that's not a reason to kick them out of the kingdom, out of the community. Rather, instead, it's a reason to grab onto them and say, let's talk some more, let's pray some more, let's think some more, let's get into the Word some more. Why?

Because we're not gonna give up. We're not gonna quit. This is too important. So we have a challenge this week. Church.

How will your unity be played out this week in your relationships? Will you choose pride or will you choose humility?

Will you choose being right over being loving?

Will we choose faithfulness over convenience? I see this pursuit of unity, it's simple. It is not easy. That's why Paul says it's going to take the Holy Spirit giving us something and then empowering us to keep it. So it's no surprise then that Paul would end this section of the letter here, beginning in verse 14.

He says, if we can do this, if we can live this way, then we'll no longer be infants tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, we speak the truth in love. If we'll commit to that, then we'll grow to become in every respect, the mature body of him who is the head and we'll become the church Christ. From him, the whole body is joined together and held together by every supporting ligament. And it grows and builds itself up in love as each part does its work.

Church Will we commit to choosing unity this week? I invite you. Just try it out. Pick a day, pick a moment and say what might happen if you chose to be a person who prioritized unity over division. I'm not gonna let our different opinions on this issue separate us.

I'm gonna keep loving you. I'm gonna stay connected. I'm gonna keep spending time with you. What might happen if the Broadway church became the church known for our unity? That could be incredible.

God, I pray that that's what we become known for. There's a church that's so committed to your kingdom that there is only one God, there is only one faith, one hope, one baptism, that God will keep our eyes so clearly focused on Jesus and following him that we won't let all these other ways that the world tries to divide us up, to separate us, to force us into us versus them categories. Instead, we'll be the people of the kingdom who radically love and who radically give, who radically pursue peace even though it costs, who are willing not to keep score, but to just show radical forgiveness, radical inclusivity, even people who are living way outside the box. God, you don't ask us just to swallow it and not say anything. You tell us be people who tell the truth.

We do it in love, not to separate or to dismiss, but instead to draw people closer to you. God, may we be reminded, as Paul reminds this young church, that there was a time when we were on the outside looking in.

But Jesus, you came and you created a way for us that now we're a part of the family, that you have created one humanity now out of us and them. It's now just we. God, would you help us to live into that this week? And I know as a church, as individuals, we go off into our. Into our world this week.

We're going to face a situation at school that's going to test and challenge us. Will we pursue unity? We're going to face a situation at work. Maybe it's a challenge. And will we pursue unity?

We may face a situation at home with a relationship with someone we care about deeply. Will we be people of unity? Yeah. Would you give us eyes to see what that actually means? That in those moments when it requires us to speak the truth, may we do so with courage, but may we do it in love in those times when it requires us to be humble and to be gentle.

God, would you give us the courage and the power to do so by your Holy Spirit? Would you help us to see once again the beautiful story that you've invited us into. It began in Israel and it's been brought forward into us. We're now included in that great story. Would you help us to live as people of unity?

Thank you Father, thank you that you once made a way for us who are on the outside to now be a part of your family. Would you help us this week God live in such a way that there might be someone else who's on the outside that they might find their way to the inside back into the family again? Oh God, if that could be true, what an incredible week it would be. Father, thank you for your love for us, for your power. Would you help us?

In Jesus name we pray. Amen.