Unity and One New Man
Bob Mendelsohn preached this sermon for C3 church in August 2020. Click to watch the recording. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEoO6xyd9ag&t=383s
We live in a time of great uncertainty. Covid 19 has had great impact on the world and is affecting our daily life here in Australia. And yet, in the midst of all the uncertainly, we can still have a positive perspective. How you might wonder? Because this whole season is not a surprise to the Almighty; He knows the end from the beginning and He knew what would happen the last few months across our great country. He is not without compassion; He cares greatly and He wants us to care, as individuals and as congregations as well. And that thought brings me to my topic today—living in community or more specifically-- What is the Messianic Community: (sometimes called) One New Man?
What makes up a community?
I believe there are certain characteristics that have to be noticed, embraced and maintained in the world for a gathering or any entity for that matter, to be labelled community. These three are commonality, communication, and unity. I’m sure there are many others which you might speak about after the meeting today, but today let me focus on those three. Especially since they are so clear in the Word.
Let me read this from the Scriptures:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Messiah Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands — remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. AND HE CAME AND PREACHED PEACE TO YOU WHO WERE FAR AWAY, AND PEACE TO THOSE WHO WERE NEAR; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Messiah Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2.8-22)
Seven images
Before we go on, let me show you 7 images or pictures of the community here in the book of Ephesians, then let me zoom in on the OneNewMan features taken from this reading in chapter 2. The seven are:
1. Eph. 1:22—Assembly: Greek Ekklesia (compare Acts 19:32, 39, 41)
2. Eph. 1:23—Body: The body of Christ
3. Eph. 2:10—Workmanship: Masterpiece (Poem)
4. Eph. 2:19—Family: Household
5. Eph. 2:21—Temple: Building
6. Eph. 5:25–27—Bride: Wife – bride of Christ
7. Eph. 6:10–13—Army: Soldiers
Arthur Katz who died in 2007, was a Jewish believer in Jesus, and a long-time friend. He wrote in his classic “True Fellowship: Church as Community” the need for the Body of Messiah to be real and honest in this regard. He said, “church as community is radically and excruciatingly demanding, and yet, in this environment, there is the glorious possibility for this kind of existential fellowship with believers.” (page 9) He was a challenge to all things status quo, and thus a challenge to me in my ministry. He insisted that the church, as a Sunday club, was insignificant and irrelevant if that were all she was. He eventually moved from any major city and along with a select group, formed a community that radically lived out everything they were learning. So what he said in his books was written in the crucible of their life together, and I welcomed that.
You see, when I came to faith in Jesus in 1971 there was one model which I saw and which made sense. I had been a hippie, striking on the campus of Washington University, an activist who was among those who burned down the ROTC building (the junior cadets building), and soon afterwards, left uni to find my own way. In May of 1971 I found Messiah or rather was found by Him and immediately was part of the Jesus movement as it was labelled. Our meetings were Sunday night in the basement of a Presbyterian church, where hundreds of us former hippies gathered to sing Bible verse choruses led by guitars with drums (that was new then), and regular meetings all week in homes and coffee shops. No one went to one meeting a week; we gathered seemingly everywhere.
We made fun of denominations, since most of us got saved outside of those institutions. Jesus was all we wanted, oh, and the fellowship of the saints. We sang together; we prayed together; we believed God together for greater and greater things. And He didn’t disappoint us. Life was community.
Bowling Alone
I know I am going against the modern grain but everything I know about the Kingdom of God is upside down. It’s not the societal norm to follow a Jewish carpenter who lived 2,000 years ago and ended his personal preaching career with a small handful of followers watching him die, who then ran away after his crucifixion and hid away for fear of the same ending. In Australia it’s not normal to be religious and maintain personal commitments to holy living in a city which is again going to tout its LGBTQ enthusiasm around Mardi Gras in the City. It’s not easy even to attend church on a regular basis in the 21st Century what with children’s birthday parties and internet holiday deals to Bali along with any sporting event or the latest David Jones half-yearly sale starting earlier on Sundays.
In his year 2000 book entitled “Bowling Alone,” Robert Putnam showcases the trends already evident then, with the beginnings of the internet and resultant loss of personal space and time, that people were less and less willing to join clubs. The title alone indicates the reality, that people would go to a bowling alley then, and bowl a few lines, but wouldn’t join a league. That trend Putnam saw 20 years ago has only increased dramatically in our day. Social media has made us increasingly alone. The antidote to this is community.
So when I teach you today about the community nature of the people of God, I’m hopeful that you will listen with your spirit, and that the church in Sydney and the church worldwide will move forward in this in 2020 and long beyond!
Commonality
First things first. The development of community requires commonality. That means we share common experiences, with common results, no matter from what background we come. The apostle Paul wanted the Ephesian believers to understand this. He said,
“But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall” Jewish people like me and Gentiles like the abundance of the Ephesians, come from very different backgrounds, have different views of God, different hopes and dreams, AND YET, we are One in Messiah. God has broken down the barriers and made us to share in the same life source. Because of Jesus, our commonality is fixed. Hallelujah!
We are “fellow citizens” and share as “the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord.” Fit together. Citizens together. Common experiences with the relationship to our UnCommon God and Saviour Jesus the Messiah.
Communication
Not only do we share common realities and the common relationship with our Messiah, we also have real communication. Again from Art Katz,
“More often than not, there is an unspoken agreement between pastors and their flock: “You present a biblical message; we will pay the bill and have a Sunday service that will leave our lives free from any kind of demand.” He cites our school education systems which “are content with the mere verbalization of material.” (page 32)
When I say communication, I am talking about more than verbalization. Sharing our hearts with one another; sharing real hurts and real life, that’s how the Body of Messiah makes a difference in these days.
Philip Yancey wrote in the magazine Christianity Today 20 years ago about sharing life together and took lessons from the 12 step folks who were meeting in the basement of the church he attended in the USA.
“As an alcoholic once told me, "I have to publicly declare 'I am an alcoholic' whenever I introduce myself at the group. It is a statement of failure, of helplessness, and surrender. Take a room of a dozen or so people, all of whom admit helplessness and failure, and it's pretty easy to see how God then presents himself in that group." The historian of Alcoholics Anonymous titled his work Not-God because, he said, that stands as the most important hurdle an addicted person must surmount: to acknowledge, deep in the soul, not being God. No mastery of manipulation and control, at which alcoholics excel, can overcome the root problem; rather, the alcoholic must recognize individual helplessness and fall back in the arms of the Higher Power. "First of all, we had to quit playing God," concluded the founders of AA; and then allow God himself to "play God" in the addict's life, which involves daily, even moment-by-moment, surrender. Bill Wilson, the cofounder of Alcoholics Anonymous, reached the unshakable conviction, now a canon of twelve-step groups, that an alcoholic must "hit bottom" in order to climb upward.”
The ram’s horn (the shofar) is blown on the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah and other times during the year, not only to make us Jewish people aware of the time of events, but often for us to gather. Some of you might remember when church bells would ring on Sunday morning at certain intervals, to call everyone to gather. These calls to worship are communication methods. And they invite us to communicate with God together and to listen to God together. And at least at morning tea, to communicate with one another. Communities are in communication with each other, and listening, they respond to be with one another.
Unity
To be sure we all won’t agree on everything. Any of you in any relationship with a school teacher, with a spouse, with teenaged children or parents, knows that perfect agreement down the line is not the only way to be united. Real community is more like musical harmony rather than unison. One of the most recognizable and ancient sounds of the church is the Gregorian chant.
Gregorian chant is monophonic, or unison, liturgical music of the Roman Catholic Church, and used to accompany the text of the mass and the canonical hours, or divine office. Gregorian chant is named after St. Gregory I, during whose papacy (590–604) it was collected and codified.
In the church, in the Reformation, church music widened and harmony replaced unison. Have you ever been in a significant, large gathering when the musical band stopped playing, but we kept singing? I was in the Superdome in New Orleans in 1987 and 30,000 people sang God’s praises at a major conference. At one point, the musicians stopped playing while the people kept singing. It was enormous and powerful. I imagined heaven. I experienced heaven that evening. Unity was demonstrated in four-part harmony. Powerful!
Paul wrote the Ephesians “For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall”
You might remember the triad:
In Essentials Unity,
In Non-Essentials Liberty,
In All Things Charity
Unity is possible because of Jesus. Look, you may know that anti-Semitism has been increasing in the world the last few years, even here in Australia. Cemetery damaging, bus and train episodes of hostility, stabbings overseas in closed Jewish communities, and shootings in synagogues are on the rise. A natural reaction by people experiencing this hostility is to withdraw, to pull back from interaction with the ‘other.’ So when you remember that Gentiles in Roman days were the bad guys to the Jewish people, then Paul’s OneNewMan concept is radical. His appeal for unity is outrageous. And yet, it’s not only possible; it’s required for a godly community.
Jewish community
For Jewish people, the idea of the Jewish community starts with birth and circumcision when a little Jewish boy is welcomed into the community and it never ends even after his burial. We use a prayer shawl at both services; we read prayers from a prayer book, and everyone can know on what page we are reading. Everyone is included, at Bar and Bat Mitzvah celebrations, and at weddings and funerals. The identification of a Jewish person in life and death is labelled clearly, from a boy’s 8th day through to the rocks and Hebrew writing on the gravestone. A quorum (the term in Hebrew is a minyan) is required to pray certain prayers, in Orthodox Jewish circles, that’s 10 men. A knocker is sent around neighbourhoods if only 8 or 9 men are gathering. We need 10. A person needs to be supported by the community; 4 or 7 people simply will not do.
Of course, Yeshua, our Messiah had this comment about the minyan. “Wherever two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18.20) He is not saying He won’t listen if you only have one of you; He’s answering the minyan difficulty, saying a community can be two or three; you don’t need 10 men. You can have 10 ladies. You can have 2 ladies; God will see community in what you are doing, in a gathering, in shared life together.
So What?
I’m telling you all this and I’m telling me this. I’m a student of this sermon today as well. God is speaking to me about what matters in these last days. He is asking me to care and to speak with and to be common with those in my community. He is calling us to be humble and receive each other, to accept one another, to serve one another. What the world is looking for in these fire-stormed days is a community of hope and love which extends itself in service to those outside, and which welcomes former outsiders into their fold.
Bob Mendelsohn
August 2020