(This text was submitted prior to Annual Conference) Annual Conference 1999 Wednesday evening, June 30, 1999 Milwakee, Wisconsin Preacher: Nancy Faus, Richmond, Indiana Sermon title: "The Timeliness of an Ancient Message" Scripture Reading Philippians 1:27-2:18 A map of downtown Milwaukee shows that not all of the bridges crossing the river are straight. That is to say, some of the roads on either side of the river don't line up with each other. So, a jog had to be placed in order that the roads on each side of the river would connect. Why, you ask? Evidently the two sides were 'governed' by different people who refused to get along with each other. Their animosity went so far that they designed their roads in a way that would make it difficult for each side to join the other. There was even a story of one group setting up a cannon on its side of the river when one of the earliest bridges was being constructed.1 We in the Church of the Brethren are at a crossroads. This is our final Annual Conference of the twentieth century, the last time we will meet from Tuesday to Sunday, and our very last Annual Conference before the new millennium. Sad to say, the roads we travel don't always meet the way they should. Therefore, it would seem that this is the appropriate city and a timely occasion for us to talk seriously about unity! It's time for us to figure out how we can line up the streets and bridges in our beloved denomination and put aside the cannons. I invite you this evening to join me in revisiting an ancient letter Paul sent to the church at Philippi. It seems so timely! Paul was in prison when he wrote it, and obviously was remembering with great affection the several visits he made to the congregation in the past. The church had no serious tension among its members - certainly nothing like the fractured situations in the churches at Rome, Corinth, Ephesus, even Galatia. The Philippians mostly had petty disagreements among themselves. Paul loved these people. His letter to them is filled with joy and affection. The joy is contagious! He asks the Philippians for their continued, prayerful support; he encourages them in their commitment to Christ; and he speaks to some of their disagreements — nothing big, but worthy of some wise counsel. The congregation was by no means perfect, but, what congregation is?! Being in jail, Paul had no idea what lay ahead for him — whether death or eventual freedom. He was caught between wanting to return to his beloved Philippians and wanting to die in order to be with Christ, for he said, "living is Christ; dying is gain." Whatever might happen to him, he knew he belonged to Christ. He wanted the Philippians to know that whether he was absent or present, they were to live their life together in a way that was "worthy of the gospel of Christ." Everything Paul said to the Philippians presupposed that they already were living in that manner, but he reinforced his counsel with two exhortations. His first exhortation urges them to "be of the same mind, to have the same love, to be in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves." Paul knew only too well that people who live their faith actively can and will occasionally disagree with each other. By no means did he think that everyone should be expected to live out their faith in exactly the same way. He would have been shocked at unanimity! Differences of opinion do not make for disunity. It's the negative, passionate, often hostile attitudes we direct toward those whose faith expressions differ from our own that set up the cannons and cause disunity. Only by having the mind of Christ will we succeed at bridging the voices of discontent and bring goodwill and unity amid the diversity in the faith community. Paul continues his letter by reciting a magnificent hymn, a powerful theological statement of Christ. Paul most likely borrowed the words of this hymn from someone, because they expressed what he believed. If the hymn had an interesting melody and Brethren, four-part harmony, we would have included it in the 1992 hymnal! We are told that it was a favorite hymn of the early church. Listen to the words once again: Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. After Paul wrote these extraordinary words to the Philippians, he reminded them in a second exhortation that God was at work in them. "Therefore," he said, "work out your own salvation" in your daily life together. "Do all things without murmuring and arguing, so that you may be blameless and innocent children of God . . . who shine like stars in the world"- a world that is dark and corrupt. Paul challenges the church to live in a way that would enable them to rejoice together and to know a joy that is complete! Is Paul's letter not a timely message for us, as we Brethren look ahead to the twenty-first century? Paul's words, written to reconcile conflict in the early church, are calling us here and now to unity. And the call comes whenever the river of our discontent is full of divisive arguments over differing theologies; differing structures of worship; differing opinions as to who qualifies for church leadership; differing convictions about membership, ordination, and ministry; even the possibility of a different denominational name. How can we have the mind of Christ when we are as petty as the Philippians or as fractured as the Romans, Corinthians, Galatians and Ephesians? Brothers and sisters, unity cannot be achieved if each of us thinks only of what "I" want. Unity means that we all share the same concern for the common good, even amid our differing views. Unity is impossible to achieve whenever each of us feels that God's true message comes only through "my" voice, "my" theology, "my" biblical interpretation, "my" congregation," "my prayer group. The reality of our divergent points of view is this: All of us have some of the truth, but none of us has all the truth. If we sincerely want to be unified as a church, we need first to seek the mind of Christ in our life together. When we have a Christ-like attitude, we won't press each other into the same mold. Rather than focusing on our differences, we will focus on Christ - on living and dying in Christ. The bottom line is this: Christ is what we need, not un-Christlike attitudes, opinions, or ways of treating one another. But, if we all would come to the mind of Christ together, then we would have the byproduct - unity. It's possible that the only true unity we shall ever know is in the very bridge that Christ creates between us - the bridge of love which enables us to live together as the church. How do we seek the mind of Christ? By praying together (unceasingly), by studying the Bible together and sharing our differing interpretations, by keeping the lines of communication open together (even when we disagree), and by listening carefully with love as we share with one another our life journeys, our discoveries, our learnings. Several months ago a young man passionately preached to me how important it is to live in Christ and to love as Christ loved. As I listened to him, I was very impressed with the number of times he quoted Jesus and Paul emphatically by memory to make his point. But, I was more impressed with the anger in his voice and his tense body language as he tried to convince me that his theological position and biblical interpretations were the only right ones. I found myself thinking about him for weeks. Daily, I asked God to soften his heart, open his mind, and occasionally close his mouth just long enough to hear other points of view. Then, one day during my prayer time, I realized that I needed to pray for myself as well. I needed to ask God to soften my heart, and to let Christ be the bridge which would enable me to love him just as he is. I thought again of Paul's words to the Philippians: "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Look not on your own interest, but to the interest of others." I also thought of our beloved Anna Mow, who said: We do not make unity; we join it in Christ. Our greatest witness is loving fellowship with one another, even when we differ . . . We are all different, and that variety makes life much more exciting. Only our relationship to Christ can keep us in unity; otherwise we over emphasize our differences. Then arrogance breaks fellowship.2 I can hear Sister Anna calling us tonight to seek the same mind that was in Christ Jesus. In Christ, we will love each other and be "members one with another." In Christ, we will accept each other as equal members. In Christ, even our streets and bridges will come together. You and I know that the church is made up of persons who represent a wide variety of sizes, shapes, colors, political and theological persuasions. We are not a private club that dictates who is allowed to join and who should be left out. No! The church is a family. A family includes parents, grandparents, sisters and brothers, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and cousins. Some we like and others we don't like; some like us, and some don't like us. In a family, we get who is given to us and we must learn to live together, in love. Even with our different personalities, talents, and opinions, we, as the church, are stronger together than we are apart. Kathleen Norris reminds us: The church is like the Incarnation itself, a shaky proposition. It is a human institution, full of ordinary people, sinners like me... But it is also a divinely inspired institution, full of good purpose, which partakes of a unity far greater than the sum of its parts. That is why it is called the Body of Christ.3 Several years ago I was beginning the first session of a course on Prayer at Bethany Seminary. To get started I invited the class to go around the table, each person giving his or her name and telling something about themselves that would be appropriate for a class on prayer. About half-way around the table, a Quaker student from Earlham School of Religion introduced himself: "Hi (he said). I'm Tom. I'm a gay man and I'm dying of AIDS. I want to make sure I am right with God." That stopped everything. Time stood still. Slowly I tried to pick up and move on, limping as Jacob with his hip out of its socket. As Tom struggled with his health that winter, I struggled with my discomfort with Tom. Tom talked with me about being anointed (an ordinance not used by the Quakers). Even as his health continued to fail, he kept singing in our chapel choir, he prayed and worked on issues of faith and justice, he delivered a powerful message of Christian hope in ESR's meetinghouse. Throughout the months ahead, as my heart began to soften, I came to realize that God had sent Tom into my life for a purpose - to teach me to love and accept Tom just as he was, and, most difficult of all, to receive Tom's ministry to me, as I was trying to minister to him. Modern medicine, though costly, has turned Tom's health around, and he is here this evening. Through these years, Tom has been Christ to me - broken, vulnerable, humble, loving, accepting, serving. Repeating Paul's prayer for the Philippians, "I thank my God every time I remember you," Tom. What about the others in our churches who we don't care to listen to because we think they don't have anything to teach us? I am saddened whenever I hear the heartbreaking stories of very capable, qualified women who feel called by God to ministry but are rejected by some churches who will not accept a woman's leadership. By closing our ears to persons, whether because of their gender, color, culture, life style, or disability, we silence them. They are sitting here among us in this very place — and they sit in our congregations every Sunday. Many of them are afraid to reveal who they really are, for fear of rejection and still more loneliness. Yet, if we lovingly listen to them, their faith witness might well be that very mind of Christ which is trying to bridge the differences that now divide us. These sisters and brothers would like to preach the good news of Jesus Christ out of their own deep faith, but too often we won't even invite them to sit beside us at Love Feast or wash our feet (let alone wash their feet), or break bread and drink the cup of suffering at Christ's table. As Warren Groff has said, "without exception, all those who gather at the Lord's table do so by virtue of membership in God's family."4 Is it not embarrassing for us to realize that not all Christians can share the common meal for reasons that we establish, reasons which seem not to be in harmony with the mind of Christ? Sisters and brothers, we, as the body of Christ and members of the Church of the Brethren, cannot keep going on like this! How diligent will we be in working for unity in our congregations in the months and years ahead? When will we affirm every person in the body of Christ? To what ends will we go to find and live the mind of Christ together? Now is the time, here in a city where the bridges have been able to make roads meet, for the Church of the Brethren to receive the bridge of Christ that joins the disconnected streets of our diversity. We must find a new way to continue the work of Jesus - peacefully, simply, humbly, together - so that we may live and die, together, in Christ. The intent of Paul's ancient message is clear: We are to have the same mind that was in Christ Jesus. We are to empty ourselves, taking the form of a servant, as God's people in servant leadership. Servant church, do we have the courage to arise and do it? Let it be so! Amen! Endnotes 1. This story was shared with me by Chris Bowman, pastor of the Martinsburg, PA, Church of the Brethren. 2. Anna Mow, Springs of Love, 26. 3. Kathleen Norris, Amazing Grace, 273. 4. Warren F. Groff, Prayer: God's Time and Ours, 77-78.