Maintaining Our Unity

On April 10, 1912, the RMS Titanic set off on its maiden voyage from England, bound for New York, across the Atlantic.

Twenty-five years later, after over a dozen transatlantic flights, the LZ 129 Hindenburg left Frankfurt, Germany, also bound for New York, for its first flight of the 1937 season.

Almost fifty years after that, on January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger embarked on its tenth mission, which included a 6-day observation of Halley’s Comet.

The Titanic was, at its time, the world’s largest ship, built to carry some of the wealthiest people in the world. It was the poster-child of luxury.

At around 900 feet long and 90 feet wide, it had a total of ten decks, and three main engines totaling over 45,000 horsepower, which would propel the ship up to about 25 miles per hour.

The electrical plant on the ship could produce more electricity than an average city power station at that time. The ship took over two years to build, and thought it could hold about 2500 people, its maiden voyage held about 1,000 less than that.

The Hindenburg was a zeppelin—an airship (or blimp). One author refers to it as “the Queen of the sky.” It was originally designed for helium, but due to cost and availability, hydrogen was chosen.

The blimp was over 800 feet long, and the frame was made of an aluminum alloy, and covered with a special material to protect the 7 million ft³ of gas from both infrared and ultraviolet light.

The airship could travel up to 84 miles per hour, and was by far more comfortable than the heavier aircrafts. It was fitted with the most luxurious accommodations, including a fully-staffed, all-electric kitchen, and a wine selection of over 250 of the finest German wines. It’s opening voyage of the 1937 season included 36 passengers and 61 crew.

The Space Shuttle Challenger was originally built for testing purposes by Rockwell International’s Space Transportation Systems Division, here in Downey. Construction was completed in February of 1978, and then, over the course of 11 months, vibration tests were done by Lockheed.

Afterward, it took about 3 and a half years to be converted and upgraded into a vessel designed for space flight. Its main engines burned cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, allowing it to reach the needed speed of about 18,000 miles per hour to leave the atmosphere.

From 1983 to 1985, the Challenger was used for 9 missions into space. And for its tenth mission, in addition to the 6 members of the crew, it was the first time NASA would take a civilian teacher into space, so she could return to share the experience with her students.

All three of those vessels were the result of a tremendous amount of planning, and organization, and money. All of them were designed for greatness. And yet, all of three of them were destroyed with catastrophic results.

The Titanic struck an iceberg and sank about 400 miles off the Canadian coast, and over 1500 people lost their lives.

The Hindenburg was about 300 feet off the ground preparing to land in New Jersey, when it burst into a ball of fire. It only took about 35 seconds to slam into the ground as twisted heap of burning metal. It only took a minute and a half about for the hydrogen in the blimp to burn out. Of the 127 people on board, 35 died, and the resulting media coverage basically marked the end of the era of commercial airship travel.

The Space Shuttle Challenger was just 73 seconds into its tenth mission, at an altitude of 48,000 feet, and it broke apart and exploded, leading to the deaths of all seven on board, as well as to an unforgettable imprint in the minds of schoolchildren all across the nation.

All that planning, all that organization, all that money, and all that energy, destroyed. It’s only use: to serve as an example to future generations. That was a very expensive lesson.

It’s tragic enough when something catastrophic like that happens to a commercial vehicle or to some scientific endeavor, but what about when something like that happens to the greatest institution in this world?

Greater than any ship, greater than any aircraft, greater than any private company or government project, is the church of Jesus Christ.

In Matthew 16, Jesus says: “I will build my Church.” And the New Testament tells us that Jesus is the Head of the Church. So, He is both the founder and the leader of the church. It is HIS church.

And our mission is not to physically take people from one place to another. It is to proclaim the infinite glory of God in Christ, for the eternal salvation of man.

Ephesians 3:10 says that manifold wisdom of God is being made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places through the church. We have a spiritual, supernatural mission and purpose.

We are living stones built together to praise the glory of God and to proclaim the glory of God.to praise our Father’s glory and proclaim His glory—to put on display the multi-faceted grace of God.

And as Jesus said, the effectiveness of that mission is connected on our unity.

So again, from a spiritual and eternal perspective, we could say that the breakdown of unity within our own church family, is a greater tragedy that the breakdown of any physical machine or earthly institution—because we belong to Jesus and we have an eternal mission.

We’ve been talking about unity, and we’ve seen that the New Testament vision for the church is that of a body, with all the parts are working together in unity (Ephesian 4).

But at one point or another, some parts will fail to work together. And I’m pretty sure you’ve experienced that at some point in your life. The effects can mild and temporary, or they can be extreme.

Sadly, many Christian churches and families, like the Titanic or the Hindenburg or the Challenger, have been catastrophically devastated and torn apart. All traces of unity have been destroyed. The destruction seems irreparable. And again, if we forfeit our unity, we forfeit success in our mission. We forfeit our purpose. And we forfeit our joy.

With regard to the boats and the airships and the space shuttle, all the work that went into producing them can’t bring them back. They’re like Humpty Dumpty. All the kings horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again.

But, unlike those disasters, the church of Jesus Christ can be restored. The power that brought together the church of Jesus Christ, can be used to bring it back together when there’s a catastrophe. The church of Jesus Christ can be restored in its effectiveness, and in its joy, and in its unity.

More than that, we are commanded by Christ, to work to keep it united. One of the verses we’ve looked at in this series has been Ephesians 4:3. We’re called to walk in a manner worthy of our calling, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirt in the bond of peace.

Whether or not you memorize that passage, you need to know what it says. We are called to be “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” That’s not talking about our spiritual, eternal unity. Because that unity is in Christ, and it cannot be broken. That verse is talking about our practical unity, which is the expression of our spiritual unity. The expression of Christ-bought unity matters.

And the word used there, that gets translated as being diligent or eager, is word that means “to make every effort.” Unity mattered to Paul, and more importantly, it mattered to Jesus. That’s why He prayed for it in John 17.

This morning, we’re not going to be looking at just one passage. We’ll be looking at various passages. And I want to organize our time under two main headings—first: the instruction of unity, and secondly: the restoration of unity. The instruction of unity and the restoration of unity.

And for the first section, I simply want to make the point that we are all commanded to work toward unity, particularly as members of the same local church.

Those of you who are members, might remember that the final portion of our membership covenant is a commitment to unity. Unity matters.

And a week ago, I defined Christian unity as our mutual connection to Christ, expressed in love for one another and in cooperative ministry for the gospel. This is what Christ wants and commands for the church. And I simply want you to know that the commands to unity in the Bible are neither isolated nor optional.

If we understand the commands of Jesus properly, then we are sinning whenever we actively lead to disunity or conflict, but we’re also sinning whenever we passively fail to address a lack of unity.

And what I’m about to do, for a short while, is inundate you with some of the biblical exhortations and commands with regards to unity. You don’t have to jot these all down, but I want you to listen to the message over and over, and ask God to reveal to you what actions you need to take, because the only point I want you to get is this: Jesus cares about unity. He commands us toward unity.

Some of you are sleepy; I get it. Summer is busy. But if you leave with anything over the next 10 minutes, make sure you understand this lesson: We are commanded to unity. Jesus cares about out unity.

Proverbs 16:28 says: “A dishonest [perverse] man spreads strife, And a whisperer [slanderer] separates intimate friends.”

In Matthew 5, the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said “blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” You efforts at keeping unity and peace with others and between others is a testament to your salvation. Peace is part of the fruit of the Spirit, like it says in Galatians 5.

A biblical peacemaker leads others to have peace with God through Jesus Christ, and he or she also works to achieve peace between others.

The biblical idea of peace goes much deeper than simply not saying bad things to each other. When the Bible talks about peace between people, it’s talking about harmony and a like-mindedness. It is viewing one another as friends and allies, rather than obstacles. If you’re avoiding someone, that’s not biblical peace.

And if there isn’t peace between you and someone else, you are responsible to do what you can to fix it. “Well, doesn’t that mean that they’re responsible too.” Yes, but that doesn’t remove your responsibility before the Lord.

Romans 12:18 says, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.” Romans 14:19 says, “Pursue the things which make for peace.” Hebrews 12:14 says, “Strive for peace with everyone.”

Our Lord Jesus cares about reconciliation. He cares about personal relationships being mended. That’s why in Matthew 5:23, He says: “If you’re presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.”

That is to say, God cares more about our unity than He does about our religious observances. Don’t ever fool yourself thinking you can be good with God, if you haven’t done your part to be good with someone else.

Some of you are familiar with 1 Corinthians 6, which is a warning against lawsuits. The passage commands us that problems between believers ought to be resolved in the church. They don’t get ignored. They don’t get swept under the rug. They get addressed. We want to find some kind of Christ-honoring solution to our problems. We want to move back into unity for the mission.

The negative example of this would be what we have in 1 Corinthians 11, where people were taking the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner. It was an ugly expression of their divisiveness. And as an expression of God’s judgment, some got sick, and some died. So, we need to take unity and peace seriously.

In Romans 12:16, Paul says, “Be of the same mind toward one another; don’t be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly.

In Philippians 2, Paul tells the church, “Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in Spirit, intent on one purpose.”

And the Apostle Peter said (1 Peter 3:8): “To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit.”

And that’s exactly what Peter was a part of in the early church. One more than one occasion, it says that the people were of one mind. That doesn’t mean that the people never had any kind of argument. It means that those kinds of differences were dealt with, and they paled in comparison to what the church was most known for—their love for one another, and their energy for Christ.

That’s exactly what we were talking about last week in Romans 14. It didn’t say “if you disagree with someone, just stay quiet about it.” That would be like a spiritual Band-aid. The passage is aimed even deeper, at our heart. It says: don’t judge them. Don’t look down on them. Instead, welcome them. Love them.

 As we wrap up this list of instructions for unity, I want to read to you the words of 2 Corinthians 13:11. There, Paul says: Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

There is a special blessing and nearness God has for us when we walk in peace and in unity with our brothers and sisters. We have been instructed to pursue peace, to pursue unity.

And so, understanding the instruction of unity, I want you to consider some things. I want you to ask yourself some questions.

First of all, who might you need to approach for the purpose of pursuing peace and unity? Is there anyone that you have to work things out with in order to be obedient to Christ?

And then secondly, why isn’t there a lot of motivation to fix it? Why is that? Was it simply ignorance? You didn’t know that Jesus wanted you to pursue peace. Or maybe it was apathy; it just didn’t bother you enough to do something about it. Or how about busy-ness. You mean to do something, but it just keeps getting crowded out and pushed back

Whatever the reason, the best motivation to do something should be love for Jesus Christ. This is what He wants you to do.

In the old days, people would talk about bumper stickers. Today, we talk about memes, right? And on more than one occasion, I’ve seen the meme that says: “Ladies, if a man says he’ll fix something, then he’s gonna fix it. There’s no need to remind him about it every six months.”

That’s intended to be funny for the myriads of wives who have to wait for their husbands to complete some project they’ve asked them to do. As a married guy, I am abundantly guilty of not addressing things my wife wants me to do.

And when we have talked about those kinds of things, what it really comes down to is that those are expressions of love. And when I put off something that my wife wants me to do for her, what I’m communicating through my actions is: “You’re not that important to me right now. I have more important things.”

Well, maybe some of us are doing the same thing with Jesus, with regard to peace and unity. We need to take some deliberate steps to plan and then to implement some course of action.

But, what do I do? What steps do I take? And how do I even know that some kind of reconciliation is possible?

That brings us to the second portion of today’s message: The restoration of unity.

I said it at the beginning of the message, but now I’m going to unpack it for us. I said that the same power that brought us together in Christ, is what can reunite us. It what will bring true restoration. And what is that power?

Turn with me to Colossians, chapter 3. Colossians 3, verses 12 and 13. A good number of you might have memorized this verse at some point. It’s a very helpful verse to know.

Verse 12 says: Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy, and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.

So, first of all, we’re reminded that God chose us, that God declared us to be holy, and that He loves us. And having that spiritual position, notice the command of verse 13—Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

John Piper, in his book This Momentary Marriage has, I think very helpfully, divided this passage into two categories, the strange and the sinful. The strange stuff is the stuff that is different. And we’re called to forbear it. That’s like what we saw last week. We look past it. We accept one another.

But the toughest breaks in our relationships don’t come from the strange things other people do, they come because of the sinful things people do. People can be so cruel, can’t they? And they can be so inconsiderate. And they can be so harsh?

So, what are we supposed to do with that? How do we respond? This verse gives us the answer. For the things that are strange, we forbear. And for the things that are sinful, we forgive. We forgive.

That’s the key to peace and reconciliation. That is the power that brought you into the church, and it is the power that heals the divided church. It’s the power of forgiveness.

And if we’re really going to understand this command, then we need to understand what forgiveness really is. What does it mean to forgive?

In the Greek, you’ve got two main words for forgiveness. One is aphíemi, which carries the idea of sending something away, or releasing it. You’re letting something go. The second word is charizomai, which carries the idea of an act of grace or kindness, like doing someone a genuine favor. They don’t deserve it, but you’re doing it anyway.

And that’s really what forgiveness it. It’s an act of grace. The offending party doesn’t deserve it, but the offended party is releasing them from judgment. I’m letting that go. I’m releasing it.

Why would we ever do that? Because, as this verse reminds us, it’s exactly what God has done for us, isn’t it? “As the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”

Do unto others what God has done for you. Paul says the same thing in Ephesians 4:32. There, it says: Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

If you want to get a real good picture of what forgiveness actually is, look at Jeremiah chapter 31, verse 34. This is the promise of the New Covenant. Jeremiah 31:34. The end of the verse uses what is called poetic symmetry, to give us a good picture of what forgiveness actually is.

Jer 31:34—"And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

God made a promise to His people. That’s what forgiveness is. It’s a promise not to hold someone’s sins against them. God promised that He will not remember our sins any more. What does that mean? Well, it can’t mean that God CAN’T remember your sins, because He’s God, He knows everything. What it means, then is that He WON’T remember your sins. It’s a conscious act on His part.

Sometimes, people will say: “Well, if you come to Jesus, God forgets all your sins.” That’s not exactly true. He’s God, He doesn’t forget anything. But forgetting something is not the same as not remembering.

For example, if I asked you what you had for dinner last night, I think you’d probably remember that. Ten second ago, you hadn’t forgotten about your dinner, it’s just that you were not actively remembering your dinner. Unless you still happen to be experiencing some of its effects. Is that point clear?

Forgiveness is a promise. And it’s a promise about your thoughts and about your actions.

Two of the best resources I have come across on the subject of forgiveness and reconciliation are Peacemaker Ministries and Relational Wisdom 360. Both were founded by a man named Ken Sande, and both have some very good books, articles, and other resources online. Those websites are peacemaker.training and rw360.org.

The Relational Wisdom 360 website describes forgiveness as a decision to make 4 promises. And this is what they are: Number 1, “I will not dwell on this incident.” Number 2, “I will not bring up this incident again and use it against you.” Number 3, “I will not talk to others about this incident.” And number 4, “I will not let this incident stand between us or hinder our personal relationship.”

Number 1, “I will not dwell on this incident.” Number 2, “I will not bring up this incident again and use it against you.” Number 3, “I will not talk to others about this incident.” And number 4, “I will not let this incident stand between us or hinder our personal relationship.”

When you understand forgiveness as a promise like this, you recognize that it is not ultimately dependent on your feelings. And it doesn’t have to mean that you forget what happened. “Forgive and forget” used to be a more popular saying, but that’s not always going to happen. Forgiveness is a decision not to dwell on something. Therefore, it’s a matter of obedience. It’s not a feeling.

Your mind is like a muscle. It can be used, and it can be strengthened. And it can be weak or it can be strong. And with the right kind of and amount of practice, we can get better at controlling it. The same is true with worry or lust or contentment, or any other sin. We can get better at setting our mind on things above. We can get better at thinking about what it true and honorable and right and pure.

Again, think about God’s forgiveness toward you. At salvation, God as the Judge pardoned you from the penalty of sin. By virtue of His grace and your faith and the death of Jesus Christ, He forgave your sin and declared you righteous forever. That’s the gospel, isn’t it?

If you’re here, and you’ve never heard the message of Jesus Christ, before you start thinking about all the people who have done you wrong, you need to recognize that you have done God wrong. You’ve sinned against the greatest being imaginable, and you deserve eternal punishment.

But God sent His Son to pay the price of sin. He died on the cross. He was buried in the tomb. And on the third day, He rose from the dead, proving that His message was correct. And if you will embrace Jesus Christ as the rightful King of creation, if you will surrender your life to Him and believe in who He is and what He did, you will be forgiven. Your slate is wiped clean.

And then, what happens when you sin again, after conversion? Well, it doesn’t mean you have to get saved all over again. We no longer need to be forgiven by a Judge. What we need now, is the forgiveness of a Father. We want to be freed from any of the temporal discipline of God. We want to start again.

And that’s what God does for me and for you, every single day, right? In fact, multiple times per day.

Psalm 103 says: “As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.”

Ken Sande wrote an article on the rw360 website about his 2½ year old grandson who, after being warned not to touch, intentionally stepped right into a fresh pile of the dog’s mess. And once he smell it, the kid started walking around the yard, trying to get his shoes clean.

As soon as Grandpa stepped outside, the little boy said, “Papa, clean me!” And here’s what Sande writes:

“Overcoming my impulse to chastise this smelly little boy, I instead knelt down and pulled his shoes off his feet, telling him, “Papa will get you clean.” We then grabbed the hose and began to spray away the evidence of his latest adventure.

“As we finished the job, [my grandson] rewarded my efforts with a glowing smile and a simple but priceless confession. ‘I sorry for mess, Papa. Thank you clean me.’

“As I reflected on this episode a few minutes later, I found myself driven to prayer. ‘Oh God, I do the same thing [my grandson] did. Whenever I say or do things I know I shouldn’t, I make such a mess. And when I try to conceal my wrongs or fix them myself, I only make them worse.

‘But you are so gracious. You don’t condemn or shame me, or rub my face in my sin. All I need to say is, “God, please help me.” And then without rebuke, you cover me with your mercy and forgiveness, washing away the stain of my sin.

‘Help me to come to you more like [my grandson] came to me. Humble, without excusing or blaming. Simply admitting my need and depending utterly on you as the only one who can clean and change me.

‘And please, God, make me more like you. Slow to criticize. Safe to approach. Eager to forgive. Glad to cover and wash away the wrongs of others.’”

The more you realize how holy and majestic and beautiful God is, the more you will realize how sinful you really are. And that’s not a bad thing. Because the more you realize your sin, the more you will treasure the forgiveness He’s given you in Jesus Christ. And the result of that kind of life is a person who forgives.

That’s why Jesus said: “He who has been forgiven little, loves little.” And the flip side then is: he who has been forgiven much, loves much.

How many times should we forgive someone? Jesus told Peter, do it seventy times seven. That’s a ridiculous number. But it doesn’t even come close to the number of times God forgives us.

Brothers and sisters, this is how God fixes relationships. It’s how He fixed the relationship between Himself and us, and it’s how He fixes the relationships between one another—There needs to be forgiveness.

We’re going to talk more about forgiveness and reconciliation next week. It’s such a desperately needed discussion in the life of any church or any Christian family.

But before we leave, I just want to remind you one more time of how serious God takes this issue of forgiveness.

Near the end of Jesus’ sample prayer for His disciples, it says: “and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

And then Jesus added: “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

And then later in Matthew 18, Jesus told the story of the unforgiving servant, who ended up being cast into prison under the wrath of his master. And Jesus ended by saying: “So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

And then, in the final week of His public ministry, Jesus told the disciples, this is from Mark 11:25: “And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

It’s a serious issue if you’re unwilling to forgive. You are robbing the church of Christ of the power to be restored. And at the same time, when genuine forgiveness occurs, there is a tremendous blessing. And the church looks more and more like Jesus Christ. And it becomes that much more effective at reaching the world with His truth.