Easter 7
4th May 2008

Theme: Unity in Christ

Those of you who know me know that I’m a bit of a film buff. And one of the great films of all time, in my view, is John Ford’s representation of Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Grapes of Wrath. It’s a harrowing story, a story of suffering and privation in the dust bowl which destroyed the farming communities of the mid US in the time of the great depression. There’s something timely in the source of the problem. There was drought – severe and unusual. There was human activity – in this case intensive farming which led to soil erosion; in our case, the pollutants with which we flood the atmosphere. And there was economic instability. There’s nothing new under the sun. And maybe there’s a lesson or two for us to learn.

In the film we follow the lives of the Joads, a family of sharecroppers forced from the land by this disaster, who join the exodus of oakies (so-called because they come from Oklahoma ) fleeing to California in search of a new life. They go from tragedy to tragedy, hardship to hardship. Towards the end of the film, Tom Joad the younger son (played by Henry Fonda), kills a policeman for beating to death his friend Casey, as they strike to achieve just wages in fruit-picking. As he prepares to become a fugitive he speaks to his mother.

Maybe it's like Casey says. A fellow ain't got a soul of his own, just little piece of a big soul, the one big soul that belongs to everybody, then -
Ma: Then what, Tom?
Tom: Then it don't matter. I'll be all around in the dark. I'll be everywhere, wherever you can look. Wherever there's a fight so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever there's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there. I'll be in t he way guys yell when they're mad. I'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry and they know supper's ready and where people are eatin' the stuff they raise and livin' in the houses they build. I'll be there, too.

Jesus said, ‘And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.’

This year the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity marks 100 years since the first 'Prayer Octave for Christian Unity' began in 1908.  These 8 days leading up to the great feast of Pentecost provide us with a wonderful historic opportunity to renew and deepen our relationships in the one God in whom we share together through Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.  This year takes as its theme appropriate words from St Paul 'Pray without ceasing' (1 Thess 5:17 )

One of Paul’s central aims in all that he did was to build up the community of faith in its unity. The passage from which the Week of Prayer text is taken begins with Paul’s plea to the fledgling church in Thessalonica to “be at peace among yourselves” (5: 13b). And the peace which Paul calls for is not simply the absence of conflict. Rather it’s that state of harmony in which the gifts of all within the community contribute to its thriving and growth.

It’s important that Paul didn’t offer abstract theological teaching. Nor did he speak about emotions or feelings. Paul doesn’t call us to talk about love. He doesn’t call for us to have warm inner glow feelings of love. No. He calls for specific actions, actual ways of behaving, through which we members of the Christian community demonstrate our commitment and accountability to one another within the one body of Christ. He calls us to love. Love put into practice and made visible. Love, then, whatever else it is, is hard work.

Paul lists the ‘things that make for peace’: ensuring the contribution of all and encouraging the fainthearted, helping the weak, being patient with all, not repaying evil for evil but doing good to one another and to all, rejoicing always, praying without ceasing, giving thanks in all circumstances (5: 14-18a). And he concludes with the affirmation that, in doing these things, the community is living out “the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (5: 18b).

The appeal to “pray without ceasing” ( 5: 17 ) is embedded within this list of ‘things that make for peace’ Life in Christian community is possible only through a life of prayer.

In our baptism we commit ourselves to following Christ and fulfilling his will. And in today’s Gospel we hear what is his will for his followers. After the last supper, and before he goes out into the night of betrayal leading to his death, John’s Jesus prays to his Father in heaven. These words have come to be known as the High priestly prayer. First he prays for himself. Then he prays for the church. His prayer is for unity, not just for the sake of harmony, but rather as witness; we are to be one so that the world will come to believe in him as the one sent by God.

Prayer that joins us in Jesus’ prayer for unity has come to be referred to by some churches as an expression of ‘spiritual ecumenism’. This prayer is most intense during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity but it shouldn’t be restricted to it. It needs to flow out of this observance into our daily lives. For the fact is that Christian unity can’t be solely the fruit of human effort, but is always the work of the Holy Spirit. As humans, we can’t make it or organize it. We can only receive it as a gift of the Spirit when we ourselves are prepared to receive it.

Spiritual ecumenism calls for that generosity which is the hallmark of the kingdom of God . We exchange spiritual gifts so that what is lacking in each of our traditions finds its needed complement. And this exchange enables us to go beyond denominational labels to the Giver of all gifts.

It shouldn’t surprise us that the first effect of prayer is in us. Our own minds and hearts are shaped by prayer as we seek opportunities to translate that prayer into practice, the true test of prayer’s authenticity. Spiritual ecumenism leads us to a healing of our memories. We face those difficult events of the past that give rise to competing interpretations of what happened and why. And as we pray these things through, by grace we can go beyond that which has kept us divided. In other words, the goal of spiritual ecumenism is the sort of Christian unity that leads us into mission for the glory of God.

If believers are to follow Jesus, we must work and pray for Christian unity. But what does this mean? The churches have differing visions of the visible unity for which we are praying. For some, full visible unity is the goal, bringing churches together in common confession, worship and sacraments, witness, decision-making and structured life. Others look to a ‘reconciled diversity’, with the present churches working together to present a coherent witness to the world. For still others unity is found rather in the invisible bonds linking us to Christ and with one another, with an emphasis on personal ways of living one’s faith in the world.

So prayer for Christian unity is a challenging prayer. It’s risky. It’s prayer which may effect change in our own personal identity as well as in our confessional identity. Ultimately it means that we will give up our way of seeing unity in favour of concentrating on seeing what God wants for his people. It doesn’t automatically mean that we will divest ourselves of our uniqueness, for unity naturally expresses itself in diversity - which is, after all, the essence of Trinitarian belief.. What we strive for is that unity in diversity which reflects the mystery of communion in love, as seen in God’s own being.

I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.

Lord we have glorified you for the grace you have given us in the ecumenical movement. In the joy of being called to serve you in the one search for Christian unity, we acknowledge the work of the Holy Spirit and the admirable diversity of gifts and talents of the Spirit destined to be shared. We commit ourselves to persevere in constant prayer for Christian unity, and through concrete gestures of reconciliation, to seek to bring forth perfect unity in your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Adapted from the resources of the NCCA – Week of Prayer for Christian Unity - http://www.ncca.org.au/departments/faith_and_unity/weekofprayer