| October 18, 2009
From The First Baptist Church in America pulpit – Providence, Rhode Island
What most people think is “the Lord’s Prayer,” is not the Lord’s prayer. It’s the “model prayer.” It was an example of how to pray in response to their request: “teach us to pray.” He said, “Pray like this...Our Father...” For the Lord praying, we turn to the 17th chapter of the Gospel of John, featuring our Lord at prayer. And yes, Jesus must’ve written his prayers! Else how would we have it? It’s very personal; rambling and unclearly articulated, which makes it hard to follow and explains the circular motion. "I am in you and you are in me and I am in them and they are in me and you are in us!" John's language meanders back and forth between Jesus, the disciples, the world and God. Typical of a lot of prayers.
But two of the most important statements Jesus made are lodged in this passage. It’s here that we have the only explicit definition of "eternal life," in the Bible. “This is eternal life... that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” And the other, frames our text: "...that they may all be one, as we are one." (V. 21). This is theological and pastoral dynamite! Salvation and unity. The core of the Lord's prayer is Jesus’ burning desire -- that the communion he shares with God would also be experienced by us. He wants it bad enough to die for it, so that the intimacy they have, can also be ours.
It was the last time Jesus was gathered with his followers before his Passion. He yearns for the oneness God intended at creation, but got confused at Babel, drowned in the flood, and lost in the exile. Six slender monosyllables: "That they may all be one" (21). Jesus had his heart set on harmony and solidarity for his followers, because nothing is more critical than that, if a church is to be a church. But "that all may be one," does not mean “that we’d all be the same…” in creed, theology or world view; just one in love and service. Denominationalism has mixed reviews in achieving that: it’s been both a hindrance and a help. But it’s the direction the Church has taken as we shrink our circles, even while Jesus prays that we’ll expand them: for unity not uniformity; oneness not sameness. Are we not “called by the same Spirit to preach one faith, one baptism and one God,” to transcend our separate parts?
God knows we can do more together than we can do alone. In August our church had a waterfire picnic in conjunction with Warwick Central Baptist Church. We had a bigger crowd than we would’ve had with just our church. Everybody had a good time and we raised several hundred dollars for a mission trip to South America. That’s Jesus’ prayer.
A few years ago, I saw a movie called "Avalon," named for a Baltimore suburb. It’s about a European immigrant's struggle to make a life in America. It spans a time period from 1914 to the 1960's. A time of upheaval, when lots of brutal but inevitable change was taking place, brought on by the appearance of television. And people had to adapt to it fast. It affected family life, religion, business. “Avalon” drove home the truth that in times of turmoil, there’s the temptation to become "turf lords." And turn inward and protective as a means of resisting the influx of alien ways and strange new ideas. To preserve the turf, instead of expanding it. Change presents a peril and a promise, because we stand to both gain and lose. There’s always risk, but also excitement.
My own view of the church is like the county fairs we used to go to every September down South. Every year the longest lines were at the “tunnel of love” and the “Crazy House.” Both relied on darkness: Wavy mirrors, Neon strobe lights flashing, walls at weird angles. The floor moves beneath you. You hear strange noises. Frightful figures pop up. It’s fun to be scared, but that’s why we bought the ticket.
Leading a church is a lot like walking through the “crazy house” at a carnival. It’s difficult to keep your balance and maintain a sense of proportion. You gotta feel your way along. There’ll be “land mines” to avoid. You never know what may jump out at you. It gets crazy and frustrating and demanding sometimes, but also exciting. Maybe church is a bit too much for timid souls. But isn’t that why you bought the ticket in the first place?
And so it has become with our own historic church, The First Baptist Church in America -- multi-cultural, pluralistic, diverse. The challenge for us is the same as it was for those whom Jesus first prayed: to stick together or fall apart. The basis for Christian cooperation is set in the middle of the deepest longing and prayer of Jesus Christ! His key word was "they." “That they may all be one." "They" assumes community. It's not me or us and ours but “they” and that means that we’re gonna have lots of company. "They" is a comprehensive word that draws us beyond our small circles.
When it got down to the nub, Jesus' final prayer is for “them,” his followers...he prayed for what he believed was of ultimate importance. It was nothing for him. And it was not for their spirituality, nor their numerical growth, or institutional success or even for their souls. His main concern was for something more important than all of those things. Jesus prayed for their unity, "that they all may be one!" But always for a purpose: “so that the world will believe!"
I happen to love motorbikes. Back in my Silver Spring days, I got the fever to own a Harley-Davidson. One day I was drooling over a Sportster in Gaithersburg and lamenting the pay scale of a preacher. One thing about them is, they’re not is cheap. For benefit of you non-bikers, is a sound, an image, a feeling--America’s V-Twin monster. Make your own thunder! This bike was sleek and shiny “Sinister Pearl Blue,” with all the chrome trimmings. I lusted after it too. But my covetous fantasy was interrupted by a hustler-type salesman.
Beginning of another one. We lived in a parsonage during our Maryland days, so I had to mow a big yard. When my old lawnmower broke, I went down to Triangle Hardware in Wheaton to buy a Toro, the equivalent lawnmower to a H-D. There was no mystery this time, they knew I was a pastor because I’d taken church equipment in for repairs. But I didn’t get any of that “song and dance” at Triangle Hardware that I got at the motorcycle shop. That’s because lawnmower salesmen are not as surprised to find preachers looking at their merchandise as Motorcycle salesmen are. Does this tell us something about the church? Lawnmowers are slow 4-wheelers, plodding, safe, practical, middle class. Motorcycles are fast, fun, dangerous, risky and thrilling, and associated with youth or rabble.
And I couldn’t help but wonder, Is being a Christian like mowing the lawn or riding a motorbike? Is church life safe and sane, or dangerous and exciting? Does church have more appeal to the settled or the adventuresome? And how about God? Does God’s love inhibit us or free us? Is church more about safety than risk? Lawnmower or motorcycle? 2-wheeler. 4-wheeler? Crazy House? Nursing home?
Nietzsche said, “Christianity is a religion for weaklings because it is a religion of love.” He was wrong, but not totally wrong. Still his accusation haunts me. Because the church too often has played the role of the helpless young maiden tied down to the railroad tracks of history by Oil Can Harry! Wouldn’t it be nice to see the church recapture some of that “motorcycle spirit” which characterized the early church? ‘Cause without it, we can’t understand or express the church’s calling. You know it and I know it; the common image of the church is pure lawn mower, man: slow, deliberate, unchanging, plodding. Isn’t there something within you that yearns to take the church out on the open road, goose ‘er a little bit and see what the ol’ baby’ll do?
This church has a storied past. Blessed a lot of people for a looooong time. Our unique heritage is our greatest assent. But nobody can predict what it’ll look like in the future. Or if it’ll even BE here. There are no guarantees. But I can promise you this. If we do our part to answer our Lord’s most earnest prayer: if we stick together in unity, there will be life and vitality. Besides, isn’t that why you bought the ticket in the first place?
Providence Prayers: (10/18/09)
When the day’s headlines beat us down, make us to be bearers of hope, champions of justice, and agents of reconciliation. We thank Thee for our unity with everything that lives and breathes -- for friends that multiply our joys and temper our disappointments; that we can live in on-going dialogue with Thee through our prayers and can know the strength of Thy support in our seasons of defeat and loss.
As it was in the beginning of the church O God, different men and women blended into one cohesive body, so bring us together in a oneness that celebrates our diversity of talent and ability. May our several personalities merge into a superb harmony, as we lay our egos aside, and prefer one another, taking delight in each other’s gifts. Let there be no star temperament among us, no prima donnas; just a sense of a holy ensemble.
Guard us against wasteful rivalries and unwarranted divisions to the end that each may rejoice in the gifts and talents of the other so that we may all march together beneath one banner. May Thy Spirit hide us so that after all is said and done, Christ is in the spotlight and we’re in the wings. “Let us show how he has changed us, and remade us as his own; let us share our life together as we shall around his throne” (From Shine Jesus Shine) ... Through Christ our Lord... Back |
