Sunday's Message - The Work of the Holy Spirit (The Holy Spirit Unites)

The Holy Spirit is probably the most confusing member of the Trinity. Although we can understand the Father and the Son, it's more difficult for us to grasp the nature of something that can’t be seen. Yet, without the Spirit, we can know very little about either the Father or the Son. And so, we're looking at the work of the Holy Spirit. During five messages, we'll focus on what the Holy Spirit does for us. Over that time, we'll consider the following: 

• September 3 - The Holy Spirit Inspires
• September 10 - The Holy Spirit Instructs
• September 17 - The Holy Spirit Intercedes
• September 24 - Holy Spirit Unites
• October 1 - Holy Spirit Empowers

On Sunday, we focused on how the Holy Spirit unites us. A recording and copy of the sermon are below. You can stream the service by going to the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube Channel at 10:00 a.m.

Well, here we are, entering a brand new season. And I’ve got to admit, of the four, this is by far my favorite. And why wouldn’t it be? I mean, with the leaves turning and the air chilling and the pumpkins doing whatever pumpkins do, man, how can you beat the Fall? Good night nurse, for me, oranges and browns trump greens and pastels any day of the week. Fall has got it all. Now having said that, I’m sure some of y’all probably disagree. For example, I imagine that there are probably a few lovers of summer who are, right now, in mourning, dreading the winter and looking forward to the Spring. I mean, isn’t that why God made “snow birds” and created the State of Florida? But you know, all that’s OK, isn’t it? I mean, we’d really be in bad shape if we let our personal seasonal preferences divide us, right? That would be crazy, wouldn’t it?

Of course, I recognize that there’s a whole bunch of irony in what I just said, because I’ve got to tell you, as a country, I’m not sure we’ve been this divided in the last fifty years. And I think we see these divisions all around us. For example, I imagine everybody’s heard something about Lauren Boebert, the Buell Theatre in Denver and Beetlejuice-Gate, something you should never say three times. Now, without rehashing the details or making any kind of judgement on her behavior, I found something she said after everything broke really sad. I mean, after apologizing and sharing how the stress of going through a divorce can sort of mess with your judgement, when it came out that her date was a Democrat, Rep. Boebert said, “All future date nights have been canceled and I learned to check party affiliations before you go on a date.” In other words, in the future, Lauren Boebart will no longer be dating Democrats. I mean, for a good Republican to do that would be obviously wrong and/or unnatural. 

Now, that’s what she said, and I don’t know about y’all, but personally I found that really sad, but not surprising given the state of our country. According to a recent poll conducted by The Economist and YouGov, when asked how they would feel if their child married a person who belonged to the other party, about half of both Democrats and Republicans said they’d be upset. Wow. But of course, this is just one example of polarization. I’ll tell you, when you add all this political stuff with racial and economic, cultural and religious differences, I don’t think it’s hard to see divisions all over the place within the United States, even in the church, and I’m talking about the Body of Christ.

And you know, I believe that’s why this fourth work of the Holy Spirit is particularly important for us now-a-days. You see, to this point, we’ve already talked about how the Holy Spirit inspires us and how the Holy Spirit instructs us and how the Holy Spirit intercedes for us. Well, this morning we’re going to talk about how the Holy Spirit also unites us. And as we discuss this, we’re going to look at four ways the Spirit pulls it off. And hopefully, by the end of our time together, we’ll have a much better understanding about how and why the Body of Christ can resist the decisiveness we see all around us.

And like I said, the reason that’s possible is because, first, the Holy Spirit unites us with one another. It draws us together as a single community, In other words, and it gives us the opportunity to put aside some of the personal stuff that often gets in the way so that we can be the Body of Christ. You see, the Holy Spirit unites us with one another, and I’ll tell you, I believe that’s something about which Paul wrote when he said this to the Ephesians:

As a prisoner of the Lord, I beg you to live in a way that is worthy of the people God has chosen to be his own. Always be humble and gentle. Patiently put up with each other and love each other. Try your best to let God’s Spirit keep your hearts united. Do this by living at peace. All of you are part of the same body. There is only one Spirit of God, just as you were given one hope when you were chosen to be God’s people. We have only one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. There is one God who is the Father of all people. Not only is God above all others, but he works by using all of us, and he lives in all of us. [Ephesians 4:1-6, CEV]

According to Paul, this is the work of the Spirit. And it’s being done without our help or permission.

And because this has happened and is happening, we have the opportunity to focus on what we share. About ten years ago, a friend of mine and I had lunch with a professor from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Now, as y’all may remember, the Presbyterian Church was going through all kinds of stuff back then, with churches dropping out and forming at least two different presbyterian denominations. Anyway, we were having lunch near the campus, and my friend asked the professor this question: What would cause you to leave the Presbyterian Church? And as I remember, he paused for just a second and said, “If we no longer believed and proclaimed that Jesus Christ is Lord.” You see, in his opinion, all the other issues with which we were struggling and folks were getting mad and leaving, although important, they were really secondary to, using the words of Paul, the one Lord and the one faith and the one baptism. You see, to break fellowship with other Christian brothers and sisters and to leave the church into which he’d been called for any secondary reason, well, for him, that just wouldn’t show respect to the one who brought the church together in the first place. At least, that’s what he believed. And for the last ten years, I’ve remembered that conversation, and personally, it’s helped me deal with situations where I was really tempted to throw up my hands and walk away. Instead, I chose to humble myself, generally not happily, and to keep doing what I think God has called me to do. Why? Because I believe the Holy Spirit unites us with one another, and that’s the first thing it does.

And second, I think it also unites us despite our differences. In other words, even though we may come from different places and even though we may have had different experiences and even though we may not all agree on everything, God has still called us together to this place, at this time. It’s like that traditional 13-letter saying that, from its beginning, was associated with the United States, and I’m talking about the one before Congress established “In God we trust” as our official motto in 1956. The Latin phrase is “E pluribus unum,” “Out of many, one.” You see, thanks to the Holy Spirit, that’s who we are as the church, e pluribus unum. And I’ll tell you, I think that’s why the Apostle Paul gave this advice to the Philippians:

Christ encourages you, and his love comforts you. God’s Spirit unites you, and you are concerned for others. Now make me completely happy! Live in harmony by showing love for each other. Be united in what you think, as if you were only one person. Don’t be jealous or proud, but be humble and consider others more important than yourselves. Care about them as much as you care about yourselves and think the same way that Christ Jesus thought: 

Christ was truly God.

But he did not try to remain 

    equal with God.

Instead he gave up everything 

    and became a slave,

when he became

    like one of us. [Philippians 2:1-7, CEV]

You see, for Paul, it was really important for them and for us to be concerned and humble and caring, because the Holy Spirit really does unite us despite the fact that we’re different. 

But you know, to push it even a little bit further, as we’ll talk about next week, we may have been brought together because of our differences, but not just because we have different skills and talents. I mean, right now, in this divided world, I think we desperately need one place where people can discuss their differences honestly and voice their disagreements passionately but to do with compassion and in harmony, because there’s something greater in this life than which team we cheer for on Sunday or which person got our vote in the last election. You see, maybe we need a place like that right now, and maybe that place can be the Body of Christ. Why? Because I believe the Holy Spirit unites us despite our differences, and that’s the second thing it does.

And you know, I think that really leads to the third unifying work of the Spirit. You see, based on my reading of scripture, I believe it also unites us by giving us a common focus. In other words, there’s something greater than ourselves that keeps us together, something that caused that professor to stay in the church even though it didn’t always do what he wanted it do and something that might even enable fans of the Steelers and the Browns and the Ravens to break nachos and chicken wings together, although right now I understand I may be pushing it. You see, there’s something that we all have within ourselves, something that we certainly didn’t choose to receive but something that we can decide to claim or to ignore. Just listen to what Jesus told his disciples right before his arrest and crucifixion:

I have much more to say to you, but right now it would be more than you could understand. The Spirit shows what is true and will come and guide you into the full truth. The Spirit doesn’t speak on his own. He will tell you only what he has heard from me, and he will let you know what is going to happen. The Spirit will bring glory to me by taking my message and telling it to you. Everything the Father has is mine. This is why I have said that the Spirit takes my message and tells it to you. [John 16:12-15, CEV]

You see, this is our focus, this truth that we share, this message that has literally been breathed into us. Of course, I recognize that different people interpret that message in different ways and reach different conclusions and make different applications. And sometimes, we allow those interpretations and conclusions and applications to become like clubs to bludgeon those who may disagree with us and to justify dividing the very body that God himself has called together. Of course, often I think we do that because we’re afraid of what might happen if we don’t. But you know, I don’t think we need to be afraid at all, not so long as we trust that we’ve been called here for a reason and not so long as we understand that, after being asked about the most important commandment, Jesus knew exactly what he was talking about when he said, 

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. This is the first and most important commandment. The second most important commandment is like this one. And it is, “Love others as much as you love yourself.” All the Law of Moses and the Books of the Prophets are based on these two commandments. [Matthew 22:37b-40, CEV]

Now that’s what Jesus said; therefore, any interpretation and any conclusion and any application that doesn’t lead us to love God and to love others, man, we may need to question it with concern and humility and care, because it may have more to do with what we want to believe than in the message that God has breathed into us. Why? Because the Holy Spirit unites by giving us a common focus, and that’s the third thing it does.

And finally, fourth, I believe the Holy Spirit unites us for a shared mission. And for me, it’s right here where the rubber hits the road. I mean, although it’s really nice that the Spirit has united us with one another, despite our differences, by giving us a common focus, all of that is directed inside, isn’t it; on who we are and what we think and how we feel. But you know, that’s really not what following Christ is all about. I mean, at its most fundamental level, it’s not about me feeling a sense of peace as I consider my past or about me feeling a sense of hope as I look toward the future or even about me feeling a sense of purpose as I live in the present. No, following Jesus isn’t about me; it’s about God and taking the peace and the hope and the purpose that he’s given me and you and sharing it with others. And I’ll tell you, even though there are all kinds of passages in the New Testament that say this very thing, since we’re looking at the Book of Acts in the Thursday evening study, I think what happened right before the ascension is spot on, Just listen to what Luke wrote:

While the apostles were still with Jesus, they asked him, “Lord, are you now going to give Israel its own king again?” 

Jesus said to them, “You don’t need to know the time of those events that only the Father controls. But the Holy Spirit will come upon you and give you power. Then you will tell everyone about me in Jerusalem, in all Judea, in Samaria, and everywhere in the world.” After Jesus had said this and while they were watching, he was taken up into a cloud. They could not see him, but as he went up, they kept looking up into the sky. 

Suddenly two men dressed in white clothes were standing there beside them. They said, “Why are you men from Galilee standing here and looking up into the sky? Jesus has been taken to heaven. But he will come back in the same way you have seen him go.” [Acts 1:6-12, CEV]

Now that’s what happened. 

You see, even though it might lead to some really interesting discussions, we really haven’t been called and inspired to speculate about the future. And even though it might be incredibly comfortable to just stand around looking into heaven, enjoying the peace, hope and purpose we might be feeling, we also haven’t been called to wait for something to happen. That’s not the reason we’re here. Instead, together, as the Body of Christ, we’ve been called to let everyone know about Jesus, you know, the one who said to love God and others, and to do it not only through the words we use but the lives we live. Why? Because the Holy Spirit unites us for a shared mission, and that’s the fourth thing it does.

As I said before, I love the season we officially entered yesterday. For me, summer is to be survived, you know, maybe to teach us patience, but the fall is to be enjoyed and savored. Now that’s how I feel, but I recognize, it’s certainly not universal. Of course, having said it, I doubt that this disagreement will divide the church, not like all our current disagreements have polarized our society. And so, Debbie, don’t worry, I won’t object to Maggie dating Colin, even thought Colin loves the summer. I’m not going to let something of secondary importance divide us. 

And I’ll tell you, that should also be the case for us as members of the Body of Christ. We really shouldn’t be focusing on dividing, and frankly, I think the reason is pretty clear. I mean, the Holy Spirit unites us with one another despite our differences by giving us a common focus for a shared mission. You see, that’s what the Spirit does. And you know, if we claim that unity, who knows, maybe what we do in here can serve as an example to all those folks who are struggling out there. Why? Because the Holy Spirit unites.