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“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 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. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 1:12-17). 

Jesus preached love amidst hatred; unity amidst divisiveness; faith amidst the legalistic religious leaders of his day; inclusiveness amidst exclusionary religious leaders; wholeness amidst the brokenhearted; freedom amidst those held in yokes of bondage; Jesus spoke truth to power. Christ preached a love so radical that it cost him his life. 

Meister Eckhart, a renowned German mystic said: “We must learn neither to seek nor to take our own advantage in any matter, but always to find and procure the advantage of God. For God does not give gifts, nor did he ever give one, so that man might keep it and take satisfaction in it; but all were given – all he ever gave on earth or in heaven – that he might give us this one more: himself. With all his giving he is trying only to prepare us for the gift that he himself is; and all his works – all that he ever did on earth or in heaven – he did for the sake of this one more: to perfect our happiness. Therefore I say that we must learn to look through every gift and every event to God and never be content with the thing itself. There is no stopping place in this life – no, nor was there ever for any man, no matter how far along his way he’d gone. This above all, then, be ready at all times for the gifts of God and always for new ones.”

Jesus prays for all believers in the present and in the future. The disciple’s will need the love of Christ to carry the Word of God. They will give glory to God and write about it in the New Testament so that others from every generation will come to believe. If we believe that through Jesus’ unity with this radical love that the glory of God is shown, then we are Easter People. We are resurrection people and we can bet that being unified in this radical love is not going to bring us in harmony with everyone around us. Paul practices this same type of unity with the father and he ends up in prison. A slave girl who can tell fortunes is being used to make profits for her owners. When Paul removes the spirit that gives her the power to tell fortunes, the owners get angry. Paul is just doing what is right, but if that affects their profits, then the Roman authorities can throw him in jail. The glory of Jesus is at the center of our lives. Every ministry we do, every person we help, and every use of the gifts that we have been given are for the glory of God and not ourselves. 1 John 4:11: “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” This week’s sermon is about unity. We may not be in unity with everyone. Our unity is in the glory of God.

The confirmation class will meet next Sunday after the 10:00 service with me. It is Pentecost Sunday. We will decide what outreach the church will do with the funds received for the bishop’s visit. We have $1,960.00 to spend! Thank you to everyone who gave to our outreach fund.

In Christ’s love,

Fr. Duncan