And here is just a bit of the text (read the rest HERE)
76th General Convention
President of the House of Deputies, Bonnie Anderson, D.D.
Sermon for community worship
July 10, 2009
A fan once asked Louis Armstrong, commonly known as Satchmo, “Pops, what is jazz?” His answer first came in that gentle smile and then this penetrating response, “Man, if you gotta ask, you’ll never know.”
The same can be said for unity. It would go like this. “Pops, what is unity?” “Man, if you gotta ask, you’ll never know.” In other words, you know it when you see it.
When you experience unity you know it because of how it makes you FEEL. The expression of unity, of interwoven community in Christ, is a powerful experience - difficult to describe in concept, but recognizable by the dynamic effects on our hearts when we touch it and we see it and we live it.
To me, unity is about the experience of being transformed in community. Unity is not about getting along, though that would be nice from time to time. It is not about the absence of conflict or the unattainable expectation that we can all believe exactly the same thing, except, of course, in our beloved Jesus Christ. Unity is not about “buying the world a Coke” or teaching the world to sing. And I don’t believe that unity is a state of being, some utopian community for us to construct and achieve. To me, unity is a spiritual practice – something we need to first understand and second, spend our lives trying to do. Unity is an action, an intention, something we practice over and over and over again in faithfulness to God. The Good News here is that the practice of unity has tremendous potential for transformation – unity, if it is unity, can change us, enlighten us, enlarge our perspectives and our experiences, and bring us closer to God. Unity is about inviting others to be in community with us with the hope and expectation that as we do this, we will be changed by the people who we invite to join us.
Read it all HERE
No comments:
Post a Comment