The Power of Oneness

Theme: Our actions and attitudes must align with our calling.

Please stand with me for the reading of God’s word. Ephesians 4:1-4 from the NRSV reads, “I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

The title of this message is “The Power of Oneness.”

One of the great joys bestowed upon me today is that I get the opportunity to lead another consecration service of our leaders, volunteers and entire church family. I get the privilege to tell each and everyone of you just how important and just how necessary you are to the life and movement of this ministry. I get to remind all of you who come from various backgrounds, a diversity of personal experiences, who bring your own gifting, personalities and talents just to participate in something called ministry; that no matter your experiences in life, be they positive or negative, whether you have maximized every moment, or even wasted precious opportunities, that you are all here in a post-covid society, chosen to serve, challenged to grow, just so that you and I can partner with God in making His Kingdom come and His will be done on earth even as it is in heaven.

I’m here to remind everyone who listens to this message today that you are not here by chance, you did not just stumble upon CBC, but through a series of circumstances beyond our control, God as arranged a set time for us all to converge in this setting just to hear instructions that will bring us into alignment with God’s purposes for our lives based why we were chosen in the first place. Please be clear; we are not here because we are more special than others. We are not here because we are the only one’s able to do ministry on the level that we think we can. We were not chosen because of our special gifting, calling, or even anointing; that is not why God chose or called us into this space. We are here because everyone of us were called here according to God’s purpose. If we have a gift, it’s according to God’s purpose. If we have talents, it’s according to God’s purpose. If we have knowledge or certain skillsets, it’s according to God’s purpose.

That is why for some, there has been a delay, for others there may have been some setbacks, again for others, there has been a series of unsettling moments that may have cause you to think that your season would never come, but over time you have learned that even the bad things, the difficult things, the challenging things that have happened in your life, no matter what it was, all of it still works together for good to those who love the Lord, who are the called according to God’s Purpose! So in essence, you are here on purpose.

Since we are here on purpose, there is no greater privilege than to participate in something bigger then ourselves; no greater honor than to contribute to a cause that will have an eternal impact; no greater opportunity than to partner and network with other believers who are just as called, just as anointed, just as gifted and talented for the sole purpose of advancing the Kingdom agenda here on earth. We are called not only to represent Christ here on this earth, but in the words of young Pastor and author Michael Todd, we are called to Re-Present Christ to a world that needs to see Jesus now like never before.

But while were are gifted, talented, anointed, and called, the Kingdom agenda is not a solo act! We are not called to act alone or independently from the whole, in fact the opposite is true. We are called to serve collectively as one body. Yes there are individual things we will do, but the assignment for this preachment is to declare unto everyone of us in this space today that the great work that God as tasked this ministry to do requires all hands on deck.

For years, the trend in ministry went from we to me. The gospel music industry use to be comprised of choirs, quartettes, and small groups, but trended to solo acts. Television and radio ministries featured churches and para-church organizations, The Hour of Deliverance, Healing from Heaven, The Gospel Hour, but now most of the things we watch are named for individuals. Joel Osteen, Joyce Myer, Creflo Dollar.

Also, in secular society and Christian culture, the emphasis has been on what I can have, what I’m called to do, how I can get mines, and in the proper context personal growth and development is important, but when it comes to participating in the work of redemption, individuals are not the center of focus. Rick Warren, author of “The Purpose Driven Life,” begins that powerful book with one riveting statement that shatters the ideology of a self-centered, self-absorbed, self-aggrandized culture, “It’s not about you!” One of the purposes of life is to offer service to others, to be a blessing to somebody, to pour into someone, and leave this world better than how you found it. In other words, life is not just about you, but it is about the whole of humanity.

As we experience another first Sunday of baptism and welcoming new members into our fellowship, it is important to know that salvation, church membership, or church leadership and participating in ministries are never supposed to self-serving experiences. This is not the place where we are attempting to outshine one another, but on the contrary, this is the place where we are trying to work with one another, support each other, and lift up others. No doubt whatever you are doing, you can do it alone, but the Spirit of the Lord is calling us into unity, harmony, oneness with God and with one another!

To help us unpack this sermonic theme, we look to one of Paul’s powerful letters, a prison epistle, written to the people of Ephesus. Ephesus was a place of commerce, robust economy, and a place of idolatry. Ephesus mirrored our present day large cities that had all the trappings of success, but morally and spiritually there was no sustainable presence of the true and living God. It was there, however, where God moved and a church was planted and Paul writes to encourage the church by reminding them that they are complete in Christ Jesus.

He presents his thoughts by addressing theological issues first, then he follow up with some personal application. Chapters 1-3 are theological in focus where Paul expounds upon all that God has done for us through Jesus Christ. And then in Chapters 4-6 he talks about what believers should do in response to all that God has done. Chapters 1-3 are theological in essence, and chapters 4-6 are practical in essence. Chapters 1-3 talks about the believer’s position, while chapters 4-6 talks about the believer’s condition. Another way of thinking your way through the book of Ephesians is this; the wealth, walk, and warfare of the believer; where the believer sits, how the believer walks, and how the believer stands.

Our focus comes from the practical section of Paul’s letter, chapter 4, verses 1 and following where Paul is now instructing the believers to do primarily just two things based on the theological foundation laid in the previous three chapters. He is encouraging the believer to do two things based on the revelation given in Chapters 1-3, the firs it to walk worthy of the calling, and the second is to use our energy to preserve unity in the body. (repeat) Now this is done with the understanding that there is one body, one Spirit, and we are called to one hope, one Lord, on faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all, who is above all, through all, and in all.

This is all based on Ephesians 2:13-22, that Christological passage that shows us what Jesus did for us. Jesus, through his own blood sacrifice, had reconciled both Jew and Gentile back to God, that through his blood those who were afar from God has been brought near to God. This was accomplished by tearing down the walls that separated us from each other and from God. Consequently, we who were not a people have been made a people, and we who were afar off have been brought near, and we who strangers to the covenant of faith are not participants in the faith covenants, and we are all in made ONE in him. As a result of this, we, the believer in Christ, are suppose to be one huge universal temple built together so that God can dwell in us by his Spirit! We are not many temples, one, not many bodies, one.

So based on this powerful truth, Paul says two things to the believers that I want to share with you. First he instructs them on “Right Living.” (Level Up) He says, “walk worthy of the vocation to which ye were called.” NRSV says, “Lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called.” The first things addressed in this text is the lifestyle of the believer/leader/volunteer/church member. What is clear is that your life ought to measure up to the role you have in the house of God. Now this is antithetical to the culture of our day.

Today’s culture is a judgment free zone where there are no absolutes truths, no absolutes rights or wrongs. Everything is subjective, based on one’s own understanding or interpretation. This kind of thinking rejects all standards, rejects all biblical norms and instead of people at least trying to level up, they are bring the word of God down to their standards.

However, the directive from the scripture is that if you understand all that Christ has done to save you, to redeem you, to forgive you, to included you, to cover you, to wash you, to keep you, to bless you…should I go on???....if you have any sense of the sacrifice Christ made on the cross of Calvary just so that you and I could come boldly before his throne of grace and get the mercy we need anytime we need it, if you knew the blessed privilege of being positioned “in Christ” so much so that no one can pluck you out of Christ’s hand, and because you are in Christ you are not the same person that you once were, and although you are not what you want to be, you can shout because you are not what you use to be, and the greater shout comes because you are not what you are gonna be, if you understand all of that, then your lifestyle has to level up!

You can’t just say you are a believer, you’ve got to live like one. (Deacon, trustee, minister, leader, worshipper, you’ve got to lead the kind of life that is worthy (honorable) of your title, your position, the vocation to which you have been called. The idea of being called in this text means that we have been invited, summonsed by God to enjoy to participate in God’s plan first as a believer. Our vocation or work is to represent the Kingdom of God well as a believer first. Which means, titles and positions don’t make us better Christians. However, being an honorable Christians makes us better leaders, preachers, volunteers, witnesses for the Kingdom.

And we don’t just get to be leaders, volunteer, church folk, without walking in the spirit of humility. Arrogance is not the way, conceit is not the way, haughtiness is not the way, being rough and abrasive is not the way, because the bible says, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble, therefore humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and God will…elevate you in due season!

So the first thing we must do is engage in Right Living. But secondly, we are charged to do is to possess a “Right Mindset.” That is the second thought for today, according to verse 3, Paul pushing the envelop just a litter farther. Not only must we lead a life worthy of our calling, but we must have a mindset that trends towards unity. There has got to be some mental shifting, some cognitive adjustment, some meditative metamorphosis, in other words, we’ve simply got to change the way the think about ministry and our ministries in particular.

Fannie Lou Hamer said, “Nobody is free until everybody is free.” I’d like to apply that principle to our church context and say no ministry is great until every ministry is great. No leader excels unto every leader excels. No member is perfected until every member is perfected. That is why we’ve got to be of the same mind, same spirit, same purpose, and if that’s so, then we must strive, press, intentionally and deliberately engage a process that guaranties unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

One of the challenges of any organization is to remain focused on the same thing, to be on the same page, to speak as one, to be in synch, to walk lockstep with each other. We are not called to be inn competition with each other, but to compliment one another. There is no room for schisms in the body, no room for division in the body, no room for divisive acts and rebelliousness in the body because the body, the church, has to function as one, The spirit of unity has to prevail and we must held together by bond of peace.

I know that we are many, I know that we are all different in many if not most aspects, but again the discussion is not focused on our individuality, but the exhortation is to make sure that our diversity does not diminish our unity. It reminds me of the Latin phrase borrowed by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson when creating the first Great Seal of the United States of America in 1776, “E Pluribus Unum” which means “out of many, one.” The idea was that many states formed one union, that being the United States of America.

Unity was important then, and unity is important now. We’ve seen the impact that a united front can bring. December 5, 1955 began what is known in American History as the Montgomery Bus Boycott…I mentioned it a few weeks ago. From December 5, 1955 to December 20, 1956, black folks in Montgomery, Alabama in protest to the arrest of Rosa Parks, went on a 13 month mass protest and refused to ride on a public transportation system that made them sit in the back of the bus, stand up whenever a White person needed their seat, and ultimately treated them as second class citizens. They put on their shoes and dresses, suits and ties, and walk to work, walked to church, walked to the supermarkets, in all types of weather for an entire year. No one deviated from the plan. They all honored the agreement to boycott no matter how challenging it became until the US Supreme Court ruled that segregation on public busses was unconstitutional. I’m talking about the power in unity/the power of oneness.

It’s February, Black History Month, and while we have come a long way, we as a people still have a mighty long way to go. I’ve said it before and it bears repeating. I’m not angry with other ethnicities who manage to pool their resources and organize to get their agendas accomplish. Some years ago, the house on Warren St. that boarders our property caught on fire. It was a pretty bad fire. But since then the house has been restored and we watched between 6 to 8 Mexican young men take a level of that house and live there. At first we saw bicycles in the yard, because that was their main source of transportation. And then we saw one car, and 7 bikes. And then we saw 2 cars and 6 bikes. Eventually we saw only cars and no bikes. After awhile, we started to see the cars decrease in numbers as one by one they worked themselves into better living conditions. These guys stuck together until all of them did well.

It’s not that we are not talented or resourceful. We are some of the most brilliant, creative, innovative people on the planet. We are inventors, artist, athletes, chemist, entertainers, educators, medical professional, leaders of government, we are spiritual leaders and some of the best cooks on this side of heaven. There ain’t nothing we can’t do when given the same opportunities. And even when we enter the game of life and they change the rules, we still know how to adjust and win. Our problem is not winning, our problem is not rising to the occasion, our problem is not giftedness or talents, our problem is not the lack of opportunity, our problem is the lack of UNITY! WE WON’T UNIFY! WE WON’T COME TOGETHER! THERE’S NOT POWER IS DISUNITY, THE POWER IS IN UNITY!

And I dare suggest, that if there was ever a place where unity and oneness is needed, it is needed in the church! If unity works in secular society, oneness surely will work in the church. Something happens when the church functions as one.

If you want to see prayer answered, start praying as one. Peter was arrested by King Herod (Acts 12) with the intent on executing him, just like he did James and brother of John. But the church went into prayer, and because everyone was in agreement and prayer fervently, while they were prayer…God delivered Peter.

If you want to experience the power of the Holy Ghost, let the church get with one accord. On the Day of Pentecost....

If you want to experience God’s glory....start praising God with one voice. When Solomon dedicated the Temple...

If you want to see some walls come down, learn how to get in formation and shout together…Joshua got to Jericho...

Why is oneness so important? Because the bible says, there is ONE BODY, ONE SPIRIT, and you were called to ONE HOPE…ONE LORD, ONE FAITH, ONE BAPTISM, ONE GOD AND FATHER OF ALL, WHO IS ABOVE, AND THROUGH ALL, AND IN ALL. We may be many, but we have same Savior, the same anointing, the same power, the same joy, the same Holy Ghost, the same access, the same healer, the same glory, because we are ONE.

Living He loved us, Dying he saved us, Buried he carried our sins far away, rising he justified, freed us forever, and One day, He’s coming back…When WE ALL get to heaven...

Can I depend on y’all, can we serve together, pray together, conquer together, rise up together? I can praise God all by myself, but Church just feels better when we all praise God together, Oh magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together. Can we praise God together…Help me lift Jesus!

That’s what Jesus prayed for in John 17, “Father make them one as we are one.”

Cool Down...

One can chased a thousand, but two and put 10,000 to flight. I need you, you need me, we are all apart of God’s body, stand with me, agree with me.