Untitled Sermon (4)

“How good and pleasant it is for brothers to dwell in unity.”

My first year at the Seminary began in the fall of 2020. My wife and I had just gotten married and moved all the way from Tacoma, Washington—just south of Seattle—to the “great” city of St. Louis. Like many who make that move, we arrived with no family nearby, no friends, and, of course, it was the middle of COVID. For the first year, I only knew many of my classmates from the mask up!

Looking back on it now, it was a pretty miserable year. We were lonely. None of the typical seminary traditions happened that year. The chapel had every other pew roped off so you could keep your six feet of distance. There was no after-chapel coffee hour, no preacher’s soccer, no Oktoberfest, no basketball, no intramurals, no Prof ’n Stein, no Friday cookouts in the woods—nothing! I didn’t even get to witness St. Louis crush Fort Wayne in basketball that year!

And of course, we tried to do things “informally,” but there wasn’t much happening around campus. It was miserable.

It wasn’t until my second year that things finally started to come back to normal—the “normalness” returned. It was an incredibly fun time, and it seemed like everyone in my class was soaking up every opportunity we had to gather together. And from that we all seemed to have s special bond. A lot of that, I think, came from knowing all the good things we missed the year before. The loneliness from the year before.  And it hit home to me – “how truly good and pleasant it is when brothers and sisters dwell in unity!”  It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes!

At the end of our second year, before we all left to go on vicarage, one of my classmates invited us to gather in the chapel. He put together a prayer service, but the main point was to give out to all us these crosses that he made. You can see it—it’s wood, broken in shape, and the rest is filled with blue epoxy.

Now, you could interpret the meaning behind it this way: the wood represents the cross of Christ by which we are redeemed, and the blue symbolizes the waters of baptism that join us to His death and resurrection.

And that would be true. But that’s not how it was described to us.

The wood, he said, represents the cross that we bear together. Ministry is hard. The weight is heavy. But you don’t bear it alone. We bear it together—as brothers and sisters.

And the blue represents the waters of baptism that join us to Christ’s death and resurrection—and just as importantly, join us together into the Body of Christ.

It’s those baptismal waters that carry and sustain us.

And every time I put this on for a Sunday morning, I am reminded of that fact. And these past few days, I’ve come to realize – overwhelmingly – we bear this together!

And we don’t just bear it together—we are carried together. Carried by the grace that flows from the font. Because it’s in those baptismal waters that Christ joined Himself to us, and joined us to each other. There is, as Paul writes, “one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all.”

That’s what holds us together. That’s what carries us when the weight of ministry feels heavy. Because the same Lord who calls you to bear the cross has already borne yours. The same Jesus you preach, and teach—the one who uses you to proclaim the gospel, forgive sins, administer the sacraments, —that same Jesus is for you.

The mercy you proclaim to your people is the same mercy that covers you. The grace you pour out each week is the same grace upon grace given to you. The unity you preach in Christ is the same unity that binds us all—pastors, deaconesses, DCEs, as brothers and sisters, one body, one Lord. Bearing this cross together.

And so, when the weight feels heavy, remember: you do not carry it alone. Christ bears it with you. And He bears you. And together—look around! Through the brothers and sisters He’s placed beside you—He gives you rest, and strength, and joy. This is your hope!

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity… for there the Lord bestows His blessing, life forevermore.”

Amen. Now may the peace of god which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus now and forevermore. Amen.