How to be United in a DisUnited States and Denomination

Distraction leads to disunity which creates a disconnect from the traction needed to keep moving.

Jesus says to Martha when visiting the home of Mary and Martha, "You are worried and upset about many things, you are distracted, but only one thing is needed." (Luke 10:41).

Does it feel like you are living in a time of disunity? That we as a United States are more disunited than we are united? Does it feel like we are stuck, like we have no traction, no sense of direction? Does this feeling about our polarization, our division, in our country and even in our denomination cause you to feel like you are swimming in a sea of chaos and confusion?

Can I suggest to you this morning that distraction is costing us? It is estimated that workers are costing business close to $650 Billion dollars a year because they are distracted. (Mashable: Social Media Distractions Cost U.S. Economy $650 Billion). In 2016, it was reported that 37,461 lives were lost because of a distracted driver. In the United States alone, between 7,000 and 9,000 people die as a result of a medication error. The cost of taking care of patients who had side-effects because of wrong medication prescription is $40 Billion dollars. And nearly 75% of the medication errors have been attributed to doctors being distracted. It is projected (Pre-COVID) that close to 75 to 150 congregations will close each week. The United Methodist Church in the U.S. is experiencing a 2% decline every year.

Jesus prayed, "May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." (John 17:23). Jesus prayed this prayer for those disciples and for us because He knew how easily we would be distracted and He knew the cost associated with a people who were distracted. Distracted disciples become disunited disciples and then they disconnect from the traction needed to keep moving.

Jesus knew that the world desperately needed to know that God did what He said He would do - Redeem the world, prove to the world that He never stopped loving the world. But Jesus also knew that the world was going to be dependent no longer upon His physical presence, but the world would now be dependent upon these disciples and their proclamation of who He was. Jesus knew that if they became distracted, they would become disunited and so He prayed that they would be brought to complete unity.

I have used that word "traction" a couple of times intentionally. Most of the time when we think of distraction we think it means we are lacking focus, but actually the opposite of distraction is traction. Traction is to pull in a particular direction, specifically in a direction towards you doing what you say you are going to do. To pull something in a specific direction I must be united in thought, energy, and action. I cannot hope to pull something in one direction if I am also diverting my thoughts, energy, and action in a second or third direction. This is why Jesus tells us the greatest commandment out of all the commandments is to "Love the Lord your God with WHAT, that is right, with ALL your heart, mind, soul, and strength..." Jesus tells us that we cannot serve God and be distracted or be divided because it will lead us to disunity, that is we will no longer be one with God and one with each other, which ultimately will cause us to disconnect from our very purpose as disciples of Jesus Christ - to proclaim to the world that God did exactly what He said He would do in Jesus Christ - redeem the world, prove to the world that He never stopped loving the world.

In Jesus' prayer He prays that we would be given one supernatural power that would allow us to maintain the momentum that He started. The remainder of this sermon is about that super-power, so if you have your Bibles let me invite you to turn now to John 17:13 as we will discover together how to be United in a DisUnited States and Denomination.

Medication Errors

The Real Lord’s Prayer

As you are turning to John let me provide you some background so that you can understand this passage a little better.

This section that we are reading, is actually the Lord's Prayer which is included in a much larger portion of the Gospel. Starting in Chapter 13 and ending at Chapter 20. Jesus is in the process of preparing His disciples for life without His physical presence. John states again the purpose for this Gospel - That the world may believe that you sent me. Now John is writing to Greek speaking Jews about 50 years after the first hand experience of the early disciples. It may be that John is concerned that these Greek speaking Jewish Christians may be waffling, that is becoming distracted by the intense persecutions that are happening around them. It is possible that these Jewish Christians are beginning to think that the reason they are living to live with so much fear, anxiety, and uncertainty is because they got distracted by this new religion called Christianity, the Way, and this was God's call for them to return to their Jewish heritage. John is reminding them that Jesus prayed for this moment. Jesus saw this moment. Jesus knew that it would be tempting for the people to want to escape the harsh realities of the world. Jesus believed that if the Christians were one with each other the same way He was one with the Father, they would prevail and the world would come to know that God is real.

This Prayer is divided into 4 Parts:

1. Jesus prays for Himself. 2. Jesus intercedes for His disciples (6-19). 3. Jesus intercedes for us gathered here today (future believers) (20-24). 4. Jesus intercedes for those who remain in the world (25-26)

John 17:13–26 NRSV

But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth. “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. “Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

Keep Moving Towards Jesus' Victory at ALL Costs

We experience unity in times that create disunity and disconnection when we intentionally keep moving towards Jesus' ultimate victory.

It is amazing to read Jesus' prayer for His disciples knowing that He knows what they will do when the guards arrive. They will become distracted and thus disunited and they will stop moving towards the victory we already know is in store. They will flee in a multitude of directions. In fact, they will run away so fast that one literally runs out of his clothes.

Yet, Jesus prays for them with complete confidence that despite that moment they will return to their purpose . They will move towards the empty tomb and beyond the empty tomb.

The purpose of persecution, of unrelenting trials and tribulations, is to persuade you to believe that victory is not possible for you. Victory may be possible for others, but not for you. That single thought, that victory is possible for others, but not for you, is why Peter wrote, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith because you know that your brothers and sisters throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings." (1 Peter 5:8-9).

Yes we say it "Misery loves company." But the real truth is victory loves company. Spiritually healthy and mature Christians do not run away from persecution or unrelenting trials, but rather we run through them because we know on the other side is victory. Likewise, we don't face our persecutions, our unrelenting trials in isolation. When spiritually healthy and mature Christians are being overwhelmed by the circumstances of life they turn to other healthy and mature Christians to prop them up, to stand in the gap for them, to intercede for them. Healthy and mature Christians know the foolishness of facing these hardships alone.

I remember every time I was getting ready for a brutal Company or Battalion hike, or field op, I would jokingly say to God, "Lord, if you are returning, now would be a good time." Notice what Jesus says, "My prayer is not that you take them out of the world..." Let me just stop here for a second and give the ESPN "Come on Man!" I mean seriously Jesus, why won't you pray that I would be delivered from the craziness of this world? People on both sides of the aisles have said, "If so and so is elected I am moving to Canada or somewhere else." But Jesus will not remove us from the craziness of the world, rather He prays that we would be protected from the evil one, the one who is on the prowl looking for someone to devour.

Why does Jesus keep us in the world so that we will keep moving towards Jesus' victory at ALL costs, because Jesus knows that we cannot keep moving towards Jesus' victory at all costs by ourselves, we need each other. Jesus keeps us in the world because it is the craziness of the world, the trials and tribulations of the world that causes us to become united, provided we are seeking to be healthy and mature Christians.

Keep Your Eye on the One Kingdom Mission

We experience unity in times that create disunity and disconnection when we remember that we only have one Kingdom mission - To let the world know that God did exactly what He said He would do through Jesus the Messiah - redeem the world, prove to the world that He never stopped loving the world.

This struggling, chaotic, disunited world, will never know how much God cares for them, how much God loves them, if there are not enough spiritually healthy and mature Christians united around completing our one Kingdom Mission. The greatest threat to Christianity is not this current pandemic, it is not the political or economic crisis, the greatest threat to Christianity is the privatization of Christianity. We have created a Christian culture that says, "Me and Jesus that is all I need."

That is not what Jesus says in this prayer - "May THEY be brought to complete unity so that the world may know who God is and how much God cares and loves." We Christians have created more injury and chaos in the world because we became distracted by our arguments. We Christians were distracted by our love for our points of views. We Christians are distracted by our needs to look good and to be seen as right and it is costing us everything.

Do you want to know what keeps me awake at night? It is this question, How can the Church regain its relevance after it has created so many issues that has led to the polarization, discrimination and fear we are experiencing in the 21st Century?

May answer thus far is we have to create a critical mass of healthy and mature Christians to once again get their eyes on completing our one Kingdom Mission

Conclusion

As I complete this sermon I want to share with you a story I shared with a few youth a couple of weeks ago. A few football players had arrived at a High Performance Camp in Orlando, Florida. One of the exercises these lineman were to perform was to run 1 mile to a white fence, touch the white fence and return. The mission was to run to the white fence and return in a specific time frame. As the lineman were getting ready to go on the run, the consultant shared with them certain obstacles that they might encounter along the run. These obstacles were alligators, snakes, and more recently wild boars. Before they left they were asked again, "What was the mission?" They were told no matter what, no matter what obstacle you may encounter, you must complete the mission.

The lineman did not know that there was a cameraman waiting in the bushes to capture their reaction when someone else would act like a wild boar. They did not complete the mission - they were distracted and it caused them to disconnect from the traction needed to fulfill the mission. The speaker went on to say - these lineman responded to the distraction based upon their training. Their training had failed them in the moment. To make his point he shared that the following week some special forces folks came for the same training and their response was to get into a position ready to tackle the boar if it came at them.

I asked the youth - suppose these lineman had children that were dying of cancer, but on the white fence was the cure for that cancer, do you think they would have kept running no matter the obstacle, the challenge? They all answered yes.

Jesus keeps us in the world of alligators, snakes, and wild boars, because the world needs to know who God is and how much God cares and loves. But the world will not know that Truth, that Good News, because our distraction has created disunity which has created a world of distrust.

So how are we to be united in a DisUnited States and a DisUnited Methodist Church? By continually moving towards Jesus' victory at all costs and by remembering to keep our eye on the one Kingdom Mission.

How has this sermon series helped you become a more mature and healthy Christian?