United to Redemption

One of my favorite movies is Miracle.

Intro:

If you remember it you know that the movie was based on the efforts of Herb Brooks and the players on the USA hokey team as the defeated the vastly superior Russian Hockey team in the 1980 olympics.

The USA team was made up of college Hockey players from all over the county while the Russian team was made up of seasoned professional players. So on paper it was impossible for the USA team to not only win but even compete with this team.

Coach Brooks had a plan and picked everyone player becuase of their ability to play the kind of Hockey it would take to beat the Russians. The only thing Coach Brooks had to do was to get them to play as a team.

Early on Coach Brooks asked the players who they played for and with pride everyone of them answered with the particular college they came from…That told Brooks that he had a team of individuals that needed something that could unite them so they could be successful.

Then Came this moment (CLIP OR GO ON) After a particular tough loss in an exhibition game instead of going to the dressing room to get dressed and go home Brooks called the team on the the ice and yelled at them and made them skate lines (Equivalent of Wind sprints except on skates)

He made them skate until the rink owners turned off the lights and then he skated them some more it looked like madness, blind rage, but in the end before Brooks let them off the ice… FINALLY one of the players yelled out his name and where he was from and when herb asked who he played for he said I play for the United states of America.

What looked like madness was actually Brooks way of giving his team a common identity even if it started with a dislike for him.

They gave up their bias about their teammates and their colleges and became one...

Unity is evident when everyone is on the same team regardless of their personal bias

We all know people who allow their bias toward a person place or thing keep them from committing to a group or a cause greater than themselves.

We see it when their is family strife, we see it in at work or in politics, we even see it in the Church at times. Every time we choose conflict over love we make it that much harder for unity to overcome turmoil.

Paul is telling us that the foundation for the people of God to build the Kingdom of God is already laid. All we is focus on that foundation instead of on the things that keep us divided.

Ephesians Chapter two is full of language that emphasizes the idea that we have all been separated from God and Jesus coming to earth living and dying and rising from the dead what God’s way of intentionally tearing down the wall between God and man, Jews and Gentiles.

Jesus redeems all of humankind so that we can be Holy and stand firm in a world that is truly not in sync with the foundations that God has already laid.

New Living Translation Chapter 2

19 So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. 20 Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. 21 We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. 22 Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.

Did you catch that? Gentiles and Jews are no longer separated. Jesus levels the playing field. And Jesus continues to level the playing filed today.

Not only did Jesus tear down the wall between Jews and Gentiles but he also tears down the walls we justify like gender, race, ideology, socioeconomic levels, and more.

If you hear people justifying division in the body of Christ becuase they are too holy or know better than another it flies in the face of all of Jesus teaching and you and I should see it for what it is…Lies from the evil one.

What does Jesus tell us to do when we are tempted to do evil?....Go in the opposite direction!

Paul reminds the Ephesians and us that we are all the same in the eyes of God. We are ALL God’s Children.

Regardless of your politics Tim Scott said it well when Alluding to slavery in America, he stated, “Original sin is never the end of the story. Not in our souls, and not for our nation. The real story is always redemption.

If we are in Christ, we are all equal. All distinctions must give way to the one overall title for all of God’s children—“the Redeemed.”

Our sin is redeemed all of the sin of all of the people who serve Jesus…not just the people we like or agree with, not just those with the same racial make up, not even just those of our denomination.

The sooner we let go of our bias and celebrate our redemption the sooner Unity will become obvious to a world that really has no idea with Unity really is....The Church is (Then and Now) built on the message of God’s gift of redemption as shared by the prophets and apostles.

The foundation is not the men but the message.

It is through the words and truths shared by these faithful individuals that God is now establishing The Kingdom of God on earth. The personal existence found in the wall is Christ Jesus and Him only, serving as its chief cornerstone (2:20).

It’s time to let go of anything that overwhelms the power of Jesus ressurection.

We do this by meditating on God’s word

Comparing our thoughts and actions to God’s word

Repenting when God’s word and our Bias do not align.

Choose Unity in God’s word over our bias.

In the words of the great Herb Brooks Who do you play for?

Prayer of Confession:

Dear Heavenly Father, we lower our heads before you and we confess that we have too often forgotten that we are yours. Sometimes we carry on our lives as if there was no God and we fall short of being a credible witness to You. For these things we ask your forgiveness and we also ask for your strength. Give us clear minds and open hearts so we may witness to You in our world. Remind us to be who You would have us to be regardless of what we are doing or who we are with. Hold us to You and build our relationship with You and with those You have given us on earth.

Communion Liturgy