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Come Together
A sermon by Dan MacLean at EMUC, 5/23/2004
This past week while I was driving or traveling on the train, or even walking my dogs, I
found myself humming. It wasn’t really that far out of character for me until I was
surprised a couple of times by my own singing voice. I did a quick perimeter checks to
make sure no one heard my little outbursts. What’s even stranger is that it’s been the
same song that’s been playing in my head all week, Come Together, by the Beatles. As
far as I know, I haven’t heard the song on the radio recently. I don’t have my Abbey
Road CD in the player in the car or at home. That’s usually what does it. If I hear a song
that I like (or worse, one that I really hate) it might stay in my head for a few days. But
that’s not the case this time. As the music of John and Paul followed me through the
week, I finally began to connect the dots. It was this week’s gospel reading that had
triggered the reunion of the Fab Four inside my head and moved me to thoughtlessly
burst into song, as if I were on the stage of the Ed Sullivan Show. As I read the passage
from the Gospel of John, the other John: Lennon was singing this odd theme song to
what, according to the gospel writer is Jesus’ prayer for the unity of his disciples. If you
know the song, Come Together, you’ll remember that it describes some pretty strange
and diverse characters but the chorus is loud and clear. Can you hear it? I can.
Come Together Here come old flattop he come grooving up slowly He got joo-joo eyeball he one holy roller He got hair down to his knee Got to be a joker he just do what he please He wear no shoeshine he got toe-jam football He got monkey finger he shoot coca-cola He say "I know you, you know me" One thing I can tell you is you got to be free Come together right now over me He bag production he got walrus gumboot He got Ono sideboard he one spinal cracker He got feet down below his knee Hold you in his armchair you can feel his disease Come together right now over me He roller-coaster he got early warning He got muddy water he one mojo filter He say "One and one and one is three" Got to be good-looking 'cause he's so hard to see Come together right now over me
I think the disciples may have felt the same about Jesus’ pray as I do about this song. I’m not really sure what it means but it sure sounds good.
It was the day before the Passover Festival. The last rays of the setting sun shone through the window of the Upper Room when Jesus and his disciples gathered there to share supper together. It was a night unlike any other. When they finished their meal, Jesus exchanged his role as their master and teacher for that of a household slave. He wrapped himself in a towel, poured water into a basin, and began to wash their feet. The disciples didn’t know how to respond, Jesus made clear the paradigm of service that he intended,
…if I then, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
Passover is generally a festive occasion, a treasured highlight of the year, “as delectable as the olive”. This night, however, was characterized by somber reflection. Jesus spoke of his coming death, and in one horrifying moment, announced that someone in the room would betray him. Judas Iscariot slipped away into the night.
In the tender moments of fellowship that followed Judas’ departure, Jesus spoke of the love his disciples must have for one another. In this banquet setting they were probably reclining on couches in the Roman manner. This was the calm before the storm. Sated, reflective, taking in their teachers thoughts as oil lamps flickered in the cool spring night, they asked questions of Jesus and pledged firm loyalty. Jesus predicted that, on the contrary, the devoted Simon Peter, although he professed his readiness to die for Jesus, would deny knowing him three times before the cock crowed the following morning.
In these last hours, Jesus focused the Apostles’ minds on what could sustain them. They must learn to find their greatness and leadership in serving. They must believe that he would return to them and trust the Holy Spirit to guide them after he was gone.
Jesus commanded his disciples to,
…love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.
The way was not going to be easy for them, but Jesus promised them a profound and unshakable peace.
Jesus then “lifted up his eyes to heaven,” according to John, and prayed for the Apostles, whom he was sending into the world just as God had sent him into the world. He also prayed for those who believed in him through the teachings of the Apostles,
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; even as you, O God, my mother and 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. There is much more to the prayer of Jesus for us as well: Jesus prays that the love of God: for him may be in us and that Jesus himself may be in us, and that we may see his glory, the glory given to him by God. The prayer of Jesus for us is, at its core, a prayer that we might be one as God is one. That we, to quote the prayer again, …may be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Our unity which can convince the world that Jesus is the one sent by God, arises out of the unity between God and Jesus, like that between a parent and a child but much, much more; a unity that Christ prays we might dwell in and that which might dwell in us. It is deep and very spiritual stuff this dynamic of diversity and unity this dynamic of corporate witness and of personal experience. What is unity? Do we have it? Do we convince others by our behaviour, one to another and all to one that Christ is in us? There are many ways to envision unity. For some people, unity means sameness. There is a story about John Henry Fabre, a French naturalist who performed an experiment with some Processionary caterpillars. These poor little beasties will follow the next caterpillar ahead of them, no matter where that caterpillar happens to be going. Fabre arranged a bunch of his fuzzy friends in a neat circle, each one touching the one just ahead. Faithful to their DNA, each one followed the next one. In the middle of the circle Fabre put some of the caterpillars' favourite food. Would they stop following, even for a moment for a bite of lunch? Not on your life. The food was there within inches, but they just kept on following each other in circles until they collapsed and died from hunger. Sameness can lead to problems. The kind of unity that Jesus prays that we may have is not based on us thinking and doing the same things, but on having within us the unity of God, a unity that has to it a present glory and a purpose: the glory of Christ who gave himself for us and the purpose of God who gave himself in Christ to us. Author, Ralph Milton tells a story which I would like to share today, a story about concrete. He writes: I watched them pour the driveway to our house. The workers laid down steel rods, as they poured the cement, they pulled the rods up so they would be in the middle of the concrete as it hardened. "What do you need the rods for?" I asked one of the workers. "It makes the concrete stronger. Reinforced concrete." "Yes, I know, but how do the rods make the concrete stronger?" The worker picked up one of the rods. "Look, if you push down on it, it bends real easy." His muscles bulged and the rod bent. "But you can't pull it apart. This hunk of rod could pull that truck over there. On the other hand, a piece of concrete is easy to pull apart. But if you push down on it, it won't bend." "So?" I asked. "So they've got opposite strengths. The steel is strong when you pull the concrete is strong when you push. Put them together, and you've got reinforced concrete, which is strong both ways. That's how they make all those big buildings and bridges. Concrete by itself or steel by itself wouldn't be strong enough." As disciples of Jesus we don't individually have all that it takes to do God's work in the world. Some of us are good at some things and others are good at other things. It is only as we work as a unified team, that we can accomplish all of what's necessary to be God's people in the world. And that which unifies us is not simply a common plan, but is God who is One within us. I say not simply a common plan because, as you all know as a common plan is being executed, be it as simple a plan as holding an annual spring picnic, or as complex a plan as creating a strategic vision for our community, it is easy to separate into groups, like the creative people “with their heads in the clouds” or the boring “number crunchers” or into some other grouping where each thinks they are doing all the important work. Where each counts the contribution of the other towards the plan and compares it to their own. It is easy to separate into little groups and then begin to criticize and resent the other groups and so, step by easy step begin to destroy that which was being created. If we are to come together in the way that Jesus talks about, if we are to be united in a way that causes the world to witness the love of God through Jesus Christ it is essential that we catch the vision of what we are to be. We are to show the world that God is indeed with us and that we are not alone. With the help of the Holy Spirit, when we do what God calls us to do without comparing or contrasting what it is others are doing or failing to do, when we catch the vision and let God who gives the vision catch us, when we surrender ourselves to the one who gave himself for the good of everyone, then we will begin to be a complete part of the unity that Christ prays for us. Jesus has prayed for it and it is happening. Come together! Allow it to happen. Pray for our unity rather than focusing on the things that divide us. Pray that each one here today may have God dwell richly in them, and that they may dwell richly in God through Jesus Christ. Amen.
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