16/05/2010

A Sermon preached at Herefoss in Birkeland, Norway on Sunday 16 May 2010 as part of a Porvoo Exchange between the people of Birkenes, Norway and the people of the Nar Valley Group in Norfolk, England. The building of understanding and common links as human beings is important for a peaceful world. The building of common links and understanding between Christians is not only good but it is part of our Lord’s command and prayer which is at the heart of the text you have given me this evening. John 17 verses 18 -26 – it comes from the great High Priestly Prayer of Jesus – “That they may be one as we are one – that the world may believe that you have sent me.” It is part of Jesus’ prayer tot he Father following the last supper. In the synoptic gospels this time of prayer is in the Garden of Gethsemane. John however places it in the upper room before they go out to the Kidron valley. The prayer is specific to his followers. Jesus prays for those whom God has given him – not that they should be taken from the world but that they should be protected from evil. Our prayer as Christians and as members of our churches is for those whom God has given us to pray for – our family and our friends and those whom we meet. Part of the Spirit of Porvoo that brings us together over this week-end is the spirit of prayer for each other. That invitation to prayer for each other which is part of our commitment to Porvoo. At this time Jesus is not simply, praying for the world but for those he has called out from the world. His prayer for them is to build them up for their ministry to the world – that ministry which is the second part of the text this evening. The purpose of our being united in God is so that our ministry, our witness to the world might be effective. Today we gather to worship God in that important period of the Christian year – the time of expectant waiting between Ascension and Pentecost that we might be equipped with the power of the Holy Spirit. Next week when we come in our respective churches to celebrate Pentecost I hoe we may be intensely aware of our being bound together in Christ, in prayer remembering that each heard the gospel in their own language. The Ascension speaks of the unity of Jesus to God. He is not simply human but divine – Jesus the Son of God. But the Ascension speaks also of our unity. Here is the culmination of the rescuing of our humanity as we too are raised to the heavenly presence and are made one in God. As our text declares “ that they may be one as we are one”. Unity is a core principle of Porvoo and has brought su together. Over the centuries our churches have developed their own cultures but we are held together by our common faith in Christ and by our Lord’s command – “do this is remembrance of me”. Our ability to work with one another – to live alongside one another, to be at peace and unity with one another is a strong witness tot he divided world in which we inhabit. We are called to reflect in our life the relational unity we see in the God head and so to witness to the world and make real our understanding of the unity that binds the Trinity together. We are called to work together for the good of the kingdom. The Porvoo Statement declares that unity is important for an effective and credible mission to a world which is in one sense increasingly divided that mission is found in the commission by Jesus at the end of Matthew’s gospel – Go out into all the world and make disciples of all nations and baptise them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. What is this unity? How do we interpret the prayer of Jesus that they may be one as we are one? We come with our individual interpretations of the faith. There is probably no more divided Church than the Church of England and the Anglican Communion with its many reflections of what it is tot be Anglican – Fr. Michael, Fr. Allan and myself very much reflect within our own ministries that great spectrum of style and substance – but in Christ we are one. What is this unity we strive for? The World Council of Churches declares “Christian unity is made visible when Christians hold the one apostolic faith, preaching the one gospel, breaking the one bread, and joining in common prayer and having a corporate life reaching out in service to all. Porvoo helps us in determining this unity – in its statement on the nature of communion and the goal of unity; it affirms that the unity of the church is essentially a unity in diversity and must never be confused with uniformity. We will continue to do things together but there will also continue to be those differences. How are we doing – we might ask? 1. we hold the apostolic faith sharing the Creed and the three orders of ministry 2. We preach the one gospel 3. Shortly we shall be breaking bread together 4. We share in prayer together 5. And we begin to understand the corporate life we share- in opportunities we have to come together. Unity is professed where a church is grounded in the love and grace of Christ. It is there that we will discover joyful people, pilgrim people. That is the essential part of what we express this week-end in our common life. Talk of unity or of grand statements such as Porvoo could simply be words on a document, in the same way that the gospel could be words in a closed book. Porvoo or scripture comes alive when they take root in us and change our lives for good. We are changed by this experience of sharing, not only the words – but the actions that flow from them and thus unity begins to become a reality. We are sent from the table of the Lord to make real that which we have discovered in the offering of bread and wine – that the wheat and the grape which are dispersed on the hillside are come together in bread and wine to be the Body of Christ. We are come together as one to be sent into the world to be the Body of Christ. May Christ strengthen our unity as we deepen our friendship and growth in faith.