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[Church of the Brethren News Services]

Date:      June 30, 1999
Contact:  Nevin Dulabaum
V:  847/742-5100   F:  847/742-6103
E-MAIL:   CoBNews@AOL.Com

213th Annual Conference 
Wednesday evening sermon, June 30, 1999

	The Timeliness of an Ancient Message by Nancy Faus, Richmond, Ind.

Scripture Reading     Philippians 1:27-2:18

A map of downtown Milwaukee shows that not all of the bridges crossing the 
river are straight.  That is to say, some of the roads on either side of the 
river don't line up with each other.  So, a jog had to be placed in order 
that the roads on each side of the river would connect.   Why, you ask?  
Evidently the two sides were 'governed' by different people who refused to 
get along with each other.  Their animosity went so far that they designed 
their roads in a way that would make it difficult for each side to join the 
other.  There was even a story of one group setting up a cannon on its side 
of the river when one of the earliest bridges was being constructed.1   

We in the Church of the Brethren are at a crossroads.  This is our final 
Annual Conference of the twentieth century, the last time we will meet from 
Tuesday to Sunday, and our very last Annual Conference before the new 
millennium.  Sad to say, the roads we travel don't always meet the way they 
should.  Therefore, it would seem that this is the appropriate city and a 
timely occasion for us to talk seriously about unity!   It's time for us to 
figure out how we can line up the streets and bridges in our beloved 
denomination and put aside the cannons. 

I invite you this evening to join me in revisiting an ancient letter Paul 
sent to the church at Philippi.  It seems so timely!  Paul was in prison when 
he wrote it, and obviously was remembering with great affection the several 
visits he made to the congregation in the past.  The church had no serious 
tension among its members - certainly nothing like the fractured situations 
in the churches at Rome, Corinth, Ephesus, even Galatia.  The Philippians 
mostly had petty disagreements among themselves.

Paul loved these people.  His letter to them is filled with joy and 
affection.  The joy is contagious!  He asks the Philippians for their 
continued, prayerful support; he encourages them in their commitment to 
Christ; and he speaks to some of their disagreements — nothing big, but 
worthy of some wise counsel.  The congregation was by no means perfect, but, 
what congregation is?!

Being in jail, Paul had no idea what lay ahead for him — whether death or 
eventual freedom.  He was caught between wanting to return to his beloved 
Philippians and wanting to die in order to be with Christ, for he said, 
"living is Christ; dying is gain."  Whatever might happen to him, he knew he 
belonged to Christ.  He wanted the Philippians to know that whether he was 
absent or present, they were to live their life together in a way that was 
"worthy of the gospel of Christ."  

Everything Paul said to the Philippians presupposed that they already were 
living in that manner, but he reinforced his counsel with two exhortations.  
His first exhortation urges them to "be of the same mind, to have the same 
love, to be in full accord and of one mind.  Do nothing from selfish ambition 
or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves."      

Paul knew only too well that people who live their faith actively can and 
will occasionally disagree with each other.  By no means did he think that 
everyone should be expected to live out their faith in exactly the same way.  
He would have been shocked at unanimity!    Differences of opinion do not 
make for disunity.  It's the negative, passionate, often hostile attitudes we 
direct toward those whose faith expressions differ from our own that set up 
the cannons and cause disunity.  Only by having the mind of Christ will we 
succeed at bridging the voices of discontent and bring goodwill and unity 
amid the diversity in the faith community. 

Paul continues his letter by reciting a magnificent hymn, a powerful 
theological statement of Christ.  Paul most likely borrowed the words of this 
hymn  from someone, because they expressed what he believed.   If  the hymn 
had an interesting melody and Brethren, four-part harmony, we would have 
included it in the 1992 hymnal!  We are told that it was a favorite hymn of 
the early church.  Listen to the words once again:	

		Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
		who, though he was in the form of God,
		    did not regard equality with God as something to be 
exploited,
		but emptied himself,
		    taking the form of a servant,
		    being born in human likeness.
		And being found in human form,
		    he humbled himself
		    and became obedient to the point of death -
		    even death on a cross.
		
		Therefore God also highly exalted him
		    and gave him the name that is above every name,
		that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend,
		    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
		and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
		    to the glory of God the Father.   	 

After Paul wrote these extraordinary words to the Philippians, he reminded 
them in a second exhortation that God was at work in them.  "Therefore," he 
said, "work out your own salvation" in your daily life together. "Do all 
things without murmuring and arguing, so that you may be blameless and 
innocent children of God . . . who shine like stars in the world"- a world 
that is dark and corrupt.  Paul challenges the church to live in a way that 
would enable them to rejoice together and to know a joy that is complete!

Is Paul's letter not a timely message for us, as we Brethren look ahead to 
the twenty-first century?  Paul's words, written to reconcile conflict in the 
early church, are calling us  here and now to unity.  And the call comes 
whenever the river of our discontent is full of divisive arguments over 
differing theologies; differing structures of worship; differing opinions as 
to who qualifies for church leadership; differing convictions about  
membership, ordination, and ministry; even the possibility of a different 
denominational name.  How can we have the mind of Christ when we are as petty 
as the Philippians or as fractured as the Romans, Corinthians, Galatians and 
Ephesians? 

Brothers and sisters, unity cannot be achieved if each of us thinks only of 
what "I" want.  Unity means that we all share the same concern for the common 
good, even amid our differing views.  Unity is impossible  to achieve 
whenever each of us feels that God's true message comes only through "my" 
voice, "my" theology, "my" biblical interpretation, "my" congregation," "my 
prayer group.  The reality of our divergent points of view is this:  All of 
us have some of the truth, but none of us has all the truth.  

If we sincerely want to be unified as a church, we need first to seek the
mind of Christ in our life together.  When we have a Christ-like attitude, we 
won't press each other into the same mold.  Rather than focusing on our 
differences, we will focus on Christ - on living and dying in Christ.  The 
bottom line is this: Christ is what we need, not un-Christlike attitudes, 
opinions, or ways of treating one another. 

But, if we all would come to the mind of Christ together, then we would have 
the byproduct - unity.  It's possible that the only true unity we shall ever 
know is in the very bridge that Christ creates between us - the bridge of 
love which enables us to live together as the church.  

How do we seek the mind of Christ?  By praying together (unceasingly), by
studying the Bible together and sharing our differing interpretations, by 
keeping the lines of communication open together (even when we disagree), and 
by listening carefully with love as we share with one another our life 
journeys, our discoveries, our learnings.

Several months ago a young man passionately preached to me how important it 
is to live in Christ and to love as Christ loved.  As I listened to him, I 
was very impressed with the number of times he quoted Jesus and Paul 
emphatically by memory to make his point.  But, I was more impressed with the 
anger in his voice and his tense body language as he tried to convince me 
that his theological position and biblical interpretations were the only 
right ones.  I found myself thinking about him for weeks.  Daily, I asked God 
to soften his heart, open his mind, and occasionally close his mouth just 
long enough to hear other points of view.  Then, one day during my prayer 
time, I realized that I needed to pray for myself as well.  I needed to ask 
God to soften my heart, and to let Christ be the bridge which would enable me 
to love him just as he is.  

I thought again of Paul's words to the Philippians: "Do nothing from selfish 
ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 
Look not on your own interest, but to the interest of others."  I also 
thought of our beloved Anna Mow, who said:
		We do not make unity; we join it in Christ.  Our greatest 
witness
		is loving fellowship with one another, even when we differ . 
. .
		We are all different, and that variety makes life much more 
exciting.
		Only our relationship to Christ can keep us in unity; 
otherwise we
		over emphasize our differences.  Then arrogance breaks 
fellowship.2

I can hear Sister Anna calling us tonight to seek the same mind that was in 
Christ Jesus.  In Christ, we will love each other and be "members one with 
another." In Christ, we will accept each other as equal members.  In Christ, 
even our streets and bridges will come together.

You and I know that the church is made up of  persons who represent a wide 
variety of sizes, shapes, colors,  political and theological persuasions.  We 
are not a private club that dictates who is allowed to join and who should be 
left out.  No!  The church is a family.  A family includes parents, 
grandparents, sisters and brothers, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and 
cousins.  Some we like and others we don't like; some like us, and some don't 
like us.  In a family, we get who is given to us and we must learn to live 
together, in love.  

Even with our different personalities, talents, and opinions, we, as the 
church, are stronger together than we are apart.  Kathleen Norris reminds us:
	The church is like the Incarnation itself, a shaky proposition.
	It is a human institution, full of ordinary people, sinners like me...
	But it is also a divinely inspired institution, full of good purpose,
	which partakes of a unity far greater than the sum of its parts.
	That is why it is called the Body of Christ.3

Several years ago I was beginning the first session of a course on Prayer at 
Bethany Seminary.  To get started I invited the class to go around the table, 
each person giving his or her name and telling something about themselves 
that would be appropriate for a class on prayer.  About half-way around the 
table, a Quaker student from Earlham School of Religion introduced himself: 
"Hi (he said).  I'm Tom.  I'm a gay man and I'm dying of AIDS.  I want to 
make sure I am right with God."   That stopped everything.  Time stood still. 
 Slowly I tried to pick up and move on, limping as Jacob with his hip out of 
its socket.  

As Tom struggled with his health that winter, I struggled with my discomfort 
with Tom.  Tom talked with me about being anointed (an ordinance not used by 
the Quakers).  Even as his health continued to fail, he kept singing in our 
chapel choir, he prayed and worked on issues of faith and justice, he 
delivered a powerful message of Christian hope in ESR's meetinghouse.  
Throughout the months ahead, as my heart began to soften, I came to realize 
that God had sent Tom into my life for a purpose - to teach me  to love and 
accept Tom just as he was, and, most difficult of all, to receive Tom's 
ministry to me, as I was trying to minister to him.  Modern medicine, though 
costly, has turned Tom's health around, and he is here this evening.  Through 
these years, Tom has been Christ to me - broken, vulnerable, humble, loving, 
accepting, serving.  Repeating Paul's prayer for the Philippians,  "I thank 
my God every time I remember you," Tom.  

What about the others in our churches who we don't care to listen to because 
we think they don't have anything to teach us?  I am saddened whenever I hear 
the heartbreaking stories of  very capable, qualified women who feel called 
by God to ministry but are rejected by some churches who will not accept a 
woman's leadership.  By closing our ears to persons, whether because of their 
gender, color, culture, life style, or disability, we silence them.   They 
are sitting here among us in this very place — and they sit in our 
congregations every Sunday.  Many of them are afraid to reveal who they 
really are, for fear of rejection and still more loneliness.  Yet, if we 
lovingly listen to them, their faith witness might well be that very mind of 
Christ which is trying to bridge the differences that now divide us.  

These sisters and brothers would like to preach the good  news of Jesus 
Christ out of their own deep faith, but too often we won't even invite them 
to sit beside us at Love Feast or wash our feet (let alone wash their feet), 
or break bread and drink the cup of suffering at Christ's table.  As Warren 
Groff  has said, "without exception, all those who gather at the Lord's table 
do so by virtue of membership in God's family."4   Is it not embarrassing for 
us to realize that not all Christians can share the common meal for reasons 
that we establish, reasons which seem not to be in harmony with the mind of 
Christ?

Sisters and brothers, we, as the body of  Christ and members of the Church of 
the Brethren, cannot keep going on like this!  How diligent will we be in 
working for unity in our congregations in the months and years ahead?   When 
will we affirm every person in the body of Christ?  To what ends will we go 
to find and live the mind of Christ together?  

Now is the time, here in a city where the bridges have been able to make
roads meet, for the Church of the Brethren to receive the bridge of Christ 
that joins the disconnected streets of our diversity. We must find a new way 
to continue the work of Jesus - peacefully, simply, humbly, together -  so 
that we may live and die, together, in Christ.  

The intent of Paul's ancient message is clear: We are to have the same mind 
that was in Christ Jesus.  We are to empty ourselves, taking the form of a 
servant, as God's people in servant leadership.  
	Servant church, do we have the courage to arise and do it?
	Let it be so!	Amen!					

	Endnotes				

1. This story was shared with me by Chris Bowman, pastor of the Martinsburg, 
PA,    
     Church of the Brethren. 
2.  Anna Mow, Springs of Love, 26.
3. Kathleen Norris, Amazing Grace, 273.
4. Warren F. Groff, Prayer: God's Time and Ours, 77-78.