Finding Peace, Unity, and Purity

in Christ

1 Corinthians 1:10-18                                               Rev. Todd B. Freeman

Bethany Presbyterian Church, Dallas                                             January 23, 2005

News Flash: Not All Christians Get Along! “The Christian world is dividing itself up and taking sides. Lines have been drawn in the sand. Debates are running rampant. Accusations abound. Name calling and labeling profusely rule the day.”

Oh by the way, this news flash is about 2000 years old. The problems of quarrelling and divisions were just as alive and well in that ancient church in Corinth as they are today. And still Paul’s call to Christian unity is just as timely and relevant today as it was to that Corinthian congregation. But as we are all too aware, unity is a concept much easier to talk about than to put into practice – hence 2000 years of quarrelling and divisions within the Christian church.

Before we take a look at what Presbyterians are doing about this problem today, let’s dig a little deeper into the history of the Corinthian situation. Corinth was a bustling port city, a major intersection in the transportation system of the ancient world. Geographically, it is located at the tiny land bridge that connects northern and southern Greece. It also connects two seas, the Agean and Ionian. It was known as a rowdy and sensuous place. Picture the San Francisco bay area during the Gold Rush of the mid 1800s.

A couple of hundred years before the birth of Jesus Corinth was a boom-town; a wealthy urban center. At its height, it was thought to be populated by over a half a million people!

But then came the rise of the Roman Empire. In the year 146 BCE the Romans completely destroyed the city, leaving it abandoned for over 100 years. Later, the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar decided to rebuild and restore Corinth in 44 BCE. This is where it becomes interesting. Caesar selected and sent a very diverse group of people to repopulate the city. They came from Italy, Greece, Syria, Egypt, and even Judea. It very soon became a provincial capital in the Roman Empire.

Picture New York City in the early 1900s. Ellis Island was receiving tens of thousands of immigrants from all over the world in a short period of time. As a community there were countless traditions and customs all vying for a place in society.

Most relevant to our concerns is that the diverse people that were brought to Corinth brought with them a myriad of religious influences. Temples were constructed and dedicated to the emperor and to various Greek gods, primarily Aphrodite, the goddess of love. There were also temples to commemorate Egyptian gods. And since Jews were outlawed from living in Rome during this period in history, they fled to Corinth and built synagogues. And we think we live in a pluralistic culture today!

This is the Corinth that Paul experienced when he established the first Christian community there in 51 CE. But remember, this repopulated city was less than 100 years old and still enormously diverse. In fact, it was most certainly the most diverse city in history up to that point. The first Corinthian congregation was uncharacteristically diverse as well, an uncommon mix of people: poor to wealthy, free to slave, men and women, Jew and pagan Gentile. And we think our congregation is diverse!

But a couple of years after Paul founded the church in Corinth he learned of its deteriorating situation. He had received personal reports that the folks in the church were quarrelling. That divisiveness led to the formation of cliques and factions, each claiming their particular identity to be superior to the others. In response, Paul wrote them a letter, which we know as First Corinthians. At the heart of this letter is the issue and question: how can they find unity amidst their diversity?

This ancient Corinthian question has become our modern question. How can we find unity amidst our diversity as Christians throughout the world, as Presbyterians in this country, as a congregation in this city? On a broad level, how can we continue to live together as a denomination in the face of our differences?

That is a primary question being addressed by a national level Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church. The 2001 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) formed and charged this task force to “lead the Presbyterian Church (USA) in spiritual discernment of our Christian identity in and for the 21st century... seeking the peace, purity and unity of the church.” After their initial gathering in the fall of 2001, the Task Force developed the following three goals:

• To deepen our understanding of our Christian identity and clarify key themes of the Reformed theological and constitutional heritage.

• To study and evaluate the sources of health and promise as well as the causes of dissension and unrest in the church.

• To recommend way for the church to move forward, furthering its peace, unity and purity.

As you know, I was one of 10 people to serve as a Commissioner from Grace Presbytery at last summer’s (2004) General Assembly in Richmond, Virginia. The day before the Assembly officially convened, those on this national Task Force held a 4-hour session giving a preliminary report, outlining their progress at this mid-point in their work. They will present a final report with their recommendations at the next General Assembly in 2006, which will be held in Birmingham, Alabama.

Attending this pre-Assembly event turned out to be one of the highlights of the entire week for me. To witness 20 incredibly diverse Presbyterians stand together and report on how they were learning to respect and trust each other was a source of strong encouragement for me that there is hope for our denomination, especially in the face of those calling for our denomination to split.

They spoke eloquently in their preliminary report to the Assembly of their process of open dialogue as a “new way of doing church” that holds promise not found through the more traditional legislative approach. They recommended that the entire denomination enter into this form of dialogue. In response the Assembly adopted the following recommendation of the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church:

That the 216th General Assembly (2004) encourage every presbytery to create intentional gatherings of Presbyterians of varied theological views to covenant together to discuss the affirmations in the task force’s preliminary report, utilizing the resources being developed by the task force; and that sessions be encouraged to do the same.

Always a leader among presbyteries, our own Grace Presbytery immediately formed a Peace, Unity, and Purity Planning Team. The Reverend Rolfe Granath, pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church in Plano, and a fellow Commissioner to last year’s General Assembly, was selected to be the moderator of this planning group.

Now, Rolfe and I have known each other for several years now. He and I were invited to NorthPark Presbyterian Church in 2001 to hold a pro-con debate over the issue of the ordination of gays and lesbians in our denomination.

Not only was the exchange civil (perhaps to the amazement of some), we learned to respect one another even though we are often at opposite ends of the theological spectrum. Knowing this, and for a sense of balance, I was asked to serve with Rolfe on our presbytery’s Peace, Unity, and Purity Planning Team. We have held many productive meetings over the past few months.

Following the national model of dialogue and interaction, we have invited people throughout the presbytery to serve as Conversation Leaders. Within the next month Conversation Groups will be formed within congregations, and hopefully between two congregations. The stated goal for these groups is to “build respectful, trusting relationships among persons with varied perspectives and views, even on the most controversial subjects.”

A training session for these Conversations Leaders will be held this Saturday at NorthPark Presbyterian Church. The moderator elected at last year’s General Assembly, Rich Ufford-Chase of Arizona, is in town and will be present at this event. As part of my responsibilities, I have been asked to prepare the brief service of worship that the Moderator will lead to open this training session. Rolfe asked me personally to do this – another sign of trust and respect.

Within the next few weeks I will be asking you whether there is interest here in this congregation in forming a Conversation Group, that will meet monthly for the next year. My hope is that there will be interest, especially in forming a group in conjunction with another congregation with differing theological views than our own. I recognize, of course, that there is a diversity of theological views within this congregation itself, but perhaps not to the level and extent as say between Bethany and Highland Park Presbyterian Church.

Our attempt here in Grace Presbytery to approach a “new way of doing church” may be a very significant step in following the Apostle Paul’s admonition in First Corinthians to, “by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.”

Well, there is much more to say, so I will continue this theme of peace, unity and purity in Christ in next Sunday’s sermon and delve deeper into what we can do to put all of this into practice.

Amen.