I recently helped lead a funeral with a Missouri Synod pastor, who, not surprisingly, declined to commune with us. Afterwards, I told him, “you know, our ‘because’ is the same gospel of Jesus. We just differ with all of our ‘therefores.’”
Thirty-seven years ago at the Lutheran/Anglican/Roman Catholic retreat as we headed to our separate rooms for Eucharist, I overheard our bishop, McDaniel sincerely ask then Catholic bishop Donaghue, “What’s keeping us from sharing this meal together?” To which Donaghue replied, “I’m afraid it’s the church.”
I wonder now as I did then, if the eucharist is what we say it is, Christ present, and even Judas was originally included, why must we now satisfy a checklist of theological propositions before communing together? Can you imagine Jesus having to check all the boxes prior to eating with folks? “I’m going to need a no drunkards, no prostitutes, no sinners table.”
No! We killed him because he ate with the so-called ‘wrong’ people. He leads with relationship, not shame, exclusion, or institutions. The more divided we are, the more we need table fellowship, mutual respect, and yes, risk. Gospel proclaimed, sacraments shared: that’s the ‘because’ Augsburg Confession 7 says is God’s grace for the unity of the church.
It’s Jesus’s prayer for us in our diversity, amid all the other differences, distractions, and false dichotomies the devil uses to divide and conquer…this coming Sunday’s Gospel is the unity prayer of Jesus, whose fervent last wish before crucifixion was that we be one.
He knew it’s our pharisaical default to blame, demonize, fracture, be opposed to the hard work of diversity. Making diversity the enemy is contrary to the unity Jesus prays for!
Self! Following a Jesus who isn’t counter-cultural isn’t an option!
In the recent movie, Conclave, Cardinal Lawrence says in his opening homily,
“There is one sin which I have come to fear above all others: certainty. Certainty is the great enemy of unity. Certainty is the deadly enemy of tolerance. Our faith is a living thing precisely because it walks hand in hand with doubt. If there was only certainty and no doubt, there would be no mystery and, therefore, no need for faith. Let us pray that God grants us a pope who doubts.”
Ironically, the real Pope Francis in his January 2025 autobiography wrote:
“It is no good a person saying with total certainty that they have met God,” In the final lines of his book, he goes on to assert, “If someone has answers to all the questions, this is proof that God is not with them. It means that they are a false prophet, someone who exploits religion, who uses it for themselves. The great guides of God’s people, like Moses, always left space for doubt.”
Giant sequoia trees have surprisingly shallow roots, yet they stand 300 feet tall for up to 2500 years because their roots intertwine with those of other trees, which hold them up.
Amid all our differences, all our righteous ‘therefores,’ may we be rooted in Christ, our ‘because,’ and thus hold up rather than tear down each other to pursue a Jesus world, a unity in diversity world.
Amen.
John 17:20-26
20 “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one. As you, 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. 22 the glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24 Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
25 “Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
Bishop Tim’s Sermon— Easter 7c (June 1, 2025)
Preached at Opening Worship on Thursday, May 29, 2025, at the NC Synod Assembly, Greensboro.
Walking with you,
