Acts 16:16-34            Psalm 97                      Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21     John 17:20-26

            There are weeks when I’m too busy to sit down and write my sermon before Saturday, and there are weeks when try as I might, the scriptures do not speak to me.  I read them early in the week and think about them as the week moves along and yet I find nothing to say.  I read commentaries – and still nothing.  This week was a combination of both of these for me.  By midweek I had read the lessons, and of the three, Acts seemed the most promising.  Off and on I thought about the lessons and what I should say, but nothing came forward.  It was not until sometime early Saturday morning when I awoke from a dream that I realized I was focusing on the wrong passage.  The next time our story of Paul, Silas, the slave-girl, and the jailer comes around in our lectionary, I will likely find a message for us from that reading – just not for today.

            My preaching professor advised us against sharing the process we used to develop a sermon – but this morning I am going against his advice because I think my experience is not unlike that of others.  I believe we all experience times when a scripture doesn’t speak to us.  We might read or listen to a passage and find nothing of relevance – but then, months later a story or passage that meant nothing to us might be just what we need to hear at that particular point in our lives.

            When we talk about the Holy Scriptures as the “Living Word of God” that is precisely the experience we’re talking about.  The Scriptures are not news reports of the events – even though they do tell us the story of God’s presence in creation from the beginning of time until the early church was formed.  The Scriptures are capable of reaching us in ways that we least expect it.  Like art that stirs up in us feelings and emotions not intended by the artist, the Holy Spirit can speak to us directly through the scriptures bringing forth thoughts and understandings never envisioned in ancient time when the scriptures were written.  At other times, it may be through the study of the scriptures that we are able to gain insight as to what God is asking of us. 

            Today is EFM Sunday.  EFM, or Education for Ministry, is a four year program of study of the Bible, Church History, and Theology.  It is designed, not as a preparation for ordained ministry, but to strengthen our understanding of God’s call to all Christians – to live a life of ministry.  The scriptures are not secret code that we can only understand if we take classes such as those offered by EFM, but many have found a greater appreciation for what the scriptures have to offer us through this method of study.  It has helped them to grow in faith and strengthen their ministry as part of Christ’s Body, the church. 

            Whenever we read the scriptures, it is helpful to understand the components that influence our comprehension.   The first is what we bring to our reading.  All of our lives have been influenced by our experience and our education.  If we read about a person deceiving another, we might be less quick to write them off as an evil person if we remember a time when we have deceived another.  If however, we remember a time when we have been wronged, we might be quick to judge and less forgiving.  Our experiences influence how we interpret what we read and since our experiences change overtime, there is always the potential we might hear something new from a passage.

            The second thing that influences our interpretation of the scriptures is the perspective of the writer.  Now this is much more difficult for us to assess, but not impossible.  Keeping in mind that we might be wrong is always important, but if we look at the writings as a whole, we can often see the point the author wishes to make.  It is much easier if we also know something about the third influence of our understanding – the history and culture at the time the scripture was written. 

            The Old Testament prophets speak to the people of Israel before and during the Babylonian Exile.  The message of the prophets before the exile was one of warning, and during it was one of explanation.  The Jewish faith did not die during the exile because the prophets helped them to understand that God had not abandoned them.  Rather they had abandoned God, they had failed to heed the warnings of the prophets and thus the fall of Jerusalem was their fault – not Gods.  After the fall of Jerusalem, the people were called to be faithful, to repent, and if they did, God would receive them back.  Knowing this history, helps us to understand the perspective of the writer – and it sheds a new light on the meaning of these Holy Scriptures. 

            Those who participate in EFM are challenged to see the scriptures, the church, and its mission in a new light.  Through its practice of theological reflections, many are able to make a here and now connection with what we read in church each Sunday.  So, if you have not participated in EFM, I strongly encourage you to consider doing so.

In the early hours Saturday morning I realized that it was not the story from Acts I should focus on this morning, but rather the Gospel reading.  Today’s lesson from John is the prayer Jesus prayed before being handed over to the authorities for execution.  It begins, “Jesus prayed for his disciples, and then he said. ‘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.’”  In this prayer, Jesus prays for you and me.  He prays for those who will believe in him through the words of his disciples – that word, recorded in the Holy Scriptures, read and studied for generation after generation after generation is the same word we study today.  And his prayer, is for the unity of the church.  Jesus prays, “The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, 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.”  God’s desire from the very beginning is to be one with us, but it is up to us – God has given us free choice.  We are free to go our separate ways, we are free to quarrel and argue with one another and with God – but Christ’s desire is that “we all may be one,” his disciples and those that hear their word.  To be one with Christ is to be a disciple; it is to love each other even as God the Father has loved God the Son. 

As I read, “so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me,” I remembered a song from my youth: “They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love.”  The first verse goes:

We are one in the Spirit,

we are one in the Lord.

We are one in the Spirit,

we are one in the Lord.

And we pray that all unity

may one day be restored.

And they’ll know we are Christians

by our love, by our love.

Yes, they’ll know we are Christians

by our love.

I grew up singing this at youth events.  It is what Christ prayed before he willingly gave his life for us – that all of humanity would be restored to unity with God and with each other.  He prayed that the world would know his disciples by the love they shared – not only with each other, but with everyone.  Unity, true unity includes everyone.  For our unity with God to be restored even those who have disappointed us in life must know our love.  The Kingdom of God requires us to participate fully, accepting everyone.

Let us pray.

O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near:  Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh; and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.