I'm still always shocked when my sermons are well received. Sermon writing is something I really struggle with but it is, ultimately, rewarding. Today's sermon is based upon Acts 1:15-17 & 21-26, 1 John 5:9-13 and John 17:6-19:
According to my children an horrific part of my childhood still goes on in schools today- the dreaded ritual of picking teams. Two children are asked to take it in turns to pick their side. Now I’m sure that some members of our congregation are, or were, wonderfully athletic, but I never was, so the usual scenario was that I would be the last one to be chosen- the public humiliation of being the kid no team wants.
There was another school ritual- the merit badge. Each week I would hope beyond hope that I’d be picked, knowing I’d tried my best, but rarely would it be me. Are you feeling sorry for me yet?
On holiday one year my parents entered me into some sort of beauty contest, and I didn't do too well in that either. I grew up knowing I was someone who didn't get picked. I wasn't chosen. I wasn't special.
I was on a retreat last weekend and one of the themes was our collective chosenness, not just us as ordinands but all Christians. We’re all taken, or chosen, by God to be sent out into the world. This is echoed in the gospel today where Jesus states the disciples were sent to him by God. Chosen by God. It turns out my childhood assumptions were very wrong- I might not have felt like I was chosen, but as a Christian I, and therefore all of us, are chosen by God for a very specific purpose, as the disciples were.
The point we’re at in today’s gospel reading is just before Jesus is arrested. He knows what’s to come, that he must die, yet instead of preparing himself and contemplating what he will endure, he’s focused on the disciples, what will happen after he’s gone, what will happen to this chosen group of people whom he loves.
He’s preparing for his death by praying for his friends, and specifically praying for their protection as he knows times will be tough. Their association with this radical and subversive man has left them very vulnerable, but even though Jesus will die the disciples’ job, the purpose for which God had chosen them, is far from over. Jesus prays that God will protect them from the “evil one”, yet presumably this protection isn't a physical one, we know many of these men will die violently for their faith, it's spiritual protection they need – protection from anything that might weaken their faith, and stop them fulfilling their purpose. This protection will soon arrive in the form of the Holy Spirit.
So they were chosen by God and protected by the Holy Spirit.
After praying for their protection Jesus sanctifies the disciples He sanctifies them in truth, the truth that Jesus was sent from God and that the father and Son have a unity of purpose.
Chosen by God, Protected by the Spirit, Sanctified by Christ. Chosen, Protected, Sanctified. These 3 actions fulfill the other part of Jesus’ prayer: “that they are one as we are one”. Jesus prays that the disciples are unified.
Chosen, Protected, Sanctified, Unified. We too are chosen by God, protected by the Holy Spirit and sanctified by Christ. It might be difficult for us as individuals to get our heads around that - we each know our individual brokenness and the reasons we might feel unworthy, but as well as individuals we're part of a community and we're also part of the worldwide church or Body of Christ. We might find it easier to recognise how as a body of people we’re a chosen people, a protected people and a sanctified people, yet despite all parts of the body needing to work as a unit we’d be stretching things to say we - the global church- are a unified people.
Often the Christians we see in the media are those which hold extreme views, one way or the other. Extremely conservative, extremely Evangelical, extremely liberal. They've often been drafted in specifically to generate debate. It’s easy to feel disappointed that they've been chosen to represent “Christians” as an homogeneous group, knowing that our own interpretation of Christian belief don’t match theirs. We’re all Christians, but our views are not unified.
I’m sure many of us have, at some point, attended churches of other denominations, or been members of other churches, and we’ll each have our own reasons for now being here instead of there. There’s probably lots of things we could identify about other churches that don’t match how we think about our faith, things we’re not unified on.
And what about the controversies which threaten to split the Anglican Communion? The ongoing debates around sexuality may still cause the Western and African parts of the Communion to separate.
Within the Church of England I've read accounts of very un-Christ-like altercations between representatives of pro-diversity church groups and conservative church groups. Our in-fighting over sex, gender and sexuality is a cause of bemusement to the outside world and presents us as far from unified.
There are, of course, many other issues preventing us from presenting a unified church, both locally and globally. So how can we ever be a unified church?
Unity doesn't have to mean we’re unified in all our views and opinions, which would be nigh on impossible. The Western Church split from the Eastern Church, the protestant from catholic and then more splits, more denominations, more schisms, yet we do remain the worldwide church- how then are we unified?
We must look back to our chosenness, our purpose, and ask ourselves- chosen for what? The answer lies in our reading from Acts. We’re chosen to bear witness. Despite our division we’re all called to bear witness to the risen Christ, and, as John writes, to have the testimony within our hearts.
We don’t, and we can’t, agree on every aspect of our faith as so much of it is personal to us, but our faith is also communal, and as a community we can be unified even when we disagree.
“As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world”. This is where we find our unity- just like the disciples we’re sent out chosen, sent out protected and sent out sanctified, unified in our witness to the one God, the perfect unity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
