For the Sake of Unity

Introduction

Social scientists believe there are five categories to personality (OCEAN or CANOE)

openness to experience (inventive/curious vs. consistent/cautious)

ii. conscientiousness (efficient/organized vs. extravagant/careless)

iii. extraversion (outgoing/energetic vs. solitary/reserved)

iv. agreeableness (friendly/compassionate vs. critical/rational)

neuroticism (sensitive/nervous vs. resilient/confident)

All five of these are on a scale. So even the slightest of differences can result in significantly different outcomes. In fact, the math alone is just overwhelming. If the five personality traits are on a scale of 1-100, then that means that for each trait there are 100 possibilities. Multiply that by 5 then there are over 500 possibilities. But it isn’t just a possibility. Because a person who scores an 88 on the extroversion scale is different than the person who scores a 78 although both are called extroverts. So now we enter the realm of what is called permutations. And if we take a permutation calculator to assist us this is what we find. Take any five people with 500 different possibilities for personality traits in 5 categories and there are over 30 trillion possibilities.

That’s just 5 people!! Is it any wonder that there are times that we think, getting along is hard? How do 150 people form a congregation and get along? How are relationships formed and able to be stable? Think with me just a moment. If these five traits form personality with all these variations, then what does that tell you about God? Everyone is quick to choose a category and assume that all extraverts are alike—they aren’t. Our God is amazing. He has brought into this world such great variety. He has assured each one of us that he loves us. And he has promised to make us all into the image of Jesus. This is the God that we come to praise, honor, and express our love. This is the God who is worthy of greater words than we have to offer. For some these numbers and variations seem confusing and daunting. But this speaks to the greatness of God. Let’s celebrate him.

Paul in Jerusalem

Paul’s third missionary journey ends in 21:17. During this missionary trip, Paul had collected funds for the Jerusalem church. His entering into the city was the culmination of the trip. Look back at 21:10-11. In Caesarea, Paul is told that he will be imprisoned in Jerusalem. He knows what is going to happen to him when he gets to the city. And it happens. From 21:27 we have the account of Paul’s arrest and imprisonment. However, before his arrest we have an perplexing story of interaction between Paul and the leading Jews in Jerusalem.

Paul and James meet together. Paul the apostle to the Gentiles and James the brother of Jesus are in the same room. Paul gives his report about the third missionary journey. There is praise. God has brought Jew and Gentile together. God’s plan is working. God’s desire for unity among his creation is happening. James even expresses that thousands of Jews believe but they are zealous for the law. Stop!! These are people who believe Jesus to be the Messiah but they are convinced that their faith in Jesus wasn’t in opposition to their Jewish heritage. Jesus said he did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. The keeping of Sabbaths and holidays were important in the Jewish mind. The attempt to relieve the tension between Jew and Gentile had been settles in Acts 15 and it is referenced here in verse 25. Jews were accepting that the Gentiles would not be required to keep circumcision, Jewish holy days or Sabbaths. However, the tension deepened with Paul. It was rumored that he was encouraging Jewish believers in the Gentile world to join the Gentiles and to abandon their Jewish practices.

Paul, indeed, had taught that in the Gentile world, the Jews must not demand Gentiles hold to Jewish practices. But that is a far cry from demanding that Jews abandon Jewish practices. There are sections in Galatians 2 and 1 Corinthians 10 where Paul deals with those tensions specifically. But the rumor persisted. Now that Paul is in Jerusalem the tension will swell and Paul is in real danger. So James and the elders at Jerusalem propose a solution to ease perceptions. Paul will join four men who are fulfilling their Nazarite vow. Paul will pay for their sacrifices. Paul will join in 7 days of purification. Paul will shave his head too. Just as he had done in 18:18. Luke doesn’t give us enough information to know with certainty, but it appears that Paul is more than willing to do as he is requested. We are not certain of the purpose of the purification but we are certain that Paul is trying to show that he is not against the law as long as it does not divert from Jesus.

Freedom and Liberty

When you read about Paul in his missionary journeys and his letters, you get the impression that this is a man who clearly knew who he was and what his purpose was. He was without compromise when it came to the gospel. Jesus was sufficient and complete. The law was not and is not. Jesus is all that is needed. His letters speak about how to live in a world that demands its citizens live one way when following Jesus demands something else. Paul was uncompromising when it came to Jesus. So must we be. But in other areas, Paul seems to have been free to live. He would eat what was placed in front of him as he ate with the Gentiles even though it was offensive to his Jewish friends. He would celebrate Jewish holidays and at other times refuse to allow those holidays to drive a wedge between his Gentile friends even to the point of speaking bluntly that people must never divide over days.

In Romans 15, he will acknowledge the weakness of his Jewish friends who were finding this new found freedom hard to understand while demanding that the Gentiles do all they can to be loving, accepting, and patient. Paul may not have been a social scientist or recognize different personality styles, but what he did recognize was that unity mattered to God and if it mattered to God then it mattered to him. So what does this text have to teach us?

First, unity matters. What brings us together is our common faith. We can talk (not debate) about differences of what we think matters but here is what we can agree on:

(1) Jesus is Lord.

(2) Common faith in him means that we care as much about each other as we care about our self.

(3) There is one Lord, One God, One Spirit, one baptism, one faith, one body and one hope.

(4) We are people who care less about what this world has to offer and more about helping others find the world that is to come.

(5) There is a resurrection that we celebrate demonstrating that death will not win.

ii. Second, because unity matters, we will work to maintain the gift of unity by being patient with each other. We will stop rolling our eyes and giving heavy sighs. We will instead listen with love and compassion. We will defend ourselves less and reach out more. We will hug when we can but even if we can’t, we will speak words of courage and care. We will treat each other they way we want to be treated. And when those times come along that we clash and there is tension, we will be bold enough to allow God’s Spirit to lead us to love and patience rather than give room for Satan to lie to us about the motives of others.

iii. Do you know how such variety of people can get together and love each other well? While there have been a few times when we didn’t do it well for 40 years I have seen it. Lots of giving for the benefit of the other person. Lots of saying good things instead of things that hurt. Lots of acting in kindness and care. Lots of being disturbed but praying to God to calm you. Lots of trying again. Lots of mercy. Relationships are hard. So as our new year begins, let’s renew our desire to be a people who remain unified because of the gospel, for the sake of the gospel, and so that Jesus can be seen in us. Prayer.

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