INTRODUCTION

Look at the person on your right… Now look at the person on your left… Do you believe that before the foundation of the world, God prepared you to be united together as believers in one faith, one baptism, one hope, through one Spirit? If you grasp today that we believers are united together through the Holy Spirit, then we would have achieved something more than any commonality this world promises.

A few years ago I was invited to speak on the topic of unity of religion at the Baha’i temple in Edmond, an event some of you attended. The discussion was panel made of Baha’i, Muslim, Hindu, and myself as a Christian. The concept was one of universalism, under the false pretense that all religions are one. Yet you and I know that such a thing is not true. For each religion makes a truth claim which by nature is exclusionary: religious doctrines are mutually exclusive. There is really no unity in religions that claim different beliefs. A semblance of unity in the world can only be achieved by excluding differences, and focusing on the lowest common denominator. Think of a social club or another group in life where people who look similar, like the same things, or have similar affinities, are brought together under the guise of oneness, which is in fact unanimity. Or the other extreme is to force people into uniformity, where differences are not welcome at all, are not tolerated, and individuals can be sacrificed for the sake of the prevailing doctrine. In these instances, differences become costly, unprofitable, even dangerous.

But Christian unity elevates us to a better denominator, a higher calling. Dietrich Bonhoffer argues in his book Life Together that Christian unity is an objective reality created by the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ, not a social ideal or a human achievement[i]. The word of God puts a large emphasis on unity: on the unity of believers in one salvation, one hope, one body, under one God, in one purpose, for one resurrection. It calls people from all nations and walks of life to come to the one true God under whose Lordship differences can actually find a true and holy expression. And none of this could happen without one eternal, unchanging, unbreakable, omnipotent, omnipresent power – and that power is a person who is none other than the Spirit of God – the 3^rd person of the Holy Trinity, who proceeds from both the Father and the Son – who is truly God from everlasting to everlasting. The Spirit of God is the only one who can unite people together in one faith. The Spirit does it; each one of us should be eager to maintain it; all of us should strive to practice it.

So today I want to walk us through 3 aspects related to the unity of the Spirit: the work of the Spirit; the responsibility of the believer; the practice of the church.

BUT FIRST: UNITY (Psalm 133)

Before we address the other points, let’s talk about unity. What does unity mean? From the example I gave earlier, unity does not mean uniformity, unanimity or universalism. Unity is different; it is better. The Bible praises unity and holds it in high regard. To this end, let us turn our attention to Psalm 133.

This song of David celebrates unity among those the Lord called to be together. It is good, which means right, true and righteous; it is also pleasant, which means fragrant, cheerful and uplifting. There is joy, peace, love, gentleness, care and mutuality – sounds like the fruit of the Spirit – among those in the family of God; these are factors bringing people together, and sources of nearness and connectedness between believers. Unity is not letting go of who we are, but channeling our sanctified selves to bring closeness between one another, and as Paul says, outdoing one another in showing honor. That’s why it is good and pleasant. That’s why David describes unity like oil poured on the head and running down the beard to the shoulders, chest and all the garments. This may sound messy and greasy. But in David’s days, anointing with expensive, fragrant oil was a sign of high blessing. Unity is a great blessing to the church. I wish I could show you Mount Hermon and other mountains and valleys in that area. But I want you to imagine waking up on a happy spring morning in a cottage by the side of a valley, near a murmuring stream, surrounded by green grass and wild flowers, seeing the rising sun making the nearby slopes dance with the pearly drops of the mountain dew, raising with it a multitude of fresh, earthy, crisp smells, as birds are chirping with the rising dawn. Unity is like that: it is like a fragrant aroma that is attractive to those who see it; it is something that once you’ve tasted, you don’t want to drink anything else; it is a masterpiece that you want to sit and behold all day and not move to the next painting. Unity is the delightful perfume of the church that you want to keep inhaling, that is not repulsive but attractive. Unity is the prosperity of the church[ii], a commanded blessing of God that must be obeyed, and when obeyed and practiced well, it yields great fruit and gives great delight. It does not only prolong life: unity is life, life forevermore, that will carry forward with us through eternity. If you think of heaven as the place where you can achieve all you desire for yourself, you’re probably wrong. Heaven is the place where we will achieve unity together in the most perfect way, without any hint of envy, jealousy, animosity, resentment, suspicion, disdain, or anything that hinders us from having perfect unity in our life together today. But do not despair, for the Spirit is at work within us this very day!

THE WORK OF THE SPIRIT (Ephesians 4:1-16)

Every Sunday, we recite the Apostles’ Creed which is a proclamation of faith that has been made by believers throughout the centuries, in many nations and many languages. The Creed is a reminder that we belong to the holy catholic church, the universal body of believers that will one day be assembled together to celebrate the marriage supper of the Lamb. This catholic faith we proclaim is one that has been given an apt definition in the Athanasian Creed which proclaims: that we worship one God in Trinity and the Trinity in unity, neither blending their persons nor dividing their essence. For the person of the Father is a distinct person, the person of the Son is another, and that of the Holy Spirit still another. But the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one, their glory equal, their majesty coeternal[iii]. The Creed goes on to describe how each person of the Trinity is uncreated, immeasurable, eternal, almighty, and one God. There has been a relationship of love in unity among the persons of the Trinity since before the foundation of the world. Do you ever wonder how a god who is one person could know love and unity and harmony? Many have. And the conclusion is that such a one-person god cannot. Every honest religion that is not Christianity would come to the same conclusion, since their deities are not identified by their love.

That is why the Holy Spirit, having known love, unity and harmony in the Trinity is also the Spirit of love, unity and harmony for the people of God. That pleasing aroma, delightful perfume of unity we talked about is something the persons of the Trinity experienced perfectly, and the Spirit aches for us to experience it as we grasp our union with God. The Son said it was better for him to depart so that believers may receive the Holy Spirit: we become united to the Triune God by the Spirit who lives in us. Our unity and harmony were at the forefront of Christ’s thoughts and prayers before he went to the cross. He prayed in John 17:20-23 that all those who believe in him would be one just as the Son and the Father are one, so that the world may believe. That is why we have been given the Holy Spirit of God, the one who assures us of our union with him, affirms to us that we are God’s heirs, and works in us to be united with one another. The Holy Spirit has been poured over us like precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, soaking our clothes and filling us; God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (Romans 5:5). These are great blessings from our Triune God to the people he made his own, and has given a higher calling.

Coming back to Ephesians 4, Paul’s words which have been inspired by the Holy Spirit tell us to make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit. Look again at the people around you: there is one Holy Spirit who resides in each and every one of us Christians. Think about it: before coming to faith, you were dead. This means your spirit was dead. But now as a believer in Jesus, the Holy Spirit has made you alive and lives in you, which means that the living spirit that is in you is the Holy Spirit, and is the same Spirit who lives in your brother and sister. You are already united in one Spirit in one body that you have been called to; that you have been engrafted in; that you have covenanted with! We are all by the same Spirit called to one hope with full assurance that we are God’s and he is ours! We are servants of the same Lord, brothers and sisters of the same Jesus, with one faith in the only Spirit who can give us life! In our baptism in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, we are baptized into one hope, one proclamation, one Spirit, one God.

It is the Holy Spirit who is at work in us and through us. The Holy Spirit gives to each and every one of us unique gifts for one another’s benefit: some gifts can be common or frequent, like singing, musical ability, exhortation; others may be less common, like prophecy or teaching; and others are more or less capabilities that he gives to all, such as prayer, gathering together, cooking, physical service, hospitality and others. And in all these, the Holy Spirit is eager to work in us and through us to use these gifts not for hoarding, pride, or self-aggrandizement, but for building up the body of Christ to attain the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.

The Son wanted to glorify the Father, and the Spirit works to glorify the Father. The glory of the one is the glory of the other. The Son is not diminished by seeking to glorify the Father: he is exalted. The Spirit is not undermined by seeking to glorify the Father: he is magnified. And the Spirit is working in us to grow us into the God with whom we have been united. We are not diminished when we live our unity with God; we are not diminished when we live our unity with one another in one body and one faith. We are sanctified, lifted, exalted and honored.

THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE BELIEVER (Philippians 2:1-4; Acts 4:32-37)

The Holy Spirit works among us, and in each one of us. This means we each have an individual responsibility as believers, and then all together we have a collective practice as a church. Individually, we are called to do nothing from self-ambition or conceit, but consider others more significant than ourselves. This is Paul’s exhortation to the Philippian church (Phil 2:1-4), using Christ as the example we must follow, having emptied himself to obey, as we must empty ourselves to obey. Try to fill ourselves with our own selves, and we will be deflated like a flat tire; try to empty ourselves from our own selves, and we will be elevated and filled with the Holy Spirit. We cannot do this in our strength, but the power of the Holy Spirit that is in us is able to reorient us away from self-focus toward unity and community.

We saw clear examples of this in our study of Acts, in particular Acts 4:32-37. It is good for us to go back and see how the believers in the early church took this responsibility seriously. We read that no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own: this was counter-cultural then; it is still counter-cultural today. To be human is to be self-oriented, self-centered, selfish. All that surrounds us, or is advertised to us seems to want to focus our attention on our own selves. But we read in Acts about this radical selflessness: the believers were freed from selfishness, and were free to radical otherness. The Spirit was at work in the individual believers to help one another, to encourage one another, to be hospitable to one another, to practice radical generosity toward others. The Holy Spirit was at work in the lives of individual believers to build up the body of Christ, to speak truth in love, to practice loving the other, and to grow into maturity in Jesus.

In the same way for us today, one of the cores of individual responsibility is gospel-humility, or as Tim Keller put it: the Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness[iv]; of neither thinking more of myself, or thinking less of myself, but thinking of myself less. We are then free to be more Christ-like, and to consider others more significant than ourselves, as each part works properly to build the whole body up in love. Each part must commit itself to the benefit of others, seeking eagerly to find how we each can be committed to pursuing unity and blessing others. Unity is not a spiritual ideal, but the tool through which the Holy Spirit operates.

THE PRACTICE OF THE CHURCH. (Acts 2:42-47)

This brings us to the practice of the church where we see the Spirit at work not only in each believer, but also among and between believers, which means at work in the body of Christ, which means a collective practice, the practice of the church.

Look again at those around you, and ponder the unity that God has called us to. Unity is not merely the act of being around one another, or simply tolerating one another. From our study of Acts 2:42-27, we find that unity is often sustained by devotion to one another through doing things together, and that regularly happens through gospel-related activity in community: teaching, praying, singing, eating, fellowshipping, giving, fasting, proclaiming the gospel, pursuing holiness, confessing sin, and more.

In case I haven’t been clear thus far, here you go: unity does not happen by practicing faith alone. Unity cannot happen without a community. Teaching is not effective without a community. We can listen to sermons online, or go to a church to listen to good teaching, but without actually being a member of a community, we won’t practice or experience unity, and in doing that, we would be quenching the Spirit. We must nurture our individual relationships with God when we are alone. We must also be present together as gospel community, both bodily, but also mentally, spiritually – not checking out! Praying alone is good; it is commanded; but you and I know it is easier and good when we pray together; husbands and wives: you want more unity and intimacy? I challenge you to pray together, and see the Spirit at work in you to unite you better together than praying only apart. Think of the joy and delight that singing together gives us each Sunday. What about our times together in Mfam or TEAMS, over meals and conversations, practicing hospitality and receiving welcome? These all promote unity. Are they hard at times? You bet! Can they be tiresome? Yeah! Is it possible that they lead to friction? Of course! Yet it is in these very things that we can and must trust the Holy Spirit to work in us to remove suspicion, to prevent us from building up walls that Jesus tore down, and to practice the 40 one-anothers planted throughout the New Testament: loving one another; not envying one another; bearing with one another; encouraging one another; being at peace with one another; not grumbling against one another; being of the same mind with one another; accepting one another; not consuming one another; not provoking one another; not envying one another; forgiving one another; seeking the good of one another; not speaking evil of one another; serving one another; greeting one another; devotion to one another; outdoing one another in showing honor; submitting to one another; not causing one another to stumble; speaking truth to one another; comforting one another; stirring one another to love and good works; building one another up; praying for one another; showing hospitality to one another; welcoming one another; exhorting one another; listening to one another; being kind to one another; singing with one another; teaching one another; fellowshipping with one another; eating with one another; being patient with one another; seeking the interests of one another; not slandering one another; not devouring one another; not giving up meeting with one another; having one mind with one another.

Unity in the church is like a potluck (borrowing the idea from the book Practicing the King’s Economy[v]) where God is creating a community where the Spirit inhabits our works to reshape us in the image of our God. Practicing unity means we identify by the grace of God that transformed us, with that grace being an indelible marker that ties us together better than family, race, or culture. And this again comes through radical devotion to one another, and to being selfless: disunity often does not come from theological differences, but from the sins of our own individual selfish hearts. When we practice unity and the one-anothers for God, the Spirit shapes our hearts after God’s heart, making them reflect the heart of our king, as we build a community of faith that follows the way of the cross. The more the Spirit is at work in us, and the more we are alive in the Spirit, the more we die to ourselves, and live for one another, which also allows us to step outside our comfort zones, cross cultural lines, and call others to the same hope.

Jesus Prayed for Our Unity… and Gave Us His Spirit

The longest recorded prayer of Jesus, what should truly be called the Lord’s prayer, is in John 17. On the night on which he was betrayed, our Lord wrestled in praying to the Father for all those who would be his children, to be united together as the Father and the Son are united. The Father so loved us he gave us his Son; the Son so loved us he gave us his life; Father and Son so loved us that they gave us the Holy Spirit to dwell in all of us – one Spirit in every believer, to unite us all together, and to give us love for one another. Christian unity in the Spirit is reversing the disunity and confusion that took place at the tower of Babel where sinners sought to come together to undermine God. The Spirit brings people together for God and for one another, removing confusion, and giving peace.

Our communion should be solid and deep, but not only inward-focused. When Jesus prayed in John 17 for our oneness, he prayed so that the world can see that we are one and be attracted to this, and come to know him. His prayer for our unity was evangelistic. While the world advertises unity, it is a fake hope. Theirs is a deceitful scheme crafted by human cunning. It does not lead to life, and it will let people down. But unity in the Spirit is different: it crosses barriers of individualism; it removes walls; it brings people together from the east and from the west and all walks of life for one hope and one purpose in Christ Jesus. When the world looks at us, they should know us by our fruit, by our unity, by our love for one another, and when they are attracted to it, we have a chance to proclaim the hope of Jesus, and an opportunity to sow peace.

Our lives in unity and community are attractive not because they are perfect, but because in our brokenness God’s grace can shine through. As the art of Kintsugi portrays beautifully, broken pieces can be brought together by pouring gold inlay to make them united and more precious. As Makoto Fujimura says in his book Art+Faith[vi]: someone has poured gold into your brokenness. Kintsugi pottery is beautiful not because it is perfect, but because something new has been made from broken pieces. And the broken pieces come into shape as necessary components of new creation, the new world that is to come.

Do you think that in the practice of these one-anothers, we can find the works of Fujimura and the truth of Psalm 133:3 at work? That in these the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore? These are good and pleasant. We as the church should practice the one-anothers as broken people redeemed by grace, equipped by the Holy Spirit, and find in them our unity and our prosperity as one body working well together to attain the unity of the faith and knowledge of the Son of God, the mature manhood, to grow upward into Christ by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. We should all strive to submit to the head who is the Father, in the church which is the body of the Son, through the Holy Spirit who binds us together with sinews and ligaments. That is how we can build our body up in love, which is the inlay that brings the pieces together and makes of them a unit that is more beautiful than the sum of its parts, that is attractive to the world, that calls other broken people to come and partake in this new creation, which is the only place where when people surrender themselves, they are enriched , filled, and given an eternal community in unity through the Holy Spirit.

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[i] Dietrich Bonhoffer. Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian in Community. Harper One (1978).

[ii] https://www.desiringgod.org/scripture/psalms/133

[iii] https://www.crcna.org/welcome/beliefs/creeds/athanasian-creed

[iv] Tim Keller. The Freedom of Self Forgetfulness: The Path to True Christian Joy. 10Publishing (2012).

[v] Michael Rhodes, Robby Holt, and Brian Fikkert. Practicing the King’s Economy: Honoring Jesus in How We Work, Earn, Spend, Save, and Give. Baker Books (2018). Ch.2.

[vi] Makoto Fujimura. Art+Faith: A Theology of Making. Yale University Press (2021).