We are one in the Spirit, and sometimes,
with God's grace, in reality

Now, I don't know if smiling on each other has really helped relations between Christians and Jews all that much, but that song reminds me of a Garrison Keillor story in which Pastor Inqvist, the Lutheran pastor, had grown discouraged about his congregation's spiritual lassitude. And the pivotal moment for him came when the choir sang, as an offertory:

I believe for every drop of rain that falls
A flower grows,
I believe that somewhere in the darkest night
A candle glows.

("I Believe," possibly written by Irvin Graham, Jimmy Shirl, Ervin M. Drake, and Al Stillman)

Christ Is the Unifying Point of Reference

No doubt some level of belief, and some smiles, are necessary for good relations, even among Christians themselves, but it's a bit vague, theologically. The Apostle Paul, neither Lutheran, Catholic, or Mennonite, suggested something more substantive as a basis for good relations and for unity, and in our passage from his letter to the Galatian congregation he expresses, in several ways, ways in which we are one.

This passage is part of a long and complex argument the apostle is making about the relationship of the Old Testament Law and faith in Christ, and the reason he's making this argument is because the Galatian congregation was in crisis. Divisions had arisen because some argued that only physical descendants of Abraham could inherit the promises made to Abraham, and Paul was arguing that the true children of Abraham are not children by birth or nationality, they are children because of their faith. The old divisions and barriers have been superseded by faith in Christ.

It's a long and complicated argument, but what is vivid in our passage is the centrality of Christ. Christ is the reference point in these verses. Paul describes our relationship to Christ in four ways, and the first is in verse 26, where Paul writes, "in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. (Galatians 3:26) "All of you are God's children because of your faith in Christ Jesus." (CEV) We are one family. We are sisters and brothers, of the same parentage.

A second way Paul describes our relationship to Christ is in verse 27, where Paul states that we have "clothed (ourselves) with Christ." (Galatians 3:27) "All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." (TNIV) One could do a whole sermon on the clothing fashions of the Bible, everything from the fig leaf ensembles in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:7) to those "robed in white" in the book of Revelation (Revelation 7:9, 14), but essentially the new clothing signifies a change. When a soldier put on a uniform in that day, it signified an assignment, an identity, a new consciousness, a new command. Similarly with Christian believers.

Another way Paul describes our relationship to Christ is in verse 29; Paul writes, "If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise." (Galatians 3:29) This is another way of articulating the argument about who are the rightful heirs of the promise made to Abraham, and if we are children of God, through faith, then we are also children of Abraham, and the rightful heirs of the promise made to him.

The fourth way in which Paul describes our relationship to Christ is actually the third one, but almost as soon as Paul articulated it, it became lodged in the Christian psyche. Verse 28: "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28)

Paul's Declaration of Unity Is Inspiring, but ...

The famous climax of our passage is inspiring, suggesting that our one-ness, our Christian unity, is going to take much more than smiling at each other. Church history is fraught with fragmentation, the body of Christ ripped in two a thousand years ago (1054) already, when the Orthodox and Roman churches split. Five centuries later there was another major split between the Roman Church and Protestantism, the latter continuing to fragment, one of those shards being the Mennonite Church, which was so small and beleaguered that one would think it could not split into even smaller pieces! But we did, and today we are the beneficiaries of Fragments A, B, C, D, etc., having used up almost all of the letters of the alphabet! Just when one thinks it is no longer possible to dismember the body of Christ any more, Christians find new ways of eroding their message of love and unity.

However, the New Testament declaration that in Christ there is no longer Jew or Greek, no longer slave or free, no longer male and female continues to haunt us – and inspire us – and occasionally we get a divine taste of our oneness in Christ. One such example happened a century ago when the various Christian traditions met in Edinburgh, Scotland, to unite around mission. That initiative gave birth to the ecumenical movement and the dry bones and fragments of the body of Christ became reconstituted into whole bodies united and animated by the Spirit of God.

We Are One in the Spirit

Occasionally the Spirit of God unites us across incredible barriers and surprises us with its power. The current news items about the World Cup games in South Africa remind me daily of our family's visit there in 1988, just before Nelson Mandela was set free. Ten years earlier a North American businessman named Allan, who was also a devout Christian, was visiting South Africa on business, and while there he went to church in Soweto, something our family did as well. He wasn't at all sure he and his friend – both white – would be welcome, but he believed that in Jesus Christ the barriers that separate people are, or at least should be, broken down.

As Allan and his friend walked into the neighbourhood and to the church they were reminded at each step of the barriers that separated the races in South Africa in 1978. "Whites Only" signs and "Blacks Only" signs were everywhere. It became more clear to him than ever that there were huge walls of practised hatred in this country. Allan began to have second thoughts about his decision to attend a church in Soweto, but he submerged his fears and reminded himself of Paul's inspiring words, and it nourished his hopes for a new kind of world where all baptized believers are one in Christ Jesus.

Allan and his friend arrived at the church early. They found a seat and waited. Slowly others began to file in, but no one sat very close to them. When the sanctuary was filled there was a large circle of empty seats surrounding the two white North Americans. There they were – two white faces surrounded by a sea of black faces as isolated as an island in an ocean. Allan was disappointed. Perhaps it was too much to expect that walls of enmity could collapse in a Christian church.

Then, before the service started, a woman got up and began to sing "Amazing Grace". Her voice was one of the most beautiful voices Allan had ever heard, and he was deeply moved. And perhaps forgetting, momentarily, where he was, Allan joined his tenor voice to her song. The two of them sang in harmony.

An old woman from the back of the church came forward and touched Allan. "Jesus," she said softly. That was the one and only bond between them. And then Allan committed an illegal act; he embraced the woman. They both wept. Suddenly the circle of emptiness around them collapsed, and people shoved up against Allan on every side. It was a moment of oneness in Christ that changed Allan's life forever. (Richard A. Jensen, "The Collapsing Circle," Lectionary Tales, pages 81-82)

Occasionally the Spirit of God surprises us with experiences of unity so deep and profound that all we can do is weep, and in all humility praise God for His amazing grace. Occasionally our Christian hope is so deep and strong that it overcomes our fears. There is, indeed, one church, one faith, one baptism! All of us are one in Christ Jesus. AMEN