I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:1-6 NRSV)

***

"Our Common Sin"...

Sounds like an interesting one today, eh?
Have I gotten your attentions
what in the world might such a title refer to?

“Our Common, Sin”

It must be something that we’re all guilty of -- but what?

“Our Common, Sin.”

Whatever it is, it must be bad.
It’s not unique,
nor even new,
to this congregation.
It’s not something particular to you.
It’s an ancient fault,
One which has plagued the Church of Jesus Christ from the very beginning.

Paul’s Church in Corinth was struck by this sin,
and their bad example only multiplied this sin down through the centuries.

It is, truly, “Our Common Sin,” for all Christians are guilty of it,
each and every one of us.
Each one sitting here, this morning,
this one standing here before you,
every Christian in every church in this nation,
every Christian in every church on this planet,
every Christian, everywhere, everywhen,
from the apostles until today.
We’re all guilty,

No denomination is exempt--
For, indeed, this is our problem.....
this is our sin.

St. Paul wrote to the Ephesians;

“There is one body and one Spirit, just as You were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.”

One body
One spirit
One hope
One Lord
One Faith
One Baptism
One God and Father.

Our Common Sin,
my brothers and sisters,
is that we, for so very long, have denied that we are one body.
We are not one.

There are Baptists,
Catholics,
Presbyterians,
Lutherans,
Nazarenes,
Methodists,
Orthodox,
Assemblies of God,
Holiness Pentecostal,
Church of God

There are many denominations in this land
but where is the Body of Jesus Christ, our Lord?
The temptation exists to simply say: “In all of them,”
but you can’t simply say that.
I’m sorry.
I would love to,
and in the past I have,
but our divisiveness proves it wrong, every time.
Or, in the very least, the claim is misleading.

No, our sin has made the situation much more complex than the surface reveals.
Today I have just one question for you.
Why are you here, this morning,
sitting in that pew ... in that chair,
instead of in some other pew,
in some other chair
of some other Church?

Consider the question-- it’s a good one.

Would You Pray With Me?

Lord God, our Heavenly Father, Move among us so that we, Thy people, may always feel and sense Thy Divine power and presence, for we need to know that we are never alone; and speak to each and ever,,, one of us in such a way that we may always hear, understand, and remember, give us words by which to mold and shape our living; for we confess to You that we are a people who need such words by which to live. For we pray in Thy Holy and Gracious Name. Amen.

You can describe a Christian, today, with many different descriptive labels.
Some mean something, some do not.
Catholic and Protestant,
Orthodox and Catholic,
East and West
North and South,
Fundamentalist and Unitarian
Conservative and Liberal
Evangelical and "main line"
Pentecostal and Non-pentecostal
Holiness and . . . well, l’ve never met a real
church that failed to believed in some kind of holiness
-- be it of the body, mind, heart, or spirit,
self generated or from above.

I could ask you to identify yourself with some of these labels.
I could ask you to vote on what you believe you are,
what you believe the Church should be,
and I would guarantee you that there would not be total agreement.
You see, these labels are artificial.
These labels are sinful.
These labels are satanic.
These labels are usually used to differentiate, to separate out,
those who are really and truly Christian from those who are not Christian.

Divisiveness.
It is the plague of the Church.
We have lived with it for nearly 2000 years --
not just since the Protestant reformation,
mind you,
but ever since the Apostles argued
over the admission of Gentiles into the Church.
Differences in culture:
in philosophical outlook,
in economic status,
in political affiliation,
and, indeed, in theological perspective--
many such differences have promoted natural divisions.

But, in America,
some of these divisions have broken down.
In the United States
what we find is a mishmash of theology,
a hodgepodge of tradition
and a greater mobility than ever before--
all of which has fueled our dilemma.

Few people know who they are anymore,.
and even fewer people really care.
There is a popular myth running around,
that there is little, if any real difference, between
Baptists and Methodists
Episcopalians and Lutherans
Catholics and Orthodox.....
we're all Christian.

What a wonderful myth.
It's a myth that is fueled by a bit of truth--
but the reality is not as easy to grasp as it is to say.

Contrary to popular opinion,
there are substantial differences between our denominations.
Differences in church government
in worship style and flavor
in theological perspective.....
Differences which, in some cases, are quite substantial.

I’m not interested in the differences, this morning.
Rather, it is the truth behind that myth which we must examine
if we are going to reach the ideal that it proposes.

We must focus not on our differences, but on our commonalities.
Indeed, at their most critical points,
the theological differences which truly separate us
are not as Important as what binds us together.
And what binds us together?

Every denomination of the Christian faith,
those I have listed before and many others which I have not yet named,
every community of Christ,
every church,
shares a common identity with our One Lord,
with our One Faith,
and with our One baptism.
We share a common confession in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior,
In God, our Father, the creator,
in the Holy Spirit, the divine sustainer.

What truly separates us is pride,
pride in our names,
in our histories,
in our traditions,
in our theological distinctions.
We sometimes pray and worship differently,
different in style, in manner, in form and flavor,
But, my brothers and sisters, our identity is the same,
even if our names differ.

We worship the same Lord and Savior,
the same God and Father,
the same Holy Spirit,
even if our forms of worship vary.
This is how things have always been.
Long before the Protestant reformation,
long before John Wesley, Martin Luther and Jean Calvin,
there have been substantial theological and cultural differences within the Church.
There has always been diversity--
even during those brief periods when
we had apparent unity --and notice, I said apparent.

To our Catholic Brethren,
I ask that you remember your own monastic tradition.
Many different communities,
with a different habit
a different rule of life
a different style and focus
a different character and goal.
Some live in large common homes
others live single lives
some have access to great resources,
others are devoted to utter poverty.
Some live far away from other people,
while others live in the midst of inner cities
Some deal with intellectual attainment, spiritual growth, and learning.
Others with physical labor.
The Monks and Nuns of the Roman Catholic Church are varied in nature
in style
in character
in rules
and in names.
The myth of monolithic Catholicism is just that..... a myth.
The Roman Catholic Church carries within it traditions
which are as diverse from one another as Primitive Baptists are from Episcopalians.
. . . . and that's saying a great deal.

I want to try an experiment
I love using congregations as guinea pigs--
after all, you're a captive audience!
. . . an experiment.

Which denomination are Methodists most closely related to?

Please vote by raising your hand.
Presbyterian
Baptist
Catholic
Lutheran
Episcopalian

Our founder, Father John Wesley, was an Anglican Priest.
The Episcopal Church and the United Methodist Church
are both rooted in the same mother Church ... The Church of England.
We share a very similar body of doctrines called “The Articles of Religion.”
The Methodist Episcopal Church began in America
because the Revolutionary war left the fledgling republic
without an Episcopal Church.
So... John Wesley, sent us here to be that for America.
And, yet, it is interesting to note how difficult it is
for most of us to identify our own relatedness.

Methodist Theology,
the theology of John and Charles Wesley,
is distinctively Evangelical,
and Anglican,
and Catholic
and Orthodox ....
all at the same time!

Many have seen the UMC as the denomination which bridges the gap
between Protestants and Catholics
and between the West and East.
That may be the most distinctive thing that we United Methodists
can say about ourselves as we move into
the last decade of the 20th Century.
We are the bridge

Case in point:
Did you know that the current Hymnal of the Roman Catholic
Church has in it six Hymns by
Charles Wesley,
one by John Wesley,
and 16 of John Wesley's prayers?
Did you also know that in Roman Catholic Seminaries
John Wesley’s Sermons on Grace and Sanctification are required reading?
They aren’t even required in most Methodist Seminaries -- just recommended!
The bridge is a lot shorter than most would like to think.
United Methodism has the chance of being that bridge.
It's a great prospect.
It's one we should not take lightly.

Do you want to be a part of it?
My question, which I put to you at the beginning of this Sermon, still stands.
Can you answer it?
What are you doing here,
sitting in that pew,
listening to me, today?
Who are you when you’re doing it,
and who are you when you leave this place?

What does it mean to be a Methodist?
What does it mean for those of you who are members of this local congregation?

To be Methodist has always meant that we realize
that we're not alone in this Christian walk.
No single congregation has exclusive rights on heaven.
We are connected,
We are as one with other churches called Methodist.
Even,
and listen to this,
even, in a tangental way, with that little AMEZ Church,
next door to the Ruitan down the street here.
We are not alone, as Christians,
but we celebrate the greater wholeness of the body of Christ.
Indeed, our connectedness has never been closed.
On the frontier, Methodists worked with Presbyterians and Episcopalians,
with Baptists and Catholics,
organizing revivals,
sharing Church buildings,
working together to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The body of Christ extends beyond the United Methodist Church,
beyond Greater World Methodism,
beyond to those Churches with whom we share nothing --
nothing but a common expression of Faith in Jesus Christ.

The ecumenical vision -- the hope and dream of an undivided body of Christ
A United Holy Catholic (which means universal)
Orthodox (which means true to the faith)
and Protestant (which means protesting and free)
Church

The One Holy, Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Church
is alive and well in the United Methodist Church.
I don’t expect to live to see the day when we can say
that we are truly undivided,
but the vision of one Methodist Theologian,
Geoffrey Wainwright,
should be possible.
His is a vision which sees the Christian Faith,
A world-wide Church of Jesus Christ,
in which the various denominations are viewed much like
the monastic traditions of the Roman Catholic Church.
Each denomination representing a distinctive theological and cultural tradition,
but confessing their common faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
A Church undivided by barriers of exclusivity, bigotry, and nationalism.
A Church United to preach the good news of Jesus Christ to those
who are lost, and without God.
A Church in which is it, indeed, possible to say that
“there is one body and one spirit,
one hope
one Lord,
one Faith,
and one Baptism.”

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
--Amen