[NOTE: This sermon is the third
in a four-part sermon series entitled, "The Prayers of Paul." The scriptures and inspiration for this
sermon were from a similar series preached by Craig Groeschel, LifeChurch.TV.]
12 July 2015
I.
Introduction
-- turn in
Bibles to Romans 15:5-7 (NIV)
5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give
you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus,
6 so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you,
in order to bring praise to God.
-- in The
Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien, there is a section you find in the
books that is not shown in the movies that Peter Jackson directed -- the
hobbits and Aragorn have made their way to Rivendell, the kingdom of the Elves,
where they find Gandalf the wizard attending a gathering of men, elves, and
dwarves -- this diverse group, making up all the inhabitants of Middle Earth,
are gathered together for a single reason -- to come up with a plan to counter
the rising power of the Dark Lord Sauron in their land
-- but the
problem is the three groups differ in nearly every way -- racially, physically,
and temperamentally -- on top of all that, they don't really like each other
and have actually gone to war with each other in the past -- all of them
suspect the other groups are trying to get the ring of the Dark Lord so they'll
have the power for themselves
-- conflict
breaks out -- axes and swords are drawn -- bows are bent -- harsh words are
spoken -- it looks like war is going to break out among the group -- but
finally Gandalf speaks words of calm and settles everyone down, reminding them
of the reason they are gathered together in the first place -- to stand against
the Dark Lord
-- when
things are peaceful at last, Gandalf observes, "Indeed in nothing is the
power of the Dark Lord more clearly shown than in the estrangement that divides
all those who still oppose him." -- in other words, the Dark Lord used disunity
among those who had come together to oppose him to keep them from coming
together against him
-- we see
the same thing in the world today when Satan sows discord and disunity among
the churches to distract them from their mission and their calling -- that is
why unity is so sorely needed in the body of Christ today
-- this
morning we are continuing in our four-week sermon series on the prayers of Paul
-- in the first message, we looked at Paul's prayer from Ephesians 3:14-21 and talked
about praying for power and about praying bold and specific prayers into that
power that God has given us -- last week we looked at Philemon verses 4-7 and
talked about our need to pray that we would be active in sharing our faith and
how that means more than evangelism -- it means true koinonia -- the sharing of
our lives with each other as we live out our faith in true community
-- this
week our focus is on praying for unity within the body of Christ -- here in
Romans 15 we see Paul echoing the same prayer Jesus prayed in John 17:22 -- in
the Garden of Gethsemane, as He wrestled with the decision of the cross, Jesus
prayed to the Father that we might be one as He and the Father were one
-- unity is
a common theme in the New Testament -- eleven times in the Book of Acts alone
we read of the church being in one accord -- unified in mind and spirit -- and
in passages like this in the epistles, we read a call to unity by Paul and
Peter and the other Apostles
-- so why
the emphasis on unity? -- why does the church need to be unified?
-- I think
Craig Groeschel put it best -- he said, "I would argue with all my heart
that one of our spiritual enemy's greatest schemes is to divide the body of
Christ -- Why? -- because if we are united, we are unstoppable in what we can
do for the glory of God on earth -- but if we are divided, we are deluded and
we are weak -- we are ineffective in the way God would want to use us"
-- so let's
look at this prayer from Paul and think about why we need to add to our daily
prayers the request to God that His people would be of one accord -- united in
heart and mind
II. Scripture Lesson (Romans 15:5-7)
-- look
back at verse 5 with me -- Romans 15:5 (NIV)
5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you
a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus
-- I guess
the first thing we see as we turn to this prayer of Paul is a reminder that we
can't do this on our own -- he points out here that it is God who gives us, not
only the spirit of unity, but the endurance and encouragement required to bring
that spirit of unity to fruition
-- if you
think about it, the church is the most diverse group of people on earth -- in
no other religion will you see the diversity that you see in the body of Christ
-- as Paul said in Galatians 3:28, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave
nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." -- our
faith in Christ brings us together, no matter the differences in how the world
sees us
-- as it
says in Ephesians 4:4-6, "There is one body and one Spirit-- just as you
were called to one hope when you were called-- one Lord, one faith, one
baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in
all." -- and this is what unites us -- this is what brings us together --
this is what makes all this possible -- it all comes from God
-- God
gives endurance and encouragement to realize -- to bring to fruition -- the
spirit of unity within the church -- as you read these verses in context, it's
obvious that Paul is focusing on how we should relate to others, especially in
the church
-- Paul
doesn't gloss over the fact that there are difficult people in the church --
there are people in the church who are just hard to get along with -- that
we're not all alike and that we may not see eye to eye on every issue all the
time -- but God gives us the ability to love them in spite of our differences
as we come together in one accord to be His body on earth -- it is through His
Spirit that we overcome our differences to become the community of faith He has
called us to be
-- what
does it mean to be in unity? -- does that mean the church is to be like the
Stepford Wives, everybody looking and doing and acting exactly the same? -- no,
unity in the church is different -- when the Bible talks about unity, it is
talking about coming together individually to relationally create a unified
whole -- unity is talking about community being built out of our faith in Jesus
-- it's
like I tell people in premarital counseling -- you are individuals but you are
going to be united -- physically, spiritually, and emotionally -- together to
form one -- the two become one but your individualism remains
-- after
the wedding, you will still be separate individuals with different likes and
dislikes -- different talents and skills -- but you become one in purpose --
you become one in direction -- your desires and goals and dreams merge together
where you no longer seek what is just good for yourself, but what is good for
you as a couple -- as a family
-- that's
what unity in the body of Christ is supposed to look like -- individuals coming
together -- united in purpose and direction -- and doing what is good for the
body of Christ so that God might be glorified, as Paul prays here
-- a friend
of mine at work is reading "The Boys in the Boat," the thrilling true
story of the 1936 University of Washington crew team, which went from backwater
obscurity to a gold medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympics -- when you think of
Olympic rowing, you think of places like Yale and Harvard and Princeton --
aristocratic men who are similar in bearing and talents and skills
-- when the
team for the University of Washington came together, no one expected them to be
competitive because they were not like the other teams -- they were too diverse
-- their kids came from farms, from logging towns and shipyards -- they varied
in their statures, physiques, and personalities -- but yet they came together
as one and blew away their Californian rivals and bested the cream of New
England to become the American Olympic Team, winning the gold medal at the 1936
Berlin Olympics.
-- as the
book's author points out: "Good
crews are good blends of personalities: someone to lead the charge, someone to
hold something in reserve; someone to pick a fight, someone to make peace;
someone to think things through, someone to charge ahead without thinking.
Somehow all this must mesh. That's the steepest challenge. Even after the right
mixture is found, each man or woman in the boat must recognize his or her place
in the fabric of the crew, accept it, and accept the others as they are. It is
an exquisite thing when it all comes together in just the right way."
Daniel James Brown, Boys on the Boat (Penguin Books, 2014),
pp. 178-179
-- look
back at verse 5
Romans 15:5-6 (NIV)
5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you
a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus,
6 so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
-- here in
verse 6 we see this week's "So That" statement -- if you remember,
when we started this series we talked about how our prayers should have a
purpose -- and we see that in Paul's prayers through these "so that"
statements
-- Paul
prays that God would give us a spirit of unity so that we can glorify
God -- when the church comes together as one -- when the world sees men and
women, boys and girls, of all different races and abilities and skills and
talents from all different walks of life, coming together as one people lifting
up God with one voice and one heart then God is glorified because they'll know
this didn't happen on its own
-- Paul
tells us here what unity in the church should look like -- one heart and one
mouth -- one voice crying out to a hurting world, "there is hope in the
cross of Jesus" -- and one heart crying out and demonstrating through our
actions, "Love one another as Jesus loved us"
-- that is
unity in the body of Christ -- that is what Paul prayed for -- that is what we
should be praying for as well -- and, keep in mind, when we say unity in the
church, we are not just talking about Koinonia, but about the whole body of
Christ -- all the believers, no matter what denominational title they may
choose to place on themselves
-- verse 7
Romans 15:7 (NIV)
7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in
order to bring praise to God.
-- here's
how we bring it about -- unity within the entire body of Christ means that we
come together with one purpose, one heart, and one mind -- that doesn't mean we
give up our individuality, but we channel our individuality towards a common
goal: bringing glory to God and
fulfilling His calling on earth
-- we're
not always going to agree on everything, but we shouldn't be arguing over
things that just don't matter -- contemporary versus traditional worship --
speaking in tongues and charismatic worship versus more passive worship -- these
little things that have divided the body of Christ in the past
-- unity in
the church means we agree in the important things -- the foundation of the
faith -- Jesus Christ crucified for our sins and resurrected on the third day
to show victory over sin and death -- personal salvation by putting our faith
and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ
-- unity in
the church means we don't deviate from the word of God -- we don't let people
teach or practice things that are wrong -- that go against the orthodoxy and
the teachings of the church over the last two thousand years -- but we don't
get hung up on what kind of music someone plays in their church or if they use
guitars or organs -- and we especially
don't do this while people on the other side of the world are being beheaded
because of their faith
-- the
Greek word Paul uses here in verse 7 when he tells us to accept one another
carries with it the idea of receiving someone in your arms and embracing them
and then walking hand-in-hand with them through life
-- that's
what Paul is praying that we do in this passage -- that's what we need to do to
other followers of Jesus -- as Craig Groeschel says, "You may be
different, may have different focus, different emphasis, different style. We
accept one another and, hand in hand, we walk together and embrace one another.
When we do this then our reputation is going to change. It needs to
change."
III. Closing
-- let me
close by sharing with you a true story that happened a few years ago in a small
town in Maryland -- a townhouse caught on fire and the fire department
responded within minutes -- but since the town was very small, the fire
department was made up of a group of paid firefighters supplemented with
volunteers -- and when the two groups showed up at the fire, they got into a
fight about who should be the first to carry the hose into the burning
townhouse -- the paid professionals or the volunteers
-- all the
while, the house is continuing to burn -- eventually, the county police had to
come and separate the two groups and remind them of why they were there --
fortunately, the fire was put out before too much damage was done
-- how like
the church is that? -- rather than fighting the fires of evil in this world --
rather than putting our differences aside and coming together in a spirit of
unity against the dark lord, we end up fighting amongst ourselves -- which is
just what the devil wants
-- let me
leave you with this thought -- the spirit of unity given by God is the source
of strength for His church -- from the word unity, we get the words community and communion -- these words both mean the same thing -- to come
together -- to join together -- to become one community -- one fellowship --
one with each other
-- unity is
important in the body of Christ because this is how we form one body and bring
glory to God
-- so this
week, as you lift up your prayers to God -- along with your prayers for power
and for the ability to actively share your faith -- pray for unity in the body
of Christ -- and let it begin with you, as you accept others as Christ accepted
you -- so that we might bring glory to His name
` -- let us
pray
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