“Of One Heart and Mind”

Acts 4:32-35

Several years ago an ad campaign for a particular automobile used this as its slogan: “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile.” That was significant in that General Motors was trying to appeal to younger buyers. The sad reality of that significance is that the Oldsmobile brand is dead and General Motors is on the verge of bankruptcy. In spite of their snazzy slogans and whatnot General Motors never adapted its business model to a changing world. They are making true that old statement that: “Business as usual is out of business.”

Like it or not today’s church is not the church of our parents, or at least it had better not be. Otherwise we’ll regretfully discover that business as usual really is out of business. Grace is most definitely not the same church as it was in 1957. It is not even the same church it was when I arrived in 2004. Things have changed. There has been some staff turnover. The physical plant has undergone some improvements. The order of worship is still – and may always be - a work in progress. And unless you’re blind and deaf you will have noticed that the complexion of the church is darker and the English being spoken has a definitely different accent.

Pastors and other staff come and go. Members move in and eventually move out for a variety of reasons. People die. People move away. People, for whatever reason, find themselves happier at another church. Some drop out altogether. Some get mad and quit. Beyond the church’s doors neighborhoods change. There are population shifts. Nothing remains static.

And so it has been for the church since day one. The 47^th verse of Acts 2 tells us, “And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.” Membership was always in a state of flux. Furthermore, that infant church in Jerusalem was a multicultural congregation from the get-go. Jewish believers from all over the known world formed the foundation of that church.

There were language and other cultural differences. There were socio-economic differences. Those pilgrims who stayed on in Jerusalem after receiving Jesus had to be taken care of. The congregation had to find ways to feed and house its hungry and homeless members. A communal existence was adopted early on. Those who had resources shared with those who didn’t. And even that didn’t solve every problem. In order to bring a halt to daily conflicts over who was getting what Deacons had to be appointed to make sure that everybody was being treated fairly. A rapid response to change was the order of the day.

What was it that kept that church from flying apart? There was their common faith in Jesus Christ. The church was established and undergirded by the unifying power of the Holy Spirit. There was powerful preaching. Miracles were common. Healthy and encouraging fellowship was a constant reality. By way of all this and more the church came to be described with these words: “Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul…”

Language no longer divided them. Nor did social status, finances, or levels of education. In time the growing, spreading church would be described by the Apostle Paul: “… for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith… 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.”

This being of one heart and soul business requires a few things of us. First of all we must affirm Jesus Christ as our only Lord and Savior. We must take seriously that new commandment Jesus gave his disciples that night at the Lord’s Supper: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another… By this everyone will know that you are my disciples…” And then there are those words Paul wrote to the Philippians: “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus…”

We are to love one another as Christ loves us. We are to deal with one another with the same attitude of humility and servanthood modeled by. That involves a willingness to sacrifice for one another, get rid of our “me first” attitudes, never adopting a stance of “my way or the highway,” and always remembering that every one of our dearly beloved congregational traditions was at one time one of those things “we had never done that way before.”

This looks good on paper. Every bit of it is easy to affirm in the abstract. It makes great sermon and Sunday school material. Living it is the hard part. The rubber meets the road when we begin changing the order of worship, adding elements from other cultures to the life and worship of the congregation, remembering yet letting go of some of those dearly beloved traditions to which we are so emotionally attached, and either giving up or adapting those beloved traditions and practices we brought with us from somewhere else, be it Nigeria, Cameroon, the Philippines, Canada, Korea, West Virginia, or another denomination. This is home. This is our church family. We’re here and not there, wherever there is: be it a dot on the map or a moment in time.

My dream for Grace Presbyterian Church isn’t original. It is a biblical vision, one that goes as far back as Abraham. From Genesis 12: “… in you all the families of earth will be blessed.” From Isaiah 2: “In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.” From Isaiah 56: “… for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all [people].” From Revelation 5: “… for you [the lamb] were slaughtered and by your blood you ransomed for God saints from every tribe and language and people and nation…”

Back to Acts 4: “Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul…” And finally, from Galatians 3 as paraphrased: “… for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer [African, African-American, Filipino, Hispanic, or Anglo], there is no longer [Cameroonian, Nigerian, Korean, Canadian, or American], there is no longer [black, brown, or white]; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” All of you. Each of you. Each of us.

And that’s only the beginning. For our Lord Jesus commissioned us thusly: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” It is to all nations that we are sent. And in the multi-cultural context of the Washington-Metro area, we don’t have to go all that far. People from everywhere live around here. People from every socio-economic group – people who speak different languages – people who are newly arrived and people who were born and raised here: they’re all around us in every shape, size, and color - old, young, single, married, divorced, liberal, and conservative. Some were raised in the church but have fallen away, and some have yet to hear a single word about the love of Jesus. That’s what you call a multi-cultural mission field.

And now I’m going to step on some toes, including my own. I have noticed that our African members are always inviting their friends, relatives, and neighbors. To the rest of us I can only say one thing: go thou and do likewise. But my dear African brothers and sisters, how often do you invite Asians, Hispanics, African-Americans, or us plain old white-bread Anglos? While you’re chewing on that, I’ll ask the rest of us of whatever heritage, how often do any of us invite anybody, and especially anybody who doesn’t look like us? Or sound like us? Or dress like us? Or disagrees with our politics or theology? And I’ll ask all of us – every person in this room, are we willing to invite those with physical and other disabilities, those who cannot speak English, those who cannot read and write in any language, or those folks who pass through our doors every year during Warm Nights week?

Until we’re willing to invite, accept, and include all those folks we will never be a truly multi-cultural congregation. Until we’re willing to make our worship services and every program we offer accessible to those folks out yonder, including those who don’t know the Apostles Creed from the Lord’s Prayer or the Christian Women’s Fellowship from Adam, we will not be a multi-cultural church. We will not be living out a biblical vision.

We will never be perfect. We will never reach everybody. Some folks might reject us because we’re not whatever enough to suit them. Being a multi-cultural congregation in the truest sense of the word is scary. It involves change, adaptation, and new ways of thinking. But then so does being any congregation of whatever culture that wants to be of one heart and soul. And it can only happen when everybody is willing to try as best they can to have among themselves the same mind as Christ Jesus. Amen.