-SESTANDING FAST IN LOVE AMD Joy BETHANY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
JOHN 17:20-26 LAFAYETTE, INDIAHWA
MAY 26, 1974 JOHN M. BUCHANAN

Behavior communicates. Actions speak louder than words. Ideas become
contagious when we see them expressed in the lives of people. Jesus prayed
that his disciples might be one ~ not for their own spiritual gratification
but so that people would see their oneness and be stimulated to believe the
Gospel.

In my file of resources is an article from an old edition of Presbyterian
Life which describes an experience with the contagious experience of love

ob served in real life:

"It was a slushy, cold, wintry day, and on my way home I
hurried to the store to pick up a laaf of bread. People looked
tired. Irritable. Men on errands similar to mine trudged
wearily. Then I noticed a mother and her child skipping
and singing down the street. You seldom see mothers on the
street with smal? children just before dinner, and if you do
they're not skipping and singing, but yanking and fussing.
But here the pair were, enjoying their dance and life. I
smiled, entered the store, picked up my bread and pondered
a moment. Then I raced to the bakery counter for some
chocolate eclairs. Back on the street I saw the young
family again, now joined by the person they had been on
their way to meet - the husband and father. And the three
of them delighted in each other; they were merrily chatting,
laughing and holding hands. He was the only man around who
looked happy. (you might think that's because he was the
only man met by his wife. But I've seen lots of men met by
their wives and those men haven't Tooked very happy.) The
meaning of that family's joy was deeper than that. They had

learned how to be glad for one another. I thanked God for

* USTANDING FAST IN LOVE AND JOY -2- a | MAY 26, 1974
this beauty and, hurrying home, prayed that I might show

some of it to my wife and son. That day I had found life

and the grace of God. in three people I had never seen before

(or since, although I looked for them}, and I'd found it

Simply because they were standing fast in their Tove and joy.(P.L.@/ 70)

Has anything like that ever happened to you? My definition of freedom
is not found in a scholarly tome - but in a moment of puré:. magic when I
happen to see my young son swinging alone. The best definition of joy I
have is not philosophical -but that magic moment when school lets out |
acorss the street and little people start racing up the sidewalk toward home.
The soundest experience of human brotherhood I perceive is similarly those
magic moments when I can observe a white child and a black child playing
together without any self consciousness at all.

Ideas become contagious when we see them expressed in the lives. of
people. Something deeply compelling is communicated when people are free
enough te express their love for each other. It is a Tesson Jesus wanted
nis disciples to learn. As they confronted the task of communicating a
new idea to a pagan world, thier best resource, their most effective tool,
was simply their love for each other. a | .

The New Testament Lesson this morning was taken from the 17th Chapter
of the Gospel according to John. It was the final portion of what is called
the “High Priestly Prayer" of Jesus. It takes place just prior to his
arrest and betrayal. The prayer is a remarkable and much-studied document.
In it Jesus prays for himself, for his disciples, and then, for all "those
who believe in me because of their (the Disciptes' } message, Listen to a
part of that prayer again. Jesus was praying for the Church down through the
ages. He was, if you will, praying “for ya and me,

"Tt do not bray for them onty, but also for those who believe in the
because of their message. I pray that they may aly be one. O Father! May

they be one in us... . fay they be one, so tnat the world will believe that

NS TAUNTNG FAST TH LOVE AND JOY -3- | MAY 26, 1974

you sent me....f in them, and you in me, so they may be completely one, in
order that the world may know that you sent me and that you love them as you
love me."

It's very clear. The will of Christ himself for his Church was a unity
SO conspicuous that others, seeing it, would know the very reality of God,
the power of his love and the truth of the Gospel. How noble that sounds!
And how badly we fail,

What does the world see when it looks at the Church? Is there an
observable unity and love av joy that communicates to others that the Church
has hold of something very special? Sometimes, perhaps. But not often, I
fear.

Iwas interested to read about a strange thing that happened on the
Tirst Memorial Day. “Some Washington Church women had asked permission of
the War Department to put flowers on the soldier's graves at Arlington
Cemetary. The permissiun was granted and fay 30 was designated as the day,
but a stern order ws attached.Iio flowers were to be put on the 300 graves of
the Confederate soldicrs who were buried in a separate section. The ladies
obediently decorated the other graves and left the Confederate headstones
bere. General James A. Garfield made the speech. Then, when the crowd had
left a high wind rose. It biew almost all the Flowers from the Union graves
into the Confederate section. It was almost as if God had spoken. (From
“Hate, the Pernicfous Enemy", George Sweazey, Models 26,iay 1974)

Langdon Gilkey, a theologian at the University of Chicago spent World
War IIT in a Japanese concentration camp. Most of the prisoners were Chris-
tian missionaries, Christian business men and wives, teachers and British
officials. Time and time again the group was unab le to solve the problems
of equitably dividing the available space - or distributing Red Cross parcels
among themselves. That is, the idea of Christian love - sharing, sacrificing
didn't amount to very much.- to the great pleasure of the Japanese captors.

In fact, it Seems sometimes that Christian people who can be and are

"STANDING FAST TH LOVE AND Joy ~4~ MAY 26, 1974
generous, loving and caring in relationship to outsiders, fail to extend
even minimal consideration to each other. That idea is included in a
delightful Phylis licGinley poem entitled "How to Start a War". During the
Reformation there was a split over the practice of Baptism: a man by the
name of Zwinglti favored sprinkling; another leader by the name of Huntzer
held out for total immersion.

Said Zwingli to Muntzer,

"I't] have to be biunt, sir.

[I don't like your version

Gf Total Immerston.

And since God‘s on my side

And I'm on the dry side,

You'd better swing ovah

to me and Jehovah. *

Cried Muntzer, “It's schism,

Is Infant Baptism!

‘Since I've had a sign, sir,

That God's will is mine, sjr,

Let all men agree

With Jehovah and me, -

Or go to Hell, singly,"
Said Muntzer to Swinglty,

And each drew his sword
On the side of the Lord.

Hore immediately, I was involved some time aga ina negotiating
process the goal of which was to gat two Presbyterian congregations to merge.
Tt wis a logical goal: neithter was strong enough to go it alone: four miles
Separated them and many people drove by the other Church each Sunday morning.

The project failed. I discovered later that hostility between the two groups

“STANDING FAST FOR LOVE AND JOY ~5~ AY 26, 1974
stemmed from an incident involving the call of a minister. It seems that the
two had gotten together one time before and agreed to share one minister.
But at the last minute one of the congregations came up with the money and
extended the call on its own. There were plenty of bad feelings. When I
asked the gentleman who was telling this story when this had happened, he
told me he wasn't sure, but it was around 1930.

That's not a very pretty portrait for the world to sea. And if our
Tove for’ each other in the Church, our unity -is as important as Jesus
apparently felt it was. we ought, really, to be doing some soul searching.

The church as an institution is in a valley today. Statistics are
down acrass the nation,and in most denominations. There are plenty of
reasons: among them the continuing division between the pietists and the
social activists. 8 ut I continue to maintain that the Church's major
problem is not political or social, but the very simple matter that the

and unity in our sanctuaries. I have an idea
wortd isn't seeing much conspicuous love and joy/that Jesus knew exactly
what he was talking about when he tied the oneness of his disciples to their
ability to communicate the Gospel to the rest of the world.

The problem comes to focus in the local congregation: right here, if
you will. Unlike our predecessors in the faith, we do not live together in
a well-defined parish. Unlike them, we don’t need the church as our only
social outlet. Unlike them, belonging to the Church fr us can be entirely
impersonal. If we chose to have it that wey we can belong to the Church and
never get closer than an informal and occassional handshake.

Lioyd Olgivie. pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Hollywood once
put it this way:

"On an airliner recently, the stewardess, in explaining the oxygen
equipment said, ‘In case af an ewergency, your mask will fall into place.*®
How like the Church! We have masks for each circumstance. Our endiess
meetings and ecclessiastical administrivia leave little time or opportunity

for us to be known and understood as people. The good news we need to share

STANDING FAST Ti! LOVE Aud JOY ~6- MAY 26, 1974
with the world is not oniy wet God has done, but what he is doing with the
raw material of our prob tems and potentials in relationship with ourselves,
others, and the worid.”

That's terribly true. The Church can be impersonal as a result of its
own institutional structures. It's possible to belong and remain a stranger.
But, tn candor, Jet's add to that our penchant for impersonality. We don't
want to get personal with other peonie. it's embarrassing, and inconvenient
and who knows,if we ever broke threugh the barriers or got beneath the masks
we migat Find that a stranger needed somathing from us. It's easier to keep
at arm's length, to exchange pleasantries over ceffee and Tet it go at that.
Closeness is too sticky and risky.

Robert Rains comments: "We belong to Christ y¥ belonging to each other..

We have no choice in the matter. Some of our brothers we may Tike; others
we may distike. But they belong to us and we belong ta them in either case.
Because we are involved with him,we are involved/then. And the reverse is
also true; through them we move closer to Him....we might wish to avoid this
horizontal belonging and cling omly to Him. But we cannot do so. We belong
to Christ only by belonging to each other." (Reshapiag the Christian Life.
Page 17 )

"Father...may they be completely one, inorder that tne worid may know
that you sent me and that you love them as you love me.”

Have you ever been aware of that someone is praying for you ~- personally?
I shared with an adult class last week that I find that to te one of the
richest Christian. experiences. It's embarrassing because we're not
accustomed to getting that close. The Session of this Churen takes time out
of evry meeting to pray for those members wha are sick, and Sunday after
Sunday you ars asked to pray for each other. I think that's important -

I think it is essential for us to struggle to maintain an element of the
personal in our congregational life. I think the minute we forget that we

lose whatever it is have to offer to the wortd. For we are called to stand

_ STANDING FAST FOR LOVE AND voy w Pe MAY BB, 1974
fast in Love and Joy,

In Jesus Christ God chose to come among us in a way that is personal.
That man told about a God wilo cared about human life, not in the abstract,
but the indiv idual lives of men, women and children. In Christ God has
met us where we are and he calls us to meet each other, in love and joy and
unity.

There is power in that - power to change lives - power to communicate
something about the very nature of God to a world that will listen when our
words are confirmed by our actions.

We are "One in the Spirit" and "they will - or will not - know we are

Christians by our love." AMEN

FATHER, forgive us for our failures in Jove. And grant us to see each other
in the light of your Tove. Gite us grace to care, and the courage to express

it: through Jesus Christ our Lord. AHEN