Becoming One in Christ

Tell me I’m not the only one this happens to: here I am, stirring soup in a rare spasm of domesticity, when suddenly this phrase leaps up out of nowhere and sets up shop in heart and brain. It seizes me by the shirt-front. I have to go sit down (being careful to turn down the burner under the soup, of course) and breathe. This phrase follows me around, it lies down and rises with me. It fits itself into the music on my car radio. It’s woven into my mail (e- or otherwise), it rises up in the open conversation at diocesan meetings, I hear it when I talk on the phone.

It sparkles brightly as I make, just last week, another visit to St. Paul’s at Ground Zero – one of our Episcopal churches! - and look over the messages displayed on every available square inch of wall space; noticing, with a smile, that George Washington’s pew is now the volunteer podiatrist’s office (How beautiful are the feet of those who bring Good News…).

I try this phrase out on a number of diocesan folk: "Is this what’s happening to us?" Their responses, patient and kindly, could be summarized as "Well, DUH…isn’t this what we’ve been saying… struggling with…praying for?"

So…let me offer you this phrase: Becoming One in Christ. I am persuaded that this is God’s Word to us. I believe that this is our vocation, our calling, as members of the Body of Christ here in our patch of the Vineyard. Let us never forget that Jesus himself prayed about this on the night before he was crucified:

Becoming One in Christ: Early on Christmas Eve I am at St. Elizabeth’s in the distressed Bayside area of Portland. We are one in Christ as we break bread, people from every imaginable circumstance. Calling up rusty memory from prior days, I celebrate the Eucharist in Spanish. As I do so, I am aware that these worshippers gather because many, many people in our diocesan community have been generous in support of St. Elizabeth's, including congregations which have hardly a dime to spare.

St. Elizabeth’s is only one example (there are so many more, I could go on for pages) of congregations reaching out to help each other in shared mission and ministry. There are also blossoming partnerships in worship, youth work, community service and Christian Formation. New Life is emerging, and God’s Abundance meets us at every turn. The Spirit is at work quietly, persistently, and the evidence is all around us.

One of the ways we know that Becoming One in Christ is happening is by the very tensions we are feeling. Yes, conversion always brings not only surprising grace and joy, but also temptation. When we become one in Christ, we really listen to each other…and sometimes are unsettled by what we hear. We see each other more clearly; both our beauty and our blemishes are more apparent.

The temptation is always to retreat back into the illusion of separation, of us-and- them, slinking away from the tough Gospel work of Reconciliation. This pattern is no surprise to followers of Jesus! It was right after the glory of his Baptism that the temptations came a-calling. He resisted them. They did NOT overtake him. When we are faithful as Christ’s Body, that victory is our victory too.

Living in this victory, Christ’s inexpressible gift to us, we are indeed Becoming One in Christ. As grace draws us forward on this path, temptations will whisper from the sidelines. Let’s speak firmly to them, and keep moving on the path of Reconciliation, the path of trusting God and each other. It’s a more beautiful path than any other could ever be…it is Abundant with joy and hope. In thanksgiving for the Companion who is Our Way, our Truth and our Life, let’s join hands and travel on.

With my love in Christ,