So here I am

by Brian Haymes

So here I am at Whaley Bridge Uniting Partnership, sharing its life and worship for three months while Michael our minister works away at his academic thesis. Mine is proving to be an interesting and happy experience, sharing worship, meeting new friends, seeing how another group of Christians “do Church”. I hope Michael is having a good time too.

The Church title interests me. It strikes me as a wise decision to be a uniting church rather than united. Uniting has a dynamic about it, a sense of journey, an adventure not yet complete, with always something more to hope for and embrace. Those claiming to be united already may, deep down, be a little unrealistic, suming agreements where issues are not really faced.

One obvious fact about the early followers of Jesus is what a motley group of people they were. They expressed a vivid diversity, something we have not always found able to enjoy in churches, local and national.

While it is true that many of Jesus’ followers were people of humble origins and means, there were also those of wealth and status, prominent leaders in their home communities. There were rich people who could support Jesus in his mission out of their resources as he moved among the economically poor. Socioeconomic factors and class distinctions, to use our language, are reflected among the first disciples.

There is clear evidence of gender diversity too. The signs are there reflecting the patriarchal society which was the context of Jesus’ mission but we notice how visible and active women were among Jesus’ associates. Women followed Jesus from the first and they are ones who are there standing vigil at the cross, noting the tomb, and the first to tell that it is empty and the Lord is risen.

We could go on, noting the variety of vulnerable people who came to Jesus, with various kinds of illness and impediments. There is ethnic diversity as well, Syrophoenicians, Samaritans, Romans and Greeks. Three Gentile star gazers who came to his birth might well have been Persians. And an African helped carry the cross.

What hope for any unity among such diversity? And we have not even touched yet on the political differences between Zealot freedom fighters and collaborative tax collectors! Who or what brought and held these people together?

I think that the crucial factor is the person of Jesus himself. These people had little in common except the inviting call of Jesus to share the adventure of living out the kingdom of God. Coming from different backgrounds, they had this in common, that Jesus had called them to be disciples.

They found themselves uniting in him and his ministry, his vision and love. He taught them to call God “Father” and to live as sister and brothers, relationships that went beyond the natural use of these words. A new community was coming into being centred on Jesus.

And following Jesus led to a unity of character, for people could not remain as they were as followers of Jesus. They learned to practice forgiveness, even enemy love, generosity and compassion. Their new perspective on life and its daily praxis, sharing the way of the rule of God, meant a growth and transformation of character, individually and corporately. Something was happening to them in following Jesus.
.
The Gospel writers record how they found this discipleship and growth at times demanding and unsettling. Why couldn’t they call down fire from heaven on their enemies? Why couldn’t they strike with the sword when threatened? Why not jockey for position and the best seats like other people? The answer was, because of Jesus. Following him was not an instant transformation so much as a lifelong journey of growth towards a unity and depth they hardly previously imagined was possible.

Following Jesus seriously, they discovered they were being united, drawn into new ways of relating, trusting, growing, loving. So the life of the first disciples involved diversity and uniting. In the gift and call of Jesus they came to the new possibilities of life in the kingdom of God, a uniting that in the end entails the whole of creation, the earth and all its people. In taking Jesus’ calling seriously, in faithful following and discipleship, enabled by the Spirit, they became a uniting church. For that we may all be very thankful.