Unity Sermon Part 3

Just as our relationship with God is restored, our relationship with one another is restored. The second type of unity resulting from the cross centers around who we are and impacts our relationships with each other: “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.”

There is a new show on MTV called “My Super Sweet 16.” I can’t watch it for very long because I get so upset. It makes me want to punch something, usually a person. So I have to turn it off to avoid committing assault. Let me tell you why I get so enraged. Basically, the show follows around rich spoiled kids in the weeks leading up to their 16th birthday and portrays all the drama that goes with their birthdays. All of these kids throw these huge parties, I mean bigger than most proms and many weddings. These parties are complete with formal outfits, nice clubs and food, and over the top entertainment. Now, that in and of itself is too much in my opinion. No 16-year-old needs a party that costs $40,000. It is beyond a waste of money and time.

But that is not what gets my blood boiling. This show clearly portrays for all to see what is wrong with our society. These stuck up teenagers begin classifying everyone else. They form their own caste system. They of course are at the top. Under them are their friends that of course get to come to the party. Under them are the ones “privileged” enough to receive an invitation. Under them are those that are on the border that have to do something good enough to make it in. And of course under them are the ones who have no hope of getting an invitation—the losers, the uncool, the freshmen. And these kids go around taunting this bottom level group as though they are not even worth being alive. Just talking about it right now is getting me upset. I want to go throttle these kids and yell, “Who do you think you are? What makes you so special? All you have is a rich daddy!”

But the cross teaches an entirely different message. The standards of who is in and who is out were thrown out the window. The message of the cross is the equality and unity of all people. There is no successful and unsuccessful, rich and poor, best and worst, good and bad, cool and geek, popular and unpopular, healthy and cripple, strong and weak. We are all on level footing. There is no more racism, sexism, chauvinism, bigotry, hatred or envy. It is a new reality that God has chosen to implement. That is the gospel message. It should be great news to us! Amen? You see when we take such a notion seriously, it is not just words—it is power.
But such a message grates against our concepts of competition and fairness. It inverts the pyramid of success. We think that the best are at the top and blessed by God. The sinners are worthless, and at the bottom. After all I have worked hard to get where I am at. I have been good for so long. How dare you compare me with him. How dare you lump me into the same category as her. That was sure how the people in Jesus time looked at it. Jesus’ message of equality and unity enraged the leaders.

But take another look at the cross, because the cross showed everything that was wrong with the world. The Romans were threatened that their power was being infringed upon. The Jewish leaders were frightened that their hold over the people was slipping. The Jewish people were afraid that this Jesus would enrage the Romans and cause the ruin of their comfortable way of life. So these forces got together and took it out on this simple man from Galilee who talked of liberation for the oppressed, freedom for the slaves, healing for the sick, equality for the poor, and forgiveness for the sinners. They could not stand around while this crazy prophet upset the careful balance that existed. How dare he put everyone on level footing. But the only way to stop such a message was to kill the messenger. Killing him would put a stop to all this foolishness. But it did not put a stop to the message. Instead of ending it, they only pushed it forward. They ended up accomplishing the very thing they were trying to stop. Because the message is too powerful to be quenched.

Jesus message rang through loud and clear:
“Blessed are the physically repulsive, those who smell bad, the twisted, misshapen, deformed, the too big, too little, too loud, the bald, the fat, and the old.
Blessed are the drop-outs, the burn outs, the broken, and the divorced.
Blessed are the overemployed, the underemployed, the unemployed, the unemployable, the swindled, the shoved aside, and the replaced.
Blessed are the lonely, the incompetent, and the stupid.
Blessed are the emotionally starved or emotionally dead.
Why are they blessed?—because they are all riotously celebrated in the party of Jesus.”

My favorite show on TV is “Lost.” It is basically the story of 40 or so people whose plane that was traveling from Sydney, Australia to Los Angeles has crashed on an island. They are the only survivors from around 150 or so people traveling. And this band of survivors must figure out what they are going to do. Their hope of survival is slim to none. And so they must decide how they are going to live. This past week had some unbelievable theological themes. But the most important one was this—though their circumstance were dire, though their situation was bleak, though they had lost all their possessions and everything they were familiar with, and though they seemed to have no hope, in the midst of all that, they had something that most of the world would never have. They had a fresh start. One of the characters said it plainly, "On this island, everone gets a new start." They could start over. No matter who they were in their previous life. No matter what role the world forced them to play. No matter what people told them that they could or could not do. No matter how many times they had been beaten down, ignored, or mocked. No matter what they had done in the past, they got a new chance to be the people they always wanted to be.

That is the definition and picture of redemption. And that is the picture of the cross. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross brought unity between us and God. Once sinners, we are saved. Once forced to compare ourselves with everyone else, we are equal. We are unified. Though we were once enemies with God and with one another, we are now friends. Unity comes from the salvation of the cross.
Take another look at the disciples. The disciples could not understand why they were suffering. This was not what they signed up for. This was not the way it was to work out. Jesus was supposed to be victorious, not end up dead. But once they could see past the failure, once they saw his victory over the powers, they saw the hope. They saw that the teachings of Christ were true, that the old way of doing things was done. That a new age was here. So they came together and lived out the message the Christ had given to them. They continued to live out the message that was such good news to the outcasts.

And their message is our message. Maybe you found yourself in one of those scenes I described at the beginning. Perhaps you have doubted your worth in life. After all, everywhere we look we are told that if we do not have a perfect figure to go with a perfect appearance, if we are not the best looking, if we are not the most successful, if we are not the smartest, than we are worthless. But God has spoken loudly and clearly on the cross: “Those things don’t matter. Those things don’t matter.” Accepting His forgiveness is what matters. Living the life of acceptance and unity is what matters. God is calling us today to be reconciled to Him and to one another. It’s a whole new ballgame. And if you have never really believed that God accepts you for who you are, it is time to give all of that over to Him. He wants to take it away, and make you a new person.