Sermons

"United We Stand"

Delivered from the Pulpit of First Congregational Church

of Anchorage by The Reverend Mark E. Long

on October 11, 2009

Lections:  2 Ch. 30.1-5, 10-12

                  Eph. 4.1-6, 15-16

                 Mk. 3.31-35

"United We Stand" - the Brotherhood of Man sings a song of the same name in the early 70's which seeps into the consciousness of many of us Baby Boomers and gets stuck there.  "United we stand, divided we fall, and if we ever find ourselves with our backs up against the wall; we will be together, together, you and I."

As with many things of the time, however, the opening phrase is derivative, this time of an Aesop fable.  Between Aesop and the Brotherhood of Man, Patrick Henry used its inspiration in his final public speech.  "United we stand, divided we fall."

The Gospel of Mark evokes something similar in framing Jesus' criticism of those who question the source of his ability to send demons packing.  As Mark put it, kingdoms or houses divided tend to fall.

Besides the logic of this, there is historical evidence, at least as best we can tell that this is true.  The United Kingdom of Israel under King David was a force in the ancient world, but after David's death the Lord's people just couldn't hang together under his son's rule, and they paid for it.

The divided people of God were first targets of each other and then the Assyrian army.  Israel, the northern tribes, win the war of the divided people and plan on taking their kin of the south as slaves and the wealth as their own until a prophet screams how much trouble this will bring them.  They allow the captives to return to Judah but this late show of obedience to God isn't enough to impress God.  Not much was left behind by the powerful Assyrian army; just a dispirited remnant of a formerly proud people who thought the Lord's favor would spare them defeat.

Meanwhile the southern tribes' behavior, in Judah, is setting them up for a fall as well.  But Hezekiah comes on the scene as the King of Judah, he understands the weakness that comes from division and sets the difficult and lengthy course of bringing together the divided people of God.

It is difficult and lengthy because there is still "bad blood" in the family.  The   people of Israel and Judah are distrustful of each other and in no way living in a way that indicates that they are family.  But Hezekiah recognizes that "united [they] stand, and divided [they] fall."  United they withstand the bad intentions of their neighbors but divided they become easy prey.

So Hezekiah calls the people of Israel and Judah to come together at Jerusalem for Passover, the symbol of their unity as God's people, for the first time in a very, very long time.  It is the beginning of their coming together again as one people, led by one God.

Hezekiah's call to the people to remember their covenant with God resonates with me as I stand before more of God's people once united but now at serious risk of division.  We should listen carefully to the history of a people from which our faith begins.  We ignore the lessons of our Bible stories at significant risk.  Ancient people of myth or history are no different than people of today, which is why these stories have something to teach us.  They point us to our story and offer insight on how to draw healthful outcomes out of our human clumsiness.

We mean well; we all intend to be faithful people or we wouldn't spend our time in this place on a morning when we could be sleeping or watching football.  We strive mightily to live well into faith but our zeal may not accomplish our purpose and instead we find ourselves in a dangerous place drawing on actions that will ensure our demise.

An Indian children's story makes my point.  There is a flock of doves flying in search of food.  One day after a long distance, the flock is very tired and hungry.  Scouts are sent ahead by the king dove to find food; one returns to lead them into a field where rice is scattered beneath a banyan grove.  The flock lands and they begin to eat.

Suddenly a net falls over them; they are trapped.  A hunter approaches with a large club.  The doves panic and flap their wings wildly in efforts to get free of the net, as individuals and in small clusters the doves try, in vain, to get the net off of them.  Then the king gets an idea.  He tells the flock to flap their wings at the same time, not wildly but together.

Some of the doves don't listen and keep flailing about on their own, others try to move in unison but the net doesn't budge.  As the hunter gets closer, desperation grows and the last of the doves begin to move their wings up and down, moving as one, with the others.  It is then it happens.  The hunter can only watch helplessly as the doves lift off the ground taking the net with them.  They fly away with the net still over them; they are beyond the hunter but still caught up in a net that limits them.

The king seeing that the net limits their freedom leads them to a field where his mouse friend lives.  The king asks the mouse to gnaw a hole in the net which frees the flock.  They thank the mouse and once again fly off to new places and new adventures together.

This "happy ending" story is rich in "hallmark card" type lessons.  Places you think are safe to land may not be.  Never panic or overreact under duress, bad things happen in that state of mind.  Going it alone is not as good an idea as moving in rhythm with others; we accomplish things together that otherwise are not possible.  Short term solutions do not always solve our problem; we may patch a problem (another word for this is "papering over") rather than fixing it.  Finally, we need all of our friends to truly be and do what it is our deepest nature to be and do.  It is another way of saying, "united we stand, divided we fall."

What I notice about these lessons is that each of them in some way depends on this last one.  We need our friends - all of them.  Hillary Clinton said a few years ago; "it takes a village."  If she means everyone in the village then I agree.  This is particularly so in the "village" that is a church.

If you believe in the leading of Spirit in forming the Church, as I do, then you know that you are not here by accident.  It took every one of those doves acting together to get the flock off of the ground, and it takes every one of you to lift this Church toward its horizon.  Each of you is more than important; you are indispensable to the well being of the flock.  It is true that we need help from our friends on the outside, ecumenical cooperation aids us in our journey as a church, but it all begins with the friends that share our circumstances if not our perspective.

Paul believes this so strongly that he "begs" the people of Ephesus to "lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."  Every effort must be made to preserve the unity of the Spirit - not some, a good try, but every effort.

He goes on to tell why, as he does in letters to the churches at Rome and Corinth.  The local church is not a collection of independent bodies or even related bodies, but one body.  The local Church is not the possession of any one or part of the whole; no matter how long or short a time here, or what has been given to this point.  It is a new creation to which we are all called together to form its essential parts.  The local Church is Christ and Christ alone and, ironically enough, it takes all of us, every last member of the flock, that it may be so.

"United we stand, divided we fall."  There is a reason.

This is how I see it as I call us to celebrate together the act that delivers us from division into unity of being and purpose.  Amen.