2 Chronicles 5:13-14
"The trumpeters and musicians played in union, praising and giving thanks to the Lord. They praised the Lord loudly and sang, “He is good, and his gracious love is eternal,” accompanied by the trumpets, cymbals, and other musical instruments.) As they did this, a cloud filled the Temple, that is, the Lord’s Temple, and the priests were unable to complete their duties because of the cloud, since the glory of the Lord had filled God’s Temple."
Acts 2:1-4
"When the day of Pentecost was being celebrated, all of them were together in one place. Suddenly, a sound like the roar of a mighty windstorm came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated, and one rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit gave them that ability."
Unity is something God responds to so powerfully. Lately, I have been inundated with this idea of unity and what God does when we come to Him in that way. It's something we talk about often in church circles and at a base level desire, but don't always achieve.
What does it take to be unified? Is it about us and our actions? Is it about something God does? I think this is another wonderful example of YES to both! Gods Holy Spirit ultimately is who brings unity as we see here:
1 Corinthians 12:13
"For by one Spirit all of us—Jews and Greeks, slaves and free—were baptized into one body and were all privileged to drink from one Spirit."
If we are to be unified, we all first start with this beautiful realization that it doesn't start with us. Unity first comes by way of what God did through Jesus and is worked out by the Spirit within the Body of believers. How wonderful it would be if we started every gathering with some recognition of that work. Before we sing, teach, give testimony, or any other action. We would give recognition to the living God as a congregation for this wonderful work He has done in this world.
Maybe that was the attempt of the ancient church in their liturgical rituals and doxologies that over time lost its meaning and became action without understanding. As a modern church without an educated view of History, we just threw it aside because we have lost the awe of what was being proclaimed for an interaction of little recognition for what the Gospels means in the grand sense of Missio Dei or this God in mission to save a lost creation. I'm not writing this as a condemnation of how we do church, but a strong belief that what church is can be so much more.
So unity is something that first starts with the work of the Holy Spirit, but this doesn't leave us off the hook. We also carry a responsibility in seeing a unified body of believers!
Psalm 133
"Look how good and how pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! It is like precious oil on the head, descending to the beard— even to Aaron’s beard— and flowing down to the edge of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon falling on Zion’s mountains. For there the Lord commanded his blessing — life everlasting."
Ephesians 4:1-3
"I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, urge you to live in a way that is worthy of the calling to which you have been called, demonstrating all expressions of humility, gentleness, and patience, accepting one another in love. Do your best to maintain the unity of the Spirit by means of the bond of peace."
Philippians 2:1-5
"Therefore, if there is any encouragement in the Messiah, if there is any comfort of love, if there is any fellowship in the Spirit, if there is any compassion and sympathy, then fill me with joy by having the same attitude, sharing the same love, being united in spirit, and keeping one purpose in mind. Do not act out of selfish ambition or conceit, but with humility think of others as being better than yourselves. Do not be concerned about your own interests, but also be concerned about the interests of others. Have the same attitude among yourselves that was also in the Messiah Jesus."
Colossians 3:12-14
"Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Be tolerant of one another and forgive each other if anyone has a complaint against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, you also should forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which ties everything together in unity."
Over and over again, Paul reminds those of ancient times and us today that we are an active chooser in if we will live together in the unity of the Spirit at work in us. Some words he uses are humility, gentleness, patience, acceptance, love, peace, compassion, sympathy, joy, kindness, meekness, tolerance, and forgiveness.
Do we actively choose these actions when we gather? Sometimes, but how wonderful to see all these working in concert together in the gathering of believers. We have been given such an amazing task to encourage one another in unity with His Spirit as the bonding agent. That excites me to just think about it!
Be an encourager, a lover, and humble servant to others this Sunday as you gather for the purpose of Worshiping God in unity and see the Glory of God come!
Amen :-)
- Posted in the moment
No comments:
Post a Comment