The Journey 272: Church's fostering unity or division?
Read: Ephesians 4
A staff writer Diana Chandler of the Baptist Press, writes a wonderful story of how two clergies are working together in their neighborhood to bring about healing and change in the community. The incident revolves around two Baptist church in Louisiana and these church’s are situated just on the opposite side of the road and facing each other. The church’s involved are the Calvary Baptist Church and St. James Baptist Church. What is distinct about both these church’s is that the Calvary Baptist Church is a white southern Baptist church while the St. James Church is an African American church. Both church’s claim that they are the church that was founded in 1812 by Joseph Willis who was a former slave and has a Cherokee heritage. From Monday to Saturday, people don't mind mingling with each other in their small town in Louisiana and they all know each other, but come Sunday, they become totally separate as they come together for worship. The whites goes to the Calvary Church while the African American to the St. James. Thus Sunday becomes the day when the people who were together from Monday to Saturday, suddenly segregates themselves from each other. In the course of time and history both the congregations have created boundaries and walls in church and faith living. Reginald Arvie is the pastor of the St. James Church while Thomas Walker is the pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church and both of them are youngsters and are working together and taking certain steps, so that racial divide does not take place any more and there is healing and reconciliation among the members of the two parishes. This story may not be strange to the Marthoma community as many parishes in the Marthoma Church also experience the same type of hostility and racial divide. Sometimes it not just a racial divide that separates the members of two Marthoma parishes, but the hurt and anger that may have come because of certain administrative and bureaucratic issues that caused the divide of the former parish into two. Sometimes what is sad is not only the hostility and the coldness among the parishioners but the also the stand taken by fellow clergies who also for the sake of their own security, sometimes forgets to build the bridge among the members and to build a common witness of the parishes in the community. This is what is the need of the hour. The common witness of the people and the clergy together. How could we do that?
We are meditating on the theme “ Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Ephesians 4. Paul makes a wonderful exhortation on the unity that the Holy Spirit does not only in the lives of believers but also in the community of believers the Church. Paul emphasizes that each of us have been called by God and this calling is distinct to each one of us with respect to the type of ministry that God calls us to do in His Kingdom [ Eph 4: 1,2]. Hence we need to affirm not only our calling but also the distinctness of gifts and the ministry that God gives to each one of us. Once we affirm our calling and our distinct ministry, Paul states that we are to preserve the unity of the Spirit, through the bond of peace. This is the ultimate objective of the believers and the church– to affirm that Holy Spirit brings unity and that unity is done by the bond of peace established among the believers. But the foundation of this unity is because “Church” is one– or the body of Christ cannot be divided and it this foundation concept in our faith and in our church living and witness that should help us to consciously work together to work for the unity among the believers and the church. Unless the believers and the leaders who lead the community of believers do not affirm these principles that the Word of God teaches us, there will be more and more of divide and hostility among the members creating more and more boundaries and walls among each other. What is tragic about all these is that we fall down in the eyes of the community with respect to our common witness about the saving, redemptive action of our Lord.
Rev. Dr. Joe Joseph Kuruvilla
A staff writer Diana Chandler of the Baptist Press, writes a wonderful story of how two clergies are working together in their neighborhood to bring about healing and change in the community. The incident revolves around two Baptist church in Louisiana and these church’s are situated just on the opposite side of the road and facing each other. The church’s involved are the Calvary Baptist Church and St. James Baptist Church. What is distinct about both these church’s is that the Calvary Baptist Church is a white southern Baptist church while the St. James Church is an African American church. Both church’s claim that they are the church that was founded in 1812 by Joseph Willis who was a former slave and has a Cherokee heritage. From Monday to Saturday, people don't mind mingling with each other in their small town in Louisiana and they all know each other, but come Sunday, they become totally separate as they come together for worship. The whites goes to the Calvary Church while the African American to the St. James. Thus Sunday becomes the day when the people who were together from Monday to Saturday, suddenly segregates themselves from each other. In the course of time and history both the congregations have created boundaries and walls in church and faith living. Reginald Arvie is the pastor of the St. James Church while Thomas Walker is the pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church and both of them are youngsters and are working together and taking certain steps, so that racial divide does not take place any more and there is healing and reconciliation among the members of the two parishes. This story may not be strange to the Marthoma community as many parishes in the Marthoma Church also experience the same type of hostility and racial divide. Sometimes it not just a racial divide that separates the members of two Marthoma parishes, but the hurt and anger that may have come because of certain administrative and bureaucratic issues that caused the divide of the former parish into two. Sometimes what is sad is not only the hostility and the coldness among the parishioners but the also the stand taken by fellow clergies who also for the sake of their own security, sometimes forgets to build the bridge among the members and to build a common witness of the parishes in the community. This is what is the need of the hour. The common witness of the people and the clergy together. How could we do that?
We are meditating on the theme “ Transformed Living” and the portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Ephesians 4. Paul makes a wonderful exhortation on the unity that the Holy Spirit does not only in the lives of believers but also in the community of believers the Church. Paul emphasizes that each of us have been called by God and this calling is distinct to each one of us with respect to the type of ministry that God calls us to do in His Kingdom [ Eph 4: 1,2]. Hence we need to affirm not only our calling but also the distinctness of gifts and the ministry that God gives to each one of us. Once we affirm our calling and our distinct ministry, Paul states that we are to preserve the unity of the Spirit, through the bond of peace. This is the ultimate objective of the believers and the church– to affirm that Holy Spirit brings unity and that unity is done by the bond of peace established among the believers. But the foundation of this unity is because “Church” is one– or the body of Christ cannot be divided and it this foundation concept in our faith and in our church living and witness that should help us to consciously work together to work for the unity among the believers and the church. Unless the believers and the leaders who lead the community of believers do not affirm these principles that the Word of God teaches us, there will be more and more of divide and hostility among the members creating more and more boundaries and walls among each other. What is tragic about all these is that we fall down in the eyes of the community with respect to our common witness about the saving, redemptive action of our Lord.
Rev. Dr. Joe Joseph Kuruvilla