Unity.
That’s what our passages from John
have been pointing us toward
the last few weeks.
Jesus’ unity with the Father
and how those who love Jesus
and those who keep his commandments
are united with Jesus
who is united with the Father.
The way the world
will know that Jesus’ followers
are his followers
will be the one they have for one another.
We’ve been hearing
from Jesus’ farewell discourse
the last few weeks.
I have to admit
that I find it somewhat tedious
especially preparing notes
for Bible study.
You cannot imagine
how much time is devoted
in a gold standard commentary on John
to Greek verb tenses
and how they are parallel or different
as the editors of John’s gospel
rephrase material from an earlier chapter
or even three verses before.
Jesus has been preparing the disciples
for his death.
The lectionary has been preparing the church
for how to live in a world
where Jesus has ascended.
These are followers of Jesus
being prepared for and living in
a world where Jesus
doesn’t walk alongside them
or call them ashore
to eat fish he’s grilled for them.
In the idea of Church —
united to God through the Spirit
who comforts and assists us
and joined to Jesus and one another
through baptism where we die with him
and are raised to new life
and made one with God
through our connection with Jesus —
is a strong idea of unity.
It’s also shows us in stark contrast
how far from God’s hopes we are
as we look around the world today.
We’re a little more Babel,
not being able to understand one another
and talking past one another
sometimes even when we’re trying to be on the same page!
This morning Christopher Mims,
a tech columnist for the Wall Street Journal
skeeted,
“What’s happening in LA is a good reminder
of how ever more fragmented
our information landscape has become
On Bluesky it’s almost entirely about executive overreach;
on X it’s ‘LA is burning; deport them all.’”
I know I’m probably the most active
on the microblogging sites,
but Twitter’s fall
is somewhat analogous
of languages splitting
in our Genesis text.
From one language on Twitter
to X, Bluesky, Truth, Mastodon, Threads,
and more.
As we, St. Hilda St. Patrick
move forward in our next steps
about the long-term future of the congregation
there is diversity of opinion
about what growth looks like,
how we should try to do it
and how we set goals and benchmarks
about what we’re trying to achieve.
Diversity is a gift,
and is not the same as disunity by any means
In the confusion of languages in the First Century
and in the confusion of news narratives,
or what Mims called in a follow-up skeet,
“Non overlapping realities,”
Jesus comes into time
and talks about unity.
Unity through love of him,
unity through following his commandments,
unity with the Father through him,
and unity in the Spirit
who continues to teach us
even after Jesus’ departure.
What we hear in Acts today
is an antidote
to the pridefulness in the Genesis myth
explaining where different languages come from.
Jesus has told the disciples,
“Peace I leave with you;
my peace I give to you.
I do not give to you as the world gives.
Do not let your hearts be troubled,
and do not let them be afraid.”
The peace that Jesus gives
is nothing less than salvation,
the full restoration to full health
of heart, mind, body, soul, spirit, and relationships.
Raymond Brown minces no words when he says,
“The peace of which Jesus speaks
has nothing to do
with the absence of warfare,
nor with an end to psychological tension,
nor with a sentimental feeling of well-being.”
The peace that Jesus gives
is a path toward unity,
a path of loving one another
and loving God.
Ten days after the ascension,
and fifty after the resurrection,
the disciples are gathered together in one place.
“And suddenly from heaven
there came a sound
like the rush of a violent wind,
and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
Divided tongues,
as of fire,
appeared among them,
and a tongue 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 ability.”
This is the inversion of Babel,
where those who’d never minored
in another language
were able to speak
to faithful Jews coming to Jerusalem
about Jesus the crucified
and resurrected Christ.
The pilgrims actually dunk on the disciples
wondering how dummies from Galilee
can suddenly talk this way.
Peter keeps preaching
after what we’ve heard today
and about three thousand people
are baptized
and added to the community of Jesus followers
in one day.
As we’ve heard in the Farewell Discourse
the last few weeks,
God calls us to unity
as the church fulfills its mission
to restore all people to unity
with God and one another
in Jesus Christ.
Our work of unity
is being here together as one
and ever-accepting the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit
gave the apostles the gift
to preach the good news
especially by using words
in languages that they didn’t already know.
The Holy Spirit is with us now
as we are called to unity
in living together for the long-term future
of St. Hilda St. Patrick.
The Holy Spirit has been working
as we work toward solidarity
with our immigrant neighbors
who are living in fear
and being terrorized.
I think the Holy Spirit is showing us —
in the demonstrations in Paramount
and all over LA County —
what solidarity may have to look like.
“The Advocate, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you everything,
and remind you
of all that I have said to you.
Peace I leave with you;
my peace I give to you.
I do not give to you as the world gives.
Do not let your hearts be troubled,
and do not let them be afraid.”
Amen.