E Pluribus Unum — August 4, 2024
August 4, 2024
Ephesians 4:1-6
E Pluribus Unum
Dr. Craig Goff
I know the concert series is over, but I’ve asked Dann to stay at the piano and help me with the beginning of my sermon. Many of us, maybe even most of us, have had some level of instruction on the piano. We may be able to find middle “C”; play some simple scales, or a few chords. Dann, of course knows all those things and a whole lot more; so what I’m asking him to do is super, super easy.
He will play the first key on the left side of the piano, and then the last key on the right side of the piano.
Notice those two keys do not sound the same at all — one is very low and one is very high.
The standard piano has 88 keys we have just heard the lowest and the highest of all of the keys.
Now let’s hear something in between those two keys….
A lot of keys, but how many pianos? Many keys, a lot of notes, but one piano. Well in our text today you might’ve noticed that the word “one” shows up a lot:
One body, one Spirit one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father.
There are 47,000 Christian denominations in the world at present, but one faith.
Sort of like 88 keys, but one piano. It is actually a good thing that all of those keys are not the same.
One of the things I learned in studying church history is that every church started for a good reason. Churches are born out of a concern that something is being neglected or overlooked. I’ve also discovered we can learn a lot by studying other churches, the many churches that make up one faith.
One of the ways we talk about many parts forming one entity is union, or unity, which is the focus of our text today from Ephesians chapter 4.
Unity is an important concept, even in the political world.
Unity is certainly an important concept for us as a nation.
It is the very motto of our country. You find it on our coins. You find it on our bills —
“E Pluribus Unum,” which means, “out of many, one.”
The concept of unity is found in our constitution. It begins with the words, “… In order to form a more perfect union.”
Granted, the image of that kind of unity might sound like a pipe dream these days, but that doesn’t mean it is not important. It is important for a nation, and, at least according to the apostle Paul, and Jesus in his prayer in the gospel of John for all believers to be one, it is important for the church.
So how do we move towards forming a greater unity in the church?
There is a little word in our text today that in the Greek language is made up of just three letters, but is essential to the meaning of this text. It is often translated as “therefore” or “then” in English.
It connects what Paul is about to say in what is now known as Ephesians chapter four with what he has already said in chapter three.
In chapter three Paul has told us who Jesus is and what Jesus has done.
Let’s look at verse 3:8-11
In chapter three we see that in Christ, our relationship with God has been restored. In chapter four we are called to live in unity because of Jesus and because of what God has done for us in Christ.
So how do we form a more perfect union?
— by recognizing and establishing that our union is in Christ, not in our denominational loyalty, not in interpreting the Bible in exactly the same way, and not in looking and sounding and dressing the same.
One of my favorite pastors and authors is John Ortberg. He was once the associate pastor of Willow Creek in Chicago, but most recently has been a pastor at a church in Menlo Park, California. We have used Ortberg‘s resources in Sunday school and other classes. He’s a great author and speaker.
I once heard Ortberg say that one of the ways you can know what is most important to you and what you most love is how you respond when it is threatened. I think that might be a key to understanding this text and this call to unity.
Ortberg is not a car guy, but there are a lot of car people out in California. John at the time he was driving a Toyota Corolla that was a few years old. It had a few scratches and dings here and there and a whole lot of miles on it.
One day he was backing out of a parking space. It is one of life’s little ironies that parking spaces seem to keep getting more narrow, but cars are wider and wider. As Ortberg was backing out of a narrow parking space, he heard a sound, sort of a metal on metal sound. He got out to look at the car next to him. He realized he had made contact with that car. It left a scratch. It wasn’t a dent. It wasn’t a ding, just a scratch, almost decorative. It was definitely a scratch so he left his contact information on the car he had bumped into. Unfortunately, the car he hit was not an old beat up Corolla like he was driving. It was made by an Italian manufacturer that rhymes with “terrari.”
The man who owned this bright red Ferrari called him the next day and said, “thank you for contacting me. I just need you to know that car means everything to me. It has to be perfect. I will take it in to the dealer tomorrow and see if they can repair it or buff it out.” Ortberg said, “That is fine. I completely understand. I will take care of it.”
The next day he got another phone call from the owner of the car. He said, I just heard from the dealer, they could not buff it out or repair it. The entire rear quarter panel has to be replaced.” He said, “fine. I understand.”
He called him the next day. He said,” I just heard from the dealer again. There are no rear quarter panels that will fit that car in all of America. It has to be shipped over from Italy.” Ortberg said, “That is fine. I understand I will take care of it. Thank you for letting me know.”
The next day the man called him back and said, “I just need you to know that this damage to my car has caused me so much distress and mental anguish that I have just decided to go out and buy a brand new car. You don’t owe me anything.”
Ortberg said, “That is fine I understand thank you for letting me know.” He said I wish I would’ve thought to say, “Well if you’re not using that old car”….
What if we were to love the church and love each other the way that man loved his red Ferrari? I think that really might be the key to unity. Then we really would be E Pluribus Unum, out of the many, one.
One body one spirit, one hope, one faith, one baptism, gathered at one table to worship and serve one God.