RESOURCING THE CHURCH FOR ECUMENICAL MINISTRy A ...

in Christ Jesus? What if we would expect to maintain
the unity of the Spirit (unity already given to us by
God) in the bond of peace?
If we treat each other as beloved family, would you
bring out the best in me and I bring out the best in
you as a teacher does when she brings out the best in
her students? What if we saw each other as one
human family even when we can’t see eye to eye?—as
part of the beautiful swirling colors on the one
planet earth—diverse! but not divided?
Of course it’s ultimately much more complicated.
At this conference we’ve delved into how complex
this business of unity can be. But doesn’t it all begin
by receiving God’s gift? It is certainly true that in
our one human family, in our churches even, layers
of division have accumulated year after year,
surrounding God’s gift of unity. We have much to
repair and much to forgive. But can’t we just
begin? . . .
Some years back, workers began to remove years’
worth of dust and grime on the paintings of the
Sistine Chapel. As those layers of grit came off, vivid
colors of the painting were revealed like nothing
that modern viewers had ever imagined. Like with
the colors of the Sistine Chapel . . .
Or like when the buildup of grime on the windows
of an abandoned house, so thick that the transparency
of the glass has become completely opaque,
when that grime is finally cleaned and we can see
within, our day-to-day reality of division is there
because we have Not Yet looked into a deeper reality
of unity Already given to us from the very hand of
God.
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Church! Let’s keep on peeling those layers back and
see what we’ve got!
Let’s treat our neighbor as beloved family. Let’s
approach each other as bright and beautiful and full
of potential and bring out the best in each other!
Let’s set tables of welcome, Christ’s table, where we
gather from all our broken places and in the mystery
of the risen Christ become whole again, one Body
of Christ for the world.
At this conference we’ve delved into how
complex this business of unity can be. But
doesn’t it all begin by receiving God’s gift?
Let’s be that movement for wholeness that God has
seen in us from the day we were born children of
God, diverse but not divided.
Let’s keep at it, layer by layer, peeling back all the
dust and division that surrounds us until eventually
we reveal the pure sweet core inside—diverse but not
divided—on each one of us the image of God!—One
God who makes us One ALREADY! Let’s start in
the church. Let’s start at the Table, and see if it is
catching!
Church, God has given us a gift. Let’s receive it. And
open it! And enjoy.
Glory be to God, our Creator, our Redeemer, our
Friend. As it was in the beginning is now and ever
shall be, world without end. Amen.
Watkins • Already...Not Yet: God’s Gift of Unity