Rochester, MN UCC - "Has Christ Been Divided?" - 1 Corinthians 1:10-18

Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you.  ~ 1 Corinthians 1:10 

 The words above come at the very beginning of Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth. Can you imagine us receiving such a letter? One of the beautiful gifts of being at The Congregational Church UCC is that we don’t agree on everything, nor do we have to, nor is that the goal. As a church leader, I can’t read his words regarding agreement literally, because there is no church where everyone is in agreement on everything. Our attempts to speak of and understand the Holy are attempts to speak of that which is beyond our limited comprehension, we can only guess at what infinity is like.

Yet, we can be in agreement that all are called by the Holy, loved by God, and deserve respect in the attempts to engage that. When we begin from such a place, it is possible to overcome division and this is when Paul’s words really speak to the world we live in and the condition of the Church in the United States right now. He speaks against division within this congregation based on whose teachings of Jesus they follow. They focused on fine points of doctrine and used it as an excuse to walk away from one another, sound familiar?

How can we do this differently? God is calling her followers together, to be the Body of Christ in the world. Paul reminds us that we can be in community with those who don’t think exactly like we do and that, in fact, we should. Our denomination began when some were brave enough to lose their identities in a merger to become something bigger and messier and closer to the kingdom God calls us to. Where is that spirit of unity calling The Congregational Church today? As an open and affirming congregation, how do we understand these calls to unity?

 Join me Sunday as we read Paul’s letter and ask ourselves what it says to our world, 

Pastor Shannon