Diversity brings strength to our unity.

Societal structures can be burdensome and when implemented enslave people. Girl enslaved as an oracle, prison guard enslaved by the rules that if anyone escaped his gaol he would be executed. 

Holy Spirit works against enslavement: like the demoniac, the girl imprisoned by a spirit recognise the saving grace of Jesus and announces their proclamation to the world – annoying Paul; the gaoler wakes up in the midst of the movement of the Spirit on the earth and immediately goes to harm himself thinking of the worst, but saved by Paul from death in the moment and the eternal death of his soul. 

In reconciliation week, today we remember the proceedings brought forward by Eddie Mabo and the Mabo High Court decision to grant native title. Imprisoned in camps and on lands they had no connection to, our aboriginal people were set free to move back to their lands and live the lives that their ancestors had put in place as it overturned the long held doctrine of terra nullius. The Native Title Act that was passed by the Commonwealth government aimed to recognise and protect native title to certain lands. The decision allowed them to be one with us, but their oneness with us still had boundaries and scope that still enslaved them to living in a way that is not their full expression.

Jesus speaks about oneness in his prayer for us. The prayer is for those who were yet to come to know him and that we would be one in him, like he is one in the father. 

Unity is not uniformity. We are not meant to be clones of each other. Jesus speaks about the richness of the unity in diversity of the body of Christ, to do the purpose of the father. Father is different to Son, and Son is different to Spirit in personality and how they act, yet they are unified in purpose. The purpose to redeem all of creation and bring everyone back to the Father. We find our diversity in giftedness. Isaiah 11:2-3, speaks about the gifts of the Spirit by which we will know the Messiah include: Wisdom: Insight into divine truth. Understanding: Grasping the deeper meaning of faith. Counsel (Right Judgment): Discernment to choose rightly. Fortitude (Courage): Strength to endure trials. Knowledge: Awareness of God’s will. Piety (Reverence): Devotion to God and others. Fear of the Lord (Wonder and Awe): Humble reverence for God’s majesty. As I said these are gifts by which we recognise the suffering servant, but as we are one with Jesus and Jesus in one with the father, Jesus’ gifts fall on us. Whilst these do fall on the suffering servant, as we are one in Jesus they fall on us. In 1 Corinthians 12:8–10 Paul lists nine "manifestations of the Spirit" for building up the Church, gifts given for ministry and communal efficacy: Word of Wisdom: Supernatural guidance. Word of Knowledge: Revelation of divine information. Faith: Extraordinary trust in God. Gifts of Healing: Physical, emotional, or spiritual restoration. Working of Miracles: Divine intervention. Prophecy: Speaking God’s message. Discernment of Spirits: Judging spiritual influences. Speaking in Tongues (Glossolalia): Prayer in unknown languages. Interpretation of Tongues: Understanding and translating tongues.

As we remember today, we should also look to remove any obstacles that prevent our indigenous people being one with us, but to help us in our purpose to grow the prosperity of the nation of Australia in their glorious diversity. Our giftedness from the Holy Spirit is unified to achieve the purpose of bringing all people to God. If our purpose as a nation is to get the best outcome for ourselves as a nation, then the gifts that come from our diverse aboriginal community need to be included in our oneness.

Let's find a purpose that we can all get behond and seek to be unified as one in that purpose.