Episode 6 - Agree to Disagree

Pastor Dan wraps up John 17 with Jesus' prayer for unity for all of us.

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SPEAKER_00 0:15

Hey everybody, welcome to another Sermon Prep Podcast. I'm Dan Metzgram, the pastor at St. Mark's United Methodist Church, and uh today we are uh still in the upper room. We've been kind of walking through the Gospel of John and John's story of everything that Jesus said and did in the upper room. John spends five chapters on this. And in uh chapter 17, it's one of the really, really interesting passages in Scripture where uh Jesus prays. It's the last thing Jesus does in the upper room is he prays. In the synoptic gospels, the last thing that happens is they sing a hymn and then they go out to the Mount of Olives. But in John's Gospel, Jesus prays. And he starts off by praying first for himself that God would be glorified through him and that he would be glorified, that people would uh see the goodness of God through Jesus in everything that's about to happen to him in this passion uh where Jesus is marching to the cross through uh his arrest and his uh torture, his death, and then ultimately his resurrection, uh, that people would see God's glory in him. Uh the second thing he prays for is he prays for his disciples. And in praying for his disciples, he prays for their safety. He he prays that the God would stay with them. Um and then thirdly, Jesus prays for us. He says that he's praying for those who would uh receive the message from the apostles that would believe in him, and he that's us. I mean, so Jesus prays for us. It's one of the last things that Jesus does in the upper room. And in praying for us, he prays for one thing specifically for us. He prays, he says that we would be one as he and the Father are one. He prays for our unity, he prays that we would stay together, that we would uh abide in him, and that we would abide in one another, that we would be unified. And he says that it's through our unity that the world will believe that he is who he said he is, and that we have been sent by him. Uh, it's it's through it's through our unity, through the ways in which we're able to live in unity that the world is going to believe. I think it's just a really incredible thing that this is what Jesus prays for uh over everything else. He doesn't pray for um our success, he doesn't pray for the rapid growth of the church, he doesn't pray for uh anything other than just our our unity. Because a part of what he knows is if we are unified, if we are together, then all those other things will happen. The church will grow and uh and the gospel will spread and people will come to know him because of the way that we're able to stick together and we're able to uh to share the gospel together and be in ministry together through our unity. I think one of Satan's favorite things is to try to sow as much discord and disunity as possible in the church, because Satan knows that when the church is together, when we are uh all marching to the same rhythm and we are doing the things that we are supposed to do together, when we are together in this, uh we are unstoppable. It's it this is uh the the church, the local church, is God's plan, is Jesus' plan to bring the gospel, to bring salvation to the world. And there's there's not a plan B. It's it's this, it's us, it's Jesus working through us. And so the more we're together and doing these things, the more successful we are. And so, again, I think one of Satan's favorite things to do is to see how he can get us to be separate from one another, uh, to uh see in what ways he can sow discord and disunity in the church. I think we all know that that's been a thing in the church for thousands of years. It was uh a problem. Uh splits in the church happen almost from the very beginning. I mean, uh Paul and Barnabas have uh issues with one another. Peter and Paul have issues with one another. Uh in the early uh in the earliest uh parts of the church when Christianity is legalized under Constantine, there's there's people who have disagreements with one another and they form these councils to try to come together and decide, well, what is it that we do believe? And they were very heated debates about who Jesus is and how we worship and and what it looks like. There's been uh there's been issues of discord and of disunity for since the very beginning, it was around the year 1000 when there was the great schism, and it was a split between the East Church and the Western Church. And um and then later on, of course, the Protestant Reformation happens, and there's this big split between Catholics and Protestants, and uh um and it's it's a part of what I think um uh makes people question sometimes the church is that there's so many times in our history where we've not been able to agree on things, and even today obviously don't agree on things. There's there's thousands and of denominations at this point, and people who believe things slightly different than others, and we point fingers at each other and and say, Well, you're wrong, and so we can't be uh we can't worship together, and we we really try to separate ourselves from one another. And I think that that the world looks at that and says, you know, well, if this is the way you guys are, why would I want to have any part of that? You can't even agree with one another, and you want us to come and to be a part of of this Christianity thing. It I think it really turns people off sometimes. And for whatever reason, every generation seems to think, oh, we're the ones who finally figured it out. Like we must be the ones who we've finally figured out what it looks like to be a Christian and to do it all the right way, and um, all of our ideas are correct, and everybody who came before us was was somehow wrong, and all of these other denominations, everybody else, they've got it wrong, but we're the ones who have finally gotten it right. And it's just such this um this arrogance that we have uh that um that we would think that that somehow you know we're we're the cream of the crop, finally. There have been these kind of disagreements for forever. Um there's uh in the um 1600s there was something called the 30 Years' War in Europe that happened, and it was really a war between um Protestants and Catholics in a lot of ways. Of course, there was a lot of politics involved, and there was uh stuff about territory and all of this, but at it at its core, it was a religious war uh between Protestants and Catholics, and this tension that we that we had with one another and over who has authority is does authority lie with Rome and the Pope, or does it lie elsewhere? And um in the midst of all of this, there was this uh theologian. Um, I'm gonna get his name messed up. I think it's something like Rupertus Meldenius. And um he said, and and this is actually this is a quote that's often attributed to other people, but uh this is the the person that we think actually maybe first said this. Um he came up with this quote. He really wanted peace within the church. He was really hoping that that we could find a way to uh be able to come to the table together and to be able to worship together and be able to practice our faith together, even. And and so he said this thing. He said, in essentials, unity, in non-essentials, liberty, and in all things, charity. In essentials, unity, in non-essentials, liberty, and in all things, charity. In other words, what are the things that we believe are essentials to the Christian faith? Like just absolutely foundational, these things, like we cannot compromise on these things, and and can we be unified on these things? Can we be unified that Jesus is Lord? The things that we that we read in the Apostles' Creed or or even the Nicene Creed, the the very early statements of faith, I believe in Jesus Christ, I believe in in God, I believe in the Holy Spirit. Can we agree on these things? And if we can agree on these things, you know, it those are the essentials. That's that's essential to the faith. And then in non-essentials, liberty. So what are the things that are maybe not as essential? Like I can still call you a Christian, even if I think you might be wrong on this thing, it doesn't negate your status as a Christian. And there's been over the years a thousand different things where we have uh said this is a thing we disagree on, but I don't think that it's so essential to the faith that you're no longer a Christian if you believe this thing. Can we have some non-essentials that we say, you know what, I don't agree with you, but you are still one of my brothers in Christ, you're one of my sisters in Christ, um, even if I think you're really wrong on this thing. Are we able to do that? And then at the end, in all things, charity, and another word for charity is love. Um, it's it's, you know, in all things, whether we agree or disagree on things, whether they're essential things or non-essential things, can we still love one another in the midst of all of this? I think that's become such a lost art of a way for us to understand one another. We we tend to put everything in the essentials category. Everything I believe is is absolutely essential. And if you don't agree with me, then I'm just done with you. Um it's actually really interesting. So uh the interesting to me, at least because I love this history stuff and in the history of the church especially. Um, there was at the very beginning of this Methodist movement, uh, there were some big players in this thing. Of course, John and Charles Wesley, you know, we call them the founders of this Methodist movement. But when they were at Oxford, um, they had this group at Oxford University, and they called themselves the Holy Club, which is just a super humble name for a club that you started, the Holy Club. But the idea was that they wanted to, they wanted to be holy, they wanted to grow closer to Christ. And one of the members of this holy club with them was a guy by the name of George Whitfield. And um, and they were uh Whitfield became this great preacher also, uh, as one of those that helped found the Methodist movement and helped get this thing kind of off the ground. Uh, but Wesley and Whitfield had some really strong disagreements on things. Uh, in particular, this idea of the doctrine of predestination. Wesley held strongly to um beliefs that were called Arminian beliefs, this idea uh that we have free will and that our choices are our own. And Whitfield was a Calvinist who really emphasized this idea of predestination, that that things are predestined and that, and that our salvation is predestined, that it's not just our choice, but that God is uh Jesus is some in some way predestined those who are going to follow him. And and they could never come to agreement on these things. They got into some really heated arguments about these things. Both were great preachers, uh, both did some absolutely tremendous things. Whitfield formed this friendship with Benjamin Franklin and and and was a part of um some of the things that went on during uh the uh American Revolution, and and you know both had both also had their flaws. Uh uh Whitfield also was in many ways very pro-slavery, and so that was that was an issue. And there were a lot of other things that they just didn't, they couldn't quite come to agreement on. And um they had very strong followers of of their own. And one of Whitfield's followers, who um obviously still held great animosity towards Wesley, said to Whitfield one time, we won't see John Wesley in heaven, will we? And Whitfield replied, Yes, you're right. We won't see him in heaven. He will be so close to the throne of God, and we will be so far away that we won't be able to see him. And at one point Wesley was, it seemed like Wesley might be near death, and Whitfield wrote to him and said, A radiant throne awaits you, and you're about to enter into the master's joy. And he has a massive crown ready to put on your head. And and Whitfield was just letting Wesley know, like, hey, I I love you in the midst of all this, and and I admire your faith. And uh Wesley ends up recovering in his health, and actually, Whitfield dies first. And at Whitfield's request, John Wesley preached at his funeral. Uh, and uh Wesley was loving and respectful of Whitfield, and he said this that there are many doctrines of less essential nature with regard to which we we disagreed tremendously, and we've been divided for many ages. And these we may think and let us think, may we agree to disagree. And this is actually the first uh recorded instance of that phrase being written down to agree to disagree. It was a phrase that Wesley and Whitfield kind of coined together, uh, that we um we might disagree on things, and we agree that we do disagree on things, but even though we are very passionate about these things, we still love one another, and you are still my brother or sister in Christ. And um just what what a beautiful example of that uh there is this thing that's somehow happened in in amongst Christians, uh especially today, but it's probably been through all time. Maybe it just feels um maybe it just feels more palpable today to me for some reason. But I I feel like very often we as Christians have this really hard time saying, you know what, I could be wrong. I might be, I don't think I am, but I could be wrong. And um being able to say maybe this thing is not 100% essential to me, being able to say that that you are a follower of Jesus Christ, that you're a beloved child of God. I I really do think um uh there's this comedian, Jim Gaffkin, who's uh he's a Catholic, and he um he has this great line where uh at one point he said talking about uh being in um when he dies someday, he can't he can't wait to run into some of the people who have um really kind of uh turned their backs to him or or thought that he was um not worthy in whatever way. He's like, I just can't wait to get there and have them turn around and see me and say, you're here? How'd you get here? How did you get in? Right? Um, I think that we're gonna be surprised by some of the people that we turn to say, I I thought you were so wrong that there was no way that you could possibly uh that you could put that salvation could possibly be for you. Um there's uh this story that happens that that um that we're gonna read about this week as we're looking at as we're looking at this last week of the life of Christ, and um especially uh the things that happen on that good Friday. Jesus goes and he stands before Pilate at one point, and uh they're having a conversation about, you know, are you a king? You know, you say that you're a king, and and others say that you're a king, and I don't know what to do with you. And Jesus says, I came to testify to the truth. And Pilate just says, Well, what is truth? You know, and it's hard to kind of know the context for how he's saying it. And it's not just like what is right and wrong, but like what is the truth, the overall big truth of life? What is what is it all about? And um Jesus had told us in the upper room, uh, in I think it's chapter 14, just a little bit earlier. He had told us what the truth is. He says it's me. I am the way, the truth, and the life. That's how people get to the Father. No one comes to the Father except by me. I am the truth. That's the truth we need to know above all else. Uh, that Jesus is the way, that it's all about Jesus, it's all about Him. He says that the great commandments are to love God and to love one another. And there's a lot of other stuff that we believe. We have some really strong opinions about how exactly that works and what exactly that looks like. But the core to all of it, the thing that we that is our essential that we have to be unified on is Jesus' Lord. That's the, I mean, that's the first statement of faith, right? When Peter's at Caesarea Philippi and Jesus says, Who do people say that I am? And they're saying, you know, some say you're John the Baptist, some say you're Elijah or one of the prophets or something like that. And he says, Well, who do you say that I am? And he says, You're the Christ, you're the Son of the living God. And Jesus says, That's it. You've got it. That's what it's all about. And when the thief on the cross is there next to Jesus and he turns to him and says, Remember me when you come into your kingdom. It's his way of saying, Jesus, you are Lord. Jesus says, Today you'll be with me in paradise. The guy didn't know the apostles' creed. He had never said the Lord's Prayer, he had never taken communion, he never went through confirmation, was never baptized, none of these things. The confession was Jesus is Lord. That's our essential. That's the thing that we have to be unified in. And there's other things that we see as very, very, very important. And we've got to work these things out together, but we work them out together in love. And we stay unified in this idea that Jesus is Lord, because Jesus tells us that's how the world is going to know. That you are my disciples. If you can stay unified in that, if you can stay connected to me in that, that was his prayer for us, that we would have that kind of unity, that we would be one just as he and the Father are one. That's all for today. I hope that you have a great holy week. I hope that it's a time where you are able to really dive into uh everything it is that Jesus did for us during that week, from uh the Last Supper all the way through the garden, his prayer, not my will but thine be done, to standing uh on trial to his uh the torture and humiliation he went through, and ultimately to his death that was for you and for me, and then his defeat of death as we celebrate Easter next Sunday. But for this week, I hope you sit in those moments and uh and reflect a little bit on what it is that Jesus did for you that Passion Week. That's all for this week's Sermon Prep Podcast, and we'll see you next week.