THE UNITY OF THE FAITH

I am a great admirer of the writing of Alexander McCall Smith, the author of many books including the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency and 44 Scotland Street. I subscribe to his Facebook messages and some little time ago, I found this little essay:

"Last weekend I travelled to Wigtown, a small town in the south west of Scotland that is famous for its many bookshops and now for its literary festival. It is a bit like Hay-on-Wye, that extraordinary book town, but considerably smaller. Its literary festival is also smaller than Hay’s, which is one of the largest in the world and always accompanied by a fair measure of razzmatazz.

After my event and signing, we went off to a nearby cottage owned by some Edinburgh friends. They joined us there at eight at night, after we had lit the fires and turned on the lights to welcome them to their own house. Then began a weekend of reading and walking, of watching the sky and clouds, of doing crosswords about the fire, of listening to old-fashioned LPs. We saw a stoat – a tiny, elegant little creature – scurrying about outside the house; in the fields cattle braved the occasional squall of rain and wind; the lanes, the paths, were muddy. Autumn was just beginning; some trees were still in their summer clothing, others had begun to turn.

My host had planted a small wood about fifteen years ago. This had thrived, and now the trees, of mixed types, were about twenty feet or more in height. We spotted one, though, that had been toppled by recent high winds. It lay resting on its branches, its roots half in, half out of the sodden earth. We put our shoulders to its trunk and raised it back up; ropes were tied around it and then led off to the trunks of neighbouring trees. After fifteen minutes or so of work, the young oak tree stood straight once again, anchored in place to three trees about it.

Here is a poem about this:

SAVING AN OAK TREE

Even the strongest of trees, when young,
Are vulnerable to wind and rain;
Earth softens, a bolus of roots
May wrench itself free of the soil’s embrace;
A tree may fall for many reasons,
Just as we may fall, in our individual ways.

Summer this year has been wet,
Something to do, we are told,
With a trapped jet stream
Above our corner of north west Europe;
When we look at the sky
We cannot see the wind –
Only the things that wind does,
Just as we cannot see friendship
If we look into the heart of another,
But can feel its effect; just as we feel
The wind on our faces, or the sun.

Rescuing the oak, we pushed and shoved
And brought it to its feet again;
Ropes around its juvenile trunk
Secured with knots to neighbouring trees
Were like the bonds that unite
One to another, the tendons of community,
The bindings of brotherhood.
A tree may be tied in place
Upright against the wind
With cord that is the same as that which ties
Us to our place in the world,
That long ago secured our people
To the place they inhabited,
To that place they loved enough to name."

 reproduced by permission of the author, Alexander McCall Smith, 2013

I found many echoes in that story and poem of things that The Lord has been leading many of us through recently; and although I do not know of the author's Christian beliefs or otherwise, it seemed to me to speak of many of the strands in Scripture … about community; about the way God works in our lives; about brotherly love and the gathering together of the saints in unity. And that is what I'd like to look at here.

The picture of the trees secured together with ropes – each supporting the other and particularly their weakened companion – is a powerful evocation of the way that The Lord works in a body of people; in His church.

PSALM 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! {together…: Heb. even together}

2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;

3 As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.

The use of the natural world to express the things of God is the plainest of metaphors used in The Bible, and indeed the ease with which we can see God in His Creation is often the inspiration for a life in Christ.

ROMANS 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: {so…: or, that they may be}

When we look at the sky
We cannot see the wind –
Only the things that wind does,

It is easy to see that the wind can represent the Spirit; we even talk of 'the wind of the Spirit'. McCall Smith's poem echoes this passage from the book of John:

JOHN 3:8 The wind blows where it lists, and you hear the sound thereof, but can not tell whence it comes, and whither it goes: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

And it is important to realise that the bonds of brotherhood are born in that 'wind of the Spirit'. We are born of the spirit and that birth is the single most important factor in the life of those in a relationship with Christ. Remember that we are not in religion, but in relationship. Religion can destroy, but relationships are affirming and creative. And we can see again and again how the Lord forges the fetters that tie us into the unity of the faith.

In ACTS 2:1 we see that when the Holy Spirit was given it is put in this way: ¶ And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

Indeed, this concept of the many becoming one is intrinsic to everything of the Spirit. In fact, in our Bible lesson, the word one appears 9 times [9 being the number representing the fruits and gifts of the spirit - among other things], but the idea of unity is through the whole piece. I think it is worthwhile going through it again, and although I normally read in the Authorised Version; the King James Bible, on this occasion I feel that Eugene Peterson's 'The Message' brings out the essentials, even if it loses a lot in important detail:

TO BE MATURE

EPHESIANS 4:1-3 In light of all this, here’s what I want you to do. While I’m locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences.

4-6 You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness.

7-13 But that doesn’t mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift. The text for this is,

He climbed the high mountain,
He captured the enemy and seized the booty,
He handed it all out in gifts to the people.

Is it not true that the One who climbed up also climbed down, down to the valley of earth? And the One who climbed down is the One who climbed back up, up to highest heaven. He handed out gifts above and below, filled heaven with his gifts, filled earth with his gifts. He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christ’s followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ’s body, the church, until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.

14-16 No prolonged infancies among us, please. We’ll not tolerate babes in the woods, small children who are an easy mark for impostors. God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love — like Christ in everything. We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do. He keeps us in step with each other. His very breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so that we will grow up healthy in God, robust in love.

One thing I miss in that translation is the beauty; the majesty and passion of verses 13 and 16 in the King James Bible:

13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: {in: or, into} {stature: or, age}

16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

This is the binding of one tree to another, one saint to another, so that the weaker is strengthened  by the community. We have no strength in ourselves. It is only by partaking in the oak-like strength of Christ that we can be held upright.

We need to have a vision of Christ, from Christ; from His Holy Spirit, and that vision is important, for we read in the book of PROVERBS 29:18 ¶ Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. {perish: or, is made naked}

And as Jesus came to fulfil the law, if we are found in Him then we will be He that keepeth the law. That word perish could also be translated as 'let loose', or 'neglected'. That is where the danger lies – we can neglect our calling; our election into the company of the faithful, or we can be neglected, let loose to our own devices and fall prey to wolves and ravening beasts – in a metaphorical sense. All because there is no vision.

What vision? A vision of the goal, the outcome, the way ahead, of a life in Christ and life everlasting; coming in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. That is the vision. And we cannot do it alone. We need Christ in you, the hope of glory: {in: or, among}, and that means Christ in you, in me, in all of us, working in a unity and community. That ultimately is what Alexander McCall Smith is showing us here. We cannot expect to survive alone. We need support from our fellows. We are a community ... a community governed by the spirit of Jesus Christ.

When we come together in Christ there are bonds created, ties that bind us together, so that we support each other in adversity, but the strongest part of that binding is the life of Christ flowing in the midst. That is why none of us can neglect our part. We individually must have our faces turned to Him at every point so that He strengthens and sustains, and as each is restored, the community of believers is strengthened and built up. Then when one falters or falls, the community is there to offer support, just as the trees …

Ropes around its juvenile trunk
Secured with knots to neighbouring trees
Were like the bonds that unite
One to another, the tendons of community,
The bindings of brotherhood.

This is a favourite quotation from the book of ECCLESIASTES 4: 8 There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail.

9 Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.

10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.

11 Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?

12 And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

The threefold cord is Christ. The trinity – three in one – God the father; God the son and God the Holy Spirit. Also it is the relationship between you and me, which will be strenthened to fullness if there is a third party present - the Holy Spirit. 

Behind me now as I write is a plaque that reads from MATTHEW 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Even two or three form a community, but it must be in my name – in the nature of Christ; in the spirit of Christ. Living in a community of believers is not easy – in fact it is well nigh impossible without Christ in the midst.

Gill and I were - indeed still are - connected with a Christian community, living alongside them for 5 years and living with them for a little over two years. That was an almighty dealing I can tell you – for at times the Lord uses your brothers and sisters in the Lord to scarify and scourge you in the fires of testing; a refiner's fire indeed. He also uses us to perform the same service for them in return. That time was one of the richest and most rewarding experiences of our lives, teaching us to turn to Him who is the Saviour of our souls daily, and be blessed and uplifted by Him through those self-same people who seemed your greatest enemy only moments before. 

They only seemed to be that to us, as we were to them. Neither of us were or are enemies. The enemy resides within ourselves, where all the battles in 'the heavenly realms' are fought. There we must wrestle daily not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

There is an old song – we must have sung it many times – it is number 54 in 'Mission Praise', which goes like this...

Bind us together, Lord,

bind us together

with cords that cannot be broken;

bind us together, Lord

bind us together,

O bind us together with love.

There is only one God,

there is only one King,

there is only one body -

that is why we sing:

Bind us together, Lord,

bind us together

with cords that cannot be broken;

bind us together, Lord

bind us together,

O bind us together with love.

...there are another couple of verses, but what we have here makes the point. I want to close now, and Alexander McCall Smith's words say it best...

A tree may be tied in place
Upright against the wind
With cord that is the same as that which ties
Us to our place in the world,
That long ago secured our people
To the place they inhabited,
To that place they loved enough to name.

In Scripture, trees are a metaphor for people – the Cedar of Lebanon for example, because of its strength and tallness represents those who are righteous and upright. And the oak is a tree meaning strength - a great tree, a mighty tree - the terebinth - the tree of the strength of God.

Pulling that oak tree into place among the upright, feeling the wind of the spirit once more, restoring it to its place amid its community to that place they loved enough to name, is a perfect picture of unity.

…the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: {in: or, into} {stature: or, age}

14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

Hallelujah!

My pastel drawing of the sapling oak secured by cords to older stronger trees was intended to illustrate a number of ideas. Among which are:

• 4 other trees around the young oak to suggest The Lord's creation (4 corners of the world)...
• ...but 5 cords to signify The Lord's grace (5 usually indication grace in Scripture). One of these cords...
• ...comes out of the drawing towards the viewer as if held or attached there, showing that we cannot be bystanders, but must be actively involved in this life in the Spirit.

... a threefold cord is not quickly broken.