Last week we explored the power of the resurrection of Christ.  My prayer is that throughout last week you were able to allow the power of the resurrection to make a difference in your everyday life.  I want to start there, at the resurrection, this morning and think about who Jesus appeared to during the days between resurrection and the ascension.  During this, less than two month period, the New Testament records ten post-resurrection appearances.  Here is an interesting bit of information; not one of them was to an unbeliever. The closest was Thomas but he was a believer; just a bit skeptical. He had to see for himself, to have his faith restored.  Every one of the post-resurrection appearances was to his disciples.  Why do you suppose that was the case? 
 
If I had been Christ there would have been a few others I would have been tempted to pay a little visit to:

Think how history could have been changed by the resurrected Jesus showing up without warning in homes and the market places and schools and barracks all around Jerusalem.  There may have been thousands of instant believers.  But that was not the plan. But the question is why?  Why not convince thousands of his resurrection?

Jesus had an urgent mission.  He needed a solid, faithful, committed community of believers to take his message to the world.  His post-resurrection mission was to form what would later be known as the church. The plan was to solidify the church; to make sure the core believers, those whom he had taught and worked with for three years, were 100% convinced that he was the Son of God! He needed a strong and united church to take the message to the world.  That was the urgent mission and that is what Jesus did. 

There is a Greek word that you need to learn that captures what Jesus was doing; spouda,zw spoudazo. {spoo-dad'-zo} It is used 17 times in the NT and it always carries with it a sense of urgency.  It means to be diligent.  It is translated as “make every effort.”  Go out of your way to make it happen. That is what Jesus had to do when he came back to life.  He had to make every effort, he had to do all that he could do, to create this community of people who believed in him with all their being, who were going to carry his message to the world. 

It was more important to create the church than it was to appear to unbelievers.  Jesus made every effort to form this group of people who would be completely dedicated to him.  So, he appeared only to believers and he gave special attention to those who would be the heart of his new movement! What does this say about the importance of the church? 
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Tradition claims that the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem is built over the tomb where Christ was buried and from which he was resurrected.   In July, 2002, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher became the scene of an ugly fight between the monks who are in charge of caring for the church. It turns out that Ethiopian monks and Coptic monks have been arguing over the rooftop of the church for centuries. In 1752 the Ottoman Sultan issued an edict declaring which parts of the church belong to each of six different Christian groups.

The rooftop had been controlled by the Ethiopians, but they lost control to the Coptic monks when they were hit by a disease epidemic in the 1800’s. Then in the 1970’s the Ethiopians regained control when the Coptic monks were absent for a short period. The Ethiopians have been squatting there ever since with at least one monk always remaining on the roof to assert their rights. But in response to this, a Coptic monk has also been living on the roof to maintain the Coptic claim to the church’s roof. Since 1970 there has been at least one monk, from both groups living on the roof. 

Until July 2002 when the Coptic monk on the roof got hot and decided to move his chair into the shade where the Ethiopian monk was sitting. Harsh words led to pushing and shoving and then to an all-out brawl. 11 monks were injured, including one who was taken to the hospital unconscious.  What the head scratching thing about all this is, that they were arguing over who has the right to take care of the roof over the location of Jesus’ tomb.  Here are Christian brothers physically fighting in the very place Jesus rose to form his church!  How frustrated is Jesus when his people fight with each other over his church?

Isn’t that amazing?  In the very place where Jesus stepped out of the darkness and into the light of a new world, Christians are fighting over who has the right to take care of the tomb.  I am sorry to say this is not the only example of Christians fussing and fighting over insignificant things. Throughout history, the Christian church, which was so important to Jesus, which was spoudazo to Jesus, has had a difficult time maintaining unity.  Why is it so hard for Christians to be united?  When it is so important to Jesus?

There is another Greek word you need to learn.  It is e`no,thj henotes; {hen-ot-ace'}  which literally means one-ness. It is the Greek word one, hen, with ness on the end. It is translated as unity.  It is being one like God is one.  If anyone could be united it should be Christians.  We are believers in the one who died to makes us one.  We, who have been forgiven, should be forgiving.  We, who have been loved, should love.  We, who have been united with Christ, should live in unity.

When the church is divided it produces tragic results, like monks fighting over a roof. But on the other hand, when the church is unified it unleashes a power that can hardly be stopped.  How do we do it? 
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There is one more word we need to learn this morning before we can put all this together, this Greek word is eivrh,nh eirene. {a-ray'-nay} It means peace.  It carries with it the idea of harmony, the absence of discord, getting along, not at war. 

Let me share a limerick that is the opposite of eirene.
There once were two cats of Killkenny.
Each thought there was one cat too many.
They fought and they spit, they clawed and they bit,
till instead of two cats there weren’t any!

That is what we must avoid at all cost.  We must have eirene. We must have peace. 

This morning we are going to return to our study of Ephesians 4 in an attempt to answer the question, “How do we maintain unity?” We have been looking at living worthy from the first six verses of chapter 4.  I believe in these verses is the answer to how to maintain unity within the church. The answer begins in verse 3.

In the book of Ephesians, more than any of Paul’s other letters; he calls the church to be unified. Paul mentions the unity of the church 18 times in Ephesians. If you read through the entire book you’ll begin to think Paul is repeating himself. And you’d be right. He is. Both Paul and Jesus agree on this: unity in the church is not just a good thing. Unity is essential. Listen to the verse.

Ephesians 4:3  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

Guess what? All three of the Greek words we have learned this morning is in this verse. 
Spoudazo –make every effort; With the same purpose and commitment and urgency of Jesus to form the church, we make that same Spoudazo.
henotes - unity like being one-ness like God is,
eirene  - peace – The peace of no cats. 

This is the central verse in the six verses we are studying this year in our theme living worthy.  It forms a chiasm. The other five verses point to this verse.  It is the focus.  In carefully studying these six verses we find the answer to how to do unity.  It involves two parts.
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Ephesians 4:1-3 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.  2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

The right attitude.  It is in capturing this attitude of living worthy that we begin to understand how to maintain unity.  It is in being completely humble and gentle and patient and bearing with each other in love.  It is cutting each other slack instead of cutting each other down.  Perhaps a story will help.

Sally related an experience she had in a Bible class taught by Professor Smith. Dr. Smith was known for his elaborate object lessons, and one particular day, Sally walked into class and knew they were in for a fun day. On the wall was a big target and on a nearby table were many darts.

Dr. Smith told the students to draw a picture of someone they disliked or someone who had made them angry in the past. Then he would allow them to throw darts at the person's picture.

Sally's friend drew a picture of a girl who had stolen her boyfriend. Another friend drew a picture of his little brother. Sally drew a picture of a former friend, putting a great deal of detail into her drawing, even drawing pimples on the face. Sally was pleased at the overall effect she had achieved.

The class lined up and began throwing darts. Some of the students threw their darts with such force that their targets were ripping apart. Sally looked forward to her turn, but was disappointment when Dr. Smith, because of time limits, asked the students to return to their seats.

As Sally sat down, thinking about how angry she was because she didn't have a chance to throw any darts at her target, Dr. Smith began removing the target from the wall. Underneath the target was a picture of Jesus.

A complete hush fell over the room as each student viewed the mangled picture of Jesus; holes and jagged marks covered His face and His eyes were pierced. Dr. Smith said only these words, "I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!"

The first step we must take to achieve unity with our body is to stop throwing darts at each other.  We must be completely humble, and gentle; and patient, bearing with one another in love.  Darts destroy unity.
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There is another part of unity, it begins with right attitude, but it also includes right doctrine. In verses 4-6 Paul offers the seven essential ingredients of Christian unity.

Ephesians 4:3-6  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.  4 There is one body and one Spirit-- just as you were called to one hope when you were called--  5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;  6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Unity is based on understanding these seven core doctrines.  These are the doctrines we agree upon to have unity in the church.  These seven ones are what makes us Christians and what can make us united. 

I want to end this sermon with a real example of what is going on in our country within our movement.  Coincidences are fascinating.  As I was working on this sermon about unity two different sources told me the same story.  One was Tanya’s brother, Rusty, who is an elder in Garnett Church of Christ – which is the host of the Tulsa Workshop. And then the Farley’s read this article in an Arizona newspaper. 

Churches discuss reuniting after a century apart
Associated Press
April 1, 2006
TULSA, Okla. - The turning point for Jeff Walling came two decades ago at a church youth conference. He listened to 3,000 teens sing and praise God with a guitar accompaniment — and felt ashamed.  Walling had adamantly held to the Churches of Christ’s teaching that using instrumental music in worship was wrong. But as he heard the youths worship, he had doubts.

Now Walling and other Churches of Christ leaders are at the forefront of what could be a crucial moment for their fellowship — possible reconciliation with another group of independent congregations 100 years after the two were recognized as separate.

Neither group calls itself a ‘‘denomination,’’ and the distinction between the two can be confusing to outsiders. Local congregations, known collectively as the ‘‘Churches of Christ,’’ shun practices not contained in the New Testament — in particular the use of musical instruments in worship. The ‘‘independent Christian’’ or ‘‘instrumental’’ churches use musical instruments and generally associate with the annual North American Christian Convention.

This year’s workshop included independent Christian speakers, and prominent preachers from both groups spoke.

The two groups claim a combined 2.6 million members in 20,000 U.S. congregations. But some, particularly within Churches of Christ, aren’t excited about the possibility of reconciliation, as they believe that to compromise on the instrumental-music issue is akin to risking one’s salvation. They maintain that there is no New Testament example of instruments being used in worship, and that Christians need to be silent where the Bible is silent.

‘‘While we love our brethren very much, we don’t feel that we can approve unauthorized worship,’’ said Phil Sanders, minister at Concord Road Church of Christ in Nashville, Tenn. ‘‘Until we can get past that issue, we can’t approve the reuniting of our fellowship.’’

But the two groups have common roots.  What its followers call the ‘‘Restoration’’ movement has roots in central Kentucky, where Barton W. Stone was a frontier preacher in the early 19th century. In 1803, Stone formally withdrew from the Presbyterian church.

In 1832, Stone’s movement joined with a similar movement led by a Virginia man, Alexander Campbell. Churches in the Stone-Campbell movement typically were autonomous and practiced adult baptism by immersion and took the Lord’s Supper, or Communion, each Sunday.

The movement began splintering after the Civil War, with one of the major reasons being the use of instruments in worship. A formal split between those that did and did not use instruments was first recognized by the U.S. religious census in 1906.

In recent years, churches from the two conservative groups have worked together. In 2003 in Lexington, Ky., the city’s largest Church of Christ teamed with an independent Christian church to plant a Hispanic congregation.

In 2004, the elders at an independent church in suburban Seattle voted to merge with a nearby Church of Christ, a move the latter congregation’s elders supported.

‘‘Why did we get together? Because God wanted us to do it,’’ said Milton Jones, preaching minister at what is now known as the Northwest Church. ‘‘We were just trying to do what God wants us to do. We didn’t feel like we had much of a choice.’’ (end of article)

Here is the answer. Unity can be achieved when we stop throwing darts and start focusing on the seven ones.