Unity

Dr. Zac Varghese, London

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” (Ps 133:1-NKJV)

Millions and millions of people across the world pray 24 hours a day the prayer that Jesus taught: “Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This prayer will only become a reality when we continue the work that Jesus has entrusted to us to establish the kingdom of God on earth. It is a kingdom of unconditional love of God, relationship, justice, truth, spirituality and beauty. We are not only to pray for it daily, year in and year out, but to work diligently for making it a reality on earth, as it is in heaven. This kingdom is ‘now-and-notyet’ reality. On 20th January, 2021, Amanda Goldman had the following lines in her poetic recital at the presidential inauguration of President Joe Biden: “And so, we lift our

gazes not to what stands between us, but what stands before us. We close the divide, because we know to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside. We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another. We seek harm to

none and harmony for all.” Reconciliation and unity under the love and grace of God is fundamental to establishing the values of the kingdom of God.

The Japanese scientist Masaru Emoto showed that water from clear springs when exposed to a word such as love or kindness shows beautiful symmetrical snowflake patterns of harmony and unity. On the other hand, water exposed to negative or impure thoughts forms incomplete asymmetrical chaotic patterns of division. According to Emoto water is a symbol of unity and integration. Only in the power of love and gratitude we can create true ecumenism. Let us continue to pray for ecumenical understanding, and doing God’s will for the benefit of everyone and for the common good of society.

Oxford theologian, Alister McGrath24, defined reconciliation as: “The bringing of two estranged

parties back into relationship. It is one of the central images of what was achieved in the death of Jesus, bringing God and humanity into harmony and taking away the barrier due to Sin. Once reconciled to God, Christians are equipped to bring reconciliation across

the divisions in the world.” The estrangement between humanity and God happened at the beginning of the creation story as we read in the Genesis. Reconciliation has been central to Christian experience at every level: within self, with God and with others. We learn that in Jesus that heaven and earth have come together once for all and ‘Jesus built the bridge from there to here.’ Building a bridge was a very costly self-giving act of reconciliation. In a short meditation in 2015, I wrote25: “We cannot get away from the reality that God came in search for us and He built the bridge from ‘There to here.’ Jesus further said emphatically: “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14: 6). The initiative for this relationship, bridge building, is from our creator God: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me” (Rev 4: 20). It is not our search and effort, it is God’s; we only have to be there to listen to that ‘still small voice’ to align ourselves to be in that bridge of reconciliation and unity in God. It is in this network of relationships we enjoy and realise haven on earth and the answer to the prayer: ‘Thy kingdom come’.

St. Paul was very much concerned with various kinds of conflicts and tensions that emerged in the churches that

1 Alister McGrath, The New Lion Hand Book Christian Belief,

Lion Hudson, 2006, page399. 2 Zac Varghese, ‘A Bridge is built from There to here’ ECHO’,

Oct, 2015.

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he established in Christ. A major theme of his letters was for establishing reconciliation, unity and explaining the finer points of theology of salvation in Christ. There are three stages of reconciliation: reconciliation with self, reconciliation with God and finally, reconciliation with others. These are not standalone separate experiences; they organically flow from one to the other.

Reconciliation with self:

Some people have a divided self or multiple personalities; people often wear masks to cover up the unacceptable images they have of themselves. This drives people to inner tension and psychological illness such as neurosis. This conflict may be between the outer and the inner or spiritual man. It is what Faust means when he says: “Two souls, alas, dwell in my breast apart.” According to Carl Jung, neurosis is a dissociation of personality, a divided self. At this point, we need healing and for taking the right path for finding wholeness in Christ. Reconciliation with self is essential for finding wholeness, order, rest, security and peace. In Christ, we can experience healing, peace and wholeness “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your heart and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:6-7).

Although internal and external conflicts destroy our pilgrimage to God and peace, God has provided a way to overcome these roadblocks: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn 1:9). We are regularly reminded to do this in the liturgy of the Eucharist. We do the ‘kiss of peace’ after the confession and absolution. It is possible that we exchange peace during the Eucharist without thinking of our deep obligation to forgiveness and reconciliation. It is just possible that we forget the need for penitence because we are repeating the confession after the priest like parrots. Jesus reminded us this in the ‘Sermon on the Mount: “Therefore, if you are offering

your gifts at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to

your brother; and then come and offer your gift” (Mt 5:23-24). Reconciliation with self is part and parcel of knowing oneself with absolute clarity, humility and having compassion for oneself to have compassion for others. It is in knowing ourselves we will be able to love our neighbour as ourselves as directed by Jesus Christ (Mt 22: 39; Mk 12:31).

Reconciliation with God:

Sinful thoughts and actions separate us from God and we cannot have peace until we have reconciled with God. Jesus Christ removed the barriers by suffering the punishment on the cross on our behalf. Paul wrote to Romans: “He was delivered for our offences and was raised for our justification” (Rom 4:25). Paul’s dense theological expressions such as justification by faith, atonement, propitiation and such are for explaining the reality of reconciliation (Rom 5:1-10). Atonement signified the condition of being ’at-one’ with God after God and man had been estranged from one another. Reconciliation with God only becomes meaningful when there is a sense of brokenness, of things being out of joint, of estrangement from the ideal self, from well-being and of separation from God, His unconditional love and grace. Paul explains his ministry of reconciliation to Corinthians in his second letter (chapters 2 to 7), this is set in the context of the defence of his apostolic ministry. “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor 5:18).

Reconciliation with others:

We are asked to live in peace, harmony and unity with everyone (Rom12:14-18; reconciliation is essential to follow the two fundamental commandments of God (Mt 22:39). The early churches that Paul established during his missionary journeys in the Mediterranean basin and had many theological, ethnic and sociological problems to overcome. Therefore, Paul emphasized the need for reconciliation and unity in Christ and the unconditional love of God. Most of the letters were written to resolve problems through the power of the Holy Spirit and God’s abundant love. It was because of the reconciliation between Jacob and Esau, Jacob was blessed and was able to say to Esau, “For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favourably” (Gen 33:10). Unity of mankind was so important to Jesus that it was the subject of His high priestly prayer in John’s Gospel (Jn 17:20-26). The theme of the seventh Assembly of the World council Churches at Canberra (Australia) in 1991 was expressed in a prayer: “Come, Holy Spirit — renew the whole creation’. . . reconcile your people! Holy Spirit, transform and sanctify us!” Reconciliation is a much-needed process for solving major issues concerning ‘the whole inhabited world (Oikoumene)’ (Eph 4:3; Rom 15:7). God wants reconciliation and unity in this world; not conflict, wars, separation and division. Everlasting peace is the result of reconciliation and unity. Although we see the theme of reconciliation in all of Paul’s letters, it is in his epistle to Philemon we see its most effective application in resolving a conflict between Philemon and Onesimus.

A model of Reconciliation and Unity

Every aspect of reconciliation and unity in Christ is practically demonstrated by Paul in his letter to Philemon. The letter to Philemon is St. Paul’s shortest of his thirteen letters in the New Testament. It is a letter addressed to a ‘friend in Christ’ for a specific need. The strength of this

The letter was written to Philemon, a wealthy Christian who lived in Colossae, and who became a Christian because of Paul’s ministry. One of Philemon’s slaves, Onesimus, for some unspecified reason, became a runaway slave and came to the attention of Paul, and became a Christian and lived under his patronage as his beloved spiritual son. Onesimus was very helpful to Paul in the hour of his need under the conditions of his house arrest and the restrictions placed on him. However, Paul was mindful of the background of Onesimus and the circumstances of his escape from Philemon’s household and estate, and wanted to bring reconciliation between his two friends: one a wealthy man and the other a runaway salve. Such an escape from slavery was punishable under the law, even death. This is the bare background of writing this letter.

Therefore, Paul was caught in the middle of needing to do the right thing for both of them. This is often a very common situation that people get caught in the middle in disputes between friends, members within the family and people in parishes and so on. Therefore, this letter is a model for conflict resolution. The letter teaches us so many things about how to write a letter for helping someone and how to get the best possible result and conflict resolution. The letter is a simple request to Philemon on behalf of Onesimus to forgive his offences and take him back.

The letter is not anonymous, and hence the author states who he is and his credentials and his relationships to Philemon and Onesimus – under the matrix of Paul’s relationship with the risen Lord; hence, the phrase ‘in Christ’ is the driving force for writing this letter. The confidence in writing this letter comes from his own personal story of experiencing Jesus Christ on the Damascus Road. His story, in summary, is that Jesus––God’s only begotten son, anointed and sanctified––was crucified, dead, and buried, but whom God then raised from the dead, exalted to sit at the right hand of His Father in heaven to judge all His people and the creation in the fullness of time.

The author of this letter, Paul, is identified himself in the letter simply as a prisoner of Christ Jesus and the friend of a fellow worker of Timothy (verse1), an old man (verse 9), and a friend of Philemon. Paul identifies his relationship with the recipient of this letter, Philemon, as a dear friend and also mentions others in this friendship circle such as Apphia, Archippus and Timothy; these people are described as fellow-workers and soldiers; Paul also remembers the members of the wider house-church that meets in Philemon’s house. Although Paul is away in prison, he has very close fellowship with this community in Colossae through his silent prayer commitment for each and every one of them. This is the quality of his relationship in Christ, and love is the binding force that is connecting all the people in this story.

The purpose of the letter is a plea on behalf of his spiritual son, Onesimus, who wronged Philemon before his repentance and conversion to Christianity under the influence of Paul. Paul says in verses 8 and 9, “. . . although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I appeal to you on the basis of love.” Therefore, the driving force is the unconditional love of God, which Paul, Philemon and Onesimus share in Christ. Paul is not writing this letter under his authority as an apostle with power to command, but as a brother in Christ. This is indeed a good example for everyone in leadership roles in the church.

In this letter, Paul is demonstrating the transformational power of living in Christ. Onesimus is a now a completely changed man and no more a slave in the eyes of Paul, he is his son. Paul speaks of him in this letter as: (1) ‘my son Onesimus’ (verse 10); (2) ‘useless, but now useful’ (verse 11); (3) ‘a dear brother’ (verse 16). Notice the power of Paul’s ministry in Christ to transform sinners into saints (Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11).

This letter shows Paul’s sincerity, tact, skills and appeal, but he was able to write such an effective letter because of his life ‘in Christ’. The genius of this letter lies in the fact that Paul makes the request before telling Philemon what the request is for; it is a superb way of asking a favour without telling what the favour is about. But Paul was very careful in not taking advantage of his considerable power and influence. Although we do not know the end result of this letter, how could Philemon fail to respond to such a letter? Paul expects Philemon to accept Onesimus, not as a slave, but at an elevated status of a brother and much more! Tom Wright26 thinks that Onesimus later became a bishop of Ephesus, he wrote: “Fifty years later the bishop of Ephesus is a man called Onesimus. The young slave, now an elderly Christian leader? Or a name already respected within the early community?” Yes, indeed, ‘every cloud has a silver lining’.

Therefore, everything is possible ‘in Christ’ and for Christ. This is an ideal model for conflict resolution. The mediator should have the right relationships with everyone concerned and the right relationship is only possible ‘in Christ’. Unity among the believers is the core theme of Jesus’ high priestly prayer in John 17. The members of churches are expected to glorify God by their life of unity and ecumenical relationship. Dis-unity among the members of churches is against the Gospel of Christ and it hinders God’s mission (Missio Dei).

26 Tom Wright, ‘Paul a Biography, SPCK London, 2018, page 284.

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