Transcription
Here I am in Jerusalem, at the entrance to the church of the Holy Sepulchre. Considered by many the most holy spot in Christendom, because this church is built over what is believed to be the place where Jesus was crucified at Golgotha and where he uh is buried in a tomb that is now empty. Uh, I just uh noticed, as I come in, the ladder that is up high on the ceiling, and there's a story behind that ladder. We know from an oil painting that was done in 1820 that that ladder uh was there then, and how long it was there before then I don't really know, but for two centuries it's been there. Why has it been there? Because there are six different groups that occupy this church: the Greek Orthodox, the Roman Catholic, the Assyrian, the Coptic, uh the Ethiopian, the Armenian, and they can't agree among themselves as to uh who the ladder belongs to.
And because they can't agree, they've never moved the ladder. And not only that, uh these groups have so disagreed over the years that um finally the keys to the church were turned over to two Muslim families, because the Christians couldn't agree as to who should have access. It's a horrible representation of Christianity in the uh world in which we live. Uh, one of the Orthodox Jews who was observing uh this problem at the church of the Holy Sepulchre said, "You Christians uh can't get your message across, because uh you have the you have so many differences; your Jesus is the only one who has said, 'Love your enemies,' but you don't follow your Jesus, and as a result you make no difference in this world."
Those are powerful words, and they are a powerful indictment. But we can look at historic Christianity and we can say, "Oh, they need to get their differences uh together, and they they need to demonstrate more unity." And what a shame that they are uh disagreeing in the face of a watching world. But what about us? I know of so many churches and pastors that can tell stories of division in the church, of anonymous letters, of disagreements over small things, even as small as uh where the uh what translation of the Bible to use, uh uh where uh where to place the musical instruments, what kind of songs to sing, uh who should be in leadership, and we're not immune to these things. We we live in a day of the internet, where the internet has made it possible for everyone who has the slightest complaint to have a megaphone to the world and to announce their disagreement.
Jesus never said, "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you agree 100% with one another." He said, "By this all men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another." And I am absolutely amazed today at what divides believers from one another. We can agree on 90%, 95%, but on the 5%, if you don't agree with me then you're a heretic, or you're outside the fold, or you're not Pentecostal, or you're not really one of us. Granted, there are core doctrines that we all must agree upon, but there are also things that are called preferences. And we must be careful that we do not let our preferences be elevated among uh to the level of doctrine.
I want to appeal to you as an Assemblies of God Church family, as we begin to come into the centennial, as we come to general counsel in 2013 and beyond, that we get our focus on Jesus, that we get our focus on reaching this lost world, that we get our focus on evangelism and discipleship, and we not let those few in our midst who want to turn our attention to this disagreement or that disagreement or this person or this personality or this teaching and divide us and fracture us, which makes us an extremely poor witness to the world. I have noticed in my pastoral ministry and in my life that the people who most criticize are the people who are doing the least amount of evangelism. And I want to encourage all of us to put into focus the fact that Jesus said, "By this will the world know that you love that you are my disciples if you love one another." That is absolutely the key to all that we are doing in our Assemblies of God fellowship.
No, in our Assemblies of God fellowship, we are not going to agree on everything. We are going to agree on our statement of fundamental truths. That is, we are going to agree on our core doctrine. But we are going to allow our disagreements in other areas to be conducted in a spirit of love. We're going to recognize that we have a structure for dealing with complaints. That just because some website or some person gets their megaphone and blasts something that may or may not be true, that does that does not elevate it to the level of doctrine. I am going I am appealing to our fellowship. Will you join with me in coming together and praying the prayer of Jesus that even we in our own fellowship might be one, and that we can demonstrate not just with our words but with our actions that we are truly Christ's disciples and have love for one another?
You know, as you come up to Jerusalem as a pilgrim, you sing the Psalms of Ascent. And those psalms begin with Psalm 120 and end with Psalm 134. And near the end of the Psalms of Ascent, there is Psalm 133. And it says, "See how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity. It's like the oil that is on Aaron's head running down the collar of his robe, his beard. And and it's also like the dew of Hermon on Mount Zion." In other words, the psalmist uses two metaphors to describe unity. One metaphor is the metaphor of the anointing oil on Aaron, the high priest. And that occurs once in a high priest's lifetime. Once in a generation, and the dew of Hermon, Hermon is 200 miles north of Jerusalem. So in fact, the dew of Hermon doesn't even fall on Mount Zion, the temple mount. And what the psalmist appears to be saying is unity is so rare among brothers that it occurs only once in a lifetime, the anointing of Aaron, or it occurs not at all, the dew of Hermon on Mount Zion. And that's why it's so precious. I'm appealing to you that unity not be rare in our midst, but rather that unity be the word that describes us together.
The Apostle Paul never identified criticism as a fruit of the spirit. Peace and joy and love and faithfulness and goodness and kindness and gentleness. These are the qualities that we are called to live out as disciples of Jesus Christ. So could we do that? Could we march forward in unity as we enter this centennial? Could we spend a lot of time in prayer? Can we focus upon what is creative and constructive above the critical and corrective? Can we really serve Jesus and by our words and our deeds we let this watching world know that we are Christ's disciples? Let's never let it never be said of us as is said of this church that we are so divided that sometimes the police have to be called out to settle disputes. Let it never be said of us that we're arguing over turf, that we're arguing in our own fellowship who belongs inside and who belongs outside. The poet said it so well: He drew a circle that shut me out. Rebel, heretic, a thing to flout, but love and I had the wit to win. We drew a circle that took him in. This church reminds me physically of how important it is for us to walk together in the bonds of peace and fellowship. Thanks for letting me share this word with you today from Jerusalem and the church of the Holy Sepulchre.