Stephen
Terry, Director
Unity
in Christ
Commentary
for the July 18, 2026, Sabbath School Lesson
"How good and pleasant it is when God's
people live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head,
running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down on the collar of
his robe. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there
the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore." Psalm 133
In my mind, whenever I hear the
word "unity," I am immediately drawn to the idea of harmony, and that brings me
to the 1982 joint work of Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder "Ebony and Ivory" on
Paul's album "Tug of War." That song is almost childlike in its simplicity and
harks back to the 1960s and the naïve protests on behalf of world peace, a goal
that continues to elude us still. It asks why we cannot live together in
harmony like the black and white keys of a piano keyboard? Even though what I
am playing now may be far removed from that song, I cannot help but think of it
every time I approach a keyboard. I cannot divorce unity from the idea of
harmony. Others, especially those who have some understanding of music theory,
understand the importance of harmony and how foundational it is to unity.
Nonetheless, some see something
different whenever unity is mentioned. They see unity as though it has morphed
into uniformity. Variety, to them, challenges uniformity and therefore
threatens unity. They then conclude if God desires unity, then the variety that
is essential for harmony challenges God himself and must be opposed. But the
music itself reveals the error in thinking that.
If we look at the late 18th
century hymn by John Newton, "Amazing Grace," written in the key of G Major, we
discover that the first note is a D quarter note. Suppose that in the interests
of uniformity, that D note decided that every other note should be a quarter
note, just as its creator had determined it should be. The second note, which
was a G half note, now becomes a quarter note and so on
throughout the hymn with eighth notes joining with the half notes to become
quarters. The rhythmic flow of the melody would devolve into a steady beat instead.
Now suppose that D quarter note that started us off decided that was not
uniformity yet. All the other notes need to not only become quarters, but D
notes as well. The beautiful flowing melody that has touched so many hearts for
centuries becomes only a staccato of the same note played repeatedly. This begs
the question. If God wanted uniformity, why did he create so much diversity?
And even more, if God wanted uniformity, why did he create us so dependent upon
one another and our diversity to achieve harmony?
Many years ago, I had an unusual
dream where I seemed to be witnessing angels talking to one another, but they
were not monophonic like humanity is. They were polyphonic and able to speak in
chords and various major and minor keys without dissonance. While our speech
seemed harsh and guttural in comparison, theirs flowed smoothly like a river
between them. It was like waves caressing a sandy shore and every being, every
aspect of creation was doing as it was meant to. While we are limited by our
monophony in what sounds we can produce individually, when we join as a chorus,
we overcome that limitation and unity does something uniformity cannot achieve.
As a species we become polyphonic and become more than we could be alone. While
we may not be capable of angelic levels of polyphony, we certainly draw closer
to it than otherwise. As created beings we were imbued with an innate yearning
for harmony that can only come through social appreciation of our diverse gifts
and our willingness to integrate those abilities into a symphony of praise for
God and each other. In appreciating each other, we honor God and the creative
choices he has made in each of the more than eight billion human beings who
walk the earth with us. And in praising God, we honor and respect that his love
is manifest in each of those lives, including our own.
We too often tend to define God's
gift of life to us as a designation of a career path, and then we allow
ourselves to be shaped by humanity's definition of how that career path should
unfold. We should know better from experience, but we continue to stumble over
this. Just as some students graduate secondary school and then thrive in
college, others enter apprenticeship programs or trade schools and thrive also.
There is no set path to success or even to heavenly rewards. Some young boy
likes to read the Bible and pray, so we push them toward becoming a pastor
because we feel those are the people who normally do those things. If a young
girl shows compassion for others and a loving heart we might push them toward a
nursing career. Once the children succeed in being called pastor or nurse, we
feel that the purpose of their lives has been fulfilled. But why? Why do we have
problems with a boy who decides to stitch tents together for a living (Acts
18:1-3) and feel he has missed his calling if that is how he supports
himself and his family instead of supporting them by asking for a weekly call
for tithes and offerings? (1
Thessalonians 2:9) Why do we have problems with a woman who loves to sew even
though she has no desire to become a fashionista instead of getting a nursing
degree. Why do we not see that God has placed so many DIFFERENT gifts in the church
because he wants us diverse, loving, and adaptable toward whomever we come
across in life.
I live in an area where about a
dozen Seventh-day Adventist churches are within driving distance for sabbath
services. Each of those churches has a distinct personality based on the gifts
allowed to develop within each fellowship. Some that are exclusionary struggle more
than others as they focus on limiting the uniqueness of the manifestation of
the Holy Spirit flows from the lives of their members. Others more fully
embrace the diversity, and it is no surprise that God seems to feel more
comfortable bringing his seeking children to those churches less concerned with
a heavy push toward perfectionism and its immediate embrace than with simply
loving the hurting and recognizing the tender shoots that need care and
compassion. I remember decades ago that a church was built in our area with the
idea of attracting doctors and other health care professionals. I do not recall
the reasons this group was targeted. At any rate, after decades I am not sure
the church has a higher percentage of such professionals than any other
churches in the area. The congregation looks pretty diverse to me, just like
most others locally.
How does that diversity play out
as unity resulting in harmony? There are two ways area churches capitalize on
the many gifts diversity brings us. Every spring, one church re-enacts the
Journey to the Cross. Thousands from Spokane County and beyond attend the
re-enactment and see and hear the story of Christ's crucifixion. Every December
another church re-enacts the Journey to Bethlehem and despite the cold and the
outdoor re-enactment, thousands attend to relive the story of Christ's birth.
Hundreds bring the spiritual gifts God has blessed them with to act, guide,
narrate, cook, play live music, provide security, ushering, parking attendance
and in every way minister to allow these moving stories to flow out in love to
the attendees from hearts changed by their own encounter with God's love, grace
and compassion.
It is time we recognized our own
ordination as diverse people, gifted with everything we need for our calling. As
Peter said, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called
you out of darkness into his wonderful light." (1 Peter 2:9) We have the same
elements of ordination as the ancient priesthood. We have the blood of the
sacrifice via the cross. We have the water of cleansing via baptism. And we
have the oil of anointing via the Holy Spirit. All of this was declared by
Peter at Pentecost. (Acts
2:38) But instead of the limited priesthood of Aaron and the Levites, we
are ordained to a greater service in the order of Melchizedek where Christ is
high priest and we have eternal life enabling our service in that eternal
order. (Hebrews
5-7) God has not called a separate clerical class to live off the largesse
of others. That Levitical model passed away and ended when the curtain of the
temple was torn by an unseen hand. (Matthew
27:51) Now God no longer calls the Levites as redemption for the firstborn
of Israel. Instead, we are all first born through blood, water, and oil. It is
not the work of those with titles, be they pastors, bishops, elders, or deacons
to fulfill God's calling on our hearts. All of creation waits for the sons and
daughters of God to step forth and claim the ordination freely given and do the
works of the One who has called us. "For the creation waits in eager
expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was
subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who
subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its
bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God."
(Romans 8:19-21)