Sunday, July 12, 2026

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-5 and 29-31

Sermon Title: Unity of the Spirit

A little over a week ago, here in America, we celebrated the 250th birthday of the United States of America. 250 years of independence was a significant milestone for our country. We were in Canada, so it’s a little strange that we missed the 4th of July festivities back home. I did dress the girls in red, white, and blue that day, and Jesse cooked an American style cookout with ribs, chicken, and baked beans. So we did celebrate in our own way, but I will admit I missed watching the fireworks.

​In our personal lives, birthdays and anniversaries are a good time to reflect on what we’re thankful for, what we’ve accomplished, where we want to go from here, and maybe even where we have messed up and where we want to grow. It’s a good time to assess our health, mentally and physically. It’s a good time to take a spiritual inventory of our lives. And I would say, that’s not just true of us as individuals, but also as a church, as a denomination, and even as a country.

As we celebrate 250 years of being an independent country, we should not just watch fireworks and eat good food but reflect on where we have come and where we are going. We should spend some time being thankful for the freedoms and liberties we have that some do not have in other countries. But we should also look at the problems in our past and present and see how we want to move forward together as a country. We should be taking this time to assess the health of our country. We should ask who are those in our society that are still not experiencing the freedom and liberty that our country promises?

Inspired by the 250th birthday of our country, these next 3 weeks we’ll be in a sermon series called, “A More Perfect Union.” These words are taken directly from the preamble of the constitution. The preamble says, “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

Does anyone know who is believed to have coined the phrase, “a more perfect union?” I’ll admit I had no idea until I was writing this sermon. “Gouverneur Morris is credited with coining the phrase a ‘more perfect union.’ Morris, now largely forgotten, was one of our nation’s founders. Morris added an introductory paragraph, the Preamble to the Constitution. The founders ultimately embraced the aspirational language of ‘a more perfect union’ in its reference to the project of uniting 13 colonies into one nation. While Morris’s preamble has no legal validity, it remains the most timeless, best-known and most quoted part of the Constitution.” – Adam Russell Taylor, “A More Perfect Union.”

I love this idea of uniting 13 distinct colonies into one nation. And I love this idea about a “more perfect union.” To me, this means an acknowledgement that our union is not perfect yet, but we are working toward perfection. I love this because in a spiritual sense, it’s a very Wesleyan idea.

Every year at Annual Conference we ordain elders and deacons in the United Methodist Church. And when you are ordained you are asked Wesley’s “Historic Questions.” And one of those historic questions is, “Are you going on to perfection?” I was asked this question at my ordination as well. And we answer “yes!”

This question is based on Wesley’s idea of “Entire Sanctification.” We believe that when we have a relationship with Jesus Christ, we should becoming more and more like Jesus Christ. We should be going on to perfection.

Now I firmly believe in the separation of Church and State. I firmly believe that our country is wonderful because people of all faiths, not just Christianity are free to practice their faith. But speaking to us here in a church, as people of faith, if we all have a relationship with Jesus and are going on to perfection, if we are becoming more and more like Christ, then all aspects of our life should be going on to perfection. Our marriages, our family, our community, our church, and even our politics should be becoming more Christ like. We as people of faith should be advocating for policies in our country that are just and Christ like. The problem is,many of us disagree about what policies are Christ like.

Now I don’t know about you, but when I watch the news or read the news online, whichever way you get your news, I don’t know that I see “a more perfect union” unfolding. I see a lot of polarization, division, and even hate. And so today, I want us to focus in on the word “unity.”

And to do this, we’re looking at a scripture from Ephesians chapter 4. And what that means especially for us as followers of Jesus Christ. Ephesians is a letter written by the Apostle Paul to the church in Ephesus. And unity is a major theme in this letter.

I know we heard these verses earlier, but I really want us to focus on verses 3-6. “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:3-6, NIV)

We are called by God to make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit. Every effort. Sadly, when we look at the Church, we see that division is not just in politics and in our nation’s government, but in the Church as well. We have all sorts of denominations because of division and fractures. Sadly, in our own denomination we had a recent split within the last few years with some churches disaffiliating and no longer being United Methodist. And this division has been painful, just as a divorce is painful.

But here in Ephesians we are reminded that we are one in Christ. We have one Lord, one faith, one Baptism, and one God. We as followers of Jesus Christ are able to be one with one another not through our own power or our own strength, but through the power of the Holy Spirit working within us.

Don’t worry, I’m not going to, but if I took a poll on our political affiliation here at Tomoka UMC we would not all agree with one another. There are people here in our congregation who are very upset with the things our current administration is doing. There are people here in our congregation who are very happy. And I’m sure there are people who are maybe a mix. They appreciate some policies and disagree with others.

And yet, although we have a mix of opinions on politics, we are all here together gathered in this place to worship on Sunday Morning because of One Body, One Spirit, One Hope, One Lord, One Baptism, One God, and One Father of all. Jesus Christ is so much greater than the things that divide us.

So, we are one in Christ, and then these last verses of Ephesians 4 tells us how to treat one another. Ephesians 4:29 tells us, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” (NIV)

And then Ephesians 4:31-32, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (NIV)

I think if Paul were writing this today he would add in “Don’t let any unwholesome words be typed with our fingers.” In the age of texting and social media, a lot of our unwholesome talk is not words we say out loud but words we type.

And as followers of Jesus Christ, we should be asking ourselves before we text, before we type, before we post, before we share something, “Is this unwholesome? Is this Christ like? Is this tearing someone down or building someone up?”

I have been convinced that so much of the political polarization and division in this country is because of social media. I believe that we are harsher with words we type and when we are separated by a screen than when we are face to face with someone.

Unity does not mean that we avoid difficult discussions. We can have difficult discussions. We can disagree with one another. But we can do so in a Christ like way. And I believe we usually do this better face to face than we do posting on social media.

And so as we assess the health of our country on this 250th birthday, we might have different assessments of whether we are heading in the right direction or the wrong direction. But I think one thing we can all agree on is how politically polarized and divided we are. And if we want to be apart of that “more perfect union,” if we want to be part of moving toward perfection and unity, then we might have to move away from the way we post on social media, and move toward difficult, face to face conversations.

A few years back, right before a divisive election, a mentor of mine posted this on Facebook and I think it’s still good for us to hear today. He said, “Perhaps how we treat one another on the way to and from voting is more important than who we vote for.” Ouch, that’s convicting to me. How do we treat those who vote differently from us?  

We are not to slander one another, but show compassion, and forgive one another as Christ forgave us. These are the words of Paul to the Ephesians. And these words might be especially helpful to us today in a divisive time as well.

In his famous sermon, “Catholic Spirit,” our founder John Wesley wrote these words. “Though we can’t think alike, may we not love alike?” Don’t you love that? Though we can’t think alike, may we not love alike? During a divisive and polarized time, how can we as the Body of Christ love alike? What does that look like in your own life to love alike?

As we seek to be “a more perfect union,” let us love alike even when we don’t think alike. Let us remember that we are One in Christ. And may be experience unity in the spirit even when the union of our country feels far from perfect. Let us keep seeking to me more and more like Christ, all the days of our lives.

Amen