Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
by the Revd Dr Robert Wilson PhD (Cantab), Old Roman Apostolate UK
One body and one spirit, as you are called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all and in us all, who is blessed for ever and ever.
Today we hear from St. Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians. He beseeches them, as the prisoner of the Lord, that they walk worthy of the vocation in which they have been called. They are to show “humility and mildness, with patience, supporting one another in charity, careful to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” In so doing they will bear witness to the truth that there is one body and spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
But what was the context in which St. Paul wrote these words? St. Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians has been called the crown of Paulinism, in which the apostle reflects on the nature of the Church as a new creation in Christ, and how Christians are called to live as members of the Body of Christ. Whereas St. Paul wrote to the Colossians to combat a specific error that had arisen in the Church, the Epistle to the Ephesians is more like a general encyclical that could be read in any church. St. Paul is able to rise above the controversy that occasioned his other writings to reflect on the nature of those who have been chosen in Christ from before the foundation of the world and have been freely accepted in the Beloved, in whom we have redemption by his blood, the forgiveness of sins. This was the fulfilment of the divine purpose in creating the universe, to sum up all things in Christ. Formerly the Gentiles were outside the covenant people of God, without hope and without God in the world, but now they have been brought into the chosen people of God through the blood of Christ, the new man who has broken down the barriers that separated them from the people of God, and incorporated them into himself. In a world marked by division and separation, Christians have been made one in Christ through the regenerating waters of baptism and must now strive to become by grace what he is by nature.
Consequently, after expounding the nature of the Church as the new creation in Christ, the faithful are now exhorted to “become what you are”. The children of Israel, who had been delivered from slavery in Egypt were exhorted in God’s covenant with them through Moses on Mount Sinai, to “Be holy, as I, the Lord your God, am holy”. That was the purpose of the Law of Moses, to provide a way of life that would mark out the chosen people of God from the rest of the world. But the people of Israel were not faithful to that covenant. They looked forward to a new covenant in which the Law would be written on the hearts of men and sins would be forgiven. St. Paul’s message is that this new covenant between God and man has now been inaugurated through the blood of Christ. The new covenant people of God, the Body of Christ, the Church, are therefore called, like the people of the old covenant, to be holy as he is holy. They are to live a life of love, showing humility and mildness and must seek to always maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
It is important to recognise that St. Paul places equal emphasis on both upholding the truth of one Lord, one faith, one baptism and also on the faithful living in unity and peace with one another in humility and patience. This is in contrast to many voices in our own time who rightly emphasise the importance of the faithful living in peace and love with one another, but either repudiate or ignore the emphasis that St. Paul placed on the importance not only of unity but also on truth. For St. Paul true unity could only come from acknowledgment of the fundamental truth of the faith. It could not be found where the truths of the one Lord, one faith and one baptism were not upheld.
At the opposite extreme others are rightly concerned to continue to uphold and bear witness to the faith once delivered to the saints, but they fail to notice that St. Paul placed equal emphasis on unity as well as truth. The faithful should seek to strive to live in peace and love with all, for all our doings are worth nothing without charity, the charity that suffereth long and is kind, that vaunteth not itself, that seeketh not her own, that rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth.
How can we maintain the right balance between the seemingly conflicting principles of truth and unity? The answer lies in Jesus’ response to the scribe in today’s Gospel from St. Matthew. When asked about the greatest commandment in the Law Jesus responded “thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul and with thy whole mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And the second is like to this: thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments dependeth the whole Law and the Prophets.” In other words, the greatest commandment is to love God, in other words to uphold the truth. After that the second most important commandment is to love our neighbour as ourselves, in other words to live in unity and charity with one another.
If we try to love our neighbour without giving our first priority to loving God, in other words seeking unity at all costs without bearing witness to the truth, we will find that we have neglected the greatest commandment of all. But if we try to love God without expressing it in love of our neighbour, in other words become so obsessed with upholding what we see as the truth that we fail to show charity in our dealings with others, our faith will become an empty formalism. We should rather strive to speak the truth in love and this can only be done when we put God first by loving him above all else and then love our neighbour as our selves. If in the last resort we have to disagree with others we should still seek to be charitable to them, for to fail to do so would be to neglect the second greatest commandment.
Let us pray for grace to continue to uphold the doctrines of the One Lord, one faith and one baptism in our own time and place, but also to speak the truth in love, with all humility, with mildness and with patience, always endeavouring to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
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