“Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers met together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become 'unity' conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.” 
― A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 12:1, 4-14, 25-27 (The Voice)
Now let me turn to some issues about spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters. There’s much you need to learn.
Now there are many kinds of grace gifts, but they are all from the same Spirit. There are many different ways to serve, but they’re all directed by the same Lord. There are many amazing working gifts in the church, but it is the same God who energizes them all in all who have the gifts.
Each believer has received a gift that manifests the Spirit’s power and presence. That gift is given for the good of the whole community. The Spirit gives one person a word of wisdom, but to the next person the same Spirit gives a word of knowledge. Another will receive the gift of faith by the same Spirit, and still another gifts of healing—all from the one Spirit. One person is enabled by the Spirit to perform miracles, another to prophesy, while another is enabled to distinguish those prophetic spirits. The next one speaks in various kinds of unknown languages, while another is able to interpret those languages. One Spirit works all these things in each of them individually as He sees fit.
Just as a body is one whole made up of many different parts, and all the different parts comprise the one body, so it is with the Anointed One. We were all ceremonially washed through baptism together into one body by one Spirit. No matter our heritage—Jew or Greek, insider or outsider--no matter our status—oppressed or free—we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
Here’s what I mean: the body is not made of one large part but of many different parts. That way there should be no division in the body; instead, all the parts mutually depend on and care for one another. If one part is suffering, then all the members suffer alongside it. If one member is honored, then all the members celebrate alongside it. You are the body of the Anointed, the Liberating King; each and every one of you is a vital member.

Reflection: 
​Focusing only on what unites us can be a difficult task.  It seems far easier to recognize how we are different.  Even the simplest  ways of identification, I can easily recognize that my husband has dark hair and I have light hair.  I have blue eyes and my nephew has brown eyes.  

We are pretty lucky.  My husband and I both have families that are pretty close, and do a lot together.  We live nearby; even our extended families are only a few hours away.  When we get together for a reunion or a holiday celebration I may know that there are different skin colors and different eye colors, but I also know that we are from the one family.  Often, our gatherings are more fun when we aren't worried about how we are different ages and might consider different activities as to how we would like to spend our time.  Our meals are easier when we focus on what everyone can agree upon rather than discussing why I don't eat meat, only fish, and why my husband would like to only eat meat, forever.

These seem like trivial examples, and to a certain extent they are.  However, when we focus on the family time and what is best for the family to have an enjoyable evening or weekend together, rather than on what each individual person needs to do in order to enjoy their time, then it seems as if it all naturally falls into place and we have the best time.

The church in Corinth struggled, like most churches even today, about their gifts.  What about me?  I bring this gift to the church.  And what about her, she brings this other gift, which one is better?  Nowadays when people ask me about the church that I serve I often get questions about what makes us different from the church they attend, or something similar.  Perhaps we still have much to learn, like the church in Corinth, about focusing on what unites us, focusing on the Body of Christ.

We hope you will join us tomorrow - it's supposed to rain a lot in Kansas City, so this is a great reason to come worship together, hear some AMAZING music from the Kansas City Men's Ensemble who will be singing, and simply be together.  ALL are welcome to join us, no matter how different you think you might be, we choose to focus on what unites us in the Body of Christ, and you (yes YOU!) are welcome here!

Unity is not something we are called to create; it’s something we are called to recognize.
        - William Sloane Coffin

“We are more alike, my   
                                                  friends, than we are unalike.”
                                                          - Maya Angelou

READING:
In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ. Also, since you are Christ’s family, then you are Abraham’s famous “descendant,” heirs according to the covenant promises.
                             - Galatians 3.28-29 (The Message)    


REFLECTION:
I will never forget Louis Moore and the lesson he taught me one sultry summer’s evening long ago in the Deep South. The year was 1967, and Louis was one of a handful of Blacks bussed into Minor High School where I attended. They were all kids of significant courage who braved the slurs and abuse of far too many students who – how shall I say this? – lacked moral fiber. But Louis stood above them all. Of the 150 or so kids who went out for football in the spring, Louis was the only black. Most of the other 149 had advanced from Dixie Junior High School, the home of the rebels. Colors? Blue and Gray. Mascot? A Confederate flag. But Louis was not to be intimidated. He stood up under pressure I can’t even imagine, went back day after day always finding himself at the bottom of the depth chart and starting over, and finally made the team. He was the first, and at the time the only, black football player for the fighting Tigers.

The day etched in my memory occurred half way through summer training camp, 2 weeks of twice a day practice. There was a morning practice of 3 hours, several hours of sleep, a bite of food, and an evening practice that lasted until the cows came home. We were always exhausted; battered, sore, and bruised; never sure if we could make it through one more day.

After one particularly grueling evening practice, I sat on the bench facing my locker, stripped from the waist up, elbows on knees, utterly exhausted, trying to find the strength to get up and go to the showers. Suddenly the isle cleared out and looking up I saw Louis at the other end of the isle sitting on the bench facing his locker, stripped from the waist up, elbows on knees, utterly exhausted, trying to find the strength to get up and go to the showers. Our eyes met, and we shared a pained expression that said everything that needed to be said. But in that moment a light dawned in my spirit, and in that most common setting I realized that we were the same, Louis and I. We mirrored each other; like a reflection in a mirror.

That experience shed a little light for me on ethnic unity and equality, and the light has been shining ever since, growing stronger, and illuminating other groups equally despised, rejected, and pushed to the margins of society; groups with which we need to recognize unity. On Sunday we will celebrate equality and unity with friends from the Historic Second Baptist Church of Olathe, our own ministry partner Rios de Agua Viva, and friends from The Raindrop House in Lenexa. Join us at 10:30 AM for a rousing worship gathering, and stay for dinner… it’s on us.

Only when they spread their wings are they the wakers of a wind: as if God with his broad sculptor’s hands were turning pages in the dark book of the beginning. 
       - Rainer Maria Rilke


READING:
When God began to create the heavens and the earth— the earth was without shape or form, it was dark over the deep sea, and God’s wind swept over the waters… Then God said, “Let us make humanity in our image to resemble us so that they may take charge of the fish of the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and all the crawling things on earth.” God created humanity in God’s own image, in the divine image God created them, male and female God created them …the Lord God formed the human from the topsoil of the fertile land and blew life’s breath into his nostrils.
                         - Genesis 1.1-2, 26-27; 2.7 (CEB)



REFLECTION:
It’s early – wicked early – but I can’t sleep for the wind stirring in my spirit; urging me, enticing me, inspiring me… challenging me to pray, reflect, listen, and write something of substance on freedom and equality. The very prospect is exciting because this conviction – the equality of all - has a prominent place in my heart; on this one theological issue at least, there is no ambiguity; on this point God’s Spirit brooks no excuses. 

Despite our best efforts over the years to coax the biblical tradition to support notions of our superiority over others (feel free to define our as you will), the biblical tradition has spread its wings and wakened the wind, inviting us to soar above and beyond the limits imposed by fear, jealousy, and a sense of entitlement; and to see the human community from God’s perspective: equal and unified. 

Despite our diligent attempts to paint Jesus as the defender of all things free – markets, accumulation of wealth, the assertion of power and control – Jesus emphatically refuses this role. Read his story; you don’t have to take my word for it; there is a clear sub-text. “Ain’t gonna happen,” Jesus insists. “You won’t use me to assert economy over equality, privilege over poverty, personal security over succor for the weak and marginalized. Ain’t gonna happen.”

And despite our fervent desire to bundle up against the wind and avoid being swept away on God’s cause, the wind has been wakened; the same wind that swept over chaos “in the beginning,” presaging the explosion of God’s creative activity. That wind continues to blow because God, with sculptor’s hands, continues to create children, women, and men in the divine image. The one, clear divine image, mind you. This image doesn’t come in stages or degrees. This image is not an entitlement. This image is not deserved but granted as a gift… to all. We are called to recognize and embrace its profoundly simple reality, a sign of God’s tender embrace of each and every individual, culture, and people. It’s just easier to recognize from above the clouds. Shall we soar?

                                     - Bo

“…These words – the words of Jesus - are not a list to be read. They are not even a sermon to be preached. They are a score to be played…”
           - Dominic Crossan 
             (clarification added)

 I am a hole in a flute that the Christ’s breath moves through— listen to this music.  
                                                - Hafiz

READING:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
                                                  - Hebrews 12.1-2 (NRSV)  

REFLECTION:
We have invited the members of our faith community to adorn the chancel on Sunday with photographs of loved ones whose memory they want to honor on All Saints Sunday. We’ve done this before; so I know from experience that this visual reminder of that great cloud of witnesses surrounding us is both moving and powerful. I’ve looked forward to it for months. So imagine my near panic when I couldn’t find my favorite picture of mama and daddy; two of the many saints that have graced my life, and let’s face it… my favorite saints. 

I searched high and low around the house, and couldn’t find it anywhere (in point of fact, I still haven’t found it!). I was devastated, and as I searched fell deeper and deeper into a funk; until it dawned on me that I didn’t need an image at all, because their voices still resonate within my spirit. I can still hear the spiritual wisdom they shared with me, the sage advice they offered. Occasionally I have to dismiss mom’s disapproving refrain, “Bobo, I taught you better than that…” I can’t forget it, because she said it so often (my personal development was, shall we say, slow to see the light of day, and often obscured by clouds), but no one offers gems of wisdom every time.

I am still guided by their voices, voices in which I find comfort and courage; and theirs are not the only ones. There are more voices, many voices to which I can turn for inspiration and hope. One voice, two voices, three and more, all speaking at once. You might think it would be hard to hear anything useful amidst such cacophony, but it’s not. Voices that speak in love and support, voices whose only purpose is to give, to share with others; these voices blend, harmonize, and in truth become one. Beyond the deafening roar of such a multitude, there is the sound of but one voice. This voice offers us an inkling of the unity that grows in and around us when we open our spirits, and add our voices to theirs; a hint of the music God yearns to make through our lives. Listen; can you hear the music?