Weekly Sermon: 02-22-2026 - Community Unity

Gospel according to Matthew. Glory to you, O Lord. So excited to get into the word today.

If your brother or sister sins

against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone.

If you are listened to, you have regained that one.

But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you so that

every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses.

If that person refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church.

And if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be

to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

Truly, I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven.

And whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Again, truly, I tell you, if the two of you agree on earth about But anything

you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.

For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them." This

is the Gospel of the Lord.

In this season of Lent, our countdown to Easter for those for whom Lent is a

new word, we are focusing on discipleship.

That is how we follow Jesus.

The weekly videos that will be sent out beginning tomorrow and the devotional

book are about your personal spiritual life.

The discipleship class that I'm teaching after worship beginning today is about

developing as a disciple.

And on Sunday mornings in worship, we are focusing on how we live together as

a discipleship community.

The theme is we are better together. And each week we'll name the commitments

that help us become the strongest, the most loving, the healthiest community possible.

And at the end of the season, I hope to gather these commitments into a covenant,

so to speak, of our life together.

Honestly, I learned this from one of my growth coaches and I wish that I had

learned this at the beginning of my ministry instead of 36 years in.

Would have been really helpful. Today, we begin with the theme of community unity.

Now, it's important to be clear, I'm not preaching about unity because we have

some big conflict or crisis. We don't.

St. Luke's is wonderfully healthy, generous, warm, mission-minded, faithful.

I would venture to guess the healthiest congregation I've served over the many decades of my ministry.

But healthy relationships don't stay healthy by accident.

They stay healthy because we tend them, because we name what matters,

because we choose health and relationship on purpose.

God is growing us. And we've talked a lot about that so far this year.

In fact, our annual meeting showed how much we are growing based on how we grew

in 2025 five and our goals that God has given us for 2026.

And of course, growth brings new voices, new ideas, new energy,

and sometimes friction.

And every church has grumblings now and then. Sometimes when people disagree,

they just quietly leave.

But when that happens, nobody grows. Issues remain unspoken,

relationships remain unrepaired, and the body of Christ becomes smaller instead of stronger.

And I believe that God calls us, of course, to something better,

a community where we can disagree and still belong, a community where we are

always maturing in Christ.

So unity is a gift. It's a spiritual gift that God calls us to preserve and

to steward like we steward other gifts.

When a congregation struggles, in my experience, it rarely begins with theology.

It usually begins with words.

We probably find that to be true in our own families and relationships.

Words that are spoken in frustration or anger, a misunderstanding or hurt feelings

that are left to fester, a silence that grows heavy and is never resolved.

I have seen a church completely unravel and dismantle and close over hurtful

words that were said that created conflict and people dividing into camps,

and it was never resolved.

I've been a pastor of another congregation that grew stronger because hurtful

behavior and words were lovingly confronted.

The relationship was repaired.

There was forgiveness and relationships became deeper and stronger.

And these experiences for me point to why having conversations about community

unity matter when and we're not in conflict, right?

And it matters as we grow.

Now, right now, we live in a culture that has trained us to talk about people, but not to people.

Because social media rewards outrage and news cycles amplify division.

And algorithms feed more of what we want rather than encouraging us to engage in critical thinking.

And slowly, all of us learn habits that fracture rather than bring us together.

And we're barely even aware of it.

And so it can teach us to be quick to vent and fast to ascribe bad motives to

other people and slower to seek understanding or to even recognize the little

box that we're living inside of.

And at the same time, I have a lot of conversations with people,

not just in the church, but I mean,

family and relationships and people I'm in relationship over the phone and friends

and so on, we're all tired of division, aren't we? Isn't everybody tired of division?

Like I'm not the only one, right? It's exhausting.

It's just like, oh, you just want to shut out the world.

And we certainly want church to be different, to be safer, to be stronger, to be more gracious.

And as we look at the society today, we learn and it becomes so clear that unity must be practiced.

It's like other spiritual practices, worship, praise, prayer, meditation.

Unity must be practiced. It isn't just theoretical.

And this matters so much for us with a mission to share the love of Jesus and

the call to invite people into a welcoming community.

You know, national research tells us two very important things, actually three.

But the first thing is that I want to share is that four in 10 unchurched adults

say that they avoid church because of negative experiences with the church or with church people.

Four in 10. About three in 10 people who've left their childhood religion say

bad experiences with religious people were a major reason.

Okay. Now, even so, even so,

nearly half of unchurched adults say they would consider attending if someone

invited them, someone they trust, someone they trust invited them to church.

Now, why is that? Maybe because they, that person they trust,

is inviting them because they're having a good experience of community unity at their church.

So they're willing to overcome those negative experiences by coming to church

with somebody they trust.

That's astounding, isn't it? People are willing to overcome those negative experiences

by coming with somebody they trust who is having a positive experience of community unity.

So this tells us that people are not always rejecting Jesus or the faith.

Sometimes they are recovering from how Christians have treated one another without resolving it.

Wow. So you see, community unity is a spiritual practice.

It's a spiritual practice. How refreshing would it be for some of the people

who have had those experiences to come here,

to find that we have talked about this within our community,

moving us toward a covenant of behavior that goes along with our mission,

our vision, our values, our statement of welcome,

a covenant of behavior that involves how do we preserve unity?

So what does it look like to practice and preserve unity and behave in ways

that build community together?

Well, look at these awesome scripture passages. Why was I so excited to read them?

All right, let's look at Paul in Ephesians.

Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for

building up as there is need.

Only let talk come out of your mouth for building up not tearing down not proving

a point not winning oh that is so hard isn't social media invented so we can look like we're winning.

Oh and i do that too because we talk in our family look how many likes i got

on this post oh mommy's getting more than daddy all right so right i mean i

mean even stuff like that right I have to check myself, right? It's all about the ego.

So the most challenging part of being a community is accepting that it's not

all about my own preferences, needs, and wants.

And that is just as true for me as the pastor as it is for you.

So early on, when I came here, I was talking with Carol Rizzo.

Carol, give us a wave. I don't even remember what we were talking about.

And Carol said to me, and she said this to me more than once,

it's not about me, it's about we.

It's what's good for the church that matters most.

And I hugged her and I thought, Carol, where were you in all of my previous congregations?

Especially that one that just peeled apart right

when slander against two members were

committed and people were not willing to deal

with the sin okay paul says be kind to one another tender hearted forgiving

one another as god in christ has forgiven you unity flows from grace our whole life flows from grace.

But today we're talking about unity. We forgive because we have been forgiven.

So the spiritual issue here is that if you do not feel or experience God's forgiveness

and grace in your life, and you're carrying guilt that makes it hard for you to forgive others,

then I need you to call or text me or Pastor Ashley so that we can help resolve this for you.

Because God does forgive you. You are freed in Christ.

And if you're not experiencing that, then we want to meet with you so we can

help identify what that impediment is so that you can experience Jesus' love for you, no matter what.

There's nothing in your past that separates you from Christ's love.

Then Jesus gives us something even more to the point in Matthew 18,

and that is if another church member sins against you, and this is true out

in the world also, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone.

Now, the only exception to this, of course, is situations of abuse.

You cannot do that alone. You must ask for help.

And again, please come to me or to Pastor or Ashley, if this is something you have experienced.

But aside from that, our temptation of course, is what to talk to three or four

friends or text them, or make a vague post and ask for prayer,

or build a quiet coalition or something.

But Matthew says, go directly to that person. And if that person listens to

you, you have regained that one.

And so the goal is not winning and the goal is not being right.

And that is the hardest thing for me because I love to be right.

I'm a pastor after all, right? Isn't that part of the job description?

That is spiritually hard, giving up being right.

And the goal is not punishment or exposure. The goal is restored relationship.

So the question always is, what's your higher value? Is being right more important

than the relationships?

Then Jesus makes this astonishing promise. Where two or three are gathered in

my name, I am bare among them.

Wow christ is present in

reconciliation not just in worship and music not just in the word not just held

in scripture not just in prayer not just in the lord's supper not just in baptism

christ is present in hard holy conversations of reconciliation,

this promise makes conflict resolution

sacramental a place where

jesus promises to be present with grace

if you have heard a lesson on baptism from me or remember your lessons about

the sacraments of baptism and holy communion you need three things to make a

sacrament right you need a command to do it.

You need the promise of God's grace. And the third thing is an earthly element.

Y'all remember this? Who remembers

this? I teach it if you recently have baptism preparation with me.

In Matthew 18, you have the commandment to resolve conflict.

You have the promise of God's grace.

So what are we missing?

The earthly element. What's the earthly element? How can this be sacramental, Pastor Linda?

Do I need to call the bishop? No.

What's the earthly element? We got grapes and grain. We got water over here.

What's the earthly element?

Well, it's us. It's us. You are dust. And to dust you shall return.

Jesus promises to be present with us in our bodies.

Word and earthly efforts to resolve disagreements with love.

We are the earthly element.

Jesus died and rose from the dead to fill our earthly vessel of dust and clay

with his life and light, with his forgiveness and love.

And in so doing, his presence make our efforts toward unity and reconciliation

signs of God's grace in the world.

It is sacramental.

All three are present. So our unity then is even more than a spiritual practice.

It is a sacred trust, a sacramental embodiment that Jesus Christ has given to the whole church.

And this is why he prays continually to God, the creator for us,

that they may be one as we are one.

May they have the community unity with each other through me and through me

with you, O Holy Creator.

So filled with the power of Jesus' spirit and presence, how do we behave?

We speak truth, yes, but we do so in love.

We refuse gossip, even when it feels easier and, yes, maybe even fun.

We honor those who serve and lead, even when we disagree, even when we would

have chosen differently, and that includes me as the pastor.

We seek reconciliation quickly, not months later.

It means that when something bothers us, we ask, have I talked to that person

directly rather than to somebody else about them?

It means that we do not let resentment grow roots.

It means that we care more about the relationship than about being right.

And it means that we choose courage over comfort.

So I'm asking, can we all agree that we value these things,

that we hold and agree to holding these sacramental behaviors to preserve the

unity and the health of St.

Luke's as a part of this Lenten journey? Let me see your hands.

Do you value these things?

Do you commit to the best of our human ability to preserving unity?

Thank you. You are sacramental.

You are a sacramental presence of Christ. And unity is not uniformity.

It is not pretending.

And it is not avoiding conflict. because we protect unity by asking our Lord to help us.

Directly and faithfully as a sacramental presence. And we adopt Carol's beautiful

motto of It's Not About Me, It's About We.

And through the sacramental presence of the risen Jesus in us and through us here at St.

Luke's, we will continue to become this amazing sacramental community in unity

where love is visible and words are careful and disagreements lead to growth

and forgiveness is normal.

Woo! I love that.

How many places is forgiveness normal? That's our job, right?

That's what we get to do. I love that. And people are free to be their authentic

selves and to be honest and to have joy.

And all of this makes us safe and strong and spiritually alive.

And what does Jesus say about all of this?

By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples.

When you have love for one another, and this makes God's kingdom visible.

And unity makes God's kingdom evangelistic. I love evangelism. You know that already.

And what does that do? Unity makes us grow.

Because people are like, well, I want... I probably shouldn't say this. It's not in the script.

When Harry met Sally, people will say, well, I want what they're having.

Okay, wrong image, but you get the idea, right?

I'm sorry. Please forgive me, God. Okay. I just popped in my head,

free association with Pastor Linda.

Unity helps us grow because people want the community that we're having,

right? They want the forgiveness.

They want the joy. They want the love.

They want the experience of the Spirit.

Because community unity makes the sacramental presence of Christ real to those

seeking Jesus' love and a place to belong.

And that's our mission. And that's your mission.

Remember those half of the unchurched adults who say they would consider attending

if invited by you, someone they trust? Yeah, that's you.

Awesome. I'm so excited about that. That's your mission, to invite those who

have been hurt or are just scared.

Invite them to come for healing, to belong, to be loved by Jesus and by all of us.

Wow, wouldn't you like to introduce your friends to all of these awesome people? Look around you.

We have a collection of really awesome people here. And invite them to be loved

by Jesus and experience our community unity.

Why? Because at St. Luke's, we are better together. and we are the sacramental

presence of Jesus Christ in the world.

So get excited. I'm going to stop talking or I will have some other movie reference

that I shouldn't say. Let the church say amen.

Go forth into the world to serve God with gladness. Be of good courage.

Hold fast to what is good. To render to no one evil for evil.

Strengthen the faint-hearted. Support the weak. help the afflicted, honor all people,

share the love of Jesus, and rejoice in the power of the Holy Spirit,

changing lives as disciples who love, serve, and welcome all.

Thanks be to God, and we will. If you were inspired by this week.