The Power of One

                                                  Ephesians 4: 1-6

 

 

          Vacation is good for the soul. A destination wedding of my wife Cindy’s nephew brought us recently to Aspen, Colorado. Since we had to travel that far, we decided to extend the trip and visit her other relatives in Colorado and New Mexico. A week or so later, we had renewed old friendships, made new ones, hiked through a mountain valley, rode horses up another mountain, and driven through much of the Western Slope of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.  We were awed by God’s architecture in that area of the United States. For much of the time, I felt as though I was in a massive cathedral of God’s own carving.

          Ten miles outside of Aspen in the White River National Forest, there is an area where one can see a mountain range called the Maroon Bells, a name which refers to the color and shape of those peaks. They are touted as the most photographed place in Colorado. In the right light, they have a deep reddish, maroon color from the soft red shale and siltstone of which they are composed. As I stood there looking, I imagined the pipes of a church organ. I could almost hear God’s voice on the soft wind that blew through the valley on our visit. A couple days later as we traveled south, we witnessed wonder after wonder of the Rocky Mountains. The majesty of that mountain range and valleys miles wide is enough to take your breath away.   

          Is it possible to feel closer to God outside in nature? I think most people would echo a resounding yes to that question. In the presence of God’s astounding artistry, from mountains to seashores to prairies to deserts, one can often feel a more pronounced presence of God. Perhaps it is the lack of so much civilization pressing in upon us. Perhaps it is the incredible beauty that exists where man’s footprint is not so evident. Whatever it is, it draws us closer to the magnificence of God. While it is not meant to take the place of our gathering for worship as God’s people, it is an inspiration that all of us need. These places in nature are more wild, more serene, more likely for many of us to become awed enough to step back, to take time, to listen and perhaps feel more clearly God’s presence moving within us as we meditate on his creation. That’s part of what I did on my visit to the Rockies.

          In the book of Ephesians, the apostle Paul is writing from prison. He refers to himself as a prisoner for the Lord.  We looked at part of this passage recently when we were talking about obedience to God and how we know people who walk with God. Paul says here to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called [4:1].  The passage is about unity, unity in the body of Christ, and Paul details our calling to Christ, our walk with Christ, in terms of humility and gentleness, of patience, of bearing with one another lovingly, of eagerly maintaining unity in the Spirit [v. 2, 3].

          Then, Paul talks about what it means to be in unity with the body of Christ. He talks about one body and one Spirit…one hope…one Lord, one faith, one baptism [v. 4]. Paul is telling the Ephesians that the body of Christ is the Church. It is the Christ-ordained organism through which Christ exists and is made known in the world today.

          It sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? But today we are a world of 195 nations and 4,200 religions, even 9 Presbyterian denominations —how do we even begin to have a conversation about unity? We are a diverse planet, and even where there seems to be unity, there is remarkable diversity, as in the Church. Is unity possible? Is it desirable? What did Paul mean and to what does he point us to today?

          The Colorado Rockies are loaded with evergreens and aspen trees. In the fall, the aspens rival the tulip poplars and hickories and birch of our beloved Blue Ridge Mountains. They turn a bright, shimmering yellow that glistens in the sun and wind. In their movement, they seem so alive that they dominate the landscape with the dance of their leaves. What is amazing is that for the most part, these aspen forests are really one living organism. Aspens grow roots near the surface from which new trees sprout, resulting in vast forests that are all interconnected. The DNA of the trees in these forests is identical. One forest in Utah consists of 47,000 trees calculated at 13 million pounds. This would make it the largest known organism in the world. One article I read talked about aspens as an example of cloning. To me, it seems more like one parent with many, many children.

          As I took in the grandeur of these beautiful aspen forests, I couldn’t help but compare those forests to the Church. Isn’t the Church one living, breathing orgasm? Doesn’t the Church spring from one root system spreading over large areas, having its children spring up from the one common root? A tour guide driving us up to the Maroon Bells remarked about how avalanches would often bend aspen groves all the way to the ground, and then from those felled trees, roots would re-establish and new trees would emerge. What looked like the death of an aspen grove was actually the spawn of a new forest.

         What do we do when we invite someone to our church? What do we hope to accomplish when we start a new church plant, perhaps with a few of our faithful and a hope for a new church community? We are like those aspens growing new from one organism with a root system that cannot die. What happens to us as Christians when we face the avalanches of our church life, like having our church burn as happened to this congregation? We will be like those aspen groves that regenerate from the devastation of an avalanche. In the world of God’s children, we re-populate and become new growth, an addition to the family of God.

          But if we all are part of one root system, then how do we make room for new growth from outside? Again, we can look to the aspen tree to learn. Even in these large, homogeneous forests, one will find other trees with different DNA. It happens from the wind or birds blowing or carrying leaves which fall to the earth and root. So strangers become part of the populations as well as those already in the family.

          Suppose we do want to plant a church. Can we expect it to grow away from the mother church? How will we handle such a plant? Again, the aspen provides us a metaphor for such an endeavor. When you try to plant as aspen tree, you often find that the tree you planted will die. But if you wait a season or two, you will see new sprouts coming up not far from the original plant. This is the spreading process at work. It is not so different from what God does to his church.

          One body, one spirit, one hope. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. An aspen forest can begin with one tree planted well. The whole Christian movement started just that way. Jesus came. He left behind a little band of twelve disciples. Look what has happened since. The Power of One can never be underestimated. We should all take note of the aspen. Each of us bears the DNA of our Lord. Let’s go do some planting.