A picture of unity

Sunday was a beautiful day. It was also a confusing day. One of those days where the worship service does not go as planned, but still created a beautiful image of Christ. We had an area wide worship of the urban congregations on Sunday. The auditorium was packed. It was an interesting mix. Inner city poor, missionaries who are working on Masters of Divinity, and people who do not speak English. We have never really had a bilingual service. It was difficult to communicate. It was uncomfortable at times, but it was a beautiful picture.

The theme of the day was unity. We were a group of people seeking unity. We were people that most would say would have nothing in common. It is true. We did not have much in common. We did not all look alike. We were not all from the same part of town. We were all different ages. We did not all speak the same language. But we do all serve the same Lord. That brought us together. We were together in the name of Jesus singing songs together. The songs were in English and Spanish and we each would sing in our own language at the same time. We were, if only for two hours, a united people. Memphis is not known for unity. It is a very segregated city. We made an effort to be a family. As our Spanish speaking brother would say "Somos familia." We are family.

Communion took on a new meaning. It was not a smooth well played out communion. We decided we would all take the communion together as a symbolic sign of unity. It took a while to pass out the trays and there was awkward silence in which we decided to sing a song that probably wasn't the idea choice for communion, but it was a song we all knew. As I looked across the audience while giving the communion meditation, I saw black, white, and Hispanic all sitting together ready to take communion with each other. It was a small picture of unity.

How beautiful it is to know that there are Christians all around this world. Brothers and sisters who do not look like me, think like me, dress like me, or share the same hobbies as I do. They do not speak the same language, but they do serve the same God! I pray for them and lift them before our Father. And I pray for unity. Unity: such a small word, but what a difficult word it is. For unity is not always popular. But when Christians unite, it is a wonderful picture.