On the fifth Sunday of the month (so, quarterly in the year) there is an ecumenical service in the evening in Stawell. In June 2024 this was hosted by the Uniting Church, with Baptist Pastor Irene Gould leading the service as readers and pray-ers from the Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Salvation Army congregations. I brought the message.

Psalm 133; Galatians 3:27-28; Galatians 5:16-23

Baptism is something which should unite all Christians under the care of Christ: and for the most part it does, especially in a city like Stawell. Yes the traditionally denominated churches of Western Europe and Great Britain are here: Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, Baptist, Presbyterian and Methodist, Churches of Christ, all of which have between two hundred and two thousand years of history behind them, depending upon who is counting and when they consider the day of inauguration to have been. History has been hard fought within the Christian faith, but in Stawell, (as in many other places), we participate as one in Christ Jesus as Paul hoped and taught. One of the signs beyond our gathering, but shared internationally by Christians of many traditions, is our recognising each other’s rites and beliefs around baptism.

As well as being an auspicious start to a sermon on the occasion of an ecumenical gathering, baptism has been in my mind this week. Last Sunday at Landsborough the Uniting Church held a rite of closure for its buildings. By the grace of God and the love of the Anglican communion the UCA mob who still meet out there will meet in the church of St John the Divine, the Anglican building. Amongst our tidings of great joy at the Church electing to gather in partnership and shared witness is the onerous task of packing up 120 years of Presbyterian history. Does St Matthew’s in Stawell need the hymn books that St Andrew’s in Landsborough no longer has need of, because St John’s has resources of its own? Who gets the pews; or if they are sold then for how much, and who gets the money? And, here is the point that I have been coming to for the last five minutes, with the congregation vacating the building, what do we do with the font?

In Psalm 133 we read of God’s joy when the people of God are united in mind and thought, particularly when this unity occurs in worship. People of uniqueness gather; people who are as different from each other as age, gender, race, maturity, amount of water used at their baptism and how old they were at the time, what they do for a job and how much money that provides at the end of the fortnight, and their opinion on the depravity the Collingwood Football Club allows. None of that matters says Paul in Galatians 3:28, no social distinction can keep you from Christ and the fulness of your participation in his life and death. Bring it all and come together at God’s invitation under the leadership of Aaron, says David in Psalm 133:1. Worship The Father, emulate The Son, rely on The Holy Spirit, and build sacred community. In his commentary on the Galatians passage, Anglican bishop Tom Wright notes that for Paul a passion for the good news of Jesus Christ must translate into a passion for the unity, the oneness, of those who bear witness to it. Must we have one rite in one building? It would be nice, but it’s not going to happen. Can we be friends, like the UCA and Anglicans in Landsborough, and share our resources? That would also be nice, and it is going to happen.

For me as a Uniting Church person, Protestant and Evangelical (if we must use labels), the great evidence of God’s infilling of a person is that he or she displays the fruit of the spirit, and we have heard Mary Rita read those verses from Galatians 5:22-26. I understand there to be one fruit with nine characteristics, not nine fruits. Paul is not saying that a Christian is like an orchard or a botanical gardens with apples and pears and grapes and watermelon in their various, discrete plots: no he is saying that a Christian is like an orange which is brightly coloured to the eye, sweet to the taste, juicy to the mouth-feel, and nutritious to the body. A sour orange is still an orange, but it is a less helpful one, and a sour orange cannot say “well I identify as a grapefruit” because The Spirit doesn’t allow for that. In the same way, Tom Wright (from before) in his translation of Galatians 5:25 writes if we live by the Spirit, let’s line up with the Spirit, going on to say in Galatians 5:26 that we shouldn’t be conceited or jealous of one another. I don’t think you lose your salvation by continuing to wear a cross around your neck from the day of your baptism, and a cross expression upon your face from more recent times; but I do wonder how effective your faith is for you that you are not becoming more like Jesus in your fruitfulness, and perhaps your fruitiness.

Where there is unity in the worshipping body, there The LORD has decreed a blessing; so says Psalm 133:3 in one translation. Another renders for there The LORD commanded a blessing, and life forevermore. This passage is a Psalm of Ascent, a song traditional used by pilgrims to Jerusalem coming from all corners of the United Kingdom (Irael and Judah, not England and Scotland) to gather at the temple. The link between blessing and harmony is intentional: God bestows favour on those who intentionally set aside their worldly differences and make a conscious effort to gather for God’s glory in the one place where God asks to be glorified, Zion. You don’t have to go to Zion to be blessed, (although FOMO might cause you to want to come just in case), but you cannot come to Zion on a high holy day and not be blessed. If you come to church with the mindset of seeking fellowship and a community expression of worship, God cannot allow you to go away unfulfilled. I say “cannot”, not that I have sway over God’s authority, but that from the Psalm it reads to me that God always chooses to bless. “If they come, I will build it”, says The LORD; the “it” of the building being the life of service and adoration God intends for all who follow The Way of The Son.

So, to the Angels of the Church in Stawell say, “celebrate with us in  fellowship and community. The welcome is warm, the tea is hot, the water is cold, the coffee is good, the slices and cakes are better, and as the baptised and chosen of God you are welcome here.

Oh, and by the way, we’re keeping the old font

Amen.