Jesus at the Center of Our Story
Unity Isn’t Optional • Message 1
Bryan Jones
April 7, 2024
A. Introduction
(Mark 3:20-26. C/R: Matthew 12:22-23; John 17:21-23a)
Remember the old classic Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall… Does anyone know what happened to Humpty Dumpty? He had a great fall… and remember what it said… all the king’s horses and all the king's men, they couldn’t what…. Put Humpty back together again…
Humpty Dumpty had a problem… he was broken… he wasn’t whole anymore.
And notice that the king's horses and king's men couldn’t put him back together again.
Which means it wasn’t going to be fixed by the leaders, by human wisdom, or even by the government… Humpty had a problem, and he needed help from a higher power.
There isn’t unity and wholeness in our country. Even in the global church, it’s like there is some division and brokenness.
This isn’t fixed by leaders, even pastors, human wisdom or government… all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn’t put America or the church back together again…
Meaning if we want there to be unity and oneness, it requires a higher power. This isn’t a cultural issue, a family issue, or a governmental issue… it’s a spiritual issue…
Unity is the only way we, as a church, can move forward. It’s the only way the kingdom advances…
Think about it: right before Jesus is crucified, He prays for His disciples, He prays for His church… and listen to some of His last words…
“I pray that they will all be one, just as You and I are one—as You are in me, Father, and I am in You. And may they be in Us so that the world will believe You sent Me. I have given them the glory You gave Me, so they may be one as We are one. I am in them and You are in Me. …”
John 17:21-23a (NLT)
Notice how many times Jesus says that they should be one… to not live as one, as a united body of believers, is to drift from the foundation of our faith and the character of God.
Sadly, many local churches are plagued with disunity that confuses a watching world and hurts those inside the body. Sometimes, the disunity manifests itself in overt fighting over preferences, such as style, dress, programming and even facility decisions.
I preached one time at a church… and as soon as I got done, this older lady came up to me and said this to me… God would use you more if you tucked in your shirt… and usually, I’m pretty good and just smile and disarm the moment, but I just blurted out the first thing that came to mind, and very sarcastically, I looked at her and said, you know that's funny God told me that He would use you more if you untucked yours… that’s crazy… Her face looked like I had just said, there is one god, and Allah is his name…
Unity isn’t a new concept, though… Jesus faced all sorts of disunity, and maybe one of the greatest examples of that is the parable we just read in Mark chapter 3…
Jesus is arguably at the peak of His fame… crowds are following Him… and listen to what it starts off saying…
One time Jesus entered a house, and the crowds began to gather again. Soon He and His disciples couldn’t even find time to eat. When His family heard what was happening, they tried to take Him away. “He’s out of His mind,” they said.
Mark 3:20-21 (NLT)
Notice, the first sting doesn’t come from the outside, but from within… this is Jesus’ family and friends. They began to try and stop Him… maybe it was fear of what the Romans would do, or maybe it was the pace He was running… we don’t know, but here’s what I do know about the church… and here’s what some of you must keep in mind…
Some of the greatest joys I have ever experienced in this life have come from the church… and yet some of the greatest wounds have come from the church…
If I had never joined a church till I had found one that was perfect, I should never have joined one at all! And the moment I did join it, if I had found one, I should have spoiled it, for it would not have been a perfect church after I had become a member of it.
Charles Spurgeon
Jesus is no different. Those who should be unified are resisting Him here… notice where it says they said…
The phrase they said in Greek best reads they kept saying… this wasn’t a one-time deal…
Then the division grows…
But the teachers of religious law who had arrived from Jerusalem said, “He’s possessed by Satan, the prince of demons. That’s where He gets the power to cast out demons.”
Mark 3:22 (NLT)
So now, the religious leaders have come down to oppose Jesus, and here is their argument that Jesus can heal because of Satan.
Now, part of the reason they say this is the crowd is getting stirred up because listen to what Mathew's account says He does…
Then a demon-possessed man, who was blind and couldn’t speak, was brought to Jesus. He healed the man so that he could both speak and see. The crowd was amazed and asked, “Could it be that Jesus is the Son of David, the Messiah?”
Matthew 12:22-23 (NLT)
In Jewish culture, you had to know the name of the demon to cast it out, so this shows Jesus’ power and the crowds are amazed… So, the resistance to Jesus tries to explain it away…
Have you ever noticed anytime God does something miraculous, there is always someone who opposes it… So let me be clear: when you start taking God seriously, Satan will start taking you seriously… and you will find resistance from people all around…
Listen to what C.S. Lewis says:
If you haven't met Satan recently, you are probably going his way!
Here’s one of the key problems with unity… we forget who our real enemy is. It's Satan… instead, we can make people out to be little devils instead of seeing the real enemy…
When He’s accused of this, Jesus goes on to say:
Jesus called them over and responded with an illustration. “How can Satan cast out Satan?” He asked. “A kingdom divided by civil war will collapse. Similarly, a family splintered by feuding will fall apart. And if Satan is divided and fights against himself, how can he stand? He would never survive.”
Mark 3:23-26 (NLT)
Notice, He says a kingdom divided among itself will collapse. The NIV says a kingdom divided among itself cannot stand...
There can’t be resistance and division; it will destroy whatever thing it touches.
Do you ever think about why darkness and evil are so prevalent today, why Satan is on the move and why the global church has shrunk back… because there is unity in Satan's kingdom and division in the church…
But let me say that the unity in this church has blown me away. I shared with the staff that one of the reasons I believe God is working so richly in our church is because of a spirit of unity.
You know I have been here for a little over a year now… and I trusted God, but I expected there to be a little more resistance… but don’t start now. I shared with several small groups there are 3 responses anytime someone new steps into a lead position:
Some people get excited thinking about new opportunities.
Some people just sort of sit back and see if it sinks or goes well. (One guy confessed to me, I waited a few months to see if you’d burn the place down before I decided I was all in… Thanks for your honesty.)
Some people go, I will never call you Dad. Perry will always be Dad. You’re the stepdad.
I guess I expected more resistance…. But Brookwood, you have modeled a unity that has blessed and ministered to me… and do you know why there is so much unity in this church… it's because it’s a church where Jesus is the center of our story.
Countless people walk in and say I just felt welcome. I just felt at home… that’s the power of unity that allows the Spirit to flow through every inch of this church… and we must keep fighting for it…
The reason I know God is at work in this church and has been at this church long before I ever got here is because of this…
B. Unity is a mark of the Spirit.
(Mark 3:28-29)
Ever notice how Jesus goes on about the blaspheming the Holy Spirit? People get really freaked out by this:
“I tell you the truth, all sin and blasphemy can be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. This is a sin with eternal consequences.”
Mark 3:28-29 (NLT)
This is not referring to a one-time sin; it's an ongoing resistance and rejection of Jesus in your heart. The Holy Spirit is the One who brings truth, who convicts us and if we constantly reject Jesus…
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men can’t save you. Only Jesus can… and if you reject what He did on the cross, then you won’t spend eternity with Him… But the Spirit brings us unity with God, and that’s what brings us unity with each other.
Unity with Jesus always leads to unity with others… trace your relationships. Years ago, I had issues with people, and Steph said to me, there is a common theme. And I said, what is that? She said, you… I realized I was always frustrated, angry and in conflict years ago with a variety of people. I realized I needed inner peace to live out outer peace… but that only comes from the Spirit.
C. Replace suspicion with love.
(John 13:34-35)
Has anybody ever formed an opinion of someone before you actually met them? Or let me say this: has anyone in this room ever had a wrong opinion of someone? We live in a culture where we keep our guard up and don’t always trust one another…
We don’t need suspicious disciples; we need loving disciples… People who walk across the room and greet and serve one another… we need to be wise and not foolish… I’m not advocating being naïve…
But sometimes people call a judgmental spirit wisdom… and it's not… Jesus never had a callousness towards people.
May we fill the gaps with love and trust in our families, coworkers and church…
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”
John 13:34-35 (NIV)
Jesus never looked at people and saw them as they were, but who they would become… May we see people all around us and see who they can become in Jesus, amen…
Remember that…
What unites us is stronger than our differences.
Unity is not uniformity… there are differences, preferences and opinions, and those aren’t bad… they are good things…
Jesus at the center of our story has to be the most important thing… we have to be in unity about Jesus, that He was fully God, fully man, that He died and rose again and paid for our sins… there can be no differences in this for us to have biblical unity…
But we can disagree or have differences on other things… why? Because Jesus at the center is the most important thing…
There are two interesting phrases in the Bible when Jesus called the disciples… Matthew, the tax collector, and Simon, the zealot… do you know who hated each other? Tax collectors who were loyal to Rome and zealots who wanted to destroy Rome… yet that little detail is in the Bible to show no force on planet Earth can unify people of different colors, different pasts, different social statuses, different philosophies, different cultures other than the name of Jesus. So, we must remember that and fight for that…
You know, if you had 100 ft of pipe in your house… and I made three cuts, would that affect your home? Those small cuts could have a tremendous impact…
As we close, our church isn’t called to be mostly united; it’s called to be fully united… several breaks in unity can cause a huge problem, so as we close, I want to do something… link arms… this is a picture of the church… let's pray…