A little boy appeared at the door of the big house, selling postcards for 10 pence each. When the householder asked what he was going to do with the money he was earning, he said: “I’m raising £20,000 for our church extension.” The startled customer replied: “Do you expect to raise it all by yourself?” “Oh, no, sir,” replied the boy. “There are two of us.”

Sometimes as Christians we can be overwhelmed by the size of the mountains that face us. We can become despondent and, worse, argumentative, and that’s when the trouble can really start. But here we have a story of a young lad who is not (yet) overwhelmed and, more importantly, who is not alone. He has the fellowship and support of another person. The writer of Ecclesiastes (4:9-12) says: “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up. Again, if two lie together, they are warm; but how can one be warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him. A threefold cord is not quickly broken.”  We can see therefore that strength is to be found in our unity and fellowship.

When God brought the Israelites out of Egypt into the Promised Land, it was as an entire nation - not just one or two - complete with their social structures and beliefs, and He formed them into a chosen people. Hundreds of thousands of individuals, all different, with different backgrounds and different ways of thinking and doing things, who now shared a common salvation from slavery and death, a common promise, and a common faith.  It was to these individuals that God gave the Ten Commandments in order to help them create a new society, based not on individualism, but on sharing and caring.

Likewise, we here have come from different backgrounds – cultural, educational, social – we, too, do things differently, live differently and have different thoughts about a wide variety of matters, including worship and sacraments. Nevertheless, like the Jews, we share a common salvation from the slavery of sin and death, we share a common promise of eternal life, and a faith that is bound around a single entity, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, the Son of God; Jesus Christ crucified; Jesus Christ resurrected and ascended to the Father. It is our love for Christ, for all that he has done for us, that has allowed us to accept that worship cannot be a rigid straightjacket of tradition or a means to personal gratification, and that our spiritual well being is not wrapped up in content or format, but in a deeper relationship with God and, through Christ, with our brothers and sisters.

Jesus’ teaching shifted the emphasis of personal thought and action from the self towards God and, through God, to one another, so that we have the highest regard for our neighbours. It is the individual as part of a whole that is important, for if we are to be truly free we must have a care to others and they to us.

St Paul reminds us that we are not just individuals, living life as it suits us, but a body and not just any body, but the Body of Christ, belonging to one another, working together, each making his or her own contribution. That unity is part of the oneness in the nature of things which comes from the one God “who is over all and through all and in all”.

In a world which is seen by many as tearing itself to shreds, Christians are called to express and maintain that unity, and to use the gifts given to each of them for the sake of the whole.  What God wants is mature adult people, and Christ provides the measure which tells us just what that means. Through Christ, God has provided us with gifts for one another: nobody is meant to be just a spectator, admiring the others, because the body does not have extra, unused bits. Likewise, if all the bits are not functioning, then the body as a whole does not function as it should.  Furthermore, the Gospel suggests that only by working together, as one, will Christians have the power to change things, to put right things which, as individuals, we may not have the power to do.

The body of Christ - which is you and me and every other person who professes true faith in Jesus - is a sign of the new creation which is what we are called to be, both as individuals and as a people. 

In John 17:20-26, Jesus prays for his disciples; it should be a precious passage for us because these are Jesus’ last words before his arrest. His prayer is clearly one for their unity, not a unity of administration or organisation, but a unity of personal relationship. He prays that we might be united as he and the Father are united – a relationship of love and obedience. It was for a unity in which men loved each other because they loved him.

The reading teaches that unity amongst Christians is vital for four important reasons: firstly, it reflects the one-ness of God as He has revealed Himself to humanity as Holy Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit; secondly, it is a sign of the reality of God and of His presence in the world; thirdly, our unity is fundamental in the spreading of the Gospel; fourthly, it is a sure sign of His love for all. Put another way, each time we break that unity, or are slow to enforce it, we bring disrepute upon our Saviour.

But what has all this to do with us? Simply this, that if we want God’s kingdom to break into our church and our parish, if we want our community to become a place of peace and growth, where everyone is accepted and respected for who they are and not for what we expect of them, then we must show true unity and fellowship with one another. That doesn’t mean that there won’t be arguments or disagreements – the apostles showed that they often lived with tensions among them, but it does demand that we listen to each in love, with all the patience and understanding we can muster, that we have a real care for each other and, above all, that ultimately we are able to focus on Jesus. Our individual freedom is invested in our love and care for one another.

St Paul writes to the Colossian church: 'Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.   Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.  And be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.  And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.'