When we were little, many of us sang, "Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, we are precious in his sight, Jesus loves the little of the world".

We are here today to bear witness to this good news, Jesus loves the little children, and Jesus loves the grown ups too. Jesus loves us so much that we who name the name of Jesus as Christ and Lord of our lives find our unity in him, it is he who binds us together. Of course, unity does not mean that we act and think the same. That is not unity so much as it is uniformity. Unity is not about group think, or following the leader, or anything that suggests that God has created us without minds of our own. Unity in the church is about being one in Jesus Christ who is the source and guide for how we deepen our knowledge of God, build the strongest possible relationships in these rooms these beyond these doors, and for how we commit ourselves to being justice seekers and justice advocates and activists. What does that mean?

It means that we engage in disciplines of worship and prayer, Bible reading and meditation as we come to know God better. It means that we share the drama and comedy, the joys and sorrows of our lives with each other, celebrating and lamenting the joyful and tearful moments and, always leaving room for others to come and join us. It means that we ask as we do the work of justice, is it fair that people live in poverty, work full time for less than a living wage, are called names for expressing an unpopular opinion. We can ask is it fair, but justice calls us also to ask, is it right? If it is not, what can we do to make it right? In all that we are we called to love God, build relationships, and do justice. That is one source of our unity.

And our unity comes as we look to Jesus Christ who loves and accepts us and counts it a blessing that God has called us to be his disciples. We are a diverse people – different in many ways – in race, and age, and orientation, in longevity in the congregation, in personality and temperament. Yet, as diverse as we are, we are one in Christ Jesus.

I know the irony of speaking about our oneness in a time of discernment when feelings and previously unspoken thoughts are being expressed in ways many of us have not heard before. You know what? It is OK, it is better than OK because suppressed feelings leave us feeling tired and demoralized. But, this is not a time for us to be tired and demoralized. It is a time for us to find energy and passion for the work of the church.

Yes, these are stormy days. But the two lessons today tell the story of how we keep our unity and celebrate our diversity even in the time of storms. There is the physical storm that stands as a symbol for the storms in our spirits, and there are the spiritual storms that threatens to undo our diversity.

There are storm clouds for the church everywhere. Did you read about some of the struggles in the Episcopal Church? There is a storm over them about who will be fully included in the highest offices of the church, and about whether inclusion will mean

a break with the larger Anglican community world wide. Have you kept up with the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA)? They have been dealing with issues of inclusion and exclusion in their part of the body of Christ. Have you kept up with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)? We are dealing with what God is calling us to do, and whether we will have the financial and human resources to fulfill our ministries.

Mark tells us that Jesus had been teaching around Galilee. At the end of a long day he and the disciples get in a boat to go to the other side of the lake. The lake, called the Sea of Galilee sits in a basin, it is surrounded by mountains and is susceptible to sudden violent storms, think the hurricanes of last August and September, when cool air from the Mediterranean sea moves through the mountain passes and collides with hot humid air above the lake (from the Archaeological Study Bible).

The wind is blowing, water is swamping the boat, it looked as dark as it did here this past Wednesday afternoon, when the storms came and it was hard to tell night from day. Jesus is asleep and the disciples are scared.

When Mary Baker thought of these verses she wrote the words to a hymn:

Can you imagine how terrified they were? There were men on the boat, Peter and Andrew, James and John who were skilled fishermen, they knew these waters, yet they were terrified. "They were going to perish – and the one person who might turn the situation around was sleeping peacefully in the boat’s place of honor, the stern. They woke Jesus up with a strident ‘don’t you care, Teacher?’ But he did not respond to their lack of faith. Instead he responded to the peace within himself, and produced a calm that impacted nature as well as the frightened disciples. The disciples were amazed. ‘Who is this? Even the waves obey him" ("Sail On" in www.chrisitancentury.org).

The presence of Jesus calmed their fears and it will calm ours. We need that calming presence because there are times in our own lives when we are susceptible to storms – the relationship is unsatisfying, the job is not secure, the money doesn’t last to the next paycheck, our spirits are depressed and depleted. We feel tossed and battered. And Jesus, it seems is asleep, and God is far away and the Holy Spirit seems absent.

But in fact, when we call out even in full panic, "Jesus, we are dying here, don’t you care about us?" the living Christ hears us, Jesus acts on our behalf haven’t we heard him calling out to the storms in us, "Peace, be still" and haven’t we been so amazed by his power for us that we too ask the question, "who is this?"

This is the one by whose power and in whose name a storm that threatens the core of our faith, is stilled. He is the one whose sleep is disturbed by the disruptions in our lives, who wakes up and who wakes us up to the power of his presence. Who is this? This is the one who gathers us even when we are afraid, and builds his church.

The chorus of Mary Baker’s hymn says:

"The winds and the waves shall obey thy will, peace be still!
Whether the wrath of a storm tossed sea, or demons, or people, or whatever it be, no water can swallow the ship where lies, the master of ocean, and earth, and skies.
They all shall sweetly obey his will, peace, peace, be still".

There are physical storms and there are those storms that threaten to obscure the news that the church of Jesus Christ is for all who want to find a place in it. We may think our struggles with diversity are new, but they are as old as the church itself.

In our second reading, Paul, Barnabas, Peter and others have been sharing the good news, and teaching about Jesus. The message was believed, people came to know Jesus as savior, and Gentiles, the non-Jewish people from Greece and Turkey and other parts of Southern Europe became followers of Christ. The church was growing more diverse, and that’s when things got messy. Some were demanding that all male Gentile converts be circumcised in order to be members of the church.

That day in Jerusalem they did what we do here, they had a meeting to discern and discuss the matter. The report to the elders and the apostles was that even as Paul, Barnabas, and Peter made their way to Jerusalem, they preached the good news. They worshiped and taught along the way convincing people to know Jesus. They may have come to Jerusalem to argue for a position, but they never lost sight of their mission of living and sharing the gospel.

They were convinced that circumcision, important though it was, as a sign of obedience and of keeping the law, need not be a barrier to bringing people into the church. Barriers separate, they block the view, they force boundaries. Peter says that "cleansing their hearts by faith God has made no distinction between them and us…we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will" (v. 9-11).

The elders listen to the evangelists and say finally that "we will not demand for Gentile Christians something we no longer demand for ourselves. Just let them know that we expect them to refrain from behaviors such as eating impure food offered to idols and engaging in behavior such as incest. The church has long sense ceased to demand circumcision, and by the way, we do not know what kind of physical demand was made of women, but we nevertheless have our own kinds of demands.

Depending on the church, it will demanded of us that the only acceptable Bible is the King James Version…No! we prefer Eugene Peterson’s The Message. Sunday morning worship must last 60 minutes, no more and no less…No! we will worship until the Holy Spirit says we are done. Men must wear suits and ties, and women will wear skirts and dresses, high heels, and pantyhose…No! God doesn’t care about what you wear, just be clean, neat, and decent, and come on in. You must agree with my definition of sin, my list of hymns, my style of worship, my political point of view, or you are not really a Christian. No! We are free to worship and sing, dress and vote, and do most things as we are led by God. Our unity does not depend on agreeing 100% on everything. It depends on whether we believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. If we believe that , we can work out most everything else.

We bring all that we are to the church, including our prejudices. We all have them, we all do our share of prejudging people and situations. But let’s put them aside, come to the house of God and enjoy the welcome of gracious God by extending that welcome to others. We’ve done it before.

This church did it more than 60 years ago, during World War II when a young man came to this congregation. You embraced James Osuga as he came from an internment camp. You helped his parents out with food and support when they left the camp. After his service in the US Army, Jim came back to Broad Street, and a woman who had lost her son in the war suggested that he become this congregation’s first associate pastor. He shared his love of music with children and youth. He married Maureen, and I understand members of Broad Street took a bus trip to Cleveland to share the blessing of his marriage.

You showed him what a community gathered in Christ looks like and because you did, Jim responded to a call to ministry, which was confirmed at his ordination here June 24, 1956 and because he heard a call to ministry, not only was this congregation blessed, but congregations in Fayette, Bazetta which grew from 200 to 1000 members, and Youngstown were blessed by his ministry. It was not always easy, radical hospitality never is, but it was and it is the right thing to do, so we welcome people into this place who are looking for a place like this one.

The gift of God for this congregation is that it understands what the elders in Jerusalem came to understand that the church is at its best when it is diverse and united, using all of the gifts of all of its members. It is stronger than when does not insist on conformity, but rather does all that it can to create community.

As we continue to understand these things, we will give ourselves to each other in the name of Jesus, who has given himself to and for each of us. We will be blessed in all of our diversity. We will be blessed by a sense of unity that sees us through the stormy times. We will be blessed and Jesus Christ will be praised. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Dr. LaTaunya M. Bynum
Senior Pastor