The Church’s one foundation is Jesus
Christ her Lord. She is his new creation
by water and the Word.
Almost seventeen hundred years ago, a little girl confessed
her faith in Jesus Christ. She was only
twelve or thirteen years old, innocent and holy, beautiful and pure. She was too young to be a witness in a court
of law, but not too young to be a witness to Jesus Christ. She was not too young to know the Lord who
had loved her from all eternity. She was
not too young to promise herself to Jesus Christ. She was not too young to give witness to her
faith. Agnes was not too young to shed
her blood in testimony to the Lamb of God whose blood takes away the sin of the
world. She was not too young to die for
love of Him who died for love of her.
Almost seventeen hundred years ago, a little girl confessed her faith in
Jesus Christ, and the story of her faith and martyrdom inspired St. Ambrose,
St. Augustine, and St. Jerome. These
great doctors of the Church, these great scholars of the Scriptures, were
inspired by the testimony of a little girl who was in love with Jesus Christ.
Elect from every nation, yet one o’er
all the earth, her charter of salvation, One Lord, one Faith, One birth.
Almost a hundred years ago, the movement that would become
the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, began in a little chapel near New York
City. The prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ
that all may be one resonated in the soul of Father Paul Wattson, and he and
his Franciscan Community began to pray.
Each year, the Christians of the world, join in prayer that we who share
a common baptism may be drawn ever closer in the bonds of charity and the bonds
of mission. We pray each year that
together we will confess the faith of Jesus Christ before the world. We pray each year that together we will
announce the Good News of the love that God has for his people. We pray each year that together, the witness
of our faith, and the witness of our lives, will inspire the whole world to
gaze upon the face of Jesus Christ. We
pray for unity, because it is the prayer of the Lord. We pray for unity, because it is the desire
of our hearts. But most importantly, we
pray for unity because the Lord has made us missionaries of the Good News, and
our divisions compromise the integrity of our testimony.
Though with a scornful wonder, the
world sees her oppressed, by schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed. Yet saints, their watch are keeping . .
.
Almost twenty years ago, twenty years ago this month in fact,
something drastic happened here. A
bearded man, with a little black dog, began wondering around this campus, at
all hours of the day or night, with the words, “Hello, dear child,” and “Thank
you for your prayers.” The students did
not call Security, because the bearded man with the little black dog had been
called by God through his Church, and the students knew it was their
Pastor. For twenty years, you have
preached to us of the love that God has for us.
For twenty years you have prayed that our union in Christ Jesus may be
deepened, and that our unity in charity and mission may be strengthened. Preach on, dear Pastor, preach on.
Mid toil and tribulation and tumult
of her war, she waits the consummation of peace forevermore.
The witness of St. Agnes, the little girl of twelve or
thirteen, inspires our faith. The
horrifying fact that little girls of twelve or thirteen are being killed for their
faith and the living of their faith, in our own day, pierces our hearts. It is a dangerous time to be a
Christian. It is a dangerous time to
profess the faith of Jesus Christ. In
this country, at least for today, the public witness of our faith may only cost
us money or employment. In other
countries, the public witness of faith is costing people their lives. It is a dangerous time . . . but we have been
through dangerous times before.
We shall not be overcome by the powers of this world. We Christians have stood with Leo the Great
against Attila the Hun. We have stood
with Ambrose and with Thomas Beckett against emperors and kings. We have stood with Dietrich Bonheoffer
against the evils of the Nazis. We have
stood with those of every time and place who have looked to God our Father in
hope. We have stood with the suffering,
with the oppressed, with those who are too young to give witness. With all of them we have stood, and here we
stand. Here we stand to preach and here
we stand to pray. The witness of the
saints and the martyrs, of the fourth century and of the twenty-first century,
calls each of us to our own moment of witness.
The witness of the Saints and the martyrs, of the fourth century and the
twenty-first century, calls us to unity. The Watchers and the Holy Ones will
stand with us in the hour of trial. The
whole Church of God will stand with us on the Day full of Grace, for She on earth has union with God the three in
one, and mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is won. O happy ones and holy! Lord, give us grace that we, like them, the meek
and lowly, may live eternally. Amen.
Preached at Grace Chapel,
Lenoir-Rhyne University, Hickory, NC for the Week of Prayer for Christian
Unity. This month also marks the 20th
Anniversary of the service of The Rev. Andrew F. Weisner, Ph.D. as Campus
Pastor.
