United In Christ

To be united with Christ is to share the vision of which Jesus spoke in the Sermon on the Mount--a vision of life claimed by God. It is a vision partly within our grasp, yet always beyond our full realization. If there is anything to pray for and strive for, it is to be united with Christ and in Christ. From that spiritual relationship everything else flows.

We are also united through Christ with others. That is how the Church began. The Church came into being as a fellowship of people committed to Jesus Christ. We are united with others in faith and outreach in our own congregations. The Christian fellowship, of course, includes more than members of our own congregation. We are united with brothers and sisters in Christ from other churches as well--within and beyond The United Methodist Church. We believe there is no one person, no one church, that has all the truth. Rather, we are all seeking a fuller understanding of God's will and a clearer vision of how to express it in our world today. We need each other.

There are multitudes of Christians we have never known as well as those who are familiar to us that we unite in Christ with. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who bound up the wounds of the leper and cradled the hungry and dying in her arms; Martin Luther King Jr., slain civil rights leader who was an exponent of justice and freedom from oppression; John R. Mott, a pioneer and champion of youth who declared the urgency of bringing the world to Christ. These and many others are part of our spiritual family.

Yes, we are united with Christ. We are united in and through Christ with a multitude of the faithful near at home, around the world, and across the centuries. We are united with those for whom Christ died and with whom Christ now suffers. We are united as a Church. That is the faith we affirm. That is the vision to which we seek to be faithful. To be united in Christ, to be a pilgrim people, the people of the "cross and flame," is indeed a high calling. We pray for grace and strength to claim it for ourselves and for our church.

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