Day-19-Lenten-Reflection.docx

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🕊️ *LENTEN DEVOTION – DAY 19* 🕊️

*Third Sunday of Lent*

 

 

 

💔 *The Scandal of Unity* 💔

Two brothers inherited a vast estate, but a bitter dispute over boundaries divided them. For decades they refused to speak, each building higher walls, each nursing deeper grievances. Their children inherited the feud, though none could remember its origin. One winter, the youngest grandchild fell through ice on the disputed land. Both families heard the cries. For a frozen moment, pride warred with love—then both patriarchs ran toward the drowning child. In the water, reaching together to pull the child to safety, their hands met. When their eyes locked, decades of division dissolved. *_“We are brothers,”_* the elder whispered. *_“We have always been brothers.”_* The child survived. The feud died. The estate was reunited. Love had accomplished what law could not. Welcome to the World’s International Women’s Day for the Year. Our Mothers, and the feminine gender ensured unity, even when undermined. Give our women the honour they deserve beyond today! Unity must be real, to achieve God’s will.

 

On this Third Sunday of Lent, Paul issues an urgent summons in Ephesians 4:3-6: *_“Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”_*

 

Seven times Paul declares *”one“*—hammering home the theological foundation of Christian unity. We are not creating unity; we are keeping what already exists. The Spirit has made us one. Christ has purchased one church with His blood. The Father claims one family. Our calling is not to manufacture unity but to maintain it, not to build bridges that don’t exist but to stop burning the ones that do.

 

Yet the scandal of Christianity is our disunity. We who worship one Lord are fractured into thousands of denominations. We who share one faith argue endlessly over interpretations. We who have one baptism divide over modes and meanings. We who call on one Father treat each other as enemies. The world Jesus prayed would be one so *_“that the world may believe”_” (John 17:21) is instead fragmented, competitive, suspicious, and often hostile. We even hate other Christians because of mere change of denomination.

 

The divisions are real. Theological differences matter. Doctrinal clarity matters. Truth matters. Paul himself confronted error and defended orthodoxy. But somewhere the defence of truth devolved into tribalism, the pursuit of purity became excuse for pride, and the preservation of distinctives turned into demonization of differences.

 

Lent calls us to repentance—not by abandoning conviction, but by crucifying the pride, prejudice, and party spirit that masquerade as faithfulness. We can hold firm convictions whilst treating those who disagree with humility and charity. We can contend for truth without questioning the salvation of every Christian who interprets Scripture differently. We can honour our tradition without dismissing all others as compromised or corrupt.

 

Notice Paul’s instruction: *_“endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”_* Unity requires effort. It demands intentionality. It costs something—primarily our pride. The bond is peace, not uniformity. We may never agree on every doctrine, practice, or interpretation. But we can refuse to let disagreement destroy fellowship. We can major in majors and show grace in minors. We can recognise that the Body of Christ is larger than our corner of it.

 

What would it look like to pursue unity with the same passion we pursue correctness? To long for reconciliation with the same intensity we defend our position? To grieve division with the same depth we celebrate distinctives? Not by compromising truth, but by embodying the humility, gentleness, patience, and love that Paul lists just before his call to unity *(Ephesians 4:2).*

 

The world is watching. They see our divisions and conclude that Christianity is just another tribal identity, another source of conflict. But imagine if they saw us loving across difference, serving despite disagreement, unified around the essentials whilst showing grace in the rest. Imagine if they saw us putting relationship above being right, reconciliation above reputation, the kingdom above our corner of it.

 

This is the scandal unity creates: a love so counter-cultural, so supernatural, that it can only be explained by the presence of God. *(John 13:35)*

 

Today, ask the Spirit to reveal where you have contributed to division. Confess the pride. Extend the grace. Build the bridge. Keep the unity. For we are one body, and every division wounds the whole.

 

 

🙏 *LITURGICAL PRAYER* 🙏

 

*_O God of Indivisible Trinity,_* Father, Son, and Holy Spirit existing in perfect unity, three persons in one essence, communion without competition, distinction without division, I come before You on this seventeenth day of Lent, convicted by the scandal of Christian disunity. You have made us one body, yet we live as fractured pieces. You have called us one family, yet we treat each other as strangers or enemies. You have given us one faith, yet we major in our differences and minor in our common ground. Forgive me, Lord, for the ways I have contributed to division within Your church. Forgive my pride that assumes my understanding is complete. Forgive my judgmentalism that questions the faith of those who disagree. Forgive my tribalism that elevates my tradition above all others. Forgive my party spirit that finds identity in opposition rather than in Christ. I have built walls where You desire bridges. I have sown discord where You planted seeds of peace. Have mercy on me, a divider of what You have united. *(Ephesians 4:3-6; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13)*

 

*_Father, Your Word declares there is one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all._* This is theological reality—we are already one in Christ, whether we live like it or not. Yet the visible expression of this unity is painfully absent. Denominations compete rather than collaborate. Traditions dismiss rather than dialogue. Congregations split over preferences masquerading as principles. Leaders platform their distinctives whilst ignoring their common ground. The world You so loved watches Your church and sees not a compelling witness but another source of conflict. This grieves Your heart, and it should grieve mine. Lord, I cannot heal all divisions, but I can begin with my own heart. Reveal where I harbour prejudice against other believers. Show me where pride masquerades as conviction. Convict me of “judgmentalism” that has elevated my interpretation above charity. Teach me to hold firm beliefs with humble spirit, to contend for truth without contempt for those who see differently, to pursue unity without compromising essentials. *(John 17:20-23; Romans 14:1-4)*

 

*_Give me, O Lord, the mind of Christ,_* who prayed for unity, who laid down His life for the whole church, who broke down dividing walls, who created one new humanity. Let me major in the gospel—Christ crucified, risen, returning—and show grace in the rest. Help me recognise Your image in believers whose worship looks different from mine, whose theology emphasizes different truths, whose practices follow different patterns. Where there is genuine error that endangers souls, give me courage to speak truth in love. But where there is simply difference within orthodoxy, give me humility to extend fellowship. Heal the divisions in my own congregation, my own denomination, my own tradition. Raise up peacemakers who build bridges. Silence the voices that profit from division.

 

*Closing Blessings: _Adonai, El-Elyon,_* Unite Your church, LORD—not through compromise of truth, but through crucifixion of pride; not by erasing distinctives, but by elevating what we share; not by pretending differences don’t matter, but by refusing to let them destroy the bond of peace. May the world see our love and believe that You sent Jesus. Amen. *(Philippians 2:1-5; Ephesians 2:14-16)*

 

 

🕊️ *_“There is one body and one Spirit… one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all.”_ – Ephesians 4:4-6* 🕊️

 

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