The reason we call our church “Integrity Church” is that integrity is the nature of Jesus Christ. He is the one who sustains the universe. He is the one in whom all things hold together. He keeps the cosmos from dis-integrating. The nature of Jesus is integrity.
We have known since the resurrection that Jesus is the one who redeems humanity, dying on the cross to forgive us our sins. We also came to know that Jesus, the Word made flesh, is the one through whom all things were made. Now we understand that Jesus is the unifying force of all existence. There is not a square inch of the world outside Jesus’ jurisdiction. Even those who doubt Jesus are able to do so because Jesus sustains their world.
Why does it matter? It matters because we each have our narrative through which we interpret all the events of our lives and the world. If your narrative is that of a functional atheist, that if God exists he doesn’t really do anything today, that leads you to one set of conclusions. If your narrative is that the nature of this world is survival of the fittest, and you are rewarded according to your works, that leads to a different set of conclusions. If your narrative is that history is an endless struggle between those who have power and those who do not, you will have another set of conclusions. We believe the narrative that says that God redeemed the world through Jesus Christ, that God originally made all things through Jesus Christ, and that God sustains the world through Jesus Christ. We believe that narrative, and we believe that narrative leads to the best of all lives.
In our sermon this Sunday, we will look at integrity, the nature of Jesus Christ, the one in whom all things hold together.