May 15, 2015 – “U” is for Unity

“I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.” John 17:20 – 24

One of the most difficult tasks of any Christian Community is to maintain the “unity” of the faithful. This is the prayer of Jesus in John 17 – it should be called “The Lord’s Prayer” and what we call “The Lord’s Prayer” should be called “The Disciple’s Prayer”, because it is the disciples who ask Jesus “How should we pray?” From the beginning of Christianity we have wondered how to pray. Jesus models the attempt of an active prayer life by getting away (which always proves so difficult for him) so he can be in prayer. Jesus prays for the unity of the believers for all time and place in this 17th chapter of John. He realizes that “being in the world but not of the world” is going to be a struggle. He knows that ego and power and coveting will always get in the way of relationships.

Since the time of the Reformation, we have seen the Christian church fragment in many different denominations. I believe these divisions, the fact that we identify more with what denomination we belong to rather than to the fact that we are all Christians has been to the detriment of the church. It has certainly not helped us find unity. We have to work very hard at finding ways to be united as Christians, while still being able to celebrate our individual traditions, theologies, and worship practices. But the divisions are not just between churches — they also thrive within each church. When the church, or a club, or any human endeavor is filled with people, there is the chance for divisiveness. We all do not think alike, plan alike, and see ministry the same (neither did the apostles of the early church — read the first 10 chapters of Acts if you don’t believe me). And it is when we become more invested in “keeping things the same”, or “rejecting other ideas because they do not fit our view of ministry”, then we are in danger of driving a wedge between rather than finding unity with our brothers and sisters in the congregation.

Christ prayed for us to be united – we need to continue that prayer so we can work united as Christians, inside the church and in the church universal.

Pastor Dave