God Calling V: The Call for Growing Unity

John 17:6-26

If love is the disposition from which we share our spiritual and natural gifts, then unity is the environment in which that sharing becomes powerful. While what we find in Matthew 6:9-13 is what we often call “The Lord’s Prayer,” it is really a teaching model. The prayer by Jesus himself is found in John 17. It was a prayer given just before Jesus was crucified, about how the disciples would function in his absence. It is full of passion and deep care for his disciples.

First,in verses 6-10,Jesus thanks God for his relationship with his disciples. Before they were his disciples, they belonged to God. So in spending the three years with his disciples, Jesus saw these friends and co-workers as a sacred trust. He has poured himself into them and now is relinquishing them back into God’s hands.

Second,in verses 11-12,Jesus prays protection for them, so that they can be one. The chief strategies of the devil could be summed up in three Ds: distraction, dissension and division. If we can be kept so busy that we are unable to focus on the things and people that are the most important…If we can be led into picking each other part rather than complementing each others weaknesses with strengths…If we can be fractured into power groups and conflicted relationships rather than functioning as Christ’s body, then the devil succeeds at disempowering God’s people. The sly part of this is that often the devil uses the most well-meaning and most spiritual people to get the job done. Know wonder Jesus taught to pray, “Deliver us from evil.”

Third,in verses 13-19,Jesus prays for us to be sent into the world without becoming of the world. We are sent into the world just as Jesus was sent. Jesus, in his resurrection body, would repeat this saying, “As the Father has sent me, so send I you.” (John 20:21) How can we be “in the world” without becoming “worldly?” Jesus would say in Matthew’s gospel,

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is not longer good for anything…”

Jesus knows that ministry as laity and clergy is hazardous duty. In trying to save souls, you can lose your own soul – losing your sense of God, your integrity and your effective witness. Nothing hurts the mission of the church like worldly Christians. That’s why daily prayer, regular worship with others in the body of Christ, study of the scriptures, and accountability with people whom you love and trust is so important.

In verses 20-26, the prayer shifts to you and me and everyone who was to become a follower after the death and resurrection of Christ. He prays for our unity, that our oneness would reflect the oneness of God and Christ. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three-in-one: different in function but one in essence and purpose. The body of Christ must learn to be diverse without being divided. And in our oneness with each other, we end up developing an even greater oneness (both individually and corporately as the Church), oneness with Christ.

Growing Love, Growing Unity … I wonder what could be next.