Becoming One

When I first read this text, I thought, how on earth am I going to preach this? It sounds like a lot of theological platitudes with no connection to reality. This is not the Jesus of concrete parables with sheep, sowers, tower builders, or runaway kids.

This is how it came out in my head...

“...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...”

“I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 21 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. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, 23 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. 24 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.

Then, a series of questions popped up...

What exactly does this oneness mean and look like?

How do we achieve it?

Is this even a realistic prayer request?

Did/does Jesus ever have unanswered prayers?

“Yes,” I thought, “this last question is the answer… Jesus just had a prayer request go unanswered. How else do we explain the fact that we continually split into denomination after denomination?”

As you can see from the image on the screen, this is a fairly simplified version of various denominations throughout history.

Yet, disunity is not just a problem in church history, it is a problem in our own midst!

As most of you know, our family, like the Durrances, and others, moved this last week and our new place looks like we vomited our old place right into it.

Long days

late nights

tough decisions

why do we have so much stuff?

overtired kids

and on it goes.

What better context is there to explore the need for and challenge of oneness that Jesus prays for us in ?

Clearly, my work is cut out for me! So, what on earth is Jesus talking about, is it even possible, and how do we live into this idealistic prayer, especially when life is upside down during a time like moving?

The Context of Jesus’s Prayer

Well, let me first set the context of the prayer.

Congo Story

This is the last Sunday of Eastertide in which we particularly rejoice in our savior’s resurrection. Our text is actually the 3rd portion of a prayer that begins in .

Early on during our time in the D. R. Congo, our mission began home repairs on the home of the family that had just left. We replaced the roof structure, which had been throughly eaten by termites and the metal roof, among other repairs.

In , Jesus prays for his Father to be glorified and for himself to be glorified.

Then, in he prays for his current disciples.

Finally, in our text, he prays for future disciples.

Additionally, this prayer in is part of the so-called Farewell Discourse that runs from . In other words, these last words of Jesus to his disciples before he goes to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray and be betrayed end in this prayer.

One reason that this Gospel text closes Eastertide is because Jesus promises to send the Spirit, which we will celebrate next Sunday. And also, he sends his followers on mission to the world.

This story illustrates that we clearly had different ideas about what was true. We had different interpretations of what a Jesus follower should do.

As Edward Klink put it, “

The “word” (τὸν λόγον) from the Father was given to the present disciples by the Son (v. 14; cf. v. 8), and through the disciples’ “word” (τοῦ λόγου) others have come to faith.

Edward W. Klink III, John, ed. Clinton E. Arnold, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016), 722.

Unity in Jesus’s Prayer

With this context in mind, let’s look at the oneness, or unity, that Jesus prays for us. The most important thing to note here is that Jesus prays for us!

The good news Wilmore Anglican, is that God is at work making us one. Here are three observations about the unity Jesus prays for on our behalf.

Here are three invitations

(1) Oneness is God’s Work Among Us

Oneness with each other and the triune God is not something we simply conjure up on our own! No,

Jesus asks the Father to make this a reality among us ()

Jesus gives us the same glory that the father gave Jesus ()

And Jesus makes clear in that what makes us “completely one” is the fact that God is in or with Jesus and that Jesus is in or with us.

Our unity, Wilmore Anglican, is not because we meet together, or because we identify as Anglicans, or that we gather around the same liturgy. Our unity is based on the fact that God is at work among us.

Since this is the case, our unity with one another is entirely dependent upon our

We can inhibit or promote unity by submitting ourselves to practices and postures that the Holy Spirit may work with.

Oneness is a Process that Begins With Who We Are

The good news Wilmore Anglican, is that God is at work making us one. Let us submit to his work among us.

This is evident in the way that Jesus worked ceaselessly with his disciples who not only frequently blew it, but ultimately didn’t grasp Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection until after the fact.

(2) Oneness Begins With Who We Are and Leads Toward Wholeness

As important as doctrine and objective belief are, according to Jesus’s prayer, these are not what lead to our unity. Rather, our unity is rooted in relationship. As Jesus prays, it is his relationship with the Father that is the basis for our unity.

Put another way, our unity with one another is entirely dependent upon our relationship with Jesus and the Father.

Our unity with one another is entirely dependent upon our

It is critical to note that God does not coerce us or erase our particularity. This is in stark contrast to the Acts passage (). The slave girl was owned, exploited, and her spiritual union with the pythian spirit was the only reason she had value to others.

Our unity as followers of Jesus was never about the building materials and who should get what. The building materials were simply a test of our unity. Would we embrace the posture of love toward one another or would we assert ourselves, our positions, and our power to coerce and manipulate?

To the contrary, God acts on our behalf while we were far off, while we were his enemies.

God is at work making us one. Will you open yourself to His work in you?

(3) Oneness Leads Us Into Mission

The logic of this final observation is not immediately obvious if unity is incorrectly seen as primarily doctrinal or centered upon a checklist. Once we realize that our unity is grounded in relationship with the Father and Son, mission becomes obvious since this is at the heart of God.

Elsewhere in John’s Gospel, God’s love for the world is demonstrated in mission… as explains God loved the world in this way… he sent his unique son… to die.

In this prayer, Jesus prays for

those who will believe in me through their word

As Edward Klink put it, “

In this prayer, in , Jesus prays for our oneness,

in , Jesus prays for our oneness,

so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me

What Jesus means by “that they would know you have you have sent me” is, to refer back to , that “the Father loves the world.”

Here’s the hard part… the only way that the world will know that the Father loves the world is if we love one another and the world with the Father’s love.

I hardly need to point out the depth, persistence, and deep woundedness that characterizes that love. This is again why our unity can never be about our own determination.

Unity During Our Move

You might imagine that the intensity of moving led to power plays, barking orders, coercion, and frustration among the Snyders, and you’d be right. On the other hand, God was and is working His unity among us, not because we ought to, or believe we should be unified, but because we are all in relationship with Him.

We had frequent check-ins, confessions, and shared words of appreciation for one another. Yesterday, we went as a family back to our empty house and went room by room. As we sat in a circle, we recalled family memories, we gave thanks for God’s goodness to us, we confessed our sins, and we blessed each room for the next family.

I decided not to follow the advice of my good friend Kanga and went to the summons. It unfolded much like he and I thought it would. A lot of hurtful words were offered in my direction and toward my mission’s.

This was one small way that we submitted to one another and to God in relationship. These kinds of practices promote God’s work in and among us.

How do we know unity? When we are participating in the love of God.

Our mission & vision statements read this way:

We seek to abide in Christ and extend his love to others together that all might be reconciled to God, one another, and creation.

The good news Wilmore Anglican, is that God is at work making us one. Will you embrace his work among us?

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