“The Danger of UNITY”
John 17: 1-11 (NRSV)
In
the 17th Chapter of John’s Gospel Jesus is praying to God for 4
things: Jesus’ impending death and sacrifice; Jesus’ concern for His disciples,
that they may be unified in Truth; He is praying for blessing for all future
believers; and in expectation of a final end to the “world system” in the age
to come.
We
believers and non-believers alike need to listen to this prayer closely as it
holds the key to eternity.
A Teaching
Doctor is doing the morning rounds with his students in tow. He pauses before a
patient and says, "This man limps because his fibula and tibia are badly
arched. Bernie, what would you do in a case like this?" Bernie said,
"Yeah, well, um...Yes, I think I'd limp too."
The little girl was sitting in her father's lap as he read
her a goodnight story. From time to time, she would take her eyes off the book
and reach up to touch his wrinkled cheek. By and by she was alternately
stroking her own cheek, then his again.
Finally she spoke, "Daddy, did God make you?"
"Yes, sweetheart" he answered, "God made me a long time
ago." "Oh she said," then "daddy, did God make me
too?" "Yes, indeed honey" he assured her. "God made you
just a little while ago." "Oh" she said. Feeling their
respective faces again, she observed, "God's getting better at it now
isn't he?"
God created all of us – barefaced, bristle-faced, short hair,
long hair and all. Yet we sometimes forget our common ground and seek to dwell
on our diversity, which seems to be a distraction and a dividing line in the 21st
century. Jesus said:
After Jesus had
spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has
come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give
eternal life to all whom you have given him.
And this is
eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom
you have sent. I glorified you
on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do.
So now, Father,
glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence
before the world existed.
”I have made
your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and
you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they
have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have
believed that you sent me.
I am asking on
their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those
whom you gave me, because they are yours. All
mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them.
And now I am no
longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy
Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be
one, as we are one.
The blessing Jesus prays for is: That
we may be one as Jesus and God are one.
That is, the quality of
companionship between Jesus and God should be the measure of our companionship
with each other. Shortening the quotation to: That all may be one; misquotes
the verse as it omits the defining quality of the oneness to which we are
called. It distorts the source of unity.
In
order to fully grasp the meaning of this prayer, we need to take a brief look
at what the Gospel of John means by "the world." Then we can
look further at the two dimensions of Jesus' prayer.
Throughout the Gospel of John the way the words "the
world" are used could be expressed as "humanity and evil powers as a
system." It is not the world in the sense of creation but a sense of
conflict between Jesus and the world.
Three times the phrase "ruler of this world" is
used in John’s Gospel with the sense that the Evil One is in control of this
world system. The world will hate Jesus and his followers, and it will rejoice
when Jesus is executed. In other words, "the world system" is a
pretty grim reality. Jesus is glad to be "out of here", and at the
same time he is concerned for those he must leave behind.
Jesus said, "I have overcome the world!" And
because he has overcome the world, we, in Jesus, have also overcome the world.
Jesus' prayer opens up a window to heaven's purpose "in the world."
There are many examples
in our past that show us the dangers of being yoked with those who have
different standards and conduct of behavior, those in the world.
America used to be
united by ideals that held us to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as
individuals first and as needed to gather to fend off threats to it. The rule
of law was created to acknowledge those inalienable rights granted by a Creator.
Today most people ignore
the Creator, ignore common values and laws designed to enhance freedom not deny
some other person a free exercise of it because you think that the thoughts in
their head condemn you.
Look around: Marriage is
under attack – families are being destroyed – fathers are being called
non-essential --- abortions are on-demand – the standards of behavior
acceptable in society make a modest person blush in shame – alcohol and drug
use are at an all-time high– politicians are celebrated not by what they have
accomplished but the level to which they have destroyed their opponents.
Last week on memorial
day weekend riots and black-on-white violence occurred in Miami Beach, Cincinnati,
Chicago, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Memphis, Baltimore, Erie, Buffalo, Rochester,
Providence, Detroit, Myrtle Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, and Tampa. It’s so bad in
Baltimore that one hospital has hired two new K-9 units to patrol it’s parking
lot directly outside the front entrance.
None of this was
reported in the local or national media, and it especially wasn't reported citing the racial nature of the violence. In Obama's America race is only an issue if it is white on black.
“Educators” who wrote
the common core curriculum are now admitting it was written to counter “white privilege.”
This curriculum will be shoved down the throats of public schools just as other
such history rewriting efforts have been. (BTW are your children common? Do you
want them educated and tested commonly?)
Is this something we
Christians should willingly unite with and endorse? Can we be one with a
culture and a church that turns its back on faith in Jesus Christ to celebrate
and uplift human values, goals, and experience?
Listen to what Charles A. Spurgeon said a long time ago: "To
remain divided is sinful! Did not our Lord pray, that they may be one, even as
we are one"? (John 17: 22). A chorus of ecumenical voices keep harping the
unity tune. What they are saying is, "Christians of all doctrinal shades
and beliefs must come together in one visible organization, regardless...
Unite, unite!"
Spurgeon goes on to say, "Such teaching is false, reckless and dangerous. Truth alone
must determine our alignments. Truth comes before unity. Unity without
truth is hazardous. Our Lord's Prayer in John 17 must be read in its full
context. Look at verse 17: "Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is
truth." Only those sanctified through the Word can be one in Christ. To
teach otherwise is to betray the Gospel. When
we choose to follow Jesus, it separates us from those who don't.”
Listen to this old Irish Benediction that suggests we need
help to remember why we, as Christians, are called to a different standard:
May God bless those
who love us. And for those who don't love us, may God turn their hearts. And
for those whose hearts cannot be turned, May God turn their ankles, So that we
may know them by their limping.
Wouldn't it be nice for it to be that easy - to know those who don't Christ by their limping? But then on the other hand Jesus told us we'd know them by their fruit. Amen.
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