Many of us know the story after Joshua, things went well for a while. They kept their promise, they were devoted to following God and not worship other gods of the land, but it didn�t take long. After only one generation they went back to their evil ways. They lost sight of the promise they made to God. Once they lost sight of the Lord God who had brought them out of slavery in Egypt and into the Promised Land. Instead they began following the gods of the land they had occupied, they had internal tribal squabbles, . How quickly people forget the Lord and what he has done for them, forget their commitments they made to him, and begin walking their own path of personal self-fulfillment and pleasure rather than follow God’s purpose and plan for their life.
Fast forward about 1400 years to the day before the new Joshua, Jesua, or Jesus as we know him would deliver people from slavery, and receive an inheritance into the Promised Land. Only the slavery he was delivering people from wasn’t slavery to other people, but to sin and death. And the Promised Land wasn’t an earthly location but a heavenly one which we become a part of here, now on earth, the kingdom of God.
Jesus prayed what is known as the priestly prayer, knowing what would happen in the future, prays first for his disciples, and then for all Christian believers:
John 17:20 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you 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 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
Unity
Notice there are three things Jesus prayed for us, 1) the first is for unity or oneness, that we as Christians would be one, just as the Father was in the Son and the Son in the Father. Let me ask you this, how close is the relationship Jesus had with the Father? According to our Christian beliefs, we believe God is one God but is triune; Father, Son, Holy Spirit, one God, three persons in perfect loving relationship with each other [statue]. Jesus’ radical prayer was that He wanted us to be in such loving relationship with each other, that it reflected the loving relationship God the Father has with God the Son. Notice that prayer wasn’t just to the persons at Epsilon UMC or Emmanuel Evangelical be one (although that is a good place to start), he says "that all of them may be one," all Christians. The Bible says there is only one church, one body, NIV Romans 12:5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
NIV 1 Corinthians 12:13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body-- whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free-- and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
God wants all of his children to love each other no matter which camp we are from.
As Christians do we focus on the common bond we have in Jesus Christ, or do we focus first on our differences ? When Christians come together, do we seek to find our difference or commonality of purpose to work together? Do you dunk or sprinkle? Do you baptize infants or not? Are you pre-millennial or post-millennial? Is communion really the body and blood of Christ, is Christ really present, or is it just a symbol? I realize that unity does not mean uniformity, we are not clones of each other, we see things differently, denominations have their distinctive beliefs and emphases but we are one in the body of Christ working toward the same goal of seeing this world redeemed.
Although this is less the case anymore, sometimes I wonder if we focus on brand loyalty so much to the point we forget we are on the same team working together. How many Coke drinkers do we have out there? How many Pepsi drinkers? How many Michigan State fans? How many Michigan fans? Classic rivalries. For some reason our competitive nature seems to bring out the worst in us when it comes to rivalries, and we sometimes bring it into the church. Growing up I was a Methodist living in Jenison/Hudsonville area. I don�t know if you are familiar with the Grand Rapids area, but there are a lot of CRC�s there, and I remember feeling like a second class citizen sometimes because I was Methodist. Some of the folks at our church know I am on a church planting group, and I have heard stories of how our church planting pastors have receive complaints from nearby pastors within our denomination because this new church is on their turf. I�m sorry, aren�t we on the same team working together, fighting the same battle, to make disciples of Jesus Christ.
I wonder if the devil doesn’t laugh when he gets us to fight each other because he knows that when we fight each other, we aren�t working against his hold.
What would it look like if all Christian believers were able to be one as the Father is with the Son?
Our Unity Comes from Our Relationship with God
The second thing I’ve noticed in this passage is that our unity comes from our relationship with God. Jesus prayed "may they also be in us," and later he prays "I in them and you in me." Unity among believes is only possible through a personal relationship with God through Christ. I’m not just talking about getting saved here when we first received God�s forgiveness and grace. I am talking about an ongoing relationship with God through Christ. I have given them the glory you gave me. Like Jesus says a couple chapters earlier, "if you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit."
The fruit of love relationships among Christian believers is only possible by abiding in Christ. Without being "in Christ" our love and unity is just a façade, we pretend to get along with other Christians when inside we really could care less about them. We put on our game face because we know we�re supposed to. I�m going to smile at them because I have to (like the smile you put on have after the 100th picture at your wedding). We put up a front like Eddie Haskell in the old TV show Leave it to Beaver. "Yes, you look lovely today Mrs. Cleaver." He always appeared to want to do whatever Ward and June Cleaver said, yet it was really all an act, and when they turned their back he would go to his conniving ways.
If we have a problem loving other Christians, whether they are in our church or another church, the problem isn�t with them, the problem lies with us and with our relationship with God. I hear people say to me, "but you don’t know what they said, or did to me." To justify their unwillingness to forgive or be in loving. I don’t need to know, because I remember Jesus being beaten and hung on a cross, and looking on them with pity saying "Forgive them for they know not what they are doing."
Our love and oneness with our brothers and sisters in Christ is a serious issue for God.
NIV 1 John 3:10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
Our Unity is a Signpost which Brings the World to Christ
Notice the third element, Jesus truly believe that the natural result of our being in Christ and in loving relationship with one another was that it would send a message to the world that Jesus, the Son of God really came, and really makes a difference in the world. Twice he prays for unity among Christians (v. 20b, 23b) "so that the world may believe that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." The front line demonstration of the presence of Christ and the Holy Spirit in the world is us. When we love God, love each other, and work together we send a message to a self-absorbed world. Jesus really did come. He�s the real deal because it�s unnatural to care deeply about people you’re not related to, and you may not even know. It causes people to stop and wonder why that is. When we look in the book of Acts we see the first Christians in oneness together, former Pharisees and priests loving and eating together, praying together, worshipping together with blue collar fishermen, tax collectors, the rich with the poor. In Acts 2:48 it says people were getting saved and entering into the Christian faith daily says not just because of the great preaching of Peter, but because of the loving relationships within the Christian community.
What if, as Jesus prayed, the greatest evangelistic effort is not some program but the love and unity we as Christian believers have, along with our love for the world?
In the OT, God established the people of Israel to be a light unto the nations. They were supposed to be a model by which people could see that the one God, Creator of all was the true God. In the NT, Jesus says we are, "the light of world...do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl?" No, "instead they put it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven (Mt. 5:14-16)." We are meant to show our light, but are we creating an unnecessary stumbling block for people in the world when we fail to get along with each other in the church or put down Christians in other churches, and fail to work together?
How are the people within our church in relationship with each other? Is there discord? How is our relationship with other Christians outside our church or our denomination? Are the Christians in our community working together in loving relationship with each other? According to Jesus how we love each other will largely impact how the world perceives Jesus. By seeing our relationships with each other they will know that the Father sent Jesus, that he is the real deal because the love we have for each other is not natural.
