That They May Be One

(John 17:1 NASB) These things Jesus spoke; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Thy Son, that the Son may glorify Thee,

(John 17:2 NASB) even as Thou gavest Him authority over all mankind, that to all whom Thou hast given Him, He may give eternal life.

(John 17:3 NASB) "And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.

(John 17:4 NASB) "I glorified Thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which Thou hast given Me to do.

(John 17:5 NASB) "And now, glorify Thou Me together with Thyself, Father, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.

(John 17:6 NASB) "I manifested Thy name to the men whom Thou gavest Me out of the world; Thine they were, and Thou gavest them to Me, and they have kept Thy word.

(John 17:7 NASB) "Now they have come to know that everything Thou hast given Me is from Thee;

(John 17:8 NASB) for the words which Thou gavest Me I have given to them; and they received them, and truly understood that I came forth from Thee, and they believed that Thou didst send Me.

(John 17:9 NASB) "I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine;

(John 17:10 NASB) and all things that are Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine; and I have been glorified in them.

(John 17:11 NASB) "And I am no more in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep them in Thy name, the name which Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, even as We are.

(John 17:12 NASB) "While I was with them, I was keeping them in Thy name which Thou hast given Me; and I guarded them, and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

(John 17:13 NASB) "But now I come to Thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy made full in themselves.

(John 17:14 NASB) "I have given them Thy word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

(John 17:15 NASB) "I do not ask Thee to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.

(John 17:16 NASB) "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

(John 17:17 NASB) "Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth.

(John 17:18 NASB) "As Thou didst send Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.

(John 17:19 NASB) "And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.

(John 17:20 NASB) "I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word;

(John 17:21 NASB) that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me.

(John 17:22 NASB) "And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one;

(John 17:23 NASB) I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world may know that Thou didst send Me, and didst love them, even as Thou didst love Me.

As I was considering what I would say on this day I began to think back to my childhood. I was born in Fort Meade, Maryland, the son of an Air Force Master Sergeant. I believe I was less than a year old when my sister and I were whisked off to Plattsburgh Air Force in upper state New York where we would spend the next eight years.

Living up in New York has left me with fond, warm memories except for having to move to Baltimore because my Mom and Dad were splitting up. The Plattsburgh air force base was predominantly white. I remember being one of the few black in my kindergarten and first grade classes. I remember the first girl I had a crush on was a little red head named Nancy. I remember playing with my friends, we were so naive of skin color--to this day I don't remember what color they were. All I remember that they were all my friends. As I think back some thirty years ago, I don't remember one incident of racism in Plattsburgh. Psychologists would say I have repressed memory syndrome. I would have to disagree.