Grace Church

Scaling the Obstacles to Unity

Jesus himself faced the knowledge of his looming death before his crucifixion. It pleased His Father to make Him aware in advance of the time of His death. The ways in which Jesus used His time can tell us about how we ought to spend our last days and hours of this life, before we are brought to judgment.

Knowing that his own death was near, Jesus told His disciples of what was coming. John, the apostle, recorded what Jesus did and said in the days and hours preceding his timely death, and His words and actions reveal what occupied His mind during that trying period: the unity of the believers, the topic of today’s devotion.

Jesus spent the final hours before His betrayal in prayer, and the private prayer of His heart to His father was for unity among His people. John tells us (in chapter 17 of his gospel) that Jesus came to His Father in a three-fold prayer, praying first:

“Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus, the anointed, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” John 17:1-5 (emphasis added)

His first, core concern was for God’s Glory — His Father’s and His own; and tightly bound to this was a proclamation that the purpose of His kingship was to bring eternal life with Him. He prayed further, saying:

“… I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one. John 17:10-11 (emphasis added)

His prayer here, for His disciples was first and foremost oneness — and in that unity, that the Father protect them from worldliness, saying that He was sending them out into the world in the same way that the Father sent Jesus. The blessing Jesus gave His disciples is one that unbelievers cannot understand: he blessed them with alienation and hostility from the world, and with the blessing of following after Him in His life — that they may be so privileged as to be poured out as offerings for the ungodly as their Lord had been, completing his own sufferings in themselves.

Finally, He prayed for all of us who believe in Him through the Apostles:

“… I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 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. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 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.John 17:20-23

The entirety of His prayer for us — we later believers — is that we be one. Rather than for peace, he prayed for our unity; rather than for prosperity, he prayed for our unity; rather than for family or happiness or spiritual gifts, he prayed for our unity. But what he prayed for was something more radical than tolerance and more daring than even deep friendship. He prayed to our Dad asking that “all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.” If the fellowship of the Trinity is a profound mystery, it is one that he has earnestly implored his Father that he reveal to us all. He has prayed for us to be one in a way that cannot happen by our effort or toil, but by His grace through our radical submission to Him and to one another.

Today’s reading described three obstacles to unity: misunderstanding, a “me first” attitude, and making mistakes; and we truly do often find ourselves falling prey to Satan in one of these three areas. Sometimes we misunderstand the words or actions of our brothers; sometimes we approach them with our pleasure in mind first, putting our pleasure or desires ahead of the Savior’s body; sometimes simply making a mistake that causes a rift between us. Because we are darkened and weak — our bodies a battleground of sin and righteousness — it is impossible for us to overcome these difficulties. It is why the God’s Church is factioned and divided today. So what can we do? Where does our hope come from?

But there is good news! Our Hope comes from Jesus — we can look to him and go hard after His path. When there’s a misunderstanding, we can pray to God that He gives us the strength to humble ourselves and be willing to be the wronged party — joyfully. When we wrong someone else, we can do whatever is necessary for unity, even being willing to pay back seven, seventy, or seven-hundred times the wrong — gladly. When we find ourselves with a “me first” attitude, we can pray that God help us to turn it into a “me first” of sacrifice, seeking earnestly how we can be the first to be poured out for our brothers and sisters. This is my prayer for myself as well, of course: that my pride (which has been rampant on the field of my soul since the days of my youth) be quieted. That my greed be killed, and that my selfish interests be crucified with Christ; so that I can be anointed by His blood to be a blessing to you, my family at Grace. I’m far from my goal, but I hope to run my race and win my prize. I’m long from my Rest, but I’m sure of His goodness, and there’s no room for fear. I’m eager to love you, and eager to be one with you as Jesus is one with our Father.

Thanks for reading, everyone. I love you.