The High Calling of Unity
Gospel of John: The Glory of Christ • Sermon • Submitted
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“How could you worship with those who weren’t of like faith?”
Question asked by a well-meaning woman at a church in Ohio.
Raising support for MAF, question was asked by a family friend, “So, will there be a conservative Mennonite church there in Mozambique that you will attend?”
These questions call into question what unity really is. Is it possible to worship with those who aren’t like you?
If so, what is unity based on?
John 17
First, Jesus prays for His disciples, who are standing right there
John 17:9–11 (ESV)
9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.
And then, Jesus looks into the future. And he sees the church at Fairview on November 21, 2021.
And he prays fervently,
John 17:20–26 (ESV)
20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may 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 to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
Can you hear our Lord praying for His disciples?
Can you hear Him crying out for His church?
We don’t have many instances of Jesus talking to His Father, and this is by far the longest prayer of Jesus that we have.
One of the longest prayers recorded in Scripture.
Unity is a sacred calling
Jesus prays for His disciples that they will be one, Just as, or even as, Jesus and His Father are one
And later He prays for us, that we will be one just as the Father is in Jesus, and Jesus is in the Father
The unity of His church is a high and sacred calling
Jesus and His Father were more than father and son as we understand father and son
Because of the imperfection and sin that is in our relationships, it’s hard, maybe even impossible for us to grasp the unity that Jesus is praying for here
I’ve talked before about the relationship between my dad and me
And I know that I’m not alone in having a challenging relationship with my dad
Sometimes the best that we can hope for between fathers and sons is:
Well, I get along with my son alright
I get along with my dad alright
We are at least on speaking terms
Thankfully, not always, but sometimes that’s what we know as unity between fathers and sons
This is how it was between my dad and me. We were at least on speaking terms
I know that we loved each other
Could it be that as a church, as the Body of Christ, as the Followers that Jesus was praying for that unity often looks this way as well
Well, we can at least be in the same building together
I can say “good morning” to that person.
But I’m certainly not going to go out of my way to talk to that person
maybe we think that’s the best that we can hope for
But do you hear the heart of Jesus in this prayer?
Jesus uses a comparison to describe the kind of unity that He desires from His followers: Just as The Father and I are one.
Do feel the weight and the power that this little phrase carries?
I don’t know if we can grasp the wonder of the unity that Jesus and His Father had and still have
Were they one in appearance/form?
No. God was still Spirit,
Jesus had taken the human form
Were they one in function?
No. God was Father, All powerful, All knowing,
Jesus chose to bow His will in submission to His Father and be a servant, give His life
But were they one in mission, in purpose?
Absolutely! There was no doubt or division in their mission.
Were they one in heart and in spirit??
Yes! Jesus said, “All that I have is My Father’s. All that The Father has is mine.”
He said, “I and The Father are one”
There was no division or doubt in their mission and purpose.
There was no division or doubt our jealousy in their relationship.
And we say, “But we are talking about God here. We are talking about the Trinity here. What can be more perfect than God, than the relationship of the Trinity”
Yeah. We are talking about that.
And Jesus prays for us, that we, His church, would have that kind of perfect unity.
This is the highest calling that we as a Church can have. To be unified. To be one in spirit and in mission.
The unity of His church reflects the unity of The Trinity
God is glorified in unity
The same glory that God The Father manifested in Jesus, is manifested in us when we are unified
John 17:22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one,
Do we want to glorify God? Do we truly want Him to receive as much glory as we can possibly give Him?
Then lets be eager for unity.
Let’s strive for unity.
Ephesians 4:1–7 (ESV) 4 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Hebrews 12:14–15 (ESV)14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;
The farmers when they are putting in their crop or harvesting are eager to get into the field (at least I imagine they are).
They are chomping at the bit, so to speak, poised like a runner on the starter blocks
They strive to get their work done before the weather changes and makes it more difficult, putting in long hours
They are tired; their families miss them. But it’s their calling, their passion.
They are eager to do their work, and they strive to get it done!
Could we be that eager, that hard-working, that driven, to maintain unity!
Could we be like farmers with their equipment cleaned, oiled, and tuned up, poised to get into the field at the first opportunity
Shouldn’t we poised and ready to approach our brother or our sister and say, “Let’s make things right.”
Again, we aren’t talking about looking the same and living the same.
We aren’t even talking about everyone agreeing on all the ins and outs of how we “do” church
We are never going to be there
It’s futile to try to start there with agreeing on these things.
We are talking about being unified as people whose hearts are all striving to know Him. Striving for intimacy and unity with Jesus
If we are agreed that this is what we are going to do, that is true unity
If we have unity because we are all seeking the heart of Jesus, it is in this that God is glorified.
Because it’s for the glory of God.
When we are striving for unity, we are striving for His glory!
How does unity glorify God? The unity of God’s people is a witness to the world
It is a declaration to the world that Jesus was sent by The Father because of His great love for them
John 17:21 (ESV)21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
John 17:23 (ESV)23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
Unity is not for the purpose of making us happy
And It’s not so we don’t become “that church” that everyone points to and clicks their tongues and says, “Too bad they couldn’t hold it together.”, as has happened in so many communities.
It’s much bigger than that.
Unity is a declaration to the world that Jesus is who He says He is, that He was sent by The Father to draw all mankind to Himself, to reconcile fallen mankind to The Father
Remember the passage that we read at communion.
“For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
You unroll the scroll and you shout it from the rooftops
The unity of the church of Jesus Christ should be so incredible, so outstanding, so over and above what the world knows as unity,
That it shouts a message to the world who is longing for that kind of unity.
That it shouts the message that Jesus has come from The Father to unite the whole world back to Him.
You know as well as I do that the world likes to point to hypocrisy and divisions in the church as reasons why going to church just isn’t worth it
But unity, when it is centered on Christ, it shouts out the Gospel message.
It proclaims the Gospel. That Jesus has come to reconcile fallen mankind back to The Father
What a tremendous and incredible message!
That should excite us. That should make us eager to pursue unity with all of our hearts.
Church, unity is a high calling. I can’t emphasize it enough.
It’s a message that I need to hear.
It’s a message that WE need to hear.
Church, how is our unity?
Are we pursuing unity with all of our hearts?
Is our unity glorifying Jesus?
Is it glorifying God?
Is it shouting, declaring the message that Jesus was sent by The Father because of His great love for the whole world?
When we were in Ohio we attended a certain conservative Mennonite church that went through a significant church split a year or two after we left.
Some years later, we spoke to the pastor of the people who “stayed”. The remnant. I asked how things were going?
These were his words: “We are agreed on the doctrinal issues”.
I have to tell you, I was sad. Not that doctrine isn’t important. It is!
But is that the kind of unity that is going to shout the gospel to the world?
How is our unity?
Are we just enduring one another, or some of the folks here?