JOHN 17:20-26 UNIFIED BY PURPOSE

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.

24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

According to Jesus’ prayer our unity is an important part of our proclamation of the Gospel. As we follow Jesus, we are revealing the nature of God to the world and the unity of Jesus and the Father. So our unity is not just our getting along with one another, agreeing to disagree or settling on the lowest common denominator. Rather, our unity is based on the unity between Jesus and the Father. It is, therefore, a unity that is expressed in obedience to the will of God. The Church, like our physical bodies, is only healthy when it is under the control of the head, which is Jesus Christ. Productive function is only achieved when each body part is connected to the head which both informs and coordinates the actions of all the parts of the body.

As diverse as an axe and a shovel are, if a homeowner uses them to remove a shrub they are united by having a common function under the guidance of a common will. Likewise, when we are living in obedience to God’s will we are united, but do not lose our individuality. In reality, it is because we are individually gifted that we can complement one another and be functional for the kingdom through a common effort to fulfill a common purpose.

Almighty Father, whose blessed Son before his passion prayed for his disciples that they might be one, as you and he are one: Grant that your Church, being bound together in love and obedience to you, may be united in one body by the one Spirit, that the world may believe in him whom you have sent, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (B.C.P., p. 255)