As a topic prompt, this week we are supposed to respond to our professor's blog post, How Seriously Do We Take Jesus’ Words in John 17:23 On The Need For Christian Unity?
Abide in me, and
I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the
vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the
branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit,
for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:4-5)
Before we get to this
passage in John 17, unity and oneness have been a frequent theme in John’s
Gospel (Seeà John 10:16, 38; 11:52; 14:10-11, 20, 23; and 15:4-5). Allow me to quote
the last reference,
Grapevine in Israel. Photo Greg Dueker |
Now in chapter 17:22-23,
we read,
The glory that you have given me I have given
to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 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.
I love this prayer. Obviously this unity Jesus speaks of was
important to him since it was on his mind right before he went to his death on
the cross. Should it be important to us? Of course! However I wonder in what
way it should be important.
Should it be important because it is something we
are supposed to produce? I have to confess that sounds kind of arrogant and
self-important to me especially since Jesus was actually praying to the Father,
not to us.
Christian unity should it be important for another reason—because
it is a sign of Christ’s presence in our lives. Unity is made possible by his re-gifting
the glory, which the Father had given to him, to us. Unity is made perfect when
we respond by giving all the glory back to him through loving and humbly
serving others.
Now these verses in John 17 are from Jesus’ High-priestly
prayer for his people. His petition to his Father on our behalf was both passionate and profound.
So was Jesus’ prayer not answered? This is a troublingly honest
thought to be sure.
Since Jesus never spoke outside of what flowed from the
heart of the Father I will assume that the answer wasn’t “No.” Perhaps some
might say that it was answered with an eschatological, “Not yet.” While this
makes a little more sense for once sin is completely removed from the world and
the Kingdom of God is fully manifested, complete unity is an easy thing for us
to picture. However, this might be too convenient for us, excusing us from serious
determined efforts at unity if it can’t truly be achieved until the Millennial
Kingdom. My dear friend, wrote passionately,
“We
can hide behind claims that Christians are invisibly united through faith in
Jesus Christ even in the midst of visible disunity. I seriously doubt that Jesus
had in mind invisible unity that was somehow divorced from visible unity. Invisible
unity must be visible; otherwise, it is illusory.”
While I think I have come to share The Metzger’s passion for
unity, I think that his last statement reaches too far. “Illusory” is a word
for used things that are not real, that are based on an illusion. Visibility has
not been a metric by which reality is measured for a very long time…except in Missouri
(the “Show Me” State). Despite believing in many things we cannot see (like
air), we live in a culture that too often fails to recognize the reality of the
spiritual realm. As Christians we should not fall into the same error.
Invisible is not the same as unreal.
I contend that we are already one spiritually if we are
truly Christ’s…whether we recognize it or not. There is a spiritual unity that may or
may not be seen—that flies in the face of such rationalistic statements as “Invisible
unity must be visible; otherwise, it is illusory” because they are
not relational enough. Is our unity in what we do or in whose we are and whom
we depend on for our salvation? When abiding people meet there is no hiding the
unity of the Spirit.
Allow me to wax momentarily metaphorical. This is Portland,
so consider a tree…, is it one or is it many? It may sound like a stupid
question, but the answer may depend on how we are looking at the tree. There are
many individual leaves that while
similar all have their own distinctives and character. There are many branches and twigs leading to those
leaves, each with their seemingly random angle, thickness and length. While
each branch, twig, and leaf is separate and unique, when we step back from
hugging it and widen our scope to “look larger” we see that the many elements
really form one tree, each part in its place fulfilling its purpose. So are the
leaves many or one? Many, if you don’t believe me look at my front lawn in the
fall. Yet in a very real sense, as part of the tree the many are one. I use
this analogy with caution, as an illustration of how we may be looking too
small when we look for unity.
Am I simply making excuses and contending for an invisible
unity? Well that depends on how big we choose to look. Are we focused in too
closely on what is in our hands to see the unity that actually exists? Has our
vision become pixilated like when you stand too close to the huge TVs in Costco?
Sometimes you have to step back and look again. Are we individual buildings or
a city? Again, I contend for the possibility that the visibility of unity
depends upon the scope of our gaze.
Perfect unity exists now in the lives of those who have
surrendered pursuing their own glory and maintaining their own kingdom. It is
found in the indwelling of Christ and the Father by the Spirit. It is not
something we could ever produce on our own. What I love is meeting another who
is united to Christ and sensing immediately the unity of the Spirit. Certainly
this spiritual unity manifests visibly. I think we just need eyes to recognize it.
I recently attended an ecumenical luncheon of sorts arranged
by a custodian at our church. He grew up in the Lutheran Church and still is an
active Lutheran while working at a Foursquare Church. Somehow his life was
touched by the love of Christ through those he served with and he wanted to
share his gratitude with us by inviting us to eat a great lunch and by allowing
us the opportunity to sit in open fellowship with pastors and others from the two
Lutheran churches he has attended. Wonderful people, all part of God’s unified
plan to touch one man’s life, and also a part of the tapestry of Christian
unity.
What are some of the visible signs of the presence of biblical
unity that is synonymous with our remaining in Christ? We don’t shrivel up in
the heat of circumstances. We are not prone to separate from his purposes. We humbly
accept correction and pruning. Our lives produce good fruit in God’s eyes and a
wholesome witness takes place in the eyes of the watching world.
Psalm 133
1
Behold, how good and pleasant it is
when brothers dwell in unity!
2 It is like the precious oil on the head,
running down on the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
running down on the collar of his robes!
3 It is like the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion!
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing,
life forevermore.
when brothers dwell in unity!
2 It is like the precious oil on the head,
running down on the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
running down on the collar of his robes!
3 It is like the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion!
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing,
life forevermore.
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