My prayer is not for them alone. 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 be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (John 17:20-21)
There is so much in the final prayer of Jesus before the events of his betrayal, arrest and crucifixion take over. Amongst its riches I am always struck that in his prayer, Jesus prays for me. For me! He prays for those who will believe in him through the witness of the first apostles. My faith is traced back to the witness of the Pentecost church. Jesus prays for me 2000 years before I am born. Wow!
So if Jesus takes the time to pray for me and us, the content of that prayer is of critical importance. What is he asking of the Father for us? He is pleading for our unity - that our life would be caught up in the unified Life of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He prays that we might experience the fulfilment and joy of living in perfect unity. He asks that we might be brought not to partial or surface-level unity, but to complete unity. (17:23) Why? Because our unity will witness louder than any words to the truth of the reconciling power of the gospel.
I love our church. I really do. Perhaps more than anything else I love our diversity. We have 34 different birth nationalities, people aged from 0 to 96 years old and from with all sorts of occupations. We are one, big, happy and sometimes dyscfunctional family. The genius of God is that he offers his gospel to the world through this family. There is more at stake in our unity than our comfort; at stake is the visibility of the gospel in our world. So Lord, by the power of the Holy Spirit, unify us! Take us deeper into your Life that we might live for you.
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