John 17: 20 - 26

HOW SWEET IT IS!

"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 also be in us so the world may believe that you have sent me." John 17: 20 - 21

This morning I believe the Lord wants for us to consider our Unity within our diversity. And for us to consider this all-important subject under theme of How Sweet It Is! John 17 contains what biblical scholars describe as the Priestly Prayer of Jesus. It is in fact The Lord's Prayer. John 17 allows us to enter into the secret prayer closet of Jesus and hear him pray. His prayer contains three primary elements. He prays for himself, he prays for his disciples, and he prays for future believers.

This prayer is one that is prayed on the battleground of spiritual warfare. It is the night of his betrayal and arrest. In this prayer if you examine its content closely one of the concerns of the Master as He prayed is for the future unity of his disciples and church. If you saw The Passion of the Christ, one of the elements I thought director Mel Gibson did a superb task of helping us understand, in revealing the passion of our Lord, was that the Devil is always present, lurking in the shadows, using human instruments to accomplish his demonic purposes.

We ought never forget as the people of God that the forces under God's authority and forces under the Devil's authority are at war. The Devil and his legions of demons are motivated by a bitter hatred for Christ and those who stand with Christ. The Devil is always trying to bring confusion where there is peace and harmony. He's always trying to bring division where there is unity. His very aim is to break up what God is seeking to build up. And so Jesus prays, "That all of them may be one … that the world may believe that You have sent Me."

In Matthew 28, His charge or Great Commission to the Disciples is "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

In Acts 1,The Lord's promise to his disciples is that "We shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon us." In other words He's going to equip the church through the spiritual resources of the Holy Spirit who will empower us to complete our missionary assignment.

A Great Commission, a promise of empowerment, but the prayer of Jesus for his Church here in John 17 is not for our success but for our Unity. "That we all may be one." His highest hope for the church is our unity. His most pressing passion for his followers is our unity. His most crucial concern for the church is our unity.

It makes a lot of sense for the Lord to pray for our unity when you stop to think about it. For how can the world believe in the God of unity, Who is able to bring order out of chaos, how can the world believe in the Savior who came to reconcile humanity back to God, if the witness of the Church is wrought with division and disagreement? How can the church speak of the God who reconciles, if the church is divided?

When you examine the full text of 1 Corinthians, a primary reason why Paul wrote 1 Corinthians in general and the Love Chapter 13 in particular was that internal divisions in this church over a number of issues was ripping this church apart at the seams -- divided over issues of church leadership and styles of leadership. I follow Paul, I follow Peter, I follow Apollos.

From the First Century to the present, all the historical creeds of the Church, from the Council of Nicaea to the Protestant Reformation to this present Day, have been the result of the church caught in the flames of heated debate over what we believe as the Church. And I wonder how many churches have found themselves in the heat of division over issues related to how shall we worship God? It’s understandable that the Lord in his foreknowledge prayed for the Unity of his church. That we all might be one.

His greatest desire for His Church is that we would become one. That we would be unified in our diversity. He wanted us unified in order that we might give a powerful witness and demonstration of God's love for all humanity. We live in world that is imploding under the culture of separation and division. Us vs. Them, Democratic vs. Republican, haves vs. have nots, Fundamentalist vs. Liberal, Muslim vs. Christian, Jew vs. Palestinian. Yes, he prayed, “That we all might be one", so that in a world wrought with division, people might see in the church the kind of unity that would speak to deepest need for community and belonging, like clear blue water of a desert oasis speaks to the thirst of a tired and weary traveler.

When it comes to the disciples, they were a diverse group. The Lord intentionally selected disciples who represented diversity in their background, personality, and diversity in how they understood his mission. Amen. The Lord selected a diverse group because he understood the world in which He was calling them to bear witness is a diverse world. And he was intentional about diversity among his disciples because he spent an evening in prayer before he selected them.

Let me cite a few examples out of these twelve to illustrate my point.

Peter is noted for his temper and his ability to speak before he thinks.

He was a fisherman and described as a unlearned man.

Peter is the one who tried to come to Christ, walking on the water and began to sink. Peter is the one pledged to the Lord that he would follow

Him even unto death and yet denied him. Peter is the one who made the confession, "Thou art the Messiah, the Son of the Living God." Peter is the one who took his sword and cut off the ear of the high priest’s slave Malchus (John 18:10) when they came to arrest Jesus. Hot tempered though he was, Peter becomes the very one upon whom Christ promises to build his church. For the birth of the Church, the Lord was going to need leadership like that of Peter, someone with fire in the belly and the strength to stand and keep on standing when the opposition began to rise.

Thomas, on the other hand, who was nicknamed 'Doubting', was the skeptic. Always asking, "Why we got to do this?" He is known for being overly cautious in accepting truth. When Jesus declared in John 14, "You know the way to the place that I am going', it was Thomas who questioned, "Lord, how can we know the way?" When Jesus appeared to the disciples following his resurrection and Thomas was not with them and they declared to Thomas with joy bells ringing in their hearts,

"We have seen the Lord", Thomas demanded facts. "Unless I see with my own eyes and touch with my own hands, I will not believe." Skepticism was just a part of his personality. Yet Jesus chose him.

By contrast, Simon, the zealot, was a political activist. His understanding of religion was that it is good if it serves to liberate our people from Roman and Jewish oppression. He was looking for Jesus to bring freedom of his people from their oppressors. The zealots were known as revolutionists who stood ready to resist to the death Roman power and oppression. "Just give the command Jesus, and I'm ready. … Jesus, just give the word and I'm ready to stand with you in the overthrow of our oppressors."

Diversity has been a part of the church from its earliest beginnings. The Prayer of Christ for us is that we might all be One. And when you think about it, “how sweet it is”, this unity in diversity. In Jesus we can agree to disagree and still maintain our unity. Maintaining unity in diversity suggests to us that it is no longer about me, but us.

Not one culture but our cultures. Not one generation but our generations. Not one belief but our beliefs. Not one way to worship God but our collective ways of worshipping God. Not my ministry but our ministry. And what holds our diversity together in unity is Jesus Christ. Jesus is described in 1 Peter 2:6 as 'The Chief Cornerstone'. Yes, the church is a spiritual house, declares Peter. We are living stones, and the Chief Cornerstone is Jesus Christ. Meaning that Jesus is the foundation and headstone that holds us all together.

I once asked a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Pasadena, which is a multicultural congregation composed of Anglo, African American, Korean, and Hispanic membership, how do you do it? How are you able to hold this diversity together in unity? The Elder said to me, it’s not easy. Some have left because of what the church is becoming. But God has sent more than those who have left. A commitment to make unity work diversity is not for everyone.

He said everyone has to be willing to share who they are. And everyone has to be willing to receive what others have to the church, out of their culture, their own generation, their understanding of the Bible, and their traditions and culture of worship. This Unity in Diversity -- to really make it work -- takes a lot of hard work, a lot of patience, and the willingness to meet others halfway. "Lord, help us to accept one another, and You take us to where it is He wants us to be.”

How sweet it is, this Unity in Diversity. Unity in Diversity means there is always the tension of having differences, yet like a rubber band it is this very tension which holds us together in the love of Christ. Our diversity is the very ingredient the Lord uses to give us our sweetness! How sweet it is, this unity in diversity!

Loved by the same God. Bought by the same precious blood. Saved by the same amazing grace. Baptized in the same Spirit. Commissioned by the same Great Head of the Church. On our way to the same Heaven and Lord of Glory! How sweet it is, this unity in diversity.

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