FOR THE WORLD

 MAY 23, 2022

John 17:20-21

“I do not pray for these (those with Him in the Upper Room) alone (or, only), but also for those who will (future tense) believe (or, have faith in, trust, be persuaded) in Me through their word; (what) that they all may be one, (to what extent) as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, (why) that the world may believe (or, have faith in, trust, be persuaded) that You sent Me”.

Psalm 133:1

How good and pleasant it is
when God’s people live together in unity!

How Big Is Your Tent? That is the question we will wrestle with this week. Based on the Bible readings above UNITY is an important biblical theme in both the Old and New Testament. Since that is the case, I believe as follows of Jesus we need to embrace unity and understand Unity and make every effort with God’s help to pursue Unity.

Why Unity? Well Jesus answers that plainly don’t you think? Look above at John 17:20-21 and the why becomes clear “that the world may believe.” Jesus prayer for his followers of every generation was that their Unity, their “Oneness”, would be a unity that resembles the Father/Son relationship, “that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You.”

Here is the interesting thing about Unity, that I find important, the Unity the Bible speaks about does not deny us our individuality. It does not mean, that all followers of Jesus drive white cars, or live in white houses, or wear white suits or dresses. It rather is talking about unity in essentials. Unity, that is a witness to God’s ability through grace and love to knit a community together. Think about the early followers of Jesus, Women, Fishermen, tax collectors, Zealots, Religious leaders, people healed from various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, some rich, most poor. That is quite a mixture of people wouldn’t you say? Differing personalities, and goals and dreams, and life experiences, united in love through the presence of Jesus.

Like the mix of people in Jesus day our modern community of Jesus also represents a variety of occupations, ethnicity, lifestyles, experiences, family structures, goals and dreams, political affiliations, and personalities that Jesus presence continues to unite in love, as a witness to the world, of his grace, resulting in the belief that Jesus was indeed God’s anointed, the Messiah, God’s sent one. That's what this biblical Unity does.

The words of Psalm 133:1 express the desire of God for his people when it says, How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!

So, let’s do some searching of our hearts and minds and answer this question:

Who’s welcome in your spiritual tent?

Who’s not?

Who’s in? Who’s out?

Dear friends, let us love one another,
because love comes from God.
Whoever loves is a child of God and knows God.



Let us Pray



Jesus Christ, life of the world and of all creation,
forgive our separation and grant us peace and unity.

The peace that Christ gives is to guide us in the decisions we make, for it is to this peace that God has called us together into one body.

Jesus Christ, life of the world and of all creation,
forgive our separation and grant us peace and unity.

With his own body he broke down the walls of separation.
By his death on the cross Christ destroyed our divisions.

Jesus Christ, life of the world and of all creation,
forgive our separation and grant us peace and unity. Amen.

 Ephesians 2:14-22; 4:3-6; Colossians 3:15; 1 John 4:7