IN OUR LIVES, IN YOUR CHURCH LORD, BE GLORIFIED

 MAY 25, 2022

John 17


17 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.


Jesus Prays for His Disciples

6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

Jesus Prays for All Believers

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—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will 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.”




With a Provincial election around the corner, I am reminded that many Politicians seem to thrive on division. If you think of Political advertisements, or speeches, or photo ops, video shorts, don’t you find that in the political realm, Income brackets separate communities into one side of the tracks or the other? Even people who share the same beliefs, disagree about how to live out those beliefs in our society.

Sometimes, unity seems an unlikely experience, even among the ranks of those who are followers of Jesus. That is one of the things that has grieved my spirit during this pandemic, the disunity we have witnessed in politics and in society at large, infiltrated the Community of Jesus. The other day we noted that the Unity of the followers of Christ was to set an example to the world, be a witness to what things could become through Christ. I was saddened, I would imagine we all were, at the discord between sisters and brothers in the faith revealed in recent times.

Unity is what Jesus prayed for us

before going to the cross.

More than anything, Jesus’ desire was for the church to be one because their uncommon unity would be a powerful witness to God’s love. In John 17, Jesus prays, “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” (John 17:23).

With so much division over so many things, Christians’ ability to be unified, even when we’re not the same, is what will set us apart. This kind of unity doesn’t happen naturally. It comes from above. As we experience God’s love for us, it leads us to love others. This begins to take shape in community when we set aside our personal agenda’s and begin submitting to God’s love and therefore to loving one another.

Do you ever think about the witness our church is to our community of unity? Think about our Church sign, St. Aidan’s Anglican church, Ambassador Community Church, Walkerville Evangelical Fellowship Church all holding services and conducting ministry out the same shared building. More than that praying for God’s blessing for our sisters and brothers in these congregations. Working along side one another, not competing. Making sacrifices and working with each other that God will be glorified. And God has been!! God will continue to be.

Just as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are united, we are to be united to bring God glory. Jesus knew He would not be on Earth forever, and we are an instrumental part of His plan to bring reconciliation to the world. Reconciling people with God (John 17:11, John 17:18) through the Gospel message, and being reconciled with each other. How does that strike you, when I suggest that “we are an instrumental part of God’s reconciling plan?

I am sure that “When believers live in harmony, people take notice and get a visible and clear glimpse of Jesus’ love (John 17:21).

SOME TAKE AWAYS

When you look at your relationships, how much unity do you see at home, at work, or at school?

What is one practical way you can build unity in the church and your community?

Take a moment to follow Jesus’ example in praying for our church family. Pray that we would experience the same unity that Jesus had with God and the Holy Spirit. Pray that same prayer for St Aidan’s Anglican Church, and for Walkerville Evangelical Baptist Church. I believe God is doing awesome things, and will continue to bless each of these congregations and our own as we remain faithful.



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