“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 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. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:20-26 ESV)
That they may all be one…
What does that mean? That we may all be one, united in what God has called us to.
As I think about us all being one I ponder over the number of Lutheran denominations there are. Now I ponder on Lutheran denominations because I am Lutheran. But there are many different denominations for each denomination. Even Catholics have more then just the Roman Catholic…
So I googled Lutheran Denominations and got a long list and on the page was a link to Lutheran denominations in North America so I clicked the link. This link showed 37 different Lutheran denominations in North America. I had heard at one point there were 95 in North America. But still 37 different kinds of Lutherans is a lot. How can we all be one?
And that is the thing of Jesus’ prayer for all of us. He is asking that we be united as He and the Father are united. They are not the same, but they are one. We are not the same but we are one.
There is a story about a man named Danny who comes across a man with a well used floppy bible. Danny asks him if he is a believer and the man replies yes. Danny then asks a number of questions to make sure he is actually a believer. You can guess how this ends. If someone disagrees with one part of my faith then they are a heretic and are not a true believer.
In the garden, as the Jewish authorities were on their way to arrest Jesus and have Him put to death Be prayed that we may be one. United in Him and the Father. He did not ask that we would agree on which hymns are good or what kind of bread we should use for communion or what age should people be allowed to take communion or that we would agree when a person should be baptized. He asked the Father that we could be one, united as He and the Father are united.
Our unity is in Jesus’ death on the cross for us all.
So live in the tension of not agreeing with all of your brothers and sisters but united in the mission we all share: to tell the world they are lived by God!
aSacredRebel 