One

We return, again, to Jesus' prayer. We'll be looking at the section of His prayer that deals with you, His Church. He is concerned for you, and so He prays for you. There are many things about His Church that He could have prayed about, but what does He choose? He prays about our unity, our being one. From this we can see that our being one is something that is important to Him. This is a challenge to the individualism that our culture cherishes and passes on from one generation to the next, something that has affected us. Listen to Jesus' prayer.

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. John 17.20-23

We'll start with a question: what is this being one? What does Jesus have in mind? He explains it. He said,

that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you.

There is no guessing or speculation here. Jesus is quite clear. He wants us to have the same kind of unity that He and His Father have had. And that unity is tied to this idea of being 'in'. The Father is 'in' Jesus and Jesus is 'in' the Father. What is this? Again, Jesus has explained this. Listen to what He said back in chapter 15.

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

Too often people are distracted by the word 'abide'. It just means 'remain'. What is more important is the word 'in'. 'Abide in me, and I in you.' Jesus is talking about a bond between Himself and us. We are to be in Him, bound up with Him, as He is in us. It helps if you remember that Jesus is using the image of a vine and its branches.

So, what is this unity that Jesus prays for? He wants to see a bond that holds all of His people together. We are to be 'in' one another. And the model for this is the bond that holds Him and His Father together.

What else can we say about this bond between Jesus and His Father? Here's one thing. It's a bond of love. Again, from elsewhere in John:

but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father.

If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.

Jesus loves His Father, and His Father loves Him. The bond that they have is a bond of love. And that's what He wants for all of you: bond of love with each other, one that is based on the bond that you have with Jesus.

There's still more going on here. There is something that comes out of this bond of love, a purpose for this bond of love. Listen again to Jesus.

For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.

My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.

So, there is this bond between Jesus and His Father. It is a bond of love. Something comes out of this bond of love. What comes out is a mission. Jesus does the will of His Father. So, Jesus and His Father are bound together with the bonds of love which results in a mission. And that's what Jesus wants to see in you. He prays that there would be a bond of love among us and that this would result in a sense of mission together.

But what is this mission we are to pursue? It's the same mission that Jesus pursued. Jesus came to change the world. That's the mission. Jesus tells us this in this prayer. He desires this oneness among us,

so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

Jesus wants this oneness among us so that we might change the world from the unbelief that so rampantly exists to a faith that believes that Jesus was sent by the Father as Savior. By being one in the way that Jesus means it we change the world. Jesus uses us to finish the mission the Father gave Him.

So Jesus is praying that we would be one, that there would be a bond of love among us that results in our pursuit of the mission of changing the world.

Now, how are we supposed to do this? Is there a game plan? Yes, there is, and Jesus tells us what it is.

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.

The game plan is all about this glory that Jesus received from the Father and has given us. But what is that glory? Jesus talked about this glory earlier.

The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

This is the glory that the Father has given to His Son. Jesus is talking about the Cross, His death. And to make sure that His disciples get the point He continues with these words.

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

The glory that the Father gave to Jesus was the glory of the Cross. Jesus pursued the mission by bearing His Cross, by dying. That is how He was glorified. And it is this same glory that Jesus gives to us. We, like He, are to pursue the mission by bearing our crosses. Jesus died as a grain of wheat to bear much fruit. We, His disciples, are to do the same, and we are to do this together. That's the game plan.

So, let's pull this together. Jesus is praying that we would have this oneness, this bond of love with each other. He is asking for this so that we would pursue the same mission that He pursued. We are to change the world with the Gospel. Completing that mission will cost us as it cost Him. There are crosses to bear and deaths to suffer. That is what Jesus prays for. That is what we are to do as His Church.

Now, if that doesn't feel a bit overwhelming then I haven't explained it well enough. There are lots of obstacles here. Living according to Jesus' words here will not be easy. But here are some things to consider. The first thing is that Jesus is praying for this. That tells you a lot. For one thing it tells you that Jesus knows that this isn't going to be easy. If it were easy He wouldn't need to pray about it. He has called us to a large task, a very large task. We, Jesus' Church, have been called to follow in His footsteps, imitate the bond that He has with His Father, do His will as He did the Father's will and to do this so that we will change the world. Doing this will cost us much just as it cost Jesus much. This is a very large and very difficult task. So, it's good to bear in mind that Jesus is praying for us in this. That should be a great encouragement.

And here's one other thing to consider. Yes, the task is enormous. Change the world? That sounds impossible. But it sounds impossible only if you think like an American. 'Here's the task, and I need to succeed at this, to at least produce a very large dent in it, in a relatively short time.' If you make those kinds of assumptions then it really is impossible. So, don't.

The Church has been at this mission for two thousand years. And it may well be at this mission for another two thousand years. The goal isn't for each of you to see the world dramatically changed in your lifetime because of what you do. That isn't going to happen. This is a group project. And the group isn't just Faith Reformed. The group is the whole Church, from the first believer down to the very last one. You all have a significant role to play, but it will be the group that accomplishes the mission. So, don't think of the task in terms of planting a vegetable garden, tending it and then harvesting from it, something that takes a few months. Think in terms of planting a seed in the hope of growing a towering redwood tree. That will take lifetimes. Think big and long-term.

Here are a few things that you would do well to keep in view. First, there is a mission. We are called to change the world. That's the goal. But we do that by pursuing the smaller callings that Jesus has placed on us, things like getting up each day and going to work, or having babies and then teaching them how to live according to the doctrines of our most holy religion, or offering a listening ear to one of the saints who needs to unload. We chip away at the mission by creating something beautiful, by taking a vacation, by reading a good book - or maybe writing one. We work at the mission by lots of little things. Remember: lots of little steps. Keep your ear open to the Spirit as He guides you in the little things that will ultimately bring about something dramatic: Jesus saving the world.

And remember where we started. At the heart of this is our being one. It's about that bond of love with each other. That means being 'in' each other's lives. As you work at that you will be the kind of person and do the kind of things that will look odd to your neighbors, intriguingly odd. It's as the world sees that bond of love in action that it will be changed. And it will be changed. Jesus is praying that it will be changed. How can it not be changed?