That We Would Be One

LENN ZELLER, DIRECTOR OF CONFERENCE CARE

The apostle John recorded in his Gospel a long prayer of Jesus for Himself, then for His disciples, then for all believers in ages to come. In praying for all believers, Jesus said …

“My prayer is not for them[the disciples] 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.”- John 17: 20-21

Jesus’ first and primary request for His church was that we would be one. What was foremost in His heart and mind for us was not a shallow, surface kind of unity built on common human tradition, but a deep oneness of spirit and soul based on a common

devotion to Him and a common faith in His Word. He prayed for a unity so deep that it would reflect the very oneness of the Trinity itself.
The Father, Son and Holy Spirit have lived in absolute and perfect oneness for all eternity. Theirs is a seamless unity of purpose, will, wisdom, affection, and love so deep that it transcends our human ability to understand or express. They are three Persons, yet one divine being, with no flaw or hint of division or difference. And that kind of intrinsic, essential unity is what Jesus prayed for us!

Surely that will never happen in the fullness of His desire for us until the Day of the Lord when Jesus returns and makes all things new. Until then, the fall continues to have its effect and to wreak havoc on even the church. According to John Calvin, “Everything that constituted a human being, including the soul, was out of kilter because of sin, and every human heart was an abyss of confusion. The truth was painful, but it was still true. Human nature was inclined to idleness and lies …The heart was so riddled with sin that even what appeared to be good was really cloaked in hypocrisy and deceit.” ¹ All this was because of the Fall. Someday, that will all be made right, but in the meantime we will never live in the perfect unity of the Trinity. This can be seen in our own imperfect relationships and in the frail and fractured relationships within our congregations.

However, the redeemed of the Lord can begin to show the beginnings of such oneness as we live more and more fully in His grace and by obedience to His Word. We can grow in unity and in communion to a very hopeful degree and can see the first fruits of the kind of oneness we will one day experience in the new earth. Glimpses of it abound, as people in our congregations honestly care for one another, pray for one another, and seek peace.
The children in our after school Bible Club are given “points” for their attendance, good behavior and memorization of weekly Scripture verses. Every so often we have “store” for them, where they can “spend” those points for small prizes. They are cheap trinkets at best. We do the best we can to find fun little items for them, but budget considerations limit what we can do given the number of children involved. Nevertheless, the children take this very seriously and choose their prizes carefully.

What never ceases to amaze me, though, is how many of them make it known that they are searching for a gift for their siblings, something to take home and share with a brother or sister. What they get is not very much, ultimately. Nevertheless, they want to share the joy with others at home! That is unity of heart and mind! That is thinking of others and putting them above yourself. That’s what I’m talking about!