Unity is a Necessity (1)

Ephesians 4:3-6, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit-- just as you were called to one hope when you were called-- 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

Heard a story of a children’s minister who was sharing a "children’s sermon" one Sunday.
A bright-eyed three-year-old girl listened intently as he explained that God wanted them all to get along and love each other. "God wants us all to be one," he said.  To which the little girl replied, "But I don’t want to be one. I want to be four!" Disunity is that easy.  

When Jesus was speaking to His disciples about the church, he said "…upon this rock I will build dozens of teeny little churches in every town; and they shall never see beyond their own little stained glassed windows."

Clearly that is not what Jesus said, but sadly that is what has happened. He said upon this rock I will build the church; he was talking to Peter and the disciples at the time casting Gods vision for His kingdom on this earth. If the church is to be a prevailing church (a church that is relevant to its culture) there must be an uncommon unity among us.

In John 17:20-23 Jesus prays this amazing prayer, "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. 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?”

This was Jesus’ prayer the night before He went to the cross. He’s praying a prayer for us knowing that he is about to go to the cross, basically praying we would learn to live with and love each other. The whole chapter in John 17 is a prayer. Jesus prayed for Himself in verses 1-5, He prayed for the apostles in 6-19, and for those who would believe through the apostles’ message (which is us) in 20-24. You and I weren’t even born yet, but here is Jesus praying for our unity. It makes sense that if He was going to die for us, that He would really want us to be united.

Have you ever sung the song “they would know we are Christians by our love?” What’s funny is I asked everyone under 40 if they knew this song and no one did. The simple truth behind this simple song is that we get along with each other and love each other.

That is what Jesus is saying, and John is telling us is that by our unity others will see our Love and unity and respond to it.

When Jesus prays “May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me.” He also prays that we would be completely united so that the world would know that we were following a super-natural being.

Who else could unite people together? Christ’s father…he prays “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?”
Jesus wants us to be united with each other, but our enemy Satan “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Don’t be devoured…instead Peter says, “Resist him standing firm in the faith.”  Do you know easy it is to step out of unity into dissention and Unforgiveness?

Remember the two blind men who Jesus healed in Mark 8 and John 9? Think about the conversation they might have about their healings. In John 9, Jesus had spit on the ground and made mud which he used to heal the man’s eyes and in Mark 8 He spit into his hands touched the man’s eyes.

They get together and began to relate their stories to each other, the man whom Jesus had healed with the mud says to the other, “That’s great, but you forgot the part where Jesus spit on the ground and made mud to put on your eyes.” The other guy says “I don’t know anything about that. He just touched my eyes.”

The man from John 9 replies, “But that’s not the way Jesus gives sight. If he didn’t spit on the ground and make mud to restore your site, then I’m beginning to doubt if you can even see at all.”

When we get our focus on Jesus’ methods rather than making Him Lord; we have just walked away from unity. More tomorrow...you are loved!