In our gospel reading for today, Jesus makes his final prayer to the Father on behalf of his disciples, just hours before his arrest, trial, and crucifixion. And in this prayer, Jesus prays to the Father that his disciples may be brought to complete UNITY. We think we already know where this is leading...wouldn't it be great for our Christian witness if there were no denominations, if we were all one big happy church, if there were never any disagreements between us. But Jesus does not pray that we would all AGREE - instead he prays that we would have the kind of unity HE has with the Father and the Spirit - the unity shown by the Trinity....
The U-Haul truck is pulling away from the curb. It is filled with all of your child's treasured possessions. And it's a one-way rental – it's not coming back. The time has come for your child to leave the nest...for good. As you wave from the window, what kind of prayer is forming in your mind? Are you praying that their trip will be comfortable, that the air conditioning works properly? Are you praying that your child will text you regularly along the route? Are you praying for anything trivial or secondary? Of course not! Your child is launching for the great, dangerous, beyond – where they will be fully exposed to all of the evil that Satan and the world can put in their path. You have prepared them for many things, but you couldn't prepare them for everything. And so, you pray for what is most important – you pray that God will provide for them whatever it is that they need, to face their challenges.... and live the abundant life.
Jesus was in a position to pray for the important stuff for his disciples in our gospel reading today. And the important stuff he prayed for is all about UNITY. Jesus knows that his disciples will soon be struggling against the powerful interests in society. Jesus knows that his disciples will soon be encountering intense persecution. Jesus knows that his disciples will soon be pressured to renounce their faith and conform. And unlike our present day leaders, who claim that strength is found in diversity, Jesus wants his disciples to be ONE. He wants them unified - for their own safety, and for the effective furthering of God's mission. This desire of Jesus for unity is what gives us the motivation and rationale for our efforts in ecumenism, working together and being together with other church organizations. We can picture Jesus saying to us, "let's just get rid of all this denominational nonsense, join hands, sing cumbya, and work together in complete unity." If only we could get there...
But that path isn't easy, because in our society today, the main foundation recognized for unity...is agreement. We need to agree if we are going to belong, and our society is constantly bringing up issues that accentuate our DIFFERENCES rather than our SIMILARITIES. Do you AGREE on the effect that carbon emissions are having on our planet? Well then, you can belong. Do you AGREE on the level of sacrifice required to reconcile with First Nations people? Then you can belong. Do you AGREE on the impact that capitalism has made on our society? Then lucky you...you can belong. Suffice it to say, the desire to belong is a powerful force for enforcing conformity.
This mentality infects our churches as well. We are one...if we can agree on how to handle euthanasia, and abortion, and clerical celibacy, and the wording of the Apostles' Creed. We are one...as long as we educate our youth in WHAT to think, and now HOW to think. But the bad news is that if there are TEN important issues to agree upon in our church and in our world - statistically you will only agree fully with 1 other person in a thousand. And if there are 35 important issues you need to agree about, you might not "belong" with anyone else on our planet. So much for unity based on agreement...