Church, Be United!

Tonight is extra special, because the prayer that we will be highlighting is one that was said by no less than Jesus Himself. In many Bible translations, this prayer is considered “Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer.” Let’s read together John 17:20-23:

“My prayer is not for them 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. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

The title of tonight’s message is “Church, be perfected in Unity!”. First, it is important to understand what we mean when we say unity. You see unity in itself is not a virtue like love, hope, charity or peace. Unity is a neutral word. It could either be for the good or for the bad. One of the earliest examples of unity in the Bible is found in the Genesis 11 when all the people united to build the Tower of Babel. Of course, we know the real reason for their unity, it is to make a name for themselves. We know also that God was not happy with their unity. He literally put a stop to it and introduced disunity among the peoples of the earth by giving all of us different languages.

Another bad example of unity in the Bible can be found in the gospels. We learned that just before Jesus was crucified in the cross, He had to fall in the hands of two men – Herod and Pilate. Luke tells us that both of them were enemies, but they had united to become friends as they mocked and humiliated Jesus. This is a unity straight from the pits of hell.

It is important therefore to clarify what we mean by unity. In the prayer of Jesus which we just read, He qualifies this unity by comparing it to the unity that He enjoys with God the father – that they may be one just as You and I are one. And so here is our example of a good kind of unity we should follow. The unity that can be found in the Trinity.  A beautiful verse that captures this unity was recorded in John 16:13-15:

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.

Here we see the there persons in the Trinity – the Holy Spirit, Jesus and God the Father. Here we see how they exist in perfect love and perfect submission to one another. Here we see how the three persons in the unity are in complete alignment in the goal to “guide us all into all the truth”. There is no competition in this unity, there is no selfishness and pride, there is only love.

We’ve always been told God is love. But have you ever wondered, who was God loving before he made man? Well, in the context of the Trinity it makes perfect sense. God in Himself is complete – a perfect community of three persons. It is no wonder therefore why Jesus would so desperately want all His followers to experience for themselves this supernatural state of unity.

As we dig deeper into Jesus’ priestly prayer, we learn three things: Our Christian unity:

1. Convinces others of the message of Christ
2. Roots us back to a shared glory with Christ
3. perfects us in the love of Christ

Let’s explore the first point.

Convinces others of the message of Christ

In verse 20, Jesus said that the unity of the believers has a purpose. When we are united, the world may believe that Jesus was sent by God. In other words, when an unbelieving world see Christians come together and unite, the message of Jesus Christ is made clear. CS Lewis describes simply that the message of Christ can be summarized as:

The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us. (CS Lewis)

It is a message of hope for sinners like you and me. It is a picture of a group of men and women from different backgrounds and professions but the same in the sense that none of them is good. The Christian band Switchfoot has an excellent line in their song “A Beautiful Letdown” that says: A church of the losers, the sinners, the dropouts, the failures and the fools.

In the Sunday Events, we have a way of capturing this open invitation to all people to come and experience Jesus:

 Come As You Are

By saying “Come As You Are” we are opening our doors to all of society including the worst among us. We are open to the hopeless, the desperate the lost. I know this because just like them, I came too when I heard the invitation.

Our Unity will show the world the message of Christ in full action! We prove Jesus’ point. The world will see us and understand that something that was made possible for us is surely possible for them too. That the God of Heaven can love them too. And He does!

Roots us back to a shared glory with Christ

The next thing we learn from Jesus’ priestly prayer is that our Unity roots us back to a shared glory with Christ. Jesus talks about this in verses 22 and 23.

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—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

Here, again, we need to be clear what is meant by “glory”. John MacArthur clarifies for us what this means:

This refers to our participation, as believers, in all of the attributes and essence of God through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in us. (John MacArthur)

Therefore, it is Jesus’ indwelling in us that moves us to become what we can be – and participate in the very essence of God. Pastor Peter last Sunday says it simply: God wants you to come as you are, but because He loves you, he does not want you to remain as you are.

As we look at each other therefore, we must see us as God sees us. Last Sunday, Pastor Peter shared with us this verse from 1 Corinthians:

Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

We cannot remain sinners, but we must live out our new identity. We are now Saints, no longer Sinners. We are now Good Samaritans, no longer Good Samarites!

The glory that Jesus was talking about can be experienced when turn away from our sins, live lives of genuine repentance and experience what it means to be truly sanctified by Jesus. When we do something amazing happens. We become united as a church. The result is a unity not around our common sinfulness, but around our common hope – Jesus.

A few days ago, this picture was shared among our D12. Do you realize that in July 1, just a few days back, we have celebrated 5 years since we worshipped in North Drive. I still remember that service very well. Everyone was so excited because finally we get to have a place to call our own. I’m sure you will remember how you felt the first time you have been here. Indeed God is good.

Well, a few years after we had the pandemic. We reopened the Sunday services last year in March of 2022. In that service around 1,000 worshippers came. We also had very few volunteers back then. But we kept on going. Everyone was clear about the goal: The Church must be open for anyone who wants to come and hear the Gospel. We faced challenges after challenges. But we were united.

Just last Sunday, June 25th – we reached a milestone in our Sunday Service Ministry with the highest number of worshippers since the pandemic. These worshippers are being channeled as new members into the more than 300 DGroups available. We praise God for His faithfulness!

But you see, these are just numbers. It is the stories that always give me goosebumps. Every time we ask someone to share his or her testimony in front, they always share consistent stories of men and women going up to them and telling them, “I was just like you” or “Someone I love is going through the same thing” or “Thank you because I am going through the same thing right now.” People we have never met before walk into the worship service and come out feeling seen, and understood, and convicted, and by God’s grace feeling a little bit more hopeful.

We have also heard stories from the volunteers telling us that they know of people who started as worshippers in Sunday, who subsequently joined a DGroup, and then become DGroup Leaders themselves and serving in the ministry. This is the Discipleship Journey that we are always learning in GLC. Only it’s real. It’s not theory any more, these things are happening everyday!

I am also encouraged by all the events happening in Church – the NXTGen and Sports Ministry Sports Camp, the Women to Women conference, and the Couples Retreat being planned. These are the results of DGroups and volunteers who are so convinced by the message of Christ that they are doing whatever it takes to share it to as many people as possible.

But here is the takeaway here. And I want you to listen carefully. Not one of us is able to do this alone. We can only live out the glory of Jesus if we work with each other and unite to offer Jesus’ message to an unbelieving world.

Perfects us in the love of Christ

Third, our unity perfects us in the love of Christ.

The first identifying mark of our Christianity is that we are loved by God. The second identifying mark is this: that we manifest the love of God. A manifest is different from a manifesto. A manifesto is simply words. To manifest is to completely embody the love that we experienced from God.

I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

In verse 23, Jesus underscores once more the love that He experiences with His father. And here he gives us the distinct quality of the Christian unity we have been talking about. It is one that is founded in love.

I am going to share with you tonight something that is true. To some it may come as a surprise. But to others not so. Here it is: Church is messy.

Church is messy because it is made up of imperfect people. Just like a family, and no family is perfect. 

But also, just like a family, you do not cease to be a family member. You continue to be one because family is family. As Pastor Peter said: I am stuck with you. It is funny, but it is also a declaration of commitment. Remaining in church shows our commitment to love imperfect people. But do not just remain! Lean in, participate, join the mess! Join a ministry.

Remember, people are always bound to disappoint us. It is how we react in the face of disappointment that can either make us bitter, or grow our love better.

In all my years in church I have seen many brothers and sisters face conflicts with each other. One of these conflicts I will never forget. They were among two brothers, both of whom I love very much. But their conflict was rooted in a misunderstanding. However, a long time has passed since both have spoken, and so whatever small misunderstanding there was became a big misunderstanding. I told them that they needed to reconcile. They said they wanted me to mediate.

Well, that shocked me. Because for the life of me, I did not know how to mediate between these two men. Should I convene a peace conference? What questions do I ask? What food do I serve? Should there be beer?

By God’s grace, I found my way to a book by Ken Sande called “The Peacemaker”. In that book, he shares a diagram that has always remained with me and have been very useful.

This is the Slippery Slope. This diagram captures the different kinds of responses people have in the face of conflict. On the left-hand side are the “Escape Responses”. In the face of conflict, many will choose to deny that there is a problem. Some will choose to leave. The extreme form of this is suicide. But there is no peace that happens when we escape. There is only Peace-faking.

On the other end of the spectrum are the Attack Responses. Faced with conflict, some would lash out and assault. Some will litigate and haul fellow believers to court. The worst form of this is murder. Here, there is no Peace, there is Peace-breaking.

The path to real Peace-making lies at the center. It is here where we take pains to build the relationship through negotiations, mediations, arbitrations. Here, parties may agree to overlook the offense, or some accountability may be extracted. But whatever it is, we can all agree that this is the more difficult path. It is difficult because it is loving. And no one ever said loving is easy.

So what is our take home? Tonight as we pray, let God remind you of any conflict you may be facing. Maybe there are some you have denied it for a while now. Let us examine our hearts and discover how our natural inclinations may be going in the way of real peace.

You see I myself have been involved in a number of conflicts here in church too. But like many of you, I too have been shown grace and love and forgiveness by brothers and sisters who have lived out their sainthoods. There are very few feelings that are better than the feeling of being forgiven. It is love that holds our unity together.

In summary, our unity:

1. Convinces others of the message of Christ
2. Roots us back to a shared glory with Christ
3. perfects us in the love of Christ

Let us pray.