(Audio)
that they may all be one,
as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
that they also may be in us,
that the world may believe that you sent me.
Unity means more to Jesus than it probably does to us. We live in a world where agreeing to disagree is not only necessary but in some ways is seen is the highest good. Each ones has their own truth which no one can dictate for another. The only rules that are appropriate in such a world are rules that prevent one from imposing himself on another. There is no common good because there is no common truth. Insofar as possible the right of each to self-definition must be preserved. As a Supreme Court justice wrote, "At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life".
Christians certainly speak against the relativism embodied in the culture. We know that there is a common truth and a common good. But functionally, in our interactions with the world, we often appear no different from the world. We still try to create the same boundaries and spaces wherein each can go their own way, even when it is to their own detriment, and that of society as a whole. We do this because to do otherwise has obligations. It means caring even when we put ourselves and our own egos at risk to do so. The very occasions of our compassion may be seen even as bigotry. This is a risk worth taking.
Christians ought to "preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace" (see Ephesians 4:3) at least among one another. Here the problem is not only different ideas and doctrines, though that is a problem about which we must be willing to speak. Here the main problem is a lack of willingness to care more about unity than our own comfort. We are willing to get together, to work together, to pray together, and to live our mission as Christians together only insofar as it fits nicely into our own plans. It will only be when our concern for others begins to overtake our concern for ourselves that Jesus will be revealed in us.
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another (see John 13:35).
Why are we not succeeding at unity and peace amongst ourselves and in the world? It is because such unity has supernatural origin. It seems like it would be purely practical. But we cannot live it unless we rely on the glory that Jesus gives us, the love with which he first loves us.
And I have given them the glory you gave me,
so that they may be one, as we are one,
I in them and you in me,
that they may be brought to perfection as one,
that the world may know that you sent me,
and that you loved them even as you loved me.
Unity comes from the Spirit. It is only by a sharing in the unity of God himself that we ourselves can live it out. It is for this reason that it is a revelation.
Without unity we are easily divided just as are the Pharisees and Sadducees. But this means that when we have unity and purpose we are strong. We are not easily scattered or turned aside.
The following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage.
For just as you have borne witness to my cause in Jerusalem,
so you must also bear witness in Rome.”
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