220529 Sermon on John 17:20-26 (Easter 7) May 29, 2022

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In our Gospel reading Jesus prays for unity. He prays that we should be one. Jesus says, “May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me, and I am in you. May they also be one in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me.” The unity that Jesus is praying for is of a peculiar sort. He is praying for a unity that is by faith, which is unseen. The unity that we naturally think of is one that we can see. This unity that we can see however, has never existed from the beginning. From the beginning there has not been unity when it comes to God, but rather division.

Adam and Eve became disunited with God. Their sons were disunited. Cain went one way, Abel and Seth went another. When God brought together a people at the time of Moses, they weren’t very united. Even in the leadership there was division. Moses was on top of Mt. Sinai, but what was Aaron doing down below? Fashioning a golden calf. Later Miriam and Korah rebelled against Moses.

Even after Jesus says this prayer, it can seem as though Jesus’s prayer was not heard whatsoever because there does not appear to be unity. Already at the time of the apostles there was division over what to do about the Gentiles and the Law. For several centuries after that there were divisions among the Christians about the two natures of Christ and the Trinity. The eastern church and the western church split in 1054. The Reformation, starting in 1517, brought with it more division. Today the church has been splintered into tiny pieces. It is even the doctrine and practice of our church to recognize these differences and practice closed communion. We do not join in communion with those we disagree with.

It seems as though we have failed horribly. Where’s the oneness? We are supposed to be one. So how do we fix this? One way that appears to solve the problem is just to drop whatever disputes we might have with one another and other churches and join together. Jesus prays that we should be one, so we should make ourselves be one.

There was, in fact, a very powerful movement in the 1900s that took up this very idea. It was called the ecumenical movement. At the beginning of the 1900s some churchmen started to call for greater unity. We have to get past our petty differences. If we Christians would join together we would become more powerful. This idea was immediately attractive because the more people you have the stronger you feel. Given the choice, everyone prefers to feel stronger rather than weaker. So this ecumenical movement really caught on. In the 1900s churches merged and merged and merged yet again. Church organizations got bigger and bigger.

There is nothing wrong, per se, with church mergers. It is not wrong for Christians to join together. In fact, we are duty-bound to recognize fellowship and unity whenever the Holy Spirit creates this oneness by his Word. But that is not how the ecumenical movement went about things. It takes time and a lot of teaching and hard work to bring about true unity in the Word of God. What happened with the ecumenical movement is that they ended up setting aside differences and disagreements. It doesn’t matter if one group teaches one thing and another group teaches something else. What should unite us is more important than whatever should divide us. So instead of getting to the bottom of things, discovering the truth of things, the opposite happened. Church bodies just agreed to disagree.

This may certainly sound like a good idea. We do this kind of thing all the time in life in order to create and maintain unity in other things. Here, though, we are dealing with something that is different. The unity that Jesus is praying for is not of an outward sort, but a unity of faith in him. Christians having their oneness in one another is one thing. Christians having their oneness in Jesus is another.  Jesus is not praying that there be one outward group. (There never as been one, perfectly united outward group.) Jesus prays that Christians would be one in him. He says, “May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me, and I am in you. May they also be one in us.” The unity is oneness in God. May we be one with him. May we be one with his will, just as the Son’s will is the same as the Father’s will. The only way that Christians may know the will of God is by his Word. The way we may be joined with that will of God is by the Holy Spirit working in that Word.

What happened with the ecumenical movement, however, is actually the opposite of this. God’s Word got pushed to the side. Folks might disagree about baptism, so let’s not talk about baptism. Folks might disagree about the Lord’s Supper, so let’s not talk about that. The agreeing to disagree meant that anything that was disagreed about not discussed, or was watered down. The goal of outward unity was more important than true and honest agreement in the Word of God. What God actually says was pushed further and further away.

Let me pause to point out how there is a part of each and every one of us that really likes having God’s Word pushed to the side. Our flesh, our Old Adam, never has liked God’s Word, does not like it now, and never will like it. All the way to the grave our flesh hates the third commandment. God’s Word is either extremely boring to our flesh, or, if the Word hits home and condemns us, we hate that too and say that it is meddlesome and trouble-making. It is not improving our quality of life. Which one of you likes to be condemned and shown to be a sinner?

So when the ecumenical movement comes along and says that we don’t need to study God’s Word, studying God’s Word only creates disagreements, and I’m fine, you’re fine, and everybody’s fine, let everyone believe and do as he or she wishes, and let’s all take communion together, our flesh is totally on board with all that. Who wants to tell others that they are wrong? They won’t like that! Who wants to turn people away from communion? I assure you, that’s no fun! So let’s all just agree to disagree and get busy with the things that really matter in life.

Again, however, this is not the oneness that Jesus is talking about. It is not a oneness with him, but with our own false ideas of what is good enough for being a Christian. It is not a oneness with God’s will, which can only be known by God’s Word. In fact, God’s Word has purposely been watered down and set aside so that we can pretend that we are all one. Honest discussions of God’s Word would show that we are in fact and in truth not one, so to keep up the pretense honestly looking into God’s Word must be discouraged or even condemned as unloving.

Here I hope you can see the hoof-prints of the devil. What could possibly be better for him than that the Word of God be silenced and to have churches be places where people talk about how good and loving and nice and modern they all are? Show me where God’s Word says that we are good people. You aren’t going to find it. What God’s Word does say is that we are dead and lost in our trespasses and sins. It says that we have no hope whatsoever in anything except the one Savior Jesus Christ. God’s Word is meant to make us feel uncomfortable with ourselves and with anything that we might believe in so that we become one with Jesus. He alone will not disappoint us.

When Jesus prays that we Christians would all be one, he is praying that we would all be one through faith in him. The oneness that he is talking about is not an outward political or group unity. There has never been true outward unity from the time of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, all the way through the whole Bible, up to the present day.

On the other hand, at the same time, there always has been the unity that Jesus is praying for in our Gospel reading. From the time of Adam and Eve until now there have been souls who have been converted. The Holy Spirit through the Word of God has rather impolitely convicted them of their sin and unbelief and shown them the death and hell that will be the inevitable result if they continue in their ways, but the Word of God also announces God’s saving will in Jesus. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He is the Lamb of God who makes peace, who becomes one with us. We are one with him, and through Jesus, we are one with God. This is a unity that is not just for this life, but one that is eternal.

This is what the Holy Christian Church is. The Holy Christian Church is those who believe in Jesus. The Holy Christian Church consists of the sheep who hear the voice of the Good Shepherd and follow him. The Holy Christian Church is not this outward group of people or that outward group of people. It was not even the nation of Israel in the Bible. The apostle Paul says that not all the physical descendants of Abraham were real descendants of Abraham. The real descendants of Abraham lived by faith and were counted as righteous.

The same thing is true with our congregation. Not everyone who is a member of a congregation is a member of the Holy Christian Church. There are hypocrites and unbelievers in congregations. A person who relies upon their membership in a congregation for their salvation is terribly deceived. No congregation has that power. The only thing that is saving about any congregation is that, God willing, God has put his means of grace there. God willing, a congregation has true baptism. God willing, a congregation has the true Lord’s Supper. God willing, God has his Word in a congregation through which the Holy Spirit converts those whom he has chosen so that they put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

As members of this congregation it is the duty and responsibility of all of us to keep the Word of God pure and true no matter how offensive that might be to unbelievers, and that we administer the sacraments as Jesus instituted them. This is our highest and most important responsibility because it is by the Word of God alone that anybody can be turned away from false gods to the one true God to enjoy eternal unity with him. If this Word of God is present, then salvation remains possible. If the Word of God is watered down and taken away, then such a congregation is dead even if outwardly it looks vibrant and powerful.

Realize that as we carry out this high and holy duty that we are going to have trouble. Do you think that the devil wants a congregation to exist that takes away his power? Enemies from within and from without will want God’s Word to be silenced. The world, also, will not want such a congregation to exist because the world does not want to be condemned for their unbelief in Jesus. And even our own flesh will not want us to live up to our high and holy calling. Our flesh is lazy. Our flesh is either bored by God’s Word or deeply insulted by it. Our flesh does not want to suffer the troubles or scorn or condemnations of those offended by the truth. If we silence or set aside God’s Word we can avoid all of that. But, having gained some worldly peace, we will have forfeited our eternal peace.

Therefore we pray that God’s will should be done on earth as it is in heaven! In this petition we pray that the God would break and hinder every evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature, which do not want us to hallow God’s Name or let his kingdom come, and that he strengthen and keep us firm in his Word and faith until we die.

God’s Word must wrestle with us, offending us sometimes, making us mad sometimes, but hopefully making us change our ways. When people are offended by the Word of God we should not be surprised. Hopefully the Word of God has offended you from time to time, otherwise perhaps your heart has been hardened! When the Word of God offends us the Holy Spirit is attacking our faith in lies, so that we may become one with the truth, who is Jesus.

Jesus’s prayer is quite needful for us, therefore. Jesus’s prayer is not that we would become one by ignoring God’s Word. Jesus’s prayer is that we would become one in him. The way we become one in him is by the Holy Spirit working through his Word. This is eternal. It is more important than anything and everything else.