Eastertide
May 7, 2016

Scripture Reading: John 17:20-26

‘I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, 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. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. –John 17:20-26

What does it mean to be one? Jesus uses the human body to illustrate the Body of Christ. Paul follows up on this when he speaks of many members but one body (1 Corinthians 12:20). The Book of Hebrews takes it to a longer-term reality with the cloud of many witnesses (Hebrews 12:1). The idea of Jesus praying for you and me in the first century is amazingly nurturing.

Such oneness is not sameness. As hands worked differently than feet, so may one member of the Body of Christ serve differently than another. Apparently, such diversity is not only real but essential.

Every human God created is a key ingredient in fostering the love of God as the ethos, moral nature of our world. Every time we degrade another, we postpone the fulfillment of God’s plan for us. Every time we degrade another we degrade ourselves and all our descendants.

We are one in the bond of love;
We are one in the bond of love.
We have joined our spirits with the Spirit of God;
We are one in the bond of love.  

Let us sing now, ev’ry one;
Let us feel His love begun.
Let us join our hands, that the world will know;
We are one in the bond of love.*

Prayer: Lord, enable us to see the gifts of others with whom we live and work. Help us nurture those all gifts differing. Amen.

*Of unknown origin

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.