Eastertide

June 1, 2019

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. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. —John 17:20-24

The family of God includes all people and their abode is the entire universe particularly the earth on which we live. One thing I am learning as I delve into my genealogy is that we are all at least cousins. As I get further and further back into my history, I find it difficult to remember how the person I am trying to understand is connected to me. I do not know how many times I have had to track back down my online family tree to find the relative closest to me to know how a persons 13 generations up on my tree relates to me. DNA testing has helped me identify which of the billions of Phillips there are who were my mother’s ancestors. That was further complicated by someone deciding along the line to drop one of the “l’s” from the name.

It also makes me wonder how we became so divided. Of course, we do not have to read too far into the Bible to track the beginning of division between brother’s no less, Cain and Abel* or to see how many second changes and guidance for living God gave us to live as one. That includes God’s son whose words of oneness are the scripture above.

We live in a time of divide and conquer politics. I think the most appropriate reaction to such attempts is to drown out these clanging gongs** with voices of love.

Prayer: Lord, make us whole, make us one, make us just. Amen.

*See Genesis 4
**See 1 Corinthians 13

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 America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.