Our Lord’s Prayer: That They May Be One

Psalm 97; John 17:20-26

          I have a book here titled Handbook of Denominations in the United States.  It is an overview of mostly Christian denominations—what they believe, their size, basically a synopsis of the various church denominations in our country.  Since the number of denominations is constantly changing, the book is updated and reprinted on a regular basis.  This one was published in 2005, so it’s a bit dated.  I took a peek at the Lutherans.  Did you know that there were ten different Lutheran denominations in the U.S. in 2005?  The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is the largest.  All Saints Lutheran Church on Bailey Cove Road belongs to this one.  But you also have the Apostolic Lutheran Church of America, the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, and others.  All those are different denominations, and yet they’re all Lutheran.

          I looked at the Presbyterians.  Seventeen different Presbyterian and Reform Churches in this country.  The Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., is the largest.  But you’ve also got the Bible Presbyterian Church, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and others.

          I look through this book, and there are literally hundreds of Christian denominations.  The names are often very similar. The beliefs likewise are very similar.  I find myself wondering why these folks have to have a separate denomination.  Why can’t they get along and remain one denomination?

          And then I looked at the Baptists.  Anyone want to guess how many different Baptist denominations there were in this country in 2005?  Thirty-one!  We’re all Baptist, but we can’t get along well enough to stay under the same umbrella.  Here are a few you may not have encountered.  The Duck River (and Kindred) Association of Baptists.  They’re up in Tennessee around Tullahoma.  There are also the Old Regular Baptists, the Separate Baptists in Christ, and the Seventh Day Baptists, who worship on Saturday.  Given all these Baptist denominations, this one sounds to me like an oxymoron: the United Baptists.

          I didn’t see a listing for Landmark Baptists, but you need to know about them.  Landmarkism, as it was known, was a movement within the Baptist churches during the mid-1800s.  The Landmarkists claimed that Landmark Baptists were the only true churches in the world, and that the church founded by Jesus and the apostles was in fact a Landmark Baptist church.  One of their leaders, a man named J. R. Graves, even put the name “Baptist” before the phrase “Kingdom of God.”  It was, he said, the Baptist Kingdom of God. 

Have you ever heard of “closed communion”?  Landmark Baptist Churches practiced “closed communion,” meaning that they served the Lord’s Supper only to other Landmark Baptists. Their communion table was “closed” to everyone else, including other Baptists who were not Landmarkists.  They did not accept “alien baptisms,” meaning baptisms administered by any church other than a Landmark Baptist church.  They also would not tolerate “pulpit affiliation,” where clergy from other denominations preached in their Landmark pulpits.  Why, allowing a non-Landmark clergy to preach in a Landmark pulpit was tantamount to recognizing those other churches as true churches.  That mustn’t be done!

          All these denominations.  All the bickering.  The theological hair splitting.  The unwillingness to get along.  Rejecting others.  All the while knowing that Jesus prayed that we would be one.

          Let me say just a word about John 17, our text for today.  Since the Sixteenth Century, this chapter, which is a prayer by Jesus, has been called “Jesus’ high priestly prayer.”  It is the final scene in Jesus’ farewell comments to his disciples.  It occurred on Thursday evening in the last week of Jesus’ life.  He was in Jerusalem, of course, and at the end of this evening, Judas betrayed him into the hands of those who would crucify him.  Throughout the evening, he gave his disciples some of his most memorable teachings.  He washed their feet and told them that they should wash each others’ feet.  He gave them the new commandment, saying that they were to love one another the way he loved them. If they would do that, he said, people would know that they were his disciples.  He told them that he was going away and that he would prepare a place for them.  He assured them that he would come again to take them to that place.  He promised that they would not be left orphaned, that the Holy Spirit would be their comforter.  He explained to them that he was the true vine, and they were branches growing from the vine.  God was the Gardener who cared for it all.  Oh, such wonderful teachings!

          At the end of that intimate evening of teachings, Jesus prayed this high priestly prayer of John 17.  It is, in my opinion, a glimpse into the heart of our Lord.  It is, in my opinion, the real Lord’s Prayer.  But be aware of this.  As Jesus prayed, somewhere in the darkness men with swords and torches were marching to arrest him.  Judas would betray him with a kiss.  His disciples were visibly anxious, feeling the palpable danger of the evening.  So Jesus prayed.  He prayed for himself.  He prayed for his disciples.  And near the end of his prayer, he prayed for you and me and all others who would follow him.  Hear our Lord’s prayer:

I ask not only on behalf of these (referring to his disciples), but also on behalf of those who will believe in me though their word (referring to subsequent believers, including us), that they may all be one….  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.

          Can there be any doubt in anyone’s mind as to how Jesus felt about the unity of his followers?  At this critical moment in his life—soldiers marching, disciples wringing their hands—Jesus prayed that we would be “completely one,” even as he and the Father were one.  And let’s be honest; we’re not. We are Catholics and Protestants.  We are Presbyterians and Methodists, Episcopalians and Church of God, Lutherans and Baptists.  We are Evangelicals and Charismatics.  We are blacks and whites.  We are conservatives and liberals.  We are everything but completely one.  We raise suspicions about truthfulness of the others.  We question their genuineness and authority.  Regrettably, the church today reflects the divisions of our culture rather than the oneness for which our Lord prayed.  We have imposed our stubborn will over the loving will of Christ, and as a result we are a Church with literally hundreds of denominations.

          So what can we do about it?  Of course, we cannot control what happens in other churches, but we can control what happens in our church and in our hearts.  Let us do that and be the change we want to see occur in the Church. Here are a few suggestions.

          First, you and I can affirm that there is really only one Church.  That one Church is very large, meets in many places, and has many names.  We call it Baptist.  Others call it Catholic or something else. We each have our own peculiarities.  One baptizes this way and another that way.  Some prefer order in worship while others prefer ardor in worship.  Some are tightly organized, while others just flow with the Spirit.  Nevertheless, we all make up one Church, and we can give thanks for vast diversity of that Church.

          Second, we must desire unity more than we desire to be right.  This is difficult because some beliefs must not be compromised.  But those beliefs that must not be compromised are normally not the ones that divide us.  We tend to divide over questions of form, not substance.  Will we baptize this way or that way?  Will the clergy be able to marry or not?  Will women be allowed to preach the gospel or not?  Will we welcome and affirm the gay community?  We must be ever vigilant in our quest for unity and refuse to allow questions of form to divide us.

          And third, we must re-capture the spirit of that Thursday night.  When we read about that night—Jesus washing the disciples’ feet, his teachings about love and the Holy Spirit—it is clear that they were one.  There was no competition.  No suspicion.  There was unity around the One who told them this: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”  He told them that, and then he did it.  He laid down his life for them.  That is the spirit the Church must re-capture.

          Until we do, we are a Church with literally hundreds of denominations.  Until we do, our witness to the world will suffer. Until we do, we don’t have to wonder what Jesus would think.  We know.  So followers of Jesus of Nazareth, regardless of brand, let us work together for understanding, mutual respect, reconciliation, and peace, for it is true that there is far more that unites us in Christ than separates us denominationally.  Let us never forget that Jesus prayed that we would be one.

Closing Prayer 

Today, Lord, we thank you for the Church and her many expressions.  Help us to do our part in our church and in our hearts to make her completely one.  Amen.