THE ONENESS OF THE CHURCH

THE ONENESS OF THE CHURCH

John 17 (vv.20-23)

Dr. Wm. J. Maxwell

First Presbyterian Church, Newport, RI

June 4, 2006

Pentecost Sunday

It was a period of waiting, trusting, praying and gathering together. In the book of Acts, we are told that the apostles “all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.” [i]

When the Holy Spirit, promised by both the Father and Jesus, finally did come on the Day of Pentecost, once again, “… they were all together in one place.” It appears that unity was important to them. In the bond of Jesus Christ, they were together, and that’s when the Holy Spirit came.

Nearly 50 days had passed from the time when these apostles were together, reclining with Jesus at the Passover meal in the Upper Room. That was the time when Jesus promised them the gift of the presence of the Holy Spirit.

When He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to Me by taking what is mine and making it known to you. [ii]

From this, we find that one of the ministries of the Holy Spirit is to lift up, exalt and honor the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the Holy Spirit who draws our attention to Jesus Christ, enables us to trust in Him and rely fully upon Him for our salvation, and enables us also to see Christ as the one who is the essence and substance of our unity in the Church.

In that same Upper Room, the disciples heard Jesus pray this very thing. They heard Him pray first for Himself (vv.1-5). Then Jesus prayed for the disciples, interceding for those whom He loved so very much (vv.6-19). But this was followed with intercession for all believers, of every time and generation, and here we find unity and oneness to be of critical importance.

My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as You 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. I have given them the glory that You gave Me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and You in Me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent me and have loved them even as You have loved Me. (vv.20-23)

In this prayer, we learn that unity in the Church is found essentially and substantially in Jesus Christ and in the Good News of the Gospel. As Jesus prays for the whole Church, it’s as if in His mind’s eye, He looks out upon centuries of time, looks upon all who will accept the Good News of the Gospel, and lovingly prays for each one.

The world generally experiences far too much division and disengagement, one from another. The reason for all this is the reality of sin that not only separates us from God, but separates us from one another. But in the Gospel of Christ, there is to be found the solution to our dilemma, in terms of our relationship with the living, holy God, and with one another. As John Calvin put it simply: “In ourselves we are scattered; in Christ we are gathered together.” [iii]

I was reminded of this truth again this week, as I had breakfast with a few local pastors. There were only four of us, but we were all so very different: a Southern Baptist, a retired Lutheran, a Charismatic Episcopalian, and a Presbyterian. One is from the South, another from the Bronx, another from Minnesota and I’m from Ohio. We have different interests and ages and family situations and goals.

We also have different worship styles and different perspectives on the Sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion. But we have a oneness in Jesus Christ that transcends all these differences. Unity runs deep when unity is found at the core of who we are and whose we are, for “the Church’s one foundation (truly) is Jesus Christ her Lord.”

When we look closely at Jesus’ prayer for unity, we see that it is a spiritual and relational unity, and not organizational. He prayed “ … that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You.” (v.21) In this, please note that Jesus did not pray for a unity based upon polity or upon a certain form of government. “What was that unity for which Jesus prayed?” asks commentator William Barclay. “It was not a unity of administration or organization. It was not in any sense an ecclesiastical unity. It was a unity of personal relationship.” And here, Barclay is right.

It will never be that Christians will organize their Churches all in the same way. It will never be that they will worship God all in the same way. It will never be that they will all believe precisely and exactly the same things. But Christian unity is a unity that transcends all these differences, and joins people together in love. [iv]

Quite honestly, as I reflect upon this statement, I confess that I’ve at times found deeper Christian unity across denominational lines than I have within denominational lines. The reason is that organization is not the glue that really holds us together. It never has been. It is rather Jesus Christ, and the essentials of the Faith that we find in Him.

George Whitefield is the name of a Church of England minister who was greatly used by God during the Great Awakening, a great movement of the Holy Spirit upon the churches in the colonies during the early 1700’s. Whitefield preached in many different churches in his 13 trips to America.

In September of 1740, Whitefield preached here in Newport at Trinity Church, and then went to Bristol. Following this, he went to Boston, where he attended a service in an Anglican Church, and then went home with the minister.

This happened to be the day when a study group of five clergymen met at this minister’s house. It was not long before these Anglican churchmen let Whitefield know their displeasure with Whitefield’s positive sentiments regarding those outside the “Established Church.” They began with criticism of Whitefield’s approval of Tenant and the Presbyterians, and of Wesley and the Methodists.

But to their great dismay, Whitefield answered back in reply:

A catholic (universal) spirit is best … It is best to preach the new birth, and the power of godliness, and not to insist so much on the form: For people will never be brought to one mind as to that, nor did Jesus Christ ever intend it …

I have seen regenerate souls among the Baptists … Presbyterians … Independents, and among the church folks – all children of God, and yet all born again in a different way of worship: and who can tell who is the most evangelical? [v]

Over the years, in his vast experience, in his many contacts, and in his many meetings with Christians of various denominations, Whitefield saw Jesus Christ in so many of them; that they were children of God, trusting, loving and serving Christ. For him, that was enough …as it should be for us all!

Dear friends, our ultimate and essential unity will never be organizational or political. It is instead relational, rooted and established in a passionate love for Jesus Christ, and in a life-long commitment to Christ in such a way as to live for Him, and to live for His glory.

On this Day of Pentecost, as we rejoice in the gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church, let’s also rejoice in the unity we find in Christ, a unity to which the Holy Spirit gives faithful witness, and a unity for which our Savior prayed.