Take my lips O God and speak through them, take our minds O God and think through them, take our hearts O God and love through them this day.   <Amen>

​

I’m not sure what the fascination is but there seem to have been more films and TV series with the central themes of The Crusades, King Henry VIII, The Spanish Inquisition and the like than there are people in Aotearoa\New Zealand. The entertainment industry has been producing them since the 1920’s and continues to do so.

 

As we come to the close of our recent weekly journeys through the “Final Discourse” of Jesus during The Last Supper we remember that Jesus told the disciples many things about what was to come and the trials they would face. Today I would like to remind you that, then Jesus looked up to heaven and prayed for His disciples.

 

Jesus asked God to keep them, and us, safe from the evil one and to make them, and us, holy.

 

He prayed for people of all times, asking His Father that followers of Jesus would be united so that the world would believe that God sent Jesus to die for their sins so that everyone could be with God forever. <PAUSE>

 

Unfortunately, we all know that not everything that is done in the Church is always done for the glory of God. We know that at times in history, the Church, full of humans, has ignored the Will of God in order that some people might have their own way. As a consequence, there has been discord and disunity in God’s Church. This earlier disunity is still apparent in the numbers of denominations that we have today.

 

At first it was just a family squabble. One group put Scripture above Church structure and called for change but they were rejected, so they protested. So, then the one family became two: the “Protesters” (Protestants) and the Roman Catholics. However, once the squabble started, it snowballed. It wasn’t long before the Protestants began disagreeing and became disagreeable toward their brothers and sisters in the faith. There was disunity in the body of Christ.

 

In our Gospel reading today, Jesus prayed for us, His disciples, because we are still “in the world.” Sadly, being “in the world” we still witness division in the Church.  I’m not only talking about long rooted denominational differences.  I’m talking about Christians being divided by moral and social issues that are often so big, they divide nations.

 

One church accepts abortion on demand. Another doesn’t. One considers homosexuality to be a God given condition to be celebrated and nurtured.  Another considers it a sin. One considers the definition of marriage to be changeable - subject to the will of the people. Another considers marriage to be an inviolate institution created by God to be solely between one man and one woman.

 

Beyond moral issues, the Church is divided by doctrine and practice too.  One considers the bread and wine of Holy Communion to be simple bread and wine.  Another considers the bread and wine to be the very body and blood of Jesus.  One withholds baptism from children because they are considered unaccountable for their sins until a certain age.  Another insists that we are all born dead in our sins and that baptism is God’s means of rescuing us from the peril of eternal death.  One ordains women into the office of the Holy Ministry in keeping with the demands of changing culture.  Another ordains only men in keeping with their interpretation of the word of God … get my drift? <PAUSE>

 

Ecumenical efforts, of course, attempt to foster unity among churches, but at best they amount to nothing more than tolerant diversity. At worst, they minimise the importance of God’s Word, which is supposed to be the sole source and norm of everything that is believed and taught in the Church.

 

Some are left wondering if unity in the church should even be sought anymore, or, if churches are better off just doing their own thing without regard for structural traditions and even other churches ? <PAUSE>

 

Well, today, Jesus prays for unity in the Church, praying from the very heart of God.

 

“Holy Father, protect them in Your name that You have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.”

 

It is a deeply profound prayer. Jesus asks that unity among God’s people be a reflection of the unity of the godhead.  Even as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are One God, so the church, He prays, would be one. 

 

Divisions in the church are not God’s will, nor are they helpful for the Church’s mission of reaching an increasing secular, and skeptical, world with the Gospel of Christ!

 

As “The Christian Church”, we all hold a faith based on divine revelation, we ALL must find unity in Jesus’ name - “the Christ, the Son of the Living God”. <PAUSE>

 

As simple as that may sound, history has proven that it is anything but simple.  In the end, unity in the Church is a divine gift, which comes from the very heart of God, through the fervent prayer of both His Son and - I ask you this day - of you and I.

 

So please, keep the unity of the Church always in the forefront of your prayers.

 

I runga e te Ingoa o te Atua, te Matua, te Tama me te Wairua Tapu.
In the name of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit <AMEN>