That We May Be One
John 17:1-11; 20-23
Rev. Rhonda Blevins, pastor
March 26th, 2023
After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. 5 So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed. 6 “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me is from you, 8 for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I have been glorified in them. 11 And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.
20 “I ask not only on behalf of these but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their word, 21 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. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, 23 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.
Riverside Church in Manhattan is one of the most well-known and historically influential churches in the United States. Like Chapel by the Sea, it was conceived and founded as an interdenominational church. Unlike Chapel by the Sea, Rockefeller money helped pay for its construction. The original part of the church building opened in 1930, and still boasts the tallest steeple in North America.
The church’s pastor at the time, Rev. Harry Emerson Fosdick, wrote a hymn for its opening that we sing here on occasion:
God of grace and God of glory,
on thy people pour thy power;
crown thine ancient church’s story;
bring her bud to glorious flower.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
for the facing of this hour.
If you ever get a chance to visit Riverside Church, be sure and check out the many sculptures, including the ones decorating the archivolts at the main entrance. One of the entrances features the “Arch of Scientists.” There you’ll find statuesque representations of “Galileo, Kepler, Newton, Archimedes, Faraday, Pasteur, and even Darwin.” [1] Perhaps even more interestingly, Albert Einstein is included within the “Arch of Scientists.” What’s interesting about this is that Einstein was still alive when his image was fashioned in perpetuity above a Riverside Church portal—the only living person to be included from among religious, philosophical, and scientific heroes. And, interestingly, Einstein wasn’t a Christian. He was born Jewish, went to Catholic school as a lad, but he didn’t fit neatly into any religious framework. Einstein once visited the church to meet Rev. Fosdick and see his statue. It is said that he expressed appreciation, and a bit of trepidation, saying: “I’ll have to
We tend to think of Albert Einstein as a great scientist, but he was also a great philosopher of science as well.
In his later life, around the age of 70, Einstein was trying to develop one, single, overarching theory unifying the laws governing both gravity and electromagnetism. “It was his deep conviction that such a unity must exist in nature, but he was never sure that he had it within his grasp, and his frustration on this score shines through his correspondence.” [2]
In a written exchange with an ordained rabbi who was trying to comfort his daughter over the death of her sister, Einstein wrote this:
A human being is a part of the whole, called by us “Universe,” a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest—a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.[3]
I love it when science and faith come together!
The 70-year-old Einstein, writing about this spiritual unity—the “optical delusion” of separation—echoes what the great spiritual masters throughout the ages have told us. This “optical delusion” of separation may be something practitioners of both faith and science have in common when they’ve been at it a while.
Why?
It’s where the pathway of truth leads no matter the discipline. Science? Ask Einstein. Faith? Ask trappiest monk Thomas Merton who wrote about awakening from the “dream of separateness.” Or ask Father Thomas Keating who wrote this:
If one completes the journey to one’s own heart,
one will find oneself in the heart of everyone else.
If it’s something more biblical you seek, ask the Apostle Paul who wrote this to his friends in Ephesus:
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the
one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all,
who is above all and through all and in all.
(Ephesians 4:4-6)
Like the book of Romans better? Ok! Try this from the Apostle Paul’s papyrus:
So we, who are many, are one body in Christ,
and individually we are members one of another.
(Romans 12:5)
So maybe you’re not into Einstein or Merton or Keating or the Apostle Paul (the good Lord knows that Paul and I have had our tussles) . . . would Jesus do the trick for you?
Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me,
so that they may be one, as we are one. (John 17:11)
And . . .
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. (John 17: 22-23)
This is what Jesus prayed on the very last night of his life. Which tells me that this was what was most important to Jesus as he anticipated his death.
Oneness.
We divide, divide, divide, divide.
I’m really good at division. Not the math kind of division, the humankind.
When someone tells me they’re a Christian, would you like to know what my mind does automatically? I think to myself, “Yeah, but what kind of Christian? Are you my kind of Christian or that other kind of Christian?”
But I don’t think I’m alone in this powerful cognitive ability to divide. Might this be the “sin that clings so closely” that the author of Hebrews mentions in Hebrews 12:1?
Someone says, “I was watching the news the other night,” do you immediately wonder which channel, to see if they’re watching your channel (which is obviously the right channel)?
I don’t think we’re born this way. Children don’t seem to notice difference as much as we do, or when they notice difference, it’s more about curiosity than division.
When my teenager was little, he was infinitely curious about differences he observed in others, which was awesome! The problem was that he had zero filter about naming it. This became the source of consternation and embarrassment for his parents.
· Like the time he met a kid on the playground, and the kid had a severe case of “buck teeth.” “You have really funny teeth,” my guileless son said.
· Or the time he said to my husband’s mother, “Mama, you walk like a penguin!”
· Or the time on an elevator we shared with an active-duty solder in full uniform. “Are you really a soldier or are you playing dress up?” he asked of the man. “I’m so sorry,” I said to him.
· Or another elevator incident when a man—a “little person”—stepped in. “That’s an old little boy!” exclaimed my son. My husband and I, beet red, apologized to the man.
Sure, my son observed difference as a little tyke, but these were all innocent observations and not judgmental in any way. Curious instead of cutting. Inquisitive instead of isolating. (And the good news is that he has learned to keep these kinds of observations to himself now. Thanks be to God.)
This “oneness” for which Jesus prayed does not mean that we rid ourselves of difference. Absolutely not!
“Variety is the very spice of life, that gives it all its flavor,” as the old poem says.[4] Think about how boring our stained-glass windows would be if they were all the same color. Or think about how dull the music would be if there were only one note. Oneness does not require spicelessness!
One of the things I learned from black colleagues in some racial reconciliation work I’ve been privileged to participate in, is how irritating it is to Black folks when White folks pretend not to notice difference. When white folks say, “I don’t care about race—I’m color-blind,” it shows an insensitivity to the differences that makes us unique.
As we move toward oneness, it’s not about minimizing or ignoring difference, it’s about embracing others and their difference.
It’s also not about “tolerance.”
I was once sitting in a meeting when a Jewish rabbi told a group of Christian clergy in a conversation about diversity, “I don’t want to be tolerated.” he said. When we tolerate something, we don’t really like it, but we put up with it. “I don’t want to be tolerated,” the rabbi admitted, “I want to be accepted.”
Oneness isn’t ignoring difference.
Oneness isn’t tolerating difference.
Oneness is embracing difference.
So when Jesus prayed that they (we?) might be one, I don’t think he was praying that all people would think the same way, act the same way, worship the same way. No, I believe his prayer would be that we would grow in our ability to love and accept, even value difference.
And if we could do that, how much nicer would this world be? If we could truly be one, we would be well on our way to eradicating most of the world’s greatest ills: poverty, injustice, violence, wars . . .
Jesus prayed “that they may be one.” May we continue in the way of Jesus, praying, always praying, that WE may be one.
I close with a poem by Thomas Merton entitled “Earthquake.”
Go tell the earth to shake
And tell the thunder
To wake the sky
And tear the clouds apart.
Tell my people to come out
And wonder
Where the old world is gone,
For a new world is born,
And all my people
Shall be one.
So, tell the earth to shake.
With marching feet
Of messengers of peace,
Proclaim my law of love
To every nation,
Every race.
For the old wrongs are over,
The old days are done;
A new world is rising
Where my people shall be one.
For the old world is ended,
The old sky is torn
Apart. A new day is born:
They hate no more,
They do not go to war anymore.
My people shall be one.
And say:
The old wrongs are over,
The old ways are done;
There shall be no more hate
And no oppression.
The old wrongs are gone,
My people shall be one,
[1] https://untappedcities.com/2017/01/24/the-top-10-secrets-of-nycs-riverside-church/8/
[2] https://www.nytimes.com/1972/03/29/archives/the-einstein-papers-a-man-of-many-parts-the-einstein-papers-man-of.html
[3] Ibid.
[4] From William Cowper’s, “The Task.”