Seventh Sunday of Easter, cycle C

JOHN 17:20-26
THE GOSPEL READING WE JUST HEARD IS PART OF JESUS' FAREWELL ADDRESS – SOMETIMES CALLED THE HIGH PRIESTLY PRAYER. IT IS A COMBINATION OF A PRAYER AND AN INSTRUCTION TO HIS DISCIPLES. IN THE PART YOU HEAR TODAY, JESUS IS ADDRESSING HIS REMARKS TO HIS FATHER, BUT HE IS SAYING THINGS THAT HE WANTS THE DISCIPLES TO HEAR, AND HOPEFULLY, CARRY OUT. HE PRAYS FOR UNITY AMONG THEM SO THAT THE WORLD WILL BE CONVINCED THAT JESUS WAS SENT BY THE FATHER INTO THE WORLD. HE PRAYS THAT WE MAY BE ONE SO THAT WE CAN USE HIS OWN GLORY FOR OUR PERFECTION, SO THAT THE WORLD WILL KNOW THE FATHER LOVES US EVEN AS HE LOVES HIS SON JESUS. HE CLAIMS US AS HIS OWN AND THROUGH US HE PROMISES TO MAKE KNOWN THE FATHER'S NAME, SO THAT THE VERY LOVE WHICH THE FATHER SHOWED JESUS WILL BE IN US, AND JESUS HIMSELF WILL LIVE IN US.
JESUS PRAYS THIS PRAYER, GIVES THIS FINAL INSTRUCTION, JUST BEFORE HE GOES OFF TO THE CROSS TO DIE. IT MUST REALLY BE IMPORTANT. AND IT SEEMS AS THOUGH AT THE ROOT OF EVERYTHING IS THIS FUNDAMENTAL ISSUE OF UNITY, UNITY LIKE THAT BETWEEN THE FATHER AND THE SON. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE UNIVERSE, THE PURPOSE FOR WHICH ALL CREATION EXISTS, WAS SO THAT JESUS WOULD COME INTO THE WORLD AND REDEEM IT – NOT JUST YOU AND I, NOT JUST THE HUMAN RACE, BUT EVERY ATOM, EVERY STAR, EVERY GALAXY. SAINT PAUL SAYS THAT ALL CREATION GROANS, WAITING FOR ITS REDEMPTION. AND THAT REDEMPTION, IN SOME WAY, DEPENDS ON UNITY.
WE AREN'T SO GOOD AT THAT. WE CAN LOOK AT THE WHOLE CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT AND SEE THAT THERE ARE LITERALLY HUNDREDS OF DIFFERENT FLAVORS OF CHRISTIANITY, SOME VIOLENTLY HOSTILE TO EACH OTHER. BUT ALL READ THESE WORDS, “THAT THEY MAY ALL BE ONE, AS YOU, FATHER, ARE IN ME AND I IN YOU, THAT THEY ALSO MAY BE IN US”. AND THAT IS A SCANDAL. BUT WE DON'T HAVE TO LOOK AT THE WORLD OF CHRISTIANITY; WE CAN LOOK AT OUR OWN CHURCH, OUR OWN NEIGHBORHOOD, OUR OWN PARISH.
I WOULD GUESS THAT EACH OF US BELONGS TO ONE OR MORE GROUPS. WE MIGHT BE PART OF A READING CLUB, OR WE MIGHT GET TOGETHER WITH A FEW FRIENDS FOR A GOLF GAME. SOME OF US BELONG TO SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS. BUT THOSE TIMES WHEN WE ARE ENJOYING THE COMPANY OF OTHER PEOPLE, THOSE TIMES WHEN WE THINK WE ARE PRACTICING UNITY, WE REALLY AREN'T. BECAUSE WHEN WE SEEK REFUGE AMONG THOSE WHOSE INTERESTS ARE THE SAME AS OURS, WHO ARE LIKE US, WE ARE DIVIDING EACH OTHER, OR AT LEAST NOT WORKING TOWARDS THAT REAL UNITY THAT JESUS CALLS FOR. SO WHAT IS THAT UNITY?
WE CAN LOOK AT THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, AND THE LETTERS OF SAINT PAUL FOR AN IDEA. THE EARLY CHRISTIANS WERE CHALLENGED BY JESUS' WORDS TO PRACTICE REAL UNITY, TO WORK TO BECOME ONE. AND THE CHARACTERISTIC OF THAT UNITY WAS PRECISELY THAT PEOPLE WERE TRYING TO BECOME ONE WHO IN OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES WOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH EACH OTHER. GENTILES AND JEWS TRIED TO LIVE AS ONE COMMUNITY; RICH AND POOR, OUTCASTS AND CENTURIONS, WE MEET THOSE EARLY CHRISTIANS WHO COME FROM DIFFERENT PARTS OF SOCIETY, WHO BELONG TO GROUPS THAT NORMALLY WOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH EACH OTHER, AND THEY CONSCIOUSLY SEEK TO BE BROTHER AND SISTER TO EACH OTHER, TO FORM A FAMILY, BORN INTO THE FAMILY BY BAPTISM, ENTITLED TO SIT AT THE FAMILY SUPPER OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF JESUS. AND IT WASN'T ANY EASIER THEN THAN IT IS TODAY. YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A BIBLE SCHOLAR TO SEE THAT PETER AND PAUL DID NOT HAVE A WONDERFUL RELATIONSHIP WITH EACH OTHER; THEY ARGUED FEROCIOUSLY. BUT PAUL DIDN'T GO OFF AND START A NEW CHURCH, IN FACT HE KNEW THAT THOSE CHRISTIANS BACK IN PALESTINE WERE OUTCASTS, SHUNNED BY THE JEWS AND PERSECUTED BY THE ROMANS, AND HE ACTIVELY SOLICITED MONEY FROM HIS CHURCHES TO SEND BACK THERE; THEY WERE AFTER ALL, ONE, THEY WERE SEEKING UNITY.
DOWN THE STREET THERE IS A CHURCH FULL OF FINE PEOPLE. THEY ARE A MUCH SMALLER CONGREGATION THAN OURS, BUT THEY ARE MORE GENEROUS; THEY SUPPORT TWO MINISTERS, ONE OF WHOM IS MARRIED AND RAISING A FAMILY. BUT THEY ARE SELF-SELECTED; THE PEOPLE WHO CHOOSE TO WORSHIP IN THAT CHURCH ARE THERE BECAUSE THEY FIND THAT THE CHURCH SATISFIES SOME NEED THEY HAVE. THEY ARE NOT WORKING TOWARDS UNITY; NOT THE UNITY OF THE EARLY CHURCH. WE PROBABLY AREN'T DOING SO WELL OURSELVES, BUT IF YOU THINK ABOUT A CATHOLIC PARISH, THE CHURCH SAYS TO US, YOU LIVE IN THIS PARISH, AND THIS IS YOUR CHURCH; NOW IT'S YOUR JOB TO BECOME ONE WITH ALL THOSE PEOPLE YOU WOULDN'T NORMALLY HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH. SO MEET EACH OTHER, WORK TOGETHER, PUT UP WITH PEOPLE WITH WHOM YOU HAVE VERY LITTLE IN COMMON. MAKE A REAL COMMUNITY.
THAT IS OUR CHARGE, REAL UNITY. BUT WE ARE GETTING TO BE MORE AND MORE LIKE THE PEOPLE DOWN THE STREET; IF WE DON'T LIKE THIS PARISH, WE GO SOMEWHERE ELSE, WHERE WE FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE, OR WE STOP GOING TO CHURCH AT ALL, BECAUSE WE HAVE PLENTY OF OTHER OUTLETS WHERE WE FEEL A LOT MORE COMFORTABLE.
CREATING THE UNITY OF JESUS IS WORK, IT ISN'T EASY, AND IN FACT IT IS A LITTLE PAINFUL SOMETIMES. IT'S EASY TO TURN OUR BACKS ON THIS TASK AND HANG OUT WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE JUST LIKE US. BUT IF WE HAD THE UNITY THAT JESUS WANTS US TO HAVE, PEOPLE WOULD LOOK AT US AND BE AMAZED THAT WE WERE ONE, EVEN THOUGH IT WOULDN'T SEEM NATURAL. AND WHEN THEY SAW THIS, THEY WOULD SEE THE UNITY OF THE FATHER AND THE SON REFLECTED IN OUR COMMUNITY, AND WE WOULD SHOW FORTH THE GLORY OF GOD.
IN A SUBURBAN CHURCH WHERE ALL THE PEOPLE DRESSED UP IN THEIR SUNDAY BEST FOR SERVICES, A YOUNG MAN IN A TORN T-SHIRT AND JEANS WITH A SCRUFFY BEARD CAME IN AND LOOKED AROUND. THERE WERE NO SEATS AVAILABLE, SO HE WENT DOWN TOWARDS THE FRONT AND SAT ON THE FLOOR IN THE AISLE. PEOPLE WERE STARING AND THE ATMOSPHERE WAS TENSE. THEN A DIGNIFIED OLD GENTLEMAN GOT OUT OF HIS PEW AND MARCHED DOWN TOWARDS THE YOUNG MAN. PEOPLE WERE HOLDING THEIR BREATH; WHAT WAS HE GOING TO SAY? HOW WAS HE GOING TO GET RID OF THIS INTRUDER? BUT THE OLD MAN CAME UP TO THE STRANGER AND SAT DOWN ON THE FLOOR NEXT TO HIM, AND THERE THEY REMAINED UNTIL THE END OF THE SERVICE. AND IN THAT ACTION, A FEW PEOPLE SAW THE UNITY OF THE FATHER AND THE SON SHINING FORTH IN THOSE TWO WHO CHOSE TO BE ONE.