6-01-2025

“UNITY IN CHRIST”

Text: John 17:20-26

Sunday June 1, 2025 – Easter 7

Trinity – Creston

       Grace, mercy, and peace is yours from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Our text for this 7th Sunday of Easter is from the Gospel John the 17th chapter that was just proclaimed.

Let Us Pray: Dearest Jesus, send your Holy Spirit to remind us that because of your saving work, we the church are united with one another, created, redeemed, and sustained by you.  As challenges arise in life may we always note what truly unites us in all circumstances.  Amen.

Dear Fellow Redeemed in Christ:

A crowded meeting room of about 120 persons. A crucial item on the agenda: the selection of a new board member—a title of historic prestige, tremendous responsibility, one of twelve men who would shape the future direction of the organization. A time for speeches.

A call for nominations. We can only imagine the backbiting, the backroom dealings, alliances forming, power plays. Amazingly, there was none of that.

An exclusive club. Highly admired by the general public. Some of the biggest names are members. Powerful men, used to leading. Talented men. All from the right family. And when they come together, what do they do?

 Compare stock portfolios? Brag about the size of their yachts and the A-listers they’ve seen? Play “I can top that”—one-upsmanship?

Amazingly, the description we read is anything but that.

The night before Jesus died on the cross, knowing he would soon be out of sight for a short and then a very long time, he prayed about this. Jesus prayed that these very people would not be jealous, backstabbing, power hungry, but one—as he and his heavenly Father are one.

 And despite what we see and probably expect, miraculously, Jesus’ prayer is being answered every day. Both of these scenarios were historic manifestations of the church, and amazingly, we see in both that

As She Waits for His Return, the Church Is One in Christ.

  I. The church is one.

A. “How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” (v 1, emphasis added).

1. It would seem the logical place to start this sermon would be with examples of disunity—a bickering boardroom, a cliquish club.

2. Amazingly, our text gives no indication of any such thing. So we won’t go there. You fill it in.

3. This text simply declares that there is a good and pleasant unity. It was a unity among God’s Old Testament priests.

4. It came from their common anointing.

B. Luke simply declares that there was a wonderful unity among the 120 believers (Acts 1:12–14).

1. Jesus has ascended; they’re waiting for his promise of power from on high. They are “with one accord” in prayer.

2. Jesus had prayed for this unity (Jn 17:21). The next day Jesus won it.

C. Jesus has prayed for and won unity for us.

1. We have a common anointing, one Baptism, into one faith in one Lord.

2. Our unity reflects the unity of the Trinity.

II. How good and pleasant it is that the church is one!

A. “How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” (v 1, emphasis added).

1. It is like the most pleasant anointing (v 2): rich, aromatic spices, expressing the holy calling of the priests. Plenty of pleasant to share with the brothers without rivalry, jealousy!

2. It is like the dew of Hermon (v 3): refreshing, cooling, water that gives life. Abundance for all.

B. How good and pleasant is the unity Luke describes as the church waits for her Lord (Acts 1:15–26)!

1. In selecting a successor to Judas, the believers listen, reason, pray, and then leave the choice to the Lord.

2. No jockeying for position, no dissension from the decision. How pleasant that is!

3. All were united by their joy in the resurrection of Jesus. How good that Jesus is alive!

C. How good and pleasant that we are also one in the resurrected Christ!

1. How good that we are all forgiven sinners by the cross and resurrection of Jesus!

2. How pleasant that we kneel side by side at the altar to receive Christ himself!

3. How good and pleasant (other examples of living our unity as brothers and sisters in Christ).

4. How good that we will spend eternity together with Christ and one another!

         Church meetings can be hard. It’s one thing to sit in a pew and hear God’s Word with fellow believers in Christ; it’s something much different to sit in a meeting with those same folks, trying to make difficult decisions.

          I’ve noticed that there are often two types of people who throw their weight around in a congregational meeting. The first are those who are successful leaders in their other vocations—politicians, business people, and so on.

          They’re used to getting their way, and they bring the mentality of their other vocations into the church meeting room.

           The second type are those who spend their lives in this world on the opposite end of the totem pole. For them, a church meeting is perhaps the only place in their lives where they can push people around.

           If both groups are exerting themselves, a church meeting can become quite cantankerous and disheartening.

           The words of Jesus in our Gospel reading, the example of the apostles in Acts, and the praise offered in Psalm 133 give us a different path—the path of humility, of setting aside pride, that brothers may dwell in unity. And how good and how pleasant it is (Ps 133:1)!

Dear Fellow Redeemed:

 So good! So pleasant! It may surprise us to hear that something we see so seldom and see contradicted so often—unity—really does exist.

But it does. In our believing hearts, we are perfectly one in Christ. And we can indeed live this out. Actually, it should be no surprise that something Jesus prayed for and gave his life for is answered.

Amen.

Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

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