Unity

Have you ever considered what you would do if you had one day left to live? What if you knew, without a doubt, that this time tomorrow you were going to die? What would be foremost in your mind? Who would be foremost in your mind? 

I guess most of us would change something about the way we lived today if we knew that we would not be here tomorrow, but the reason I bring this up is not to look at what we would do. I want to know what Jesus would do. Because I guess the question we are answering when we answer all of the above questions is this: 

We have a very unique perspective when we read about Jesus in his final week of life. He knew He was headed to Jerusalem to die, and He knew when His hour had come. So, by reading about his last week of life, we see what was most important to Him; what made Him tick. And we get the chance – an intimate opportunity – to hear His prayer in a garden where He knew He was about to be betrayed. Wow.

So what was on Jesus' mind?

The answer is mindblowing and simple. Jesus was praying for us.Jesus spent His last few minutes in the garden before he would be crucified praying about us – the guys and girls who would believe in Him through His disciples' message. So what did He pray for? What was the last thing on Jesus' mind before He stood up and went to where He knew Judas was waiting? What was the most important thing to Him when He prayed about us? Unity. Jesus wanted us 'to be one.' He wants us to be a family, united with each other. He wants us to have each others' back. He wants us to look out for each others' well being. If one of us is struggling, He wants us to take the load – financial, emotional – you name it, Jesus wants us to jump in there and bear it together. We see this in Acts – these guys sold their property and gave it to the elders of the church to be distributed where it was needed. 

"Cool, Stu," I hear you say. "That's a nice concept, and I agree we should all like each other and get along. But I'm not going to go selling my property for the church – that's a bit extreme and I don't think God would ask me to do that". I hear you, and I agree that we need to use wise judgement when making these decisions. But check out the standard Jesus set for our relationship with each other – check out who He compared us to: 

"...that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You"

Jesus wants us to be one in the same way that Him and God the Father were one. This is huge! In the trinity, Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit are all three distinct persons but also all one and the same God. In the same way then, Jesus wants us to be distinct people with personalities and character traits (and not clones) but to be so connected with each other that we are one church. 

Man, I love our church. I love the guys and girls in it, and I love hanging out with them and worshiping God with them. And you want to know an amazing thing? God loves that too. WAY more than I or you do. It was the last thing on His mind before He died.