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THAT ALL MAY BE ONE

SCRIPTURE READING
ACT 1:15-17, 21-26
1 JOHN 5:9-13
JOHN 17:6-19

‘That all may be one’ is the theme for our reflection. It is Jesus’ prayer for his disciples and believers to remain one after He has ascended to Heaven. Oneness is an important phenomenon among human beings that has brought about progress in areas of economy and security in most nations. One of the most renowned organizations that exit and has survived on the oneness of countries in the world is the United Nations. In the same manner, Jesus knew the importance of oneness to His disciples even before He physically departed from them; therefore, He dedicated His time to praying for the oneness of His disciples. In today’s reflection, we shall deliberate on oneness as an important pillar of Christian fellowship. We shall look at the following important facts;

1. Oneness among Christians is the manifestation of the nature of God’s relationship with Christ.
2. Oneness means eschewing our differences and fellowshipping through prayer for the effective functioning of the church which is the body of Christ.
3. Without oneness we cannot accomplish the mission of bearing testimony about Jesus to unbelievers.

Firstly, my brothers and sisters in the Lord, one of the ways we can manifest the nature of the God’s relationship with Christ is when all believers become one in Christ. There is oneness between God, the Father and Jesus, the Son for which we believers must possess the trait of oneness in our relationship with one another. When we fail to be one as Christian churches and as believers in our congregations, then we do not possess the Spirit of God and love in us. Jesus prayed “…I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. (John 17:11). It goes to reason that where there is division among Christian churches and believers in the same congregation, they cannot be said to led by Jesus since Jesus and the Father are always one. The Spirit of God surely will manifest among Christian churches and believers who seek oneness, so that the world will truly know that we are sons and daughters of God. The Psalmist underscores the beauty and blessing of oneness or unity when he wrote “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! …For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore. (Psalms 133:1, 3).

Secondly, without oneness, we cannot gather to pray for the effective growth of the church. It takes oneness in Christ to break the divisive barriers of race, gender, class and age. We all become one big family and disciples in Christ. Before Jesus ascended into Heaven, he promised the disciples the indwelling of the Holy Spirit at Jerusalem, after His ascension we are told in Acts 1:12-13 that the disciples and other believers “…returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying,”. What were they doing in the upper room? The upper room represents a place of prayer. Beloved in the Lord, if we are not one and we come into the upper room (church) to pray we do so in total futility. The prayer of believers in the church thrives on the unity of mind, purpose and the perfect will of God. Act 1:14 tells us that “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.” Oneness means both the men and women can pray and work together towards the growth of the church. Both adults, youth and children can pray and work together for the furtherance of the mission of the church. For example, in some congregations, church groups are not united in the patronage of each other’s programmes and activities, there are divisions based on education and class amongst the youth, and another sad but factual division is among the rich and the poor in the church. We are being encouraged to draw inspiration from words in Act 1:14, “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and his brothers”. To mention another importance of unity to the growth of the church, Acts 4:32-33 tells us that “Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power, the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.” Men, women, youth and children are all essential branches of the ministry of the church. We must respect everyone’s ministry and role in the church and be one in Christ through prayer and the study of the Word of God.

The third point is that the world will only believe us and take us seriously if we are one in bearing testimony about Jesus. In other words, with oneness, we can preach the Gospel effectively and win souls for the Lord. Like John and other Apostles, we can also bear “… testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” (1 John 5:11-12) Jesus, in appreciating the importance of the oneness of His disciples and the church in continuing His mission in the world, prayed, “I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. (John 17:11) Truly, God’s glory is manifested in us when we are one in Christ Jesus, it is this glory that shines in this world of darkness and ensures that the Gospel transforms the lost and perishing.

In conclusion, oneness in Christ is important to us Christians because; it manifests in us the nature of God’s relationship with the Son, oneness enables us to pray and work together towards the growth of the church and last but not least, oneness gives us credibility in the spreading of the Gospel and enables us to manifest the glory of God in the world. May the peace and grace from our Lord Jesus Christ be with us even as we remain one in obedience to His will. Amen.