Sermon Title: "That They May All Be One"
Date: May 16, 2010
Minister:  The Rev. Charles Ensley

Lesson:  John 17:20-26

“…that they may all be one.”  (John 17:21)  What was Jesus thinking when he uttered that prayer to God, simultaneously sending that same message to his listening disciples?  In one of his last teaching moments before his arrest, his prayer/proclamation intercedes for all those who would come to believe through the testimony of the disciples.

But did Jesus really think that all believers would be one?  What did he mean?  Could he have imagined all the far corners of the world in which Christianity would be preached in the ensuing twenty centuries; all the languages in which the gospels would be proclaimed; all the forms of worship and liturgy in which Christians of every sort would worship God and the Christ?

“That they may all be one.”  What were the Congregational Christian and Evangelical Reformed churches thinking when they merged in 1957 and became the United Church of Christ, selecting “That they may all be one” as their motto?  Could they envision what a conglomeration this new denomination would become over the next 53 years?  “Conglomeration” is defined by Webster’s as being “made up of parts from various sources or of various kinds.”  And nowhere is this more noticeable in the United Church of Christ than right here in the Southern California Nevada Conference, where our congregations and their styles of worship vary between European Americans, African Americans, Samoans, Filipinos, and the newest and fastest growing group within our denomination—Latinos and Hispanics.

But does it really matter, for there is one way in which we communicate with God that transcends language, or cultural background, or worship style.  It can be personal and intimate, or it can be public and corporate.  It is prayer.

Prayer, specifically Christian prayer, arises from the character of God in Christ.  The church may be thought of as a kind of school of prayer.  Jesus is constantly teaching us the practices of intimacy with God, an intimacy that reflects some of the Son’s intimacy with the Father, to whom he addressed today’s prayer portion of John’s Gospel.

Some congregations have the practice of spoken “prayer requests” each Sunday morning.  I’ve worshipped in some of them, as perhaps some of you have too.  When it comes time for the prayers of intercession, members of the church verbally lift up concerns for which they want prayer.  And sometimes you’re given a little bit too much information.

On a Sunday in one such church, with a note of exasperation in his voice, after he had received all of the requests from the congregation, the pastor blurted out, “Does anybody notice anything about the way we pray in this church?  Sunday after Sunday I ask for any prayer concerns that you have.  I notice that we never seem to be concerned about anybody outside our own families or outside this congregation.  And I also notice that all of the prayer concerns tend to deal with various kinds of illnesses that people are facing.  Is physical illness our only concern?  Are our own family and friends setting the boundary on our love and care for others?”

William Willimon, bishop in the United Methodist Church, was on his way to preach at a rural church one Sunday.  “On my way,” he reports, “I heard that there was a horrible earthquake in Pakistan.  I heard that many thousands of persons were likely killed in the earthquake.

“Thus, once I was at church, and we were moving through the service, and I asked for prayer requests, I assumed that we would lift up the fate of our suffering brothers and sisters in Pakistan.  But no, of the 12 prayer requests that were lifted up in the congregation, 11 were for healing of various friends and family members of those in the congregation.  Not one word was mentioned about the earthquake.

“To my shame, I, as the leader of prayer, as the teacher of the practices of intimacy with God, did not mention this to the congregation,” Willimon concludes.

You are familiar with our custom, predating my ministry here, of submitting on blue 3x5 cards written names and concerns for prayer.  Many years ago someone, looking over the list of names and concerns we reprint in the next week’s Carillon, said to me, “You must have a lot of really sick people in your church.”  “Heavens no,” I replied.  “Only about five percent of the names any given week are for our church members.  The rest are extended family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, even world concerns of our congregation.”

I am pleased to say that over the years, this congregation does acknowledge worldwide events on blue prayer cards.  9/11, tsunami in Indonesia, Hurricane Katrina, earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, oil spill in the Gulf, almost weekly prayers for our armed forces serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, peace in the world—all these concerns have had prayer requests here, and in many cases, generous special offerings resulted for victims of natural disasters.

It may have been an awkward teaching moment for that earlier congregation to be called to task by their unnamed pastor for the limited scope of their prayer concerns.  But it was a moment that was congruent with today’s Gospel.  Jesus prays not for himself but for those gathered around him.  Ironically, he is praying for love and strength among those who will, just a few chapters later, betray and forsake him when the time of suffering comes.  And yet, in love, he still prays for them.

Furthermore, Jesus doesn’t pray that his disciples will be protected from pain or shielded from suffering.  He prays that they may have unity with one another.  He prays for them as a group, praying that their group of disciples will show forth unity and love, some portion of the unity and love that Jesus has with his Father.

Just this past week Rev. Susie and I were talking about someone who said she must have been praying for the wrong thing.  Susie and I agreed we believe that in prayer we are assured of God’s presence with us through whatever befalls us, but God cannot be commanded to biologically change this or eradicate that at our whim, or no matter how fervently we pray.  Yet just a few nights ago, in the middle of the night, I found myself earnestly praying for precisely that for some of our sick church members. 

“That they may all be one…”  Our unity, our love for one another, and our peace are gifts of God for which we must pray.  To be a Christian is not an isolated, solitary act, but rather a means to worry about your neighbor, to think communally.  That’s what Jesus does in today’s prayer.

So if you were praying for our church today, for the faithfulness of this congregation, for what would you pray?  That we may all be one?  Concern for our members who are sick or in need?  Compassion for the needs of those who are outside of this congregation?  World concerns?

In today’s Gospel, we listen in on Jesus’ prayer—one of his final conversations with the Father on his way to the cross.  And the good news is that in so many ways Jesus’ prayer is answered.  After all, here we are today, with all our differences.  I have often said the theological spread and political spread of this congregation goes from here to here.  [Arms stretched wide.]  We are not all totally in one place theologically, spiritually nor politically.  Nor do we need to be, and yet here we are.  If we demonstrate some modicum of love, community and faithfulness, then it must come as a gift from God rather than our own achievement. 

In other words, Jesus’ prayer for us has been, is being, and we have faith will be answered.  Every time we gather for worship here in the sanctuary or for fun and fellowship in the next few hours in the Concert Hall, we become the “body of Christ” that we are intended to be, and for that, we ought to offer God our thanks.  We ought to give thanks that Jesus is not yet done with us, but as today’s lesson reminds us, even now continually prays for us.  Thanks be to God for that!

(Inspiration for this sermon theme and some paragraphs adapted from

William Willimon’s sermon on this text, entitled, “Praying Like Jesus.”)