Sunday, July 26, 2026

Scripture: John 17:20-26

Sermon Title: “One in Christ”

It’s funny in our congregation, we have a few people who I know are twins, maybe even more than I know of. I can think of 3, maybe we have even more. Now I know what it’s like to have a bond with a sibling, I have two younger sisters, and we are pretty close. But they talk about the bond between twins is very significant. Some refer to it as a “twin connection.” I don’t know if the twins in our congregation feel this connection, but it’s referred to a lot with twins.

I’ve even laughed sometimes on social media where a mom has asked twins questions separately and laughed at how they answer the question the same. There seems to be a oneness, like they are sharing the same mind. They seem to be one with one another. I don’t know if our twins in our congregation agree with this or roll their eyes at this.

But these last few weeks, we’ve been talking a lot about being one with one another. We have been in a series called, “A More Perfect Union” inspired by the 250th birthday of our country that we celebrated at the beginning of this month. Along with this we’ve talked about the division and polarization in this country, and how as Christians, we are called to be one in Christ.

So far, we’ve spent our time in the book of Ephesians, but this week we are turning to the Gospel of John. Our scripture today is a prayer that Jesus is praying for us. This chapter of John comes from a section of John’s Gospel known as “The Farewell Discourse.” These are chapters 14-17 in the Gospel of John.  Jesus knows that he will be dying soon, and in this section of John, he is saying- goodbye to his disciples. Think about if you knew you were dying, what would you want to tell those you love?

What comes right after today’s scripture is that Jesus will be arrested in the Garden. But before that happens is our scripture for today. In John 17, Jesus prays for his disciples, and in this section of John 17, Jesus is not just praying for his 12 disciples, Jesus is praying for all future believers. That means here, 2,000 years ago, Jesus is praying for you and for me.

Did you ever realize before that Jesus prayed for you 2,000 years ago?

And what did Jesus pray for us? Jesus prayed that we would be one.

Hear these words of Jesus: “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” (John 17:20-21, NIV)

Jesus prays that we would be one, just as he and the Father are one.

While the word “Trinity” is never explicitly stated in scripture, we believe in the Trinity, we believe that God is three in one, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And this can be hard to wrap our human, finite brains around. I’ve heard some analogies. And just remember, while analogies can be helpful, all analogies fall short in explaining the complexity of the Trinity. I’ve heard the analogy of water as liquid, ice, and steam. I’ve heard the egg analogy: shell, egg white, and egg yolk. But I think my favorite is the image of a chord on the piano.

If you play a chord, there are three distinct notes, but they all make one chord. This is the Trinity. Three distinct persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but one God. Three notes, one chord.

I joked about a twin connection earlier, but the connection between the Trinity is even greater.And Jesus here is touching on this idea of the Trinity. Jesus is saying he wants us to be one with one another just as he and the Father are one. The same intimacy that Jesus has with the Father is what he longs for us to have with one another.

And why does Jesus want us to be one? So that the world may know that the Father sent him.

You see, the world is familiar with division. The world is not familiar with oneness. And Jesus’s hope is that we would be one with people who are so different from us, that the world would look at us and our relationships with one another and say, “That must be the work of God in their lives, because there is no way they could be one in their own strength or power.”

If you look at the top news stories, a lot of our news stories are about division and polarization. We have become so politically divided and polarized that many of us tend to watch different news channels based on our politics. We don’t even necessarily hear the same news stories, or if they do, the story is covered with a different political bend or slant based on our own politics. And our division and polarization have led not just to arguments, but in our world, we are even experiencing wars with other nations.

We pray for peace every seek between our country and Iran, Israel and Palestine, Ukraine and Russia. Our world is certainly not one. We are not at peace with one another.

And yet, as followers of Jesus Christ, we are to look different from the way of the world. In a world that is full of division, polarization, violence, and even war, we are to be a people of peace, a people of love, a people of unity, a people of oneness. We are to be one with one another just as Jesus and the Father and Holy Spirit are one. We are to be one in Christ.

Earlier this month, we celebrated the 250th birthday of our country. And this month we’ve talked about some famous words and symbols of our country. First, we talked about the words that our series is named after, words from the preamble of the Constitution, “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

Then last week we talked about a famous symbol in our country, The Statue of Liberty, and the famous words by Emma Lazarus on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

In our country’s 250-year history there are many famous words and symbols. But another famous set of words are not even English, but Latin: “E Pluribus Unum.” These words are found on the back of the dollar bill. These words mean, “Out of many, one.”

Out of many, one.

Adam Russell Taylor writes these words, “While it was never codified into law, E Pluribus Unum, or ‘out of many, one’ was the de facto motto of the United States until 1956, when Congress adopted ‘In God we Trust’ as the official motto. This is a real loss because at its best, the former served as a reminder that American strength does not derive from assimilating uniformity but instead from the richness of authentic expressions of diversity.” (Adam Russell Taylor, “A More Perfect Union)

Now while this idea of E Pluribus Unum is not in the Bible, I would say it sounds very similar to Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.  For we were all baptized by[ one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.  Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.” (NIV)

Unity does not mean that we won’t have differences and disagreements. We all look, think, and act differently. We have different ideas, different gifts. And yet, in our diversity, we are one body. In our diversity we are one in Christ.

I truly believe the division, hurt, betrayal, polarization, violence, and war in our country and our world breaks the heart of God. And even more so breaks the heart of God when we see this division in the Church, in the Body of Christ. You see we as followers of Jesus Christ are to look different from the way of the world. We are to be one with one another as Jesus and the Father are one. We are to be an example to the world of Christ’s love.

Sadly, in recent years we are seeing less on being with one another, seeing less of one with Christ, and we are seeing a rise in politics and religion being one with one another instead. Many refer to this ideas as Christian Nationalism.

Christian Nationalism can be hard to define. But here is a definition from umc.org

“Christian nationalism identifies the nation with God's will and action in the world; conflates national and Christian identity; and identifies service of the nation with service of God,” writes Dr. David W. Scott, who is a Methodist historical researcher and the Director of Mission Theology at the General Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church. “Christian nationalism gives moral cover for actions, even unseemly ones, taken in pursuit of national or political goals.”

I recently learned at our Bishop Tom Berlin will be sharing about Christian Nationalism at a forum at Coronado UMC in New Smyrna on August 20th at 10 AM if anyone is interested in going and hearing more. There will be more information coming in the newsletter.

But simply, Christian Nationalism seems to be when our nation and our faith are one in the same.

Jesus calls us to be one with another, and one in Christ. And yet, sadly many of us are not one with our brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, we are not one in Christ but instead have made our politics and our religion one and the same.

Yes, when Jesus is our Lord it should transform the way we vote, interact with others, and the polices we advocate for. But when we put our politicians and leaders on the same level as Jesus, we have created an idol. And so we as followers of Jesus have to be constantly asking ourselves, is Jesus informing how I see politics and the government? Or are my politics informing how I see Jesus?

Christ should be first in our lives and should be the lens through which we view everything, including our politics. Our politics should not be first in our lives and the way we view Jesus. We might have just celebrated the 250th birthday of our nation, a huge milestone, but our faith is way older than our country. Our faith is more important. Our God is more important.

So if we are starting with Jesus, let’s go back to Jesus’s prayer. Jesus’s prayer for us is that we would be one just as he and the Father are one. And Jesus ends his prayer with these words, “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me.  I have made you known to them, and will continue to make youknown in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” (John 17:25-26, NIV)

The world knows the Father through Jesus. And the world knows Jesus through us. How are we doing at loving one another and loving the world? How are we doing at pointing others toward Jesus and the Father? Are our politics, our social media posts and our division pointing others toward the love of God? Or are we pointing people away from God?

My hope for all of us, myself included, is that we would love differently than the world. My hope is that our love for others points others toward the love of Christ. And way we remember, no matter our differences, we are One in Christ. May we be one with each other, and one with Christ, just as Jesus and the Father are one.

Amen