The gospel reading today from John 17:20-26 is an impassioned prayer by Jesus for unity among his followers. It is not uncommon to look at the multitude of Christian denominations and assume that this grieves Christ. Pastor Phil Kniss questioned this assumption. Perhaps getting rid of structural divisions has little to do with the unity that Christ was praying so earnestly for. Furthermore, it is not even theological unity that Christ was praying for. In his prayer, Jesus prayed that the oneness he experienced with God would be the oneness - the unity - that Christ's followers would experience. It is this oneness with God that creates unity even while we are in unique contexts. And it is this oneness with God that frees us to fully embrace the life that God has called us to live.
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