Do We Recognize How Important Unity Is?
July 24, 2024
Fr. John Riccardo
“Brothers and sisters: I, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
Ephesians 4:1-6
We have here words deep from within the heart of a pastor to a small flock of disciples of Jesus. We have here words that are perennially relevant for the Church and perhaps especially for us in these days in which God has chosen for us to live.
It’s perhaps worth reminding ourselves of two things before seeing what the Lord might have for us through St. Paul. First, something about Jesus’ desire for us. Second, something about the devil’s desire for us. Let’s work backwards and start with the enemy and his desire.
Diabolos, the Greek word for the devil, is often translated as “the divider.” That’s good, but it doesn’t quite catch the whole meaning of the word, nor of the character and desire of the enemy of our race, that is, the entire human population made in the image and likeness of God. A more vivid translation might be something like “the one who tears apart.” This is what the divider does. Or tries to do, anyway. He tries everything in his power to rip to shreds what God has created, and especially those creatures made for communion with God and with each other. Even more sinisterly, he tempts us to rip ourselves to shreds, thus acting as agents of division so that we end up hurting ourselves. We can only imagine the glee in hell over the many places throughout the globe where this is happening at this very moment. The glee must be especially delightful as the demons see this played out in the Church.
Whereas the devil is literally hell-bent on tearing asunder, Jesus is intent on unity. On the night before He enters into His passion in order to rescue us from the clutches of the enemy and to deliver us from the powers of Sin and Death, Jesus prays to His Father for radical unity amongst all those who will believe in Him: “Holy Father, keep them in Your name, which You have given Me, that they may be one, even as We are one…I do not ask for these only [the apostles], but also for those who will believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one, just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. The glory that You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one even as We are one, I in them and You in Me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that You sent Me and loved them even as You loved Me” (John 17:11, 20-23).
Note the motives behind the prayer for unity: by the powerful witness of the unity of believers the world, that is, those who do not yet know the love of the Father, will come to know that 1) God has heard the cries of His favorite creature captured by Sin, Death and Satan and sent His Son to rescue us from them, and, 2) that each and every person is loved by the Father even as He loves the Son.
Allow me a quick aside here for a moment. For whatever reason, over the past several years it seems to be increasingly in vogue for Christians to claim that Jesus also desires division. The text often quoted to support this is Mathew 10:34-36. To think this is to not understand what Jesus is saying. He has come, after all, to gather into one the children of God (cf. John 11:52). What Jesus is saying is not that He wants division but rather that the choice to follow as His disciples will necessarily result in division between those who do and do not follow Him as their Lord. How could it not? But this is very different from the wicked desire of the enemy, which is to violently rip apart what God has created for union.
With these two things in mind — the enemy’s desire to maliciously and viciously tear us apart and Jesus’ prayer for unity amongst His disciples — Paul writes to the small flock of Christians in Ephesus. He pleads with them to strive to preserve this unity Jesus prayed for, that the Spirit makes possible and that the devil works so hard against. Among the predominant tasks of any and every Christian community include making sure we regularly remember Jesus’ prayer, the devil’s strategy, and remain vigilant, zealous, and eager to work for, guard, protect and preserve our unity.
If we don’t remain zealous to guard and protect our unity then the world around us won’t have anything that they can see that will positively provoke them to believe that 1) Jesus is in fact the Son of God sent to rescue us all and that 2) they are by name loved by the Father, thus sating the deepest desire of every human heart.
A wise man once said that we need signs of faith that don’t require faith. In other words, we need demonstrable signs that even those who do not believe can see and recognize that only God can do these things. One of those signs of faith that doesn’t require faith is unity. Only the Holy Spirit can make people who have nothing in common, coming from every class, social background, color, ethnicity, and more, genuinely united in love around the person of Jesus Christ, surrendering themselves to Him, truly loving each other from the heart. As such, the kind of unity Paul is writing about here is a gift of the Spirit. He is the One who makes unity possible, and without Him we cannot do it. That doesn’t mean, however, that there isn’t anything for us to do.
Paul reminds the tiny community in Ephesus that their task is to guard and preserve this gift of the Spirit. How can we do that? Well, perhaps a few things could be helpful in our prayer this week. First, let’s ask the Lord Jesus to plant deeper within our own hearts His desire for unity in our communities. Second, let’s ask the Holy Spirit to help us be on guard against any and every temptation of the enemy to rip us apart, especially but not only in our speech (or our posts). Third, let’s understand how important the witness of our unity is to the world, and of how scandalous it is when we aren’t united. And, finally, let’s beg the Holy Spirit to make us in the body of Christ ever more one in mind and heart so that the world may know that the Father sent His Son and loves them even as He loves Jesus.
ACTS XXIX Prayer Intentions
July 2024
For the many leaders across the country who attended the Leadership Immersives on the ACTS XXIX campus in June, that seeds sown may flourish in their respective Dioceses, parishes, and seminaries.
For Father John, the ACTS XXIX team, and all those attending the Grand Getaway on Mackinac Island, that God's people would be inspired to be mobilized for the mission God has entrusted to them.
For the ACTS XXIX family, that their break from ministry in the first part of July will be a source of refreshment for them and their families.
For the ACTS XXIX Board of Directors, Episcopal Advisory Council, benefactors and prayer partners. May the Lord richly bless them for their leadership and support.
For God’s protection upon the ACTX XXIX team.