Extracts from the Conversation - Unity
The prayer is a window into Jesus’ understanding of three major themes in the Gospel of John: his pre-existence, divine unity, and the ultimate purpose for human existence. The prayer seems overly theoretical, mystical and divorced from ordinary human experience - what does union with God really mean? Union with God shapes how we see ourselves, how we understand God, and how we see and relate to those around us. It’s our shared human experience that connects us, not our belief systems or doctrines which historically have divided not unified the church...
We are not isolated beings, but part of a deeper unity that holds all creation together. Because we are acutely aware of the deep historical divisions between religious and ethnic groups, I must ask, how does Jesus’ vision of unity translate into our ordinary experiences? A place to begin is to cultivate awareness of when we erect walls to protect our own patch and our fragile egos, instead of opening doors of co-operation. In his prayer, Jesus is not asking for unity based on doctrinal uniformity, but unity that mirrors the divine relationship of Father and Son. Alluding to transformation of the human heart Jesus prayed, “That the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
Augustine the great Christian writer of the 4th century identified that unity is rooted in love, not the institutional structure of the church. He wrote in Tractate 110.4 on John 17:2: “Inasmuch as they are to be one in us, it is love that makes them one.” For Augustine, unity flows from the love shared between the Father and the Son and the bond that holds the Church and all creation together. Unity in the Church has a missional in function: “so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” For a Christian community, such as ours, the Church is not just a community that believes in God – we are called to demonstrate the unity of the Father, Son and Spirit through love.…
David Foster Wallace, university professor of English wrote: In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And an outstanding reason for choosing God is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things, then you will never feel you have enough. Worship your own body and beauty and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you …. Worship power—you will feel weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to keep the fear at bay. Worship your intellect, you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out....
The famous Cambridge astronomer, Sir Arthur Eddington, said that humanity should be open to new ways of perceiving reality, which Paul also affirms. We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. [2 Cor. 4:18]
Jesus’ prayer can help expand our understanding of the unity of the divine, the potential for the unity of humanity and a more complete grasp of his transcendence. Transcendence means going beyond ordinary limits, beyond the physical world and in a spiritual or religious context, transcendence refers to something greater than ourselves, to ultimate truth. Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer invites us to step outside the material world, through the door and connect with a deeper spiritual reality.