One with Christ and Each Other

"That they all may be one as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." (Jno.17.21).

When you consecrated your life to the Lord, dear brother or sister, no doubt it was with rather mixed feelings. You surveyed the world of opportunities around you, counting the flowing, interesting little streams of life; perhaps you could see a strongly moving river inviting you to plunge in and be taken up with its progress. But you loved your Lord, because He first loved you, and you sought unity with him in word, deed and character. As you progressed in the Christian life, you came to see that the little stream led to the strong river, erratic, eddying perhaps, which relentlessly, following out a natural law, flowed down to the sea. Not a peaceful ocean, but a sea in which tempests were imminent, which could become a thunderous, raging maelstrom.

Although not of the world, we are still very much in it, which we may find distressing, the natural man being what he is. As the experiences of the day tend to make us feel more and more our separateness from the world we can look up with great encouragement. At first our allegiance to Christ and the pursuing of his principles of loving self-sacrifice only affected our home and social life; now it is affecting our civil and business life, so that in many cases we must choose to plough a comparatively lonely furrow rather than follow the line of least resistance with the crowd. This is separating... separating... separating... and a good thing too! How much more eagerly we turn to the Lord in prayer; how much tighter we grasp his outstretched hand; how much more we understand and reciprocate the warmth of the brethren's love. And does not the Father rejoice with us as He sees us easing away from the materialism around us? What awe-inspiring wonder there is in our calling! What a high, what a glorious, lofty calling is ours!

As we separate from the things that do not matter, we find a wholesome, satisfying peace in our unity with each other and with Jesus. As we, as his Church, gravitate to him as our Head, let us do what we can to draw the bonds of love a little closer round each other. The Apostle Paul, that apt channel of the Holy Spirit, teaches us on this point in Ephesians 4.

"I… beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace..."

It becomes less difficult to walk with all lowliness and meekness when we consider the calling with which we are called. The gentle, patient, forbearing brother or sister is an invaluable asset in the preservation of unity between one another. "Forbearing one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace." Just as Jesus did! How our thoughts rise in leaps and bounds as we remember his forbearance in love, his great, earnest desire for us to be one in him, and the bond of perfect peace which He left us as a legacy.

It is clear from Paul's words that our unity does not find its roots in the particular body we belong to, in our activities together, or even in the way we understand the truth. Our unity is as Christ's body (the Church), in spirit and in hope, in our Lord, our faith and our baptism, and in the one omnipotent Father. The Apostle seems to show us that our unity as a Church to some extent depends upon each individual fitting in to that part of the Lord's service for which he is most gifted. "He gave some, apostles..." etc. Let us be frank with ourselves. Am I trying to do too much in activities for which I am not suited? What talents have I? Are my talents being used in worldly affairs which could be turned to 'the perfecting of the saints'? It is an important matter, for the building up of the body of Christ is involved. We must think very prayerfully and carefully with the Holy Spirit's guidance as we act in such holy service. A sincere prayer is more effective than trying to work out a line of procedure, and we need to see what the consecration of our lives implies.

The Apostle teaches us to forbear in love, speak the truth in love, for the building up of the body in love. He would have us see that this is all part of our "unfeigned love" one to another, and we know in practice that our mutual love is our unity. Our Lord's great love for us, and our devoted love for him, makes our unity, and, as Paul points out in another epistle, what can separate us?

Whilst at a convention once I heard the chairman use the expression "Let us unite in prayer". I was profoundly moved as about a hundred of us quietly and simply united in the one desire to commune with the Father. It meant that all those sincere minds were concentrated on the one high purpose, and coming from a world where man's hand was turned against his neighbour the thought was impressively beautiful. We were children together, at home with each other, speaking reverently to our Father, and the spirit of peace and love prevailed.

This unity we gain this side of the Veil. Do others gain it too?

BSM 1967