The Unity of God's Community John 17:20,21, Ephesians 4:3, Acts 4:32

In John's gospel, Jesus prays for unity of believers, asking for believers to be one with God and one another as a powerful witness to the world.

On this weekend in which we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we must ponder if we are living up to Jesus's prayer as well as our collective progress in the struggle for peace and justice.

Dr. Drew Dellinger, former Scholar in Residence, MLK Institute at Standford University, writes:

"At the heart of Dr. King's message was his vision of interdependence, of a universe defined by unity - what a hippie or Buddhist meditator would call 'oneness'; what an academic might call 'ontological entanglement'."

This 'interrelatedness' of God's creation was expressed by Dr. King as so inextricable "...that whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly."

In other words, whether you are in first class or coach, if a plane goes down, we all are going down.

Or, as Benjamin Franklin expressed the principle so succinctly at the height of the Revolutionary War:

"We can all hang together or assuredly we will all hang separately."

On the eve of a new millennium, as our nation marches to the drumbeat of war; as racist policies reveal themselves as nakedly as we can remember; as xenophobia reaches unparalleled heights in the mass deportation of immigrants, an aura of disconnectedness runs rampant among the people of God.

Our faith - preaching, teaching and worship - has become privatized! Signs, which read "No Trespassing", have been covertly posted at the entrances of personal faith: it's all about "me", "myself", and "I", causing our faith to become viciously self-centered, malignant and despondent.

This condition runs contrary to the prayer offered by Christ.

The time is now to recover the unity of God's community and kingdom.

One, be comforted by the fact that Jesus is praying for us (you). Jesus is praying for us even in the midst of a collapsing democracy and marginalization of the most vulnerable. We are strengthened by His praying for us.

Two, realize that, even in this season of "disintegration", faith still works by our integrated message. Jesus desires that our witness proves beneficial to the kingdom of God.

Third, understand that our unity is the high mark of God's community. Christ highlights the method of the message: "I in you, You in me".

In a celebrated sermon, 'Why Jesus Called a Man a Fool', Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. says Jesus calls a man a "fool" because this man, a rich young ruler, failed to understand his dependence on others.

If we are to escape the lot of this rich young ruler - whose soul was required that very night - we must, as believers, and as beneficiaries of a praying Christ, recommit ourselves to a concept founded in West African societies called 'Ubuntu':

I am because you are. You are because I am.

Pastor W. Eric Croomes is lead pastor of Pastor W. Eric Croomes Ministries.

info@pastorwericcroomes.com