May we be one
by Renée Simpfendorfer
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them and I in them (John 17:26).
Read John 17:20–26
The words of today’s passage, part of Jesus’ prayer on the night before he died, seem to weave and cross over each other like a complex tapestry. I tried to tease apart the interwoven phrases and wondered if this was futile. Perhaps the interconnection of ideas is a literary illustration of a key theme in this text: unity.
‘They may be one’ is written three times, and there are many references to the unity within God and the unity between God and people.
What might this mean for us today? What does unity look like as part of God’s kingdom? We needn’t look far to see the opposite of unity: we see people divided based on politics, culture, race, sexuality, age, wealth and many other factors. It is in our families, churches, communities and world. Am I an instrument of unity and peace? Do my words and actions point to the God of love? So often I fall short.
The tapestry of text in this passage reminds us: God is love. God loves all people. God’s love is in us. We are called to share this love with all people.
When we are aware of the self-giving love of God in us, we can better share this love with others. We can be a vessel for that love, a conductor that passes this divine love generously and freely. Wouldn’t that be unifying?
When we are awake to God’s presence in us and each other, we can be united by this. We can work on being together, rather than divided. This unity and love in action, led by the Spirit, may guide others to know and love God too.
May we be one, bound in love forever,
Growing close together day by day;
Growing as God fills us with his life;
We are joined in him, he makes us one.
(‘May we be one’ by Robin Mann, AT 172)
Loving God, open our hearts to see your presence in others, so that we may love freely and be united through and in you. Amen.
Renée lives on Ngunawal country with her family and belongs to the community at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, ACT. She works as a teacher and enjoys listening to music, reading, walking in nature and the challenge of solving cryptic crosswords.
- Click here to read previous devotions.
- We are also posting them on LCA Facebook, making it easy for you to share them with family and friends.
- Sign up to receive Daily Devotion in your inbox every morning. If you’re already doing that, please encourage others to sign up. Click here for the link.
