““I do not ask for these only, 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.”
John 17:20-21 ESV
This is part of the prayer that John records Jesus praying before Jesus was arrested, in this translation of the Bible it is known as the “High Priestly Prayer”. The prayer is for all believers, it is for the time that Jesus was living in, it is for Jesus, it is for people like us.
In this prayer we have a beautiful picture of relationship and if we take it a little bit further, it is about community since community is all about relationship. I can’t remember who pointed out this truth of relationship but it is important to share it and for us to think about it. Each person in our lives will bring out something different in us, (yes the good and the not so good), and when they are around we see a different part of ourselves and so do those around us. Without them, that special part could very well be lost.
Too often we don’t realize the effect that we have on someone else. Sometimes we don’t always see our presence as important or beneficial to others. Yet your absence creates a void and changes the community. Each person’s presence is equally valuable and important. If we think in terms of individuals we only look at individual roles and titles but when we look at the big picture of the community we start to see wholeness and importance of each person and each contributions, even those tough people are important too.
Yes at times we can get hurt and we shy away but even in those times of hurt are potential for healing and growth, not just for yourself but also for your community. And even with this statement we are too often short sighted. Our community is not made up just those we are sharing the same space and time with, those that we can see and hear, but also those who have gone before us and provided the space and opportunities for us to grow and live today, also those who we are preparing the world for and community for in the future, whether it is tomorrow, next week or a hundred years from now.
We find this when we start talking about the communion of saints and the great cloud of witnesses. When we start to think about being joined together through the Holy Spirit we need to look beyond our own front door, our own community and realize the great connection that we have with complete strangers, long forgotten pioneers, and those whose cells have not been conceive except in God’s creative mind.
You are part of God’s community of life.
