Let us be one" (John 17:2-26)
Let the content be one."
John 17:20-26
Dr. Schweitzer, who is called the apostle of love, has already made a name for himself as a theologian and musician in his twenties. At the age of 30, he began to study medicine and worked bloody and tears to obtain his medical license for seven years. He went to Africa with the Gospel after all the conditions were ready for him to remain in Germany and lead a comfortable life. He knew theology, music, or medicine as preparation courses for evangelism in Africa.
In fact, Africa was a blood-stained land that had been plundered by whites over the centuries. With Schweitzer's devoted love, black people saw the love of white people, and the world saw a man in the form of Jesus Christ. He was a living saint who gave his whole life to preach the gospel, not as a musician, as a doctor, or for a high income or a comfortable life. I miss these Christians.
Christians must be seen as the true human beings of that era at all times and everywhere, and it is so shameful to see the stained image of the church today. The Korean Church has been at the forefront of enlightening our society and instilling the spirit of the nation in the early days of its mission, and at the forefront of the patriotic movement, it has been at the forefront of saving the nation. However, it is heartbreaking to see that today's Korean churches have grown significantly in terms of quantity, but are rather regressing in terms of quality. In particular, the division of the Korean church has fueled the qualitative degeneration of the church and has been a major impediment to missions.
Today's text is the content of the prayer that Jesus offered for the church at the last prayer place before his death on the cross. His 'Prayer for the Church', which he offered while leaving the Church in the world after his death, further reveals the importance of the Church. Today, we want to listen to the word of revelation given to today's church while thinking about the Lord's 'Prayer for the Church'.
1. The church must be one (verse 21).
Jesus prayed, "As the Father is in me and I in the Father, so we all may be one" (verse 21). God and Christ were spiritually one. This is the justification of the unity of the Church. Just as God is one, the church must be one. The Bible compares the church to a body. The members attached to the body are different, but in one body the will is the same, and they are united together for that purpose. When there is a problem with the hands, all the members are worried and try to help each other out. Church members have different personalities and different lifestyles. But for the work of the Lord, we must cooperate. So, we must achieve unity.
Dear all! Our church, as a community in Jesus Christ, must please God by worshiping and unitingly serving God. There is nothing more beautiful than the saints united to serve the Lord's work. However, we should not be satisfied with this, but pray that the Korean church will overcome division and become one. The church cannot stand before God when it is divided by vanity and strife.
2. The church must be the pillar and foundation of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15).
I hear that there are too many churches in this land. It is true that there are too many churches in the city, as there are several in one building. But there are not that many true churches. What kind of church is the true church? It is the church as the pillar and ground of truth. What is truth? In a general sense, its vitality would be eternal and its effect would not change forever. However, the truth spoken of in the Bible refers to Jesus Christ, who has the same substance as God the Creator and came in a human body, and the way of the cross that He revealed. The church is built upon this truth, the Triune God. Therefore, the church must be a strong pillar and foundation in keeping this truth.
Here, when Paul uses the word pillar, he must have been thinking of the pillars of the Greek temples built throughout Rome. The pillars of the temple are not only strong, but also stand tall to be seen from a great distance. Therefore, the church as a pillar of truth in the Bible is implied to protect the purity of the gospel and to make the truth of the gospel visible from afar. The church must set the truth high so that all can see it. The church is truly the pillar of truth and the lighthouse of truth that should illuminate the bright light in this world darkened with all kinds of sins. A church that cannot present the light of truth to the world is nothing more than a church whose existence value has been extinguished.
For the senior college established by our church to serve the local community, the members who serve for free meals every Thursday, the members who go to the place of mentally retarded children to do laundry on Tuesdays, and Woljeong Elementary School. Providing lunch to beggars and providing 200,000 won per month to families in extreme economic distress under the IMF system is a struggle to serve as a pillar of truth. When the world sees our church, they must be able to see Jesus Christ. The church is also the "ground of truth." The site refers to the props that support the entire building. In other words, the church is the holy pillar that upholds and holds up the truth to the end in this world that distorts and obliterates the truth. Therefore, the church must be firm in the truth-keeping and must not be shaken. The church is strengthened when the members comfort and exhort each other and become one.
We are also strengthened and strengthened when we completely depend on God.
To completely depend on God means that we must continue to depend on God rather than relying on God sometimes. When you continue to depend on God in this way, you will find peace in the church. When the whole church stands centered on God, there is stability. At home, when the parents are stable, the family is at peace. If one of the fathers or mothers is nervous and makes occasional disturbances, the peace of the family is disrupted. When the members completely depend on God, the church becomes a reliable church as well as peace within the church.
Today, the church has lost its shape as a pillar and foundation of truth and has lost its influence on the world. Our church must bear the mission of salt and light so that the world can look up to it.
3. The church has a purpose in evangelism (verse 23).
Jesus said, ?쏧 am in them, and you are in me, so that I may be perfected, that they may become one, so that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them as you loved me??(verse 23). ) prayed. Just as God and Jesus are one, Jesus and believers must be one. If believers stick together around Jesus, the church will become one. This does not mean that the church is united as one. It is not important for the denomination to become one. It means that all churches are united in work for the glory of the Lord. Only then will the witness of the gospel be successful.
If you look at the history of the church in our country, during the Japanese colonial era, the church suffered a lot of persecution from the Japanese rule because of the patriotic movement including the March 1st Movement. In the eyes of people, the church thought it was going to collapse soon. But unexpectedly, young intellectuals in Korea flocked to the church, thinking that the only way for our country to be independent was the church. Therefore, the Korean church has been able to produce many talented people. As a result, the majority of prominent figures in today's society are Christians. However, today, the church is not united and is divided, rather than fulfilling the mission of salt and light, rather than fulfilling the mission of salt and light, it is swept away by the secular values of society and falls into a state of being inseparable from the world. It is a fact that young people are leaving. After a while, the Korean church will have no choice but to become a lost salt with only the church buildings standing tall.
Our church must stand tall as the body of Jesus Christ, the pillar and foundation of the truth, and a unified church that can be respected in this world, so that we can continue to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. If the living God forsakes the Korean church, our country will also be rejected. The economic collapse should not lead to the collapse of the church. The church must first become one.