As I pondered the title of this writing, “Lord, Make Us One,” what I saw was a group of people, making a request to someone that they believed was capable of fulfilling their request. Because I enjoy looking up words, I decided to define each word to et an idea of what this request is all about.
Lord is “a title for a person who has authority, control, or power over others; a master, chief, or ruler.” Make is “to bring something into existence by shaping or changing material, combining parts, etc.” Us is used in the place of the pronoun we. One is “being or amounting to a single unit or individual or entire thing, item, or object rather than two or more; a single. To be single, undivided; the same.” (Webster’s 1828). Based upon the above definitions, we have “a group of people who are asking the one who has authority over their lives to shape them into something that is single, undivided; the same.” The purpose for their request is unknown.
My mind immediately went to the word unity which is “the state of being one; oneness; oneness of mind, feeling, etc. as among a number of persons; concord, harmony, or agreement.” While unity and being made one may sound similar, there is a difference. Unity is only possible when there is an agreement or concurrence in attitudes or feelings on the same thing. We can see this taking place in our world today. Unity is conditional…as long as there is an agreement, there is unity. The moment that there is change in the thing that is central to the agreement…there is no longer unity. It becomes disunity, “the lack of unity or accord.” There are only three verses in the Scriptures that talk about unity: Psalm 133:1, the dwelling of brethren together in unity. Ephesians 4:3, the endeavoring of keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace; and Ephesians 4:13, the entire Church coming in the unity of the faith. Each of these requires human agreement to make it happen.
The Us people aren’t asking the one in authority over them to be unified. They want to be made one. So how is this humanly possible? It’s not. There are some things that are beyond human comprehension and can’t be explained by science. They have to be received by faith. The answer to the mystery is found in John 17, specifically verses 20 and 21. This is a favorite chapter of mine in the Bible because we’re allowed to hear Jesus praying for His disciples and for those of us who would come after them:
“I am not praying for these alone but also for the future believers who will come to me because of the testimony of these. My prayer for all of them is that they will be of one heart and mind, just as you and I are, Father—that just as you are in me and I am in you, so they will be in us, and the world will believe you sent me.” (TLB)
Thousands of years ago, Jesus asked God for the same thing that the Us people are asking him today…make us one. Why? Jesus said the only way people will believe that He was sent to our world is through the oneness displayed by those who believe in Him. God is love. He sent His son to express His love. Only with God’s heart and mind can believers demonstrate God’s love to a world that so desperately needs it.
Denise M. Carlie
Denise Carlie is a Native Chicagoan and a graduate of Living Word Christian Center School of Ministry and Robert Morris College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. She has been married for thirty-eight years and has two children and four grandchildren. Denise is a Seer, Intercessor, and Teacher with a ministerial license through the Faith Ministries Alliance. It is her desire to be remembered as “A woman after God’s own Heart.”
DENISE CARLIE
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