Sam Aldridge Read: John 17:1-25; 1 Cor 12:12-26 Unity often seems like a far off dream in todays divided world.  As a pastor I have lost count of the number of congregants who have brought their wrestling to me that the church is not unified, especially in times of transition or, more recently, when issues such as masking and vaccines have imposed themselves upon our church family from the outside.  So is unity possible this side of Jesus return, or are we chasing a proverbial unicorn? When Jesus is praying in Gethsemane he prays that “they may all be one.  As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us,” and “that they may be one as we are one.  I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one.”  In short, Jesus prays for us to be unified in the way the Godhead is unified: the Trinity becomes our pattern for unity.  This has profound implications for how we understand unity.  While on one level we view the Trinity as one essence (the imminent Trinity), it is also three distinct persons that operate differently, with different purposes, and even exist differently (the economic Trinity).  This is the mystery of the trinity – in the midst of perfect unity is perfect diversity. Too often we forget this diversity aspect of the Trinity – our unity becomes uniformity.  We shun others who worship differently, who speak differently, who live differently, and consider any difference over small things to be a big deal.  But God did not make us this way – he gave us diversity in skin color, language, giftings, temperaments, passions, and so much more.  Each of us is fearfully and wonderfully made unique and different, and we must embrace that in our pursuit of unity. But diversity is chaotic and hard to control, so how do we create unity without become control freaks that end up with uniformity?  Here two things are worth us remembering.  First, Jesus words in his prayer, “I in them.”  Jesus is our center, he is our focal point, the star we all orbit, he is the center to which we all must keep returning.  We must reaffirm this common ground in the face of our differences. Second, we must also embody the grace of Jesus.  Diversity means that differences have to be navigated, and so conflict will occur, but will we imitate Jesus and show grace to those that differ such that reconciliation can occur? That is after all the ministry we are to display to the world, a unity that echoes the redemptive and reconciliatory work of Jesus “so that the world may know.” Questions for reflection: How have you viewed the theology of the Trinity – as an academic problem with little impact on your life, or as the crucial pattern for understanding Christian community? Why do you think the church has so often struggled with the idea of diversity? How are…