“How good and pleasant it is when brother and sister dwell together in unity.” I witnessed a fight over a toy between two of our grands at our house today. Having grown up in the Brooks household, this came as no big surprise. The older sibling won the tug of war while the younger lifted his voice seeking justice. As the wailing resounded off the walls, I turned to our granddaughter and said, “Since you have been playing with the toy for a while, why not share it with your brother now?" In my memory, this had not worked with my siblings or my offspring. But my granddaughter walked over and gave her brother the toy. “How good and pleasant it is . . .”
Jesus and his disciples drew closer to Jerusalem and his crucifixion. They played the “Who is the Greatest” game right up until the end of his life. If his Jewish disciples could not find unity, how would they ever assimilate his Gentile followers in the years after his death? So Jesus gave them the news. As the good shepherd who knew his sheep well and would lay down his life for them, Jesus told them they were not the only sheep. He would bring other sheep so that there might be one flock and one shepherd. In the Spirit, Jesus prayed on the night before his crucifixion, “Make them one.”
In a recent sermon, we remembered that our salvation is personal, but not finally individual. Through faith, each of us becomes a child of God. But none of us is an only child in the kingdom of God. We have siblings who are very different from us. Our Father loves us all. Do we love God’s whole family? We can become the answer to Jesus’ prayer today as we voice it with him, “Make us one.” We have one good Shepherd who watches over one flock. Will we follow him? Will we love all of his sheep?
