Acts 1.6-14;
1 Peter 4.12-14; 5.6-11;
John 17.1-11

WE HAVE the great councils of the Church: Nicaea, Constantinople, and the rest. Arguably as important as any of them was the World Missionary Conference, which took place in Edinburgh in 1910. That conference is widely seen as the starting point of the ecumenical movement, the endeavour to bring about a greater measure of unity between the separate Christian Churches.

The conference delegates, it must be stressed, were not interested in Christian unity for its own sake. What brought them to Edinburgh was not a wish to patch up ancient quarrels, but a longing to win the world for Christ. They saw the reunion of the Churches not as an end in itself, but as the necessary means to an infinitely greater goal, the bringing of humanity home to God.

Their audacious watchword was "the evangelisation of the world in this generation". The last words from the platform, before the closing prayer, were those of Jesus: "There are some standing here who shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his Kingdom" (Matthew 16.28).

Jesus prays that his disciples may be one. It is one of the biddings of his "High-priestly prayer", from which we hear on Sunday. What Jesus has said previously, and what he will later say, make clear the nature and purpose of the unity he prays for. That unity will be a relationship of love: love like the Father's for the Son, love like Jesus's for his disciples (John 13.34; 15.9).

It is a relationship that will unite not only his first disciples, but also those who come to faith through their testimony. Above all, it is the "unity in love" needed to make the world believe (John 17.21-23).

For "the Edinburgh fathers", ecumenism makes straight the path for evangelism. It has no other purpose. A photo of the delegates in session shows rows of men in black suits and high starched collars. The few women present wear huge hats. The picture is of another world - yet it is a world that got one of its Christian priorities right.

Jesus prays that we may be one. At least, he did once. Is that still the prayer of his heart? After so much talk that has come to nothing, is the reassembling of the Church's scattered body-parts still heaven's will for here below? These are questions that must concentrate the Christian mind as 2010 and the centenary of the original Edinburgh conference approach.

A perspective on these issues is provided by a word recurring 13 times in Jesus's prayer. The term "world" often has negative connotations in John. It certainly does in Sunday's Gospel. Once the world did not exist. The disciples were given to Jesus "out of the world". Jesus prays for his own, but he does not pray for the world.

Looking towards his imminent Passion, he says that he is no longer "in the world". The world in this sense is a world adrift, a world that has taken leave of its creator, and, without him, is lost - a world where we briefly lodge, but which can never be our home. Moreover, it is a world, so our reading from 1 Peter suggests, often inhospitable to Christians.

Yet this is not all John says about the world. For God loves this world (John 3.16). According to the World Council of Churches, so must we. The WCC is calling for "a reconfiguration process" of the ecumenical movement, for "a re-articulation of the original vision of unity of humankind in the new oikos (household) of God".

Only by recapturing this original vision can life be restored to the dry bones of the ecumenical movement. Joint services with the local Methodists are not to be despised, but they do not set our hearts on fire.

In 2010, a centenary World Missionary Conference will be held in Edinburgh. A text that, one hopes, will be required preparatory reading is the official report of the 1910 conference. Most conference reports are stultifyingly tedious. Temple Gairdner's An Account and Interpretation of the World Missionary Conference, a 280-page book written and published within four or five weeks of the conference, is a thrilling and a prophetic work.

Gairdner invites his readers to contemplate "a vision of earth", the earth "known as a unit in this our day; every day more and more closely and organically knit". (And this was written nearly a century ago!)

He calls on us to grieve for "the children of that earth for the most part at enmity with each other", and to commit ourselves afresh to him "who for our sakes once struck his being into bounds and became one flesh with our kind".

In our Gospel, Jesus, looking to and through his imminent suffering, speaks of having finished his work. Our work is not finished, a reality that explains why Gairdner closes his account of the 1910 conference in the way he does. At the foot of the last page are one word and a question mark:

"FINIS. . .?"

Text of readings

Acts 1.6-14

6When the apostles had come together, they asked Jesus, ‘Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?’ 7He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ 9When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10While he was going and they were gazing up towards heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. 11They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’

12Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. 13When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.


1 Peter 4.12-14; 5.6-11

12Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13But rejoice in so far as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. 14If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you.

6Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. 7Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. 8Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. 9Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. 10And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. 11To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.


John 17.1-11

1Jesus looked up to heaven and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, 2since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. 5So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

6‘I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; 8for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. 10All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.’