I hit the wrong button on the elevator the morning our second granddaughter, Elizabeth Joy, was born. Entering the waiting area of that floor, my wife and I saw dear friends who were gathered at the hospital in anticipation of their latest grandchild’s birth. They celebrated Elizabeth Joy’s birth with us, and we shared their anticipated joy. When we finally found the correct floor, one of my son’s best friends from Kansas was sitting there in the room with our family. He had just happened to be driving through Kentucky and made a detour toward Lexington to join in our celebration. By the end of that day, over a thousand people had shared their prayerful best wishes with our family on Facebook, Twitter, texts, phone calls, and emails.
Elizabeth Joy was born into a large community of faith that celebrated her life from the first moments of her entry into the world. All these people—and thousands more—created space in their lives and in this world to include her. Today, this community of faith continues to welcome her, love her, pray for her, and want the best for her, and her parents and both sets of grandparents intend for her to forever love them as well.
Human beings are made for this kind of community. However, that intrinsic longing in each of us to belong is not simply because we are human. It is the image of God stamped on our souls. Living in community is God’s idea. It reflects the very nature of God and is at the heart of what God desires for everyone on this planet.
Jesus’ prayer in John 17, where he intercedes on behalf of the community of faith, has been referred to as “The High Priestly Prayer.” Jesus first prayed for those disciples who believed and followed him through that last week of his life (Jn 17:6–19), and then he prayed for all who would believe through their message (Jn 17:20). Every Christian believer since Jesus prayed this prayer, even you and me, was included. I pray that Jesus’ prayer also included my granddaughters who one day will believe and receive Jesus through the witness of the community of faith that surrounds them.
Jesus prayed for us, “that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the [whole] world may believe that you have sent me” (Jn 17:21 NIV). Note that Jesus prayed that we might experience holy community, the community of the Trinity. The faith community of God is the perfect relationship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Such a community is the distinctive witness to an unbelieving world of what community life truly is.