Imagine that we could even imagine the Oneness of the Father, Son, and Spirit. A couple of years ago in a small village called Taipu in northeastern Brazil I was asked to share at a town gathering. Ten or twelve Americans and ten or twelve Brazilians divided into four ‘mixed’ teams and spent the afternoon walking through the streets and neighborhoods inviting everyone to the gym in the center of town to hear about the King of kings. Taipu was known for spiritual darkness; witchcraft was openly practiced and many were involved in the occult. Walking was the main mode of transportation there, so we were all excited that evening to see nearly three hundred people of all ages assemble in the old gym. We sang a few songs and several Christians shared testimonies. I spoke at the end.
Renata, our friend and near-perfect interpreter, helped me share about God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. I’m not sure how well we communicated but I remember feeling the glory of it all. Two memories stand out. When talking about the Son, I remember pointing to a baby in the back of the gym. Everyone looked at this infant held by his mother and thought about Jesus being on earth in a similar way. Expressions of joy transcend languages; everyone in the building was smiling as we realized a simple and wonderful truth. The young mother, holding her baby so all could see, was beaming. She was so proud of her son and I was reminded that a Father in Heaven was so very proud of Jesus as he spent time on earth. God is still proud of his Son!
The second thing I remember was choosing a random lady out of the crowd to stand up and receive the message God wants us all to hear. I can’t remember exactly what I said (and I’m sure Renata made it better), but this lady from a simple village stood, looked at me as I spoke a sentence, and listened to Renata’s explanation as if Jesus was speaking directly to her. She was mesmerized… her eyes shone with tears and her face glowed as I talked of God’s amazing love. After the gathering, Chris, our friend and neighbor, fought his way through the crowd to ask me a question: “Did you know that woman?” I told him I had never seen her before. Chris said, “We led her to the Lord in her home just a few hours ago. She came to this meeting as a new follower of Jesus and you picked her out of the crowd to tell her how much God loved her. How’d you do that?”
The Holy Spirit did that… I didn’t know what I was doing… and I imagine the Father was applauding… and Jesus was probably standing next to his throne with hands in the air in celebration. Can we even imagine? The Father, Son, and Spirit are in perfect harmony… they always have been. They cooperate with one another perfectly… with never a hint of competition. But best of all… they love perfectly. They love each other and they love us. They also want us to experience the same unity they have. “You may think I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only One.” This is what Jesus prayed: “Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name – the name you gave me – so that they may be one as we are one.” Imagine…
“I pray also for those who believe in me through their message, 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 world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” John 17:20-23