Sermon on John 17:20–26
“The Last Lecture: A Call to Love and Unity”
Do any of you remember Randy Pausch? He was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who became widely known for his “Last Lecture.” At many universities, a “last lecture” is a tradition where professors are invited to share the wisdom they’d want to pass on if it were the final time they could ever speak to their students.
For Randy Pausch, this wasn’t just theoretical. When he gave his lecture, he was 47 years old, the father of three young children, and dying of pancreatic cancer. His lecture, full of inspiration and courage, was recorded, shared on YouTube, and eventually published as a book. It touched millions of people. Randy Pausch died on July 25, 2008, but his “last lecture” lives on.
In our Gospel reading today, we hear Jesus’ own “last lecture.” John 17 captures some of Jesus’ final words to His disciples before going to the cross. And what does He speak about? Love and unity.
Love and unity—two words that can feel, at first, like our mothers’ medicine. It didn’t smell good, it didn’t taste good, and we probably resisted it. But once we took it and it began working, we realized it was exactly what we needed.
Jesus knew His disciples. Like any good teacher, He understood their hearts. He knew that the mission He was leaving them with would not be easy. After three years with them, He saw how they struggled to grasp His countercultural message: “Love one another. Forgive those who persecute you. Care for the least, the poor, the outcast. Give up everything to follow me.” These were hard teachings then—and they’re still hard for us now.
Jesus saw His disciples arguing about who was the greatest. He saw Peter’s jealousy when the risen Christ spoke with John. He witnessed pride, fear and division among them. So, His final prayer wasn’t for success, comfort, or strength—it was for love and unity.
And still today, love and unity are what our world desperately needs. Yet like childhood medicine, we often rejected. We prefer division, self-interest, and fear, even when we know it’s not what will heal us.
Jesus’ entire message—from the manger to the cross—can be summed up in those two words: love and unity. But sin leads us to use even God’s Word to divide. Take Genesis 1:27: “So God created humankind in His image; male and female He created them.” Now ask yourself: what image of God do you see? Male or female? Black or white?
Too often, we use God’s image not to unite but to separate. People have used this verse to claim superiority of men over women, of one race over another. But who is right? Who truly reflects God’s image?
The truth is this: God’s image is not found in one of us, but in all of us—together, as a community. Notice how often Jesus says “they,” “them,” and “those” in today’s passage. Thirteen times! Jesus prays for His followers as a group, not as individuals. He says, “That they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I am in you.”
Unity isn’t about sharing a building or sitting on the same pew. It’s not about proximity—it’s about being bound together by the love of Christ. Jesus’ love is the greatest barrier-breaker the world has ever known.
Before Jesus, the world was divided: men and women, Jew and Gentile, slave and free. But after Jesus, after His love took root in hearts and the Holy Spirit transformed lives, Paul could declare in Galatians 3:28: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
We need to hear Jesus’ last lecture again today. We’re still divided—perhaps not between Jews and Gentiles, but between East and West, conservative and liberal, first-world and third world. Even within the Church, we’re divided by gender, race, class, and ideology.
Jesus’ body is still broken. His Church is still bleeding.
So how do we promote unity?
First, we must accept that Jesus wants us to be one—as He is one with the Father. Paul says in Romans 12:15–16, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another.” But harmony requires empathy. It’s easier to ignore our neighbors than to understand them. It’s easier to judge than to love. But what did Jesus do?
In Luke 19, when others saw Zacchaeus, they saw a tax collector to be condemned. But Jesus saw a child of Abraham. He saw potential. He saw salvation ready to bloom. We must learn to see others not for who the world says they are, but for who God created them to be.
Second, we must remember that division weakens us. Jesus said in Matthew 12:25, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.”
We are parts of one body. Like puzzle pieces, we only make sense in relation to each other. Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 12:12 that we are one body with many parts—and we all belong to Christ.
Jesus says in John 15, “I am the vine, you are the branches.” Branches don’t bear fruit on their own. Only when connected to the vine.
Too often, we are like Emperor Constantine, who, legend says, was baptized but held his sword above the water. He surrendered his life—except his violence. In the same way, many of us were baptized, but we didn’t surrender our ideologies, our pride, or our prejudices. And so, Jesus’ Church remains fragmented.
But there is hope. There is healing. And it begins with love and unity in Christ.
So, let’s go live the message of Jesus’ last lecture. Let’s take the medicine we’ve been resisting. Let’s be one, as He and the Father are one.
The world is watching—and it’s longing to see the glory of God made visible through us.
Amen.
