May 24, 2020
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois
Psalm 1; John 17:4-21[1]
I wonder how the disciples felt, after supper, listening as
Jesus prayed for them. He had washed their feet, a surprising thing for their
master to do, demonstrating through this act that they were to live as servants
to one another. Judas had left, though they did not yet know why. They had to
understand that something big was about to happen; Jesus had told them he was
leaving the world and going to God. He had given them a new commandment, that
they love one another as he had loved them. And he had warned them that the
world would hate them, and told them that they do not belong to the world.
It was a lot to take in. They may have felt like their world
was being upended, and I’m sure they were afraid of what was to come. “Do not
let your hearts be troubled,” Jesus tells them, and he prays for them. “While I
was with them, I protected them,” Jesus prays, “I guarded them… But now I am
coming to you… I ask you to protect them from the evil one.” Jesus entrusts
them to the care of God, and asks that they be sanctified, that they be made
holy. They will be sent out into the world, a world that will hate them, and
they will need one another like they never have before. Jesus prays for their
unity, “that they may be one,” as Jesus and God are one, and that they may be
included in that oneness. And Jesus prays that they may have joy.
This is what Jesus prays for them, and also for us. “I ask
not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me
through their word, that they may all be one.” The prayer of Jesus for the
disciples, a prayer for the people of God through all the ages, is a prayer
that all of us need to hear. And in that prayer, we begin to understand what
Jesus meant by “abide in me.” To abide in Christ is to trust, to love, to be
one, to be holy, and to know joy.
Jesus began by turning the tables of the disciples’ lives
upside down, and nothing would ever be the same. But after that supper, after
all Jesus did and said in that moment, they must have felt that everything was
about to change again, but this time they would lose the one for whom they had
left everything behind. The disciples were facing what is known as a liminal
time, a time of change and transition between one way of being and the next.
They were uncertain of their future and the changes that would come.
I find it encouraging that the disciples experienced that
liminal time. We, too, are facing change and uncertainty, a time when the ways
in which we have always done things are being turned upside down. Hugging,
shaking hands, offering a caring touch or a blessing, these have become risky. It
has been a long time since we shared the kiss of peace in church, or drank from
the same cup for communion, but now even breaking bread and sharing it must be
done with caution. Coughing and sneezing have always been understood as having
the potential to spread disease, but now we are learning that singing,
speaking, and even breathing in enclosed spaces over the course of an hour can
spread infection.
Many of us are anxious about our own health and that of our
loved ones. We are more depressed, more easily angered, and frustrated by the
limits imposed on us. We yearn for connection with others, we miss our families
and friends, and we wonder whether it’s worth taking the risk to be back with our
church family. We want everything to get back to normal, even as we know we can’t
go back but only move forward.
It is natural to long for what has been, even as we realize
that things are no longer what they were before. It is only human to be anxious
when we are going through change. But we can take heart that other faithful
people have been here before us. We can be encouraged when we remember that we
abide in Christ, and we are the people for whom Jesus prays.
“Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given
me, so that they may be one, as we are one” (v. 11). Jesus prays that God will
protect us, and as we wear masks, wash our hands, sanitize surfaces, and stay
home as much as we can, we are protecting ourselves and others. This is how we
love our neighbors as ourselves. This is how we act as one.
“I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I
ask you to protect them from the evil one” (v. 15). We can’t just leave, jet
off to some safer place where there is no virus, but Jesus prays that we will
be protected from the evil one. When some people fill their pockets and secure
their power while millions of others get sick, lose their jobs, and hundreds of
thousands die, evil is on the loose. Protect your people from evil, O God of goodness
and love.
Jesus prayed for the disciples, and prays for us. Jesus
prays that we will know that God loves us, God is with us, and we are one with
God. This prayer assures us that even when the world around us is falling
apart, even when our anxiety is justified and the future will be difficult and
dangerous, God is with us. God is pulling us onward, asking us to trust that we
will not be alone, we are in Christ and Christ is with us.
“I will not leave you orphaned,”[2]
Jesus tells them, and promises that the Holy Spirit will be with them. Next
Sunday we celebrate Pentecost, remembering that day when the Holy Spirit came
like the rush of the wind, resting on each of the disciples like tongues of
fire, and they were filled with the Spirit. That same Spirit fills us as well, sanctifying
us, empowering us, and making us one.
There will be a time in the not-so-distant future when we
will be able to move freely in the world again. But even now, as a people not
of the world, but sent into the world, we are called live a life dedicated to
God, loving God with all that we are, showing love and compassion for others,
making hard choices and trusting that we are not alone.
God watches over us. We are like trees planted by streams of
water, which yield fruit in its season, and our leaves do not wither. God
watches over us, so that in all that we do, in love and in service, we prosper.
We are the people that Jesus prays for, a community even when we are apart,
uncertain of our future, but moving ahead as one, one with each other, and one
with God. Amen.
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