May 21, 2023
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois
Psalm 1:1-3; John 17:4-21a[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 what has been is not what will be. This congregation
will have new leadership, a new servant of Christ who will pray, teach, and
guide you in the days to come. I am sure that they will come to love you as I have
loved you.
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 lead us to unity. Jesus prays that we
will love our neighbors as ourselves, serving the world as teachers of love,
grace, and hope.
“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 nothing ever changes, 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 lose their jobs, their
homes, or even their hope, 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 seems to fall 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.
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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