7 Easter 2007
John 17:20-26
Jesus prayed that the disciples and all who believe may be one. Name it however you like but this prayer is about practicing spiritual presence. Jesus who elsewhere declares that he and the Father are one is here asking that we be integrated into that being.
“Father I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they may also be in us, that the World may believe that you sent me.”
It is not just a recognition that we are being united in the eternity of God by believing in Jesus the Christ – No – it is a summons to live in such a way – awake and aware of the spiritual nature of our lives that invites others to believe. A true word about Jesus is always an invitation to share in Jesus’ presence. For us disciples generations after the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, we have to rely on the spiritual presence of Jesus. The first disciples could reach out and touch him, talk about the things that troubled them; we are left with each other, prayer, and the power of the spirit. Those are not quite the same and yet, Jesus implies that it will be enough. “I will not leave you comfortless but I will send another comforter who will be with you and guide you into all truth.”
The Jesus prayer does not establish an institution of religion, a set of assurances about our safety, but it does inaugurate a mission. The unity of father, son, and spirit is being enlarged into a multileveled relational unity that includes all believers. Jesus did not cling to the life-giving presence as his own special privilege but passes it on to his friends. What the father gives to Jesus, he gives away to the believers. What we have as gift, love, faith, hope, privilege is meant to be shared. In John’s Gospel, Jesus is the I Am so that others may be! We are called to be for others in the same depth of commitment and inclusion.
It is counter-cultural to say the least. We live in a non-unified world that lives by taking and holding. Jesus is saying, watch love flow between friends and widen out to a bigger circle. Someone asked Gandhi what his message was and he said, “My life is my message.” In a similar vein St. Francis instructed his friends, “Preach the good news. Use words if necessary.” The root of evangelism in John’s Gospel is live the good news, invite others to share love in a love-starved world.
“Father, the world does not know you, but I know you, and they know you sentSnoopy Sermon me. I have made known to them your name, and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.” Jesus knows the Father and makes him known. Those who know Jesus make him known. The prayer is one of hope and promise. We can trust that Jesus will be true to his promise and that having prayed for us to live in unity within the spiritual life of the trinity, we will have the ability to see and practice this form of spiritual presence.
Three stories will illustrate what I believe John’s Gospel is trying to tell us. Don, my brother, and I fought a lot as kids and I can’t recall one reason for any of our arguments. One day at school a boy pushed my brother under a table and hurt him. When Don told me about what had happened I settled the score with Danny – taking Don’s fight as my own. We could fight but no one could hurt one of us without suffering consequences from the other. As adults, we worked together to insure the care of my mother. In her 90’s she was aware that her heart was failing and whenever she could get us together, she would stress the importance of staying in touch, caring for each other across miles and states and differences. We had a common bond, typical of family that stretched across differences to shape our unity.
Friday night at Hood College we had Baccalaureate, with the traditional ceremony of the light. All seniors don’t participate but those who do are touched by the tradition. In such a pluralistic culture, we don’t share a common sacred text, so we read passages from several texts: one from the Jewish scripture, one from Buddhist, and one from Christian. The message was strikingly similar in encouraging us to give the gift of self, stressing the common good. Open you hand to the poor, the needy, the lame the ill. When the Lord returns he will separate the sheep from the goats. To those on his right hand he will say come enter into the joy of my father for when I was hungry you gave me to eat, when I was in prison you visited me, when I was sick you cared for me. The righteous will say, Lord when did any of these things happen to you? The Lord will answer; whenever you did it to the least of these my brethren you did it for me. After the speeches, one student spoke about the ceremony of light as she passed the light from her candle to the next student and on the circle went surrounding the entire sanctuary. In the stillness, in the darkness, the light grew, until it encompassed us all. Then the junior class president came and received the light of the class of 2007 for the class of 2008, widening the circle further. Among the diversity of students, male and female, black and white and brown, old and young, the light symbolized our common humanity, united in a circle, reaching out to the future and the world, sharing one motto, serving with hands, heart and mind. If Hood students can bear light to one another, we in this community of faith can too.
Unity with diversity, sharing one place, one sense of purpose, one tradition, one book of common prayer, one bible, one faith, one baptism we are united in one Lord. Last Sunday I worshiped at All Saints Rehobath where an infant was baptized, marked as Christ’s own forever. Next Sunday here at St. Paul’s two more will join the body of Christ and the next Sunday two more. We all pledge to do all within our power to help these newly baptized grow up in the Christian faith.
What do our children see and hear and observe and sense about us as Christians? Will they learn that we can agree to disagree, that we respect each other even as our political, economic, professional, and family lives differ? They are watching, listening, sensing! We are influencing their lives whether we acknowledge it or not and we are influencing each other. When we are positive we generate energy. When we are negative we deplete our common energy. If we are afraid it affects the whole community. When we are happy and enthusiastic, we also spread light just as that light enfolded us all at Baccalaureate. As you come forth to the altar, the table God provides, to share bread that is blessed, broken and given and to drink from one common cup, remember this is the unifying substance of our lives. We are in Christ, fed with word and sacrament, empowered by the Spirit of the living God. One God, one faith, one hope, one mission: to live the faith!
Jesus prayed that we all be one. Jesus gave his very life to reconcile us with God. That grace is abundant and free and it is for all!