A Sermon on
John 17: 6-20
Have you ever heard a conversation that you felt like you were not supposed to heard? You know, one of those intimate conversations that felt like a sin to listen to. My sister and I used to listen to our older brother talk to girls on the phone when he was in high school. We overheard all of the giggles and, of course, all of the mushy “I love yous.” This probably was a sin, by the way. Or, two years ago I was asked to take pictures when one of my best friends asked his fiancé to marry him. He gave me access to one of the most intimate conversations of his life. I wonder if you have ever heard a conversation like that. In our Gospel lesson, we are given access to a very intimate prayer between Jesus and God.
This conversation takes place on the night before Jesus was crucified. Imagine the setting. Jesus knows that he will be leaving the earth soon; he will be ascending to the Father. And so Jesus approaches his father in the midst of betrayal and persecution and prays. What does Jesus say to the Father? We hear phrases like, “I am ascending to you, protect them in your name.” “Unify them, sanctify them, and give them joy.” We discover that Jesus is not talking about himself; Jesus is talking to his Father about human beings.
Really? That’s what’s on your mind right now? “Jesus, did you forget that you are going to be crucified tomorrow? You are being betrayed.” If we read a little further, Jesus goes on to pray for all of those who will believe. That’s us. We are those who “will believe.” You are worried about us? You are praying for me?”
Jesus does not pray for what we would imagine him to pray for. Jesus knows what the world needs—what we need—and he prays for our needs. Let’s look a little closer at Jesus’ prayer for us. He makes it clear, after all, that there are a couple of things he is not praying for.
Jesus doesn’t pray that God will take us out of the world. Here, he says to the father very clearly, “I am not asking you to take them out of the world.” Jesus does not want to rescue us from earth and transport us into heaven. His purposes are bigger than that.
Last week, my little a friend told me that she felt like life is just about “waiting.” She said, “You know, you wake up in the morning, eat breakfast and wait to go to work. Then you go to work and wait for lunch. Then, you wait for work to get over. You go home and wait for dinner. Then you wait to go to bed.” She told me, “Ultimately, we are all just waiting to die.” I said, “That was real depressing. Way to be a Debbie Downer.” No, Jesus does not pray for us to just spend our time waiting. Jesus does not pray for us to be taken away from the world. God has a lot in store for us here on earth. Jesus prays that we might remain in the world.
It’s also clear that Jesus is not praying that our lives will be easy. After all, Jesus knows that life is not easy. He was a poor carpenter from Nazareth; born out of wedlock. After his first sermon, the congregation tried to push him off of a cliff. He was betrayed by his best friends and ended up dying on a cross. Jesus knows that life is not going to be easy because he offers an alternative reality that ends up making a lot of people mad. Pray for enemies? Give away possessions? Rely on God? Jesus never prayed for our life to be easy.
So what does Jesus pray for? He doesn’t pray for us to leave the world. Instead, he prays that we might live in the world. And he doesn’t pray for our lives to be easy, but he prays for our protection.
“Be in the world, but don’t be of the world,” he says. The Greek word for church is ecclesia, which literally means “called out.” Jesus is really calling for us to be made separate—to be set apart—and to be holy. It might mean that we are called out of the world to look different from the world, or at the least, think differently. That’s a difficult job. Try not to take more than you need. Try to only buy food that comes from farmers who are paid fairly. Try to spend your time with strangers. Try not to go to war. It is no wonder that Jesus is praying for us. This is not work we can do on our own.
Every so often the Church actually gets it right. Think of old nuns and monks, who have spent their lives praying and serving. These individuals have separated themselves from the world to spend their time in prayer, counseling, and spiritual formation. By the world’s standards, they have wasted their lives. They do not have possessions; there are no houses, or cars, and there is no retirement. A life spent praising God is useless by the world’s standards. But for them, enjoying God is the most important thing they can do. They are in the world, but they are not of the world. It would probably be a good thing for monks and nuns to start rubbing off on us.
“Be in the world, not of the world,” Jesus prays. Let me share another example. Sometime ago, the United States bombed military and civilian targets in Libya, which created a lot of discussion about morality. Some thought it was immoral, others thought it was moral. At one point, a student approached a former teacher of mine and asked, “well preacher, what do you think?”
My former teacher said that he could never support bombing of civilians as an ethical act. The student sarcastically replied, “What would the Christian response be?” He responded, “A Christian response might be that tomorrow morning the United Methodist Church announces that it is sending a thousand missionaries to Libya. We have discovered that it is fertile field for the Gospel. That is at least a traditional Christian response.”
At this point, the student started getting a little angry. “You can’t do that. It’s illegal to travel to Libya. President Reagan will not give you a visa to go there.”
“No! That’s not right,” my teacher said. “I’ll admit that we can’t go to Libya, but not because of President Reagan. We can’t go there because we no longer have a church that produces people who can do something this bold.” (Resident Aliens).
We no longer have a people who act differently from the rest of the world.
Here is the bad news: Jesus is not praying that our lives will be easy or that we will not receive any suffering. Christians are in the world, not to condemn the world, but to love the world. This is hard work. But when there is bad news there is usually good news, too. The good news is that Jesus really is praying for us. Not a second goes by when we are not on his mind.
You know, Jesus also prays for our joy and support in this passage. Joy does not come from an easy life without suffering. Joy does not come from being consumed by the desires of the world. Joy is becoming a little more like the faithful monks and nuns who are not defined by what they own. Joy comes from being called-out and made more like Jesus Christ.
So consider this question: how can Jesus pray for you this morning? Is it patience to be a better friend? Is it encouragement during a difficult time ? Is it joy in the face of loss? Is it companionship at a time of loneliness? Do you need prayer to be a better servant? Is it courage to talk to a friend about God? Is it forgiveness...or the ability to forgive another? What? What do you want—what do we want—Jesus to know about and pray for? (Working Preacher).
I want to do something a little different this morning. In just a minute, I want us to answer the question: how can Jesus pray for us? Spend the next couple of minutes thinking of one word that captures your needs today. I have placed notecards in your pew. Write that word down if you want. Write the word on a notecard and keep it with you. Maybe you can put it in your pocket or in your purse this week and pull it out from time to time to remember that Jesus is thinking about you.
Jesus has given us a daunting task. He has called us out to become His very own body. But Jesus is heaven, right now, praying for us to become the Church. And we need all the prayer we can get. Take a few moments. Amen.
Notes: Hauerwas and Willimon Resident Aliens and David Lose, "The Other Lord's Prayer" http://www.workingpreacher.org.
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