John 17:1-5, 13-26
Jesus Prayed for You
01-06-13
Today we start this Pilgrimage
to God’s Promised Land. Like I have
stated in the newsletter, a pilgrimage is a journey or search for some sort of
spiritual significance or sacred place.
In the first six weeks of 2013, Indian Trail UMC will be taking a pilgrimage
to discover how and where God is calling us.
I hope this happens on two levels.
On a personal level I hope you will be asking God to give you personal
direction, a personal Promised Land. I
hope you will pray and ask God to shed light on where God is calling you. We are not all called to professional
ministry, although some of you may be, but we are all called to be ministers of
Jesus Christ’s love in this world. We are
all called, as followers of Jesus, as Christians, to go out into the world and
be the love of Christ. But how that is
to be lived out is as individual as each of us.
But we all are called and I hope you will take time to pray and listen
for God to answer.
The other level is on a
congregational level. I want to help us,
Indian Trail UMC, figure out where God is calling us. I know God is calling this congregation to do
something for this community. I know
there is a Promised Land for us as a congregation but I don’t know what it
looks like. I have some ideas of how God
is asking me to lead and directions to go, but I have learned that I’m not the
only one that receives ideas from God about.
Some of the best things I have done in ministry was hearing God’s
calling through other people and taking that and running with it. That is how a renovation happened at one
church and a third floor mostly used for storage was turned into a quality
space for youth and young adults. That
is how a congregation came together to make meals for hungry children in Kenya
and then two people actually traveled over there themselves. Those ideas were not mine. They weren’t the pastor’s. They came from the laity who were simply
shared, “I think God is calling us to do this.”
Through the weekly sermons and
the Bible Study I pray that God will reveal what he has in store for us as a
congregation, through you and me. The
only way we can get to the Promise Land is if we share a common vision and
mission. If it only comes from one
person, it won’t get far at all. We will
need to work together, pray together, listen together. That is what this Pilgrimage is all
about. So with that said, who is ready
for the journey?
When I was a youth I went through this 36 hour spiritual
retreat called Chrysalis. It is the
youth version of Walk to Emmaus. If you
have never heard of these Spiritual Retreats, let me tell you they can be life
changing. They are deep, emotional, and
fulfilling weekends. There is a Walk to
Emmaus and Chrysalis community in our area so if you are interested I would
encourage you to go on a walk or flight and I would be happy to make that
happen for you. In Chrysalis each table
gets to make up their own name. I sat
the table of the Out-of-tuned Mashed Potatoes. (Remember we are youth) There are many memories that come to mind
when I think about that weekend but on in particular is receiving letters from
all over about people praying for us while we were on this spiritual
journey. For some reason one that sticks
out the most is an Emmaus group from Alaska that sent us a letter and a drawing
to hang in our room that said, we are praying for you. I think it stuck out in my head because I
remembered thinking, Alaska? There are
people praying for me, by name, in Alaska?
Prayer is a powerful tool and what is amazing is that it can
be felt. When we were doing the 5
Practices of Fruitful Congregations series I remember reading about a church
who had prayer pagers. I know
PAGERS. But what they would do would be
to give out these pagers to people in their congregation who needed prayer. They would publish the who had what pager
number and people in the congregation would pray for that person. When they would pray for them they would then
call the pager. The pager would go off
and all the person knew was that at that moment someone was praying for them. How amazing would that feel to know you were
being prayed for?
Did you know that Jesus prayed for you, and for me and
for this congregation? It is right there
in the scripture I read. Jesus is in the
Garden of Gethsemane. This is a time of
prayer that is enshrined in many stain glass windows. Usually we think of the other gospels
though. We think of the Jesus’ prayer
from Matthew, ““My Father, if it’s possible, take this cup of suffering away
from me. However—not what I want but what you want.” But in John we get another side of
Jesus. In John Jesus is thinking about
his disciples, those that will come after him that believe in what he is doing. He is praying for his disciples, his
followers. Jesus is praying for us. In his last prayer before his crucifixion he
is praying for you and he is praying for me.
He has us on his mind in the moments before he is taken to be killed for
our sins. WOW!
When we think of it that way we start to feel the weight
of prayer on our shoulders. What does it
feel like to think of Jesus praying for you and your faith journey? Jesus wants his followers, his disciples to
understand the vision and mission of what he is doing in his crucifixion and
resurrection. He is praying that the
twelve that are following him and all those that follow, even us gathered here
this morning, will ‘get it.’
But what should we get?
Let’s break down a little bit of this prayer. But let me define for you a little bit more
what the difference between a mission and a vision is. In leadership and church circles this can get
very confusing about which is which. Is
the vision that drives the mission or the mission that drives the vision? Which one stays the same and which ones
changes?
The mission always stays the same. A mission statement is the driving force
behind the purpose of a group. It is
what we rely on to push us forward. A
vision is what the future can look like if we follow through with the
mission. A vision changes to adapt to
the current realities we face. A mission
stays the same.
So what is the mission that Jesus lays out in this prayer
for us. There are three major
foundations to this mission. Verse 18 says,
“As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” The first foundation is that we are sent into
the world. Our mission is not confined
to this sanctuary but out there. Jesus
sends us out into the world just as he was sent out. There was something in our church culture,
something in the past that has trained generations of people to think that the
church is here for them. The Church is
like a gym membership where you hope to get the most out of what you pay
in. But Jesus doesn’t pray that we will
get our needs filled or the use of the fellowship hall at a decent price. No he says, “so I have sent them into the
world.”
The second foundations comes out of verses 22-23; “I’ve
given them the glory that you gave me so that they can be one just as we are
one. I’m in them and you are in me so that they will be made perfectly
one. Then the world will know that you sent me and that you have loved them
just as you loved me.” “The second foundation is Jesus’s disciples living
as witnesses of God’s love so that the world may believe that God sent Jesus
through the lives of Jesus’ disciples.”[1] We represent God’s love to the world. That is huge to think about. When people think about or experience God’s
love it comes from us. You are a representative
of God’s love to the world. The way we
love the world is the way people will know why God sent Jesus. Think about the way you live out your daily
life and think that everything you do demonstrates God’s love. When you shower an elementary school with
angel tree gifts that shows God’s love.
When you are cut off on 74 and you demonstrate your appreciation with
the one finger salute that shows God’s love.
Because you are a follower of Jesus, everything you do represents God’s
love for the world.
The third foundation is found in verse 25 and 26. “Righteous Father, even the world didn’t know
you, but I’ve known you, and these believers know that you sent me. I’ve
made your name known to them and will continue to make it known so that your
love for me will be in them, and I myself will be in them.” This foundation states that we are people
“sent in the same sending love that led Jesus to the cross.”[2] You are sent out into the world with the same
love that sent Jesus down to earth and to the cross.
Those are the foundations of Jesus’ mission for his
followers. We are sent out into the
world, representatives of God’s love, and in the love of God. This never changes, is always the same, and
is always constant.
Jesus’ vision for us is laid out in the earlier parts of
the prayer. Once again it has three
foundations. The first foundation is
found in verse 17 and 19; “Make them holy in the truth; your word is truth. 19 I made myself holy on their behalf so
that they also would be made holy in the truth.” Jesus’ vision is us to growing and being
formed in the truth of God. This truth
is found and revealed in Jesus Christ.
It is through Jesus that we know the truth, experience the truth, and
understand the truth.
“The second foundation is a vision of joy as Jesus’
disciples focus their lives on the love that guided Jesus to the cross.”[3]
It is found in verse 13; “Now I’m coming to you and I say these things
while I’m in the world so that they can share completely in my joy.” Jesus wants us to be joyful as we bask in
God’s love. Joy moves beyond happy. Joy moves us from this place to a sacred
place. It moves us outside just feeling
good to a place where we have inner peace and understanding of God’s love being
ever present in our lives. That is what
Jesus wishes and envisions for all of us.
Verses 20-21; “I’m not praying only for them but also for
those who believe in me because of their word. I pray they will be
one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. I pray that they also will
be in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me.” This is the
third and final foundation of Jesus’ vision for his disciples, that we are
united in God’s love revealed through Jesus.
Jesus wants us to all be one, the body of Christ, the Church. United together and united in God’s
heart. He wants all of our hearts to be
one with his own. If we are one with God
we will have joy and we can grow and be formed by the truth. This is Jesus’ vision for us, his followers.
It is in the mission and vision of Jesus that we start
this pilgrimage. We start this journey
towards the promise land by reminding ourselves what Jesus’ prayer is for
us. He wants us to be united with his
heart, have joy which is found in his love, and grow and be formed by the
truth. We can achieve that vision if we
follow his mission. The mission is to go out into the world as representatives
of God’s love and sent by that same love.
This is empowering, moving and a great reminder that no matter where we
are on this journey, this pilgrimage, God is with us, sends us, and sustains
us.
We find that in the meal we are about to receive. We feel it as we partake in the body and
blood of Christ. As you feast at this
heavenly meal may you be reminded of the vision Jesus has for us and the
mission we are put on. May this meal
sustain you as the Holy Spirit works through you to spread, share, and be God’s
love for the world.
And all God’s people said…Amen.
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