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Sermon: The Seventh Sunday in Easter (C) - 16th May 2010
St Aidan's Anglican Church West Epping
Readings: Acts 16:16-34; Psalm 97; Revelation 22:12-21; John 17:20-26
The world seems in great confusion. The economies of Europe are in great confusion. People are rioting in Greece. The United Kingdom has had unprecedented electoral uncertainty. Kevin Rudd’s popularity seems to be disappearing. It seems like we have a crisis of leadership everywhere. What sort of country do we want to be? What is happening to our economy” What is the best way forward? How does the church fit in? What kind of church should we be? We seem to have options but which are the right ones. It is easy to get confused and discouraged. I find it harder and harder to watch the “7.30 Report”. I prefer the 7pm project on 10 to the ABC news. I prefer to news be told to me by comedians rather than serious reporters. That way, perhaps I won’t take the news so seriously.
So how do we find our way out of this confusion? What we have in John 17 is a prayer prayed by Jesus for us. He is about to be arrested and executed yet at this point he pray for us. this is a prayer not for the disciples, not for the crowd but for us. We are those who believed the disciples message. That’s us. That’s how Jesus describes us. And now Jesus prays for us. This is our spotlight moment in the New Testament.
But what does he pray for regarding us? What is it he thinks we need? He is the Lord of the universe yet we know the content of his prayers and specially the prayers he prays for us. And of all the things he could pray for, of all the needs that we can think of, Jesus prays that we might be one. This is a prayer for unity. but notice it is not a prayer for uniformity. He doesn’t want us to be all exactly the same. He doesn’t want us to be monochrome, to say the same things, to think the same thoughts, to have full and complete agreement on everything. No he doesn’t want that. When those sorts rules are imposed it is a recipe for a toxic community.
When we look at the nations of the world we are struck by complexity and diversity. Jesus doesn’t want to wipe that out. Rather the prayer is for unity, that with all our differences we might be bound together as one community. Jesus’ role in redemption is that there might be a restored people of God – a new community. A community with strong bonds, that would hold together. This is what Jesus is praying for. More than that, we are given details of the content of that prayer. Jesus prays that we are one just as the Father and the Son are one. Our relationships with one another need to be a mirror of the relationship between the Father and the Son.
All through the gospels Jesus talks about his relationship with his father. Jesus understands his mission in terms of that relationship. What he is doing is in obedience to the will of his father. Throughout John’s gospel Jesus sees himself as doing exactly what his father wants; and does what his father does. More than that, Jesus understands that both he and his farther are at work. They have the same aim, the same goal. Jesus is not the only one working. Both he and his father are at work to achieve this great mission.
And not only do we have Jesus words on the matter. At Jesus’ baptism we have a voice from heaven where God speaks and gives his approval to what his son is doing. Several times in John’s gospel we are told of a voice from heaven commending Jesus for his work. The essence of their relationship was both love and a unity of purpose. This is basic for any relationship. A good marriage must have unity. The husband and wife can have a multitude of differences but if there is a basic unity of purpose then the relationship will be strong. So Jesus want our community of faith to be modelled upon the unity between the Father and the Son.
But Jesus takes it a step further. Not only does he want our unity to be like theirs, he wants our community to be a part of the community between the father and the son. This might seem strange for us. If we imagine the Father and the Son to be far away in a remote heaven, then it is hard to imagine our community of faith being made a part of the Father and the Son. but God is not distant. God is not far away in some remote place. The Father and the Son are with us now. They are in heaven, and heaven is with us now.
We shouldn’t have a “Star Wars” view of heaven. That movie began with the opening line “A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.” Some people think of God like that. They think of heaven as like that. But if that were true what Jesus says here would make no sense. It helps if we think of God, of Jesus, of heaven itself as right here, right now. And just as the father and the Son shared this unity of purpose se we can share in that same unity as we share in that same community. And the power of God that energized his relationship with the Son will work in us also.
Just as Jesus prayed to his father and relied upon the power of God, so too, we can pray, so too we can rely upon that same power of God to hear our prayers and to answer our prayers. But notice the impact upon us as we are in the company of God, as we are absorbed into the community of God. The effect upon us is that we will be changed. We will be moulded to become more and more like our heavenly father. Whenever you spend some time with a group it is likely that over time you will become more and more like that group. So it is with us. As we are incorporated into that heavenly community we take on more and more the qualities and characteristics of that community.
And that will have an impact upon the wider community. As we are changed by our association with the Father and the Son the wider community will understand that God has truly sent his son into the world. Jesus uses the word believe. By observing us the world will believe that God has sent his son. But this word can be taken two ways here. Some will believe in the sense that they understand that God has done something. They will see this community of God’s people and they will see from that that God has done something. But there will be others who will also see the change in us and they too will believe just as we believe. And notice too this is not about what we say. Its more about how we live. Some people think we have to be telling people about our faith in order for us to have nay impact. But Jesus is not saying that. Rather, it is how we live that will make the difference. Actions will speak louder than words. Our actions will have a greater impact than anything we can say.
Finally, Jesus says that he will give us glory. It sounds good but what is it really? It’s a simple way of saying that Jesus will give us all the blessings of heaven. It was always God’s intention to bless us and to love us for all eternity. Jesus is guaranteeing that blessing by saying he will give us glory. In other word, there is no blessing he will not give us. We can have it all. This is what Jesus’ suffering and death are all about. Such a terrible death but through it, the greatest of gifts are now showered upon us.
And again, when I say us, I mean you and me. This passage is directly addressed to you and me and all who believe the disciples’ teaching. What Jesus is about to do will bring to life a new community that the world cannot ignore, a community that will change the world. And as inheritors of this faith and this prayer we can dedicate our lives to become the answer to that prayer, that we can work together in unity, within our families, within our church, with other churches in our community as we demonstrate in practical ways the unity we share, all to the glory of God.