Saturday, May 23, 2020

The Other Lord's Prayer

The sermon for May 24, 2020.

After Jesus finishes up one last meal with his disciples and looks ahead to what’s coming, he enters into a time of prayer. We get that in all four of the gospel accounts. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we see Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. You may recall how it goes.

Jesus withdraws to pray. He’s in anguish and he prays that if it might be his Father’s will, he’d like to pass on the suffering he’s about to endure. And while Jesus is struggling and crying so deeply that tears of blood fall from his eyes… his disciples are sleeping like babies.

Well, that’s not at all how John tells the story in his gospel. After supper, Jesus prays. But the disciples don’t fall asleep. They’re present, and they hear every word he says. There is no anguish in his prayer… no second thoughts about his future.

First, he prays for himself, as he approaches the time when he’ll glorify God. And then, he prays for his friends, for those who are gathered at the table with him.

17 After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.
“I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11 And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.

When I turn on the TV these days, I see eulogies for people who have been taken from us by the coronavirus. I hear a story from an immigrant on a hog farm in North Carolina who puts himself in danger because if he doesn’t work, he doesn’t get paid. I hear from a coroner in Georgia talking about the high number of deaths he’s seeing from the virus. I listen to the story of a doctor from Minnesota who volunteered to serve COVID-19 patients in New York City at the peak of their outbreak. And then I see images of protestors gathering together, carrying automatic weapons in Michigan in defiance of stay-at- home orders. I see people celebrating the lifting of those orders in Wisconsin, crammed elbow to elbow without distance or face coverings, in bars.

There’s always a tension between individualism and living within community in our country, but I’ve never seen it like I’m seeing it now.

Generally speaking, we Americans are big on individualism. We celebrate independence and self-reliance. But that value isn’t shared in all cultures.

If you’re familiar with South African Bishop Desmond Tutu, you may know about the word ubuntu. Ubuntu means I am who I am because of who we are together. It’s a world view that defines our humanity, not by who we are as individuals, but by how we live within the relationships with have with one another in community.

I need to point out that the Biblical world of which Jesus was a part was an ubuntu kind of world. A person’s identity was all wrapped up in their relationship to their community. I am who I am because of who we are together. They didn’t think highly of anyone who would put their individual needs above the community. So, of course, the Biblical narrative reflects that view.

We can read a lot in scripture that admonishes us to value the community as the Body of Christ, where we’re each given gifts for the sake of the rest of the Body. When one part of the Body rejoices, we all rejoice. When one part of the Body suffers, we all suffer. From Jesus, we hear a lot about denouncing our own self-interests for the sake of others. That’s what Jesus is talking about when he teaches his disciples, you must first deny your own life in order to find it.

Of course, that’s not to say that we don’t also have a relationship with God that’s very personal. It’s not hard to find scriptures that teach us how God values each and every one of us. I think of Psalm 139 – “O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up… even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely.” Or Luke 12 where Jesus tells us: “…Even the hairs of your head all have been numbered…you are more valuable than many sparrows.”

Biblical teaching does not negate the inherent value of each individual. But our highest value as people, is in the way we love one another in community. We see that in this prayer Jesus prays for his disciples.

He prays for their protection. Each one is precious to him. Just as Jesus and the Father are in relationship with one another, Jesus claims a relationship with his followers. All mine are yours and yours are mine. In fact, that’s what eternal life is, he says. Eternal life is being in relationship with God. It’s the life Jesus offers each of his followers, us included. But there’s more. It’s not so that they may each go off and find their own way in the world. It’s so that they may be one.

So that they may be one. It’s a prayer for unity within community. And how have Christians done with this since Jesus prayed for the unity of his followers?

We’re probably all aware of overwhelming evidence that would say, not very well. Christians have divided themselves and subdivided themselves so many times that there are more flavors of Christians in the world than Ben and Jerry’s could ever imagine, times a million.

And Christians of these different flavors aren’t very kind to one another. Heck, even within the same congregation, Christians aren’t always known to be very kind to one another.

Right now, there’s a lot of disagreement, and some downright meanness among Christians about how best to handle worship during this pandemic. Some already have decided they will remain closed for in-person worship for the next year. Others have insisted that God will protect them from the virus and it’s full steam ahead. Some have offered Holy Communion online. Others insist that we should all wait until we can gather in person. There are strong feelings about whether it’s right to go into the church building when stay-at-home orders are in place to livestream or record online worship. I’ve even seen heated arguments among clergy about whether it’s better to offer online worship that is live, or pre-recorded. I think it’s safe to say that no matter what the time and no matter what the circumstance, Christians find reasons to divide themselves from one another.

And yet, Jesus prays that we may be one. What does it mean for us to be one—to live in unity?

Well, let’s hope it doesn’t mean that we all agree on everything, because we’ll never get there.

Jesus gives us guidance about how we might be united in this prayer. If you read it closely, you’ll see that Jesus’ prayer for himself and his prayer for his disciples are tied together with the idea of glorifying God. The word glorify here means to make God visible. It’s about making God visible. God is glorified in Jesus. That is, God is made visible in Jesus. And then as Jesus prays for his disciples, he says “Mine are yours and yours are mine, and I have been glorified in them.”

Jesus is glorified in his disciples. In those who follow Jesus, we see Jesus. God is glorified in Jesus. And Jesus is glorified in his disciples. Through Jesus’ disciples, through us, Jesus is visible, Jesus is glorified.

That’s a key to understanding how we live in unity in these times. We live in unity as Christians, as Jesus is made visible—and glorified through us.

And let me tell you, I see a lot of Jesus being glorified through Ascension. Through the ways you’re encouraging one another through emails, phone calls, sending cards. Through support groups on Zoom. Through the signs you’ve planted in our church yard to encourage essential workers. Through sandwiches you’re making for the homeless and the tons of food that’s been gathered and taken to ACTC. Every act, no matter how large or small, is a revelation of Jesus. And God is glorified.

We may not always agree on the best way to follow Jesus, and sometimes we might get it wrong. But we are united in our effort to make Jesus visible and glorify God.

That means we spend time nurturing the relationship God gives us. It means we care for the community God places us in, whether in person, virtually, through financial gifts or by whatever means we have. It means that we’re always expanding our community, beyond ourselves, so that more and more people experience God’s love in their lives. It means we’re ever open to the Spirit working in our lives and in the life of our community, calling us to follow Jesus in new and challenging ways.

We’re certainly faced with new challenges right now. A grand debate rages about whether it’s best to continue staying home to protect our health, or to open things back up to protect our economy. One could argue that each solution is for the sake of individuals, or for the sake of the larger community. Most people favor a solution that allows for a safe opening, one where we leave our homes, but take precautions for the protection of ourselves and others.

It forces the issue for us on what we value and how we’ll glorify Jesus in the world, doesn’t it?

This prayer of Jesus touches on so much that we’re struggling with right now. As we make decisions about how our ministry will look—from how we might worship together to how we will continue to serve the larger community—I pray the Spirit will guide us, so that whatever we do, through our actions, Jesus is visible and God is glorified. 

You know, so often, when we pray, we’re praying to Jesus or through Jesus. In today’s passage, we see Jesus praying for his disciples. And I take that to mean that he also is praying for us. Jesus is praying for us. I want to say, thank you, Jesus. Please keep praying.

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