This is the sermon from yesterday. We were officially installed as pastor and wife of the church yesterday. Our district superintendent, Dan Bickel and his wife Reenie came up for the service. We had a meal afterward with our new leadership team, which consists of a husband and wife (he's 43 and she's 31), and another woman (she's in her late 50s). Dan reinforced the idea of refocusing the church...everything is up for grabs, it's gonna be a long, hard process, and we must commit to doing things as God leads. I'm not sure if any of us realizes the depth of craziness we're getting ourselves into.
Jamie and I will be going to Indianapolis October 1-5 for a New Church University conference. It's run by people affiliated with the Church of the Nazarene, and from what I've seen so far they know what they're doing. The purpose of the conference is to understand exactly what will happen the next three years (okay, so not exactly...it's more like the "fog" that hits in a Dave Smith Greek class). Once we get back, we'll relay what we've learned to our leadership team and begin the refocusing process. More on all this in the future. For now, here's the sermon.
Introduction: Jesus is Leaving
It was night. You had gathered together for one last meal. But this wasn’t an ordinary meal. This meal was filled with apprehension, tension, dread, endless questions of the future. The Master had said you will leave me. All of you.
“Master, no we won’t. We will die with you.”
“No you won’t. Especially you Peter. You will leave me. You will leave me alone to die. You will deny me three times.”
And now Jesus said he was leaving too. “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You know the way to the place I am going.”
“But Jesus, how do we know the way? We don’t know where you’re going, so how can we know the way? What do you mean you’re leaving? Jesus, don’t leave.”
“In a little while you will see me no more, and then you will see me, because I am going to the Father. You will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. But your grief will turn to joy, and no one will take away your joy. Don’t worry friends. I will return. But now I must go to the Father.”
And then Jesus began to pray. “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him….
"I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction, so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
"I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them. I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.”
Then Jesus leaves, taking you across the Kidron Valley to an olive grove. Wait, what’s that you hear? Footsteps, loud footsteps. They’re coming this way. The Romans! And…is that..it is! It’s Judas!
“No! Judas don’t do this. You can’t take Jesus away. You won’t take Him!”
“Peter, put down your sword. I must drink the cup the Father has given me.” And then you run. You run faster than ever before, not worrying about the olive branches, not caring if any of your friends have been captured too. They’ve taken your Master away.
It would not have been the place to be that evening. To be associated with Jesus, known as one of the Twelve, would have been awful. In your heart you thought it was all a dream. There’s no way Jesus can leave us now. We’ve been together for three years. But in your mind, you knew he was right. This was the end. We’ll never see Him again. Back to fishing. Back to your home, where all your friends would be waiting, ready to mock you for following the crucified One. It was over.
Can you feel it? Can you feel the despair, the pain, the sadness of the disciples? For the disciples, Jesus’ prayer wasn’t an ordinary prayer either. It was one filled with truth they would cling to in His absence. They would need to know that even though He was gone, they would be okay. So turn to John 17, beginning with verse 6. There are three key themes spoken of throughout the prayer that are all things they needed to hear as a type of assurance that everything was going to be fine. The first is of God’s revelation.
God’s Revelation
Jesus revealed God to them in two ways. The first is shown in verse 6. Jesus says, “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world.” He literally said, “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me out of the world.” One’s name was equated with one’s character in Biblical times. So for Jesus to say He revealed the Father’s name, it meant that He showed the disciples the character of God. And when Jesus says that God had given Him His name, it meant that the name of Jesus was equal with that of God, and that Jesus and the Father have the same characteristics. Just as Jesus addressed His Father as holy, so He is holy. Just as Jesus’ name means “the LORD saves,” so we know God is our Savior. There is no separating Christ and the Father. They are one.
God’s name held power. It had the power to protect the disciples. Jesus was able to keep and guard the disciples while He was with them. As one of the disciples, you are comforted, because every time you pray in the name of Jesus, you know he hears you. Every time you call His name, you know He’s there. Every time you preach the name of Jesus, you know that it has the power to draw men to Him. Even when you are scared, when you are being killed for your faith in Christ, you know there is power in the name of Jesus. For us, the same truth applies today. There is still power in the name of Jesus, power to save, to keep us, and to make us one.
Jesus also reveals God in that He gave His disciples the words the Father gave Him. Through His teachings, the disciples received God. It says that they obeyed, or kept, that word given to them. What’s interesting about this is the tense of the verb “obeyed.” It would appear that it says the disciples kept God’s Word in the past and that’s it. But this verb is in the perfect tense, one that refers to an action having been completed in the past, but with effects felt in the present. Through their obedience to the Word and belief in Jesus, they were given eternal life. And this eternal life began the moment they believed and kept His word. It did not begin after they died, but sometime even before Jesus prayed that prayer. What a relief to know that even though Jesus had gone, they would one day be with Him. He had given them eternal life. We too can have eternal life, if only we would believe in Jesus and keep His words.
Truth About His Disciples
The second thing the disciples needed to hear was the truth about themselves. When Jesus left, you can bet Satan came in like a flood, trying to convince them that their doubt, their betrayal, meant Jesus could never accept them again. You can bet Satan made them feel like dirt. But they knew the truth about themselves.
First, they were “those who the Father had given to Jesus.” They could know for certain that God would not let them go. They would be protected from Satan’s attacks.
Second, they were hated by the world. Yeah, this doesn’t sound too encouraging. But Jesus had said in John 15:18-19, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” So this is a good thing! They were like Christ. They were not of the world just as much as He is not of the world. This is great! Have you ever thought that you and I are not of the world either? We’re not. Sure we live here and all, but we’re not really of this world. It’s like getting married. You say “I do” and you become one with your spouse. Sure, you’re still the same person. There’s plenty of time you’re not even together, but you’re one. Your voice won’t suddenly match your spouse’s, you won’t always like the same food, and you’ll still like watching football on Sundays while she takes a nap, but you’re still ONE—you have common goals, you share the checkbook, you have the same last name. We may live in this world, but we are not of it. The moment we receive Christ, we become His. Good to hear when you think all hope is lost and your Master is gone.
Christ’s Desire For Us
The third thing they needed to hear was what Christ prayed for them. Jesus prayed first that they would be one as Jesus and the Father are one. One in character, one in passion, one in purpose. By the power of God’s name, they would be one. They could no longer be known as Peter, James, John, Andrew, Matthew. They had to be known as His. They had to become so fully enveloped in Jesus’ name and mission that they would be one. The reason we are not one body of Christ today is not that we believe different things, or have differing opinions about how to worship. Those could be resolved. The reason we are not one today is that we have not all committed to be known as His. Some of us have, and some of us haven’t.
Second, Jesus prayed for them to NOT be taken from the world. If I were a disciple, I would have wanted to go to heaven when Jesus did. Take me home and we’ll continue like we have the past three years. That was the easy way out. All throughout John’s gospel, the world opposes Christ and His disciples. They are hated by it. The same world Jesus created hates Him. And so the disciples are called to stay in the world in order to…LOVE it. For God so loved the world that He gave His Son. And the Son so loved the world that He gave His followers. The disciples would need to hear this word because the world had taken their Master from them. It had crucified Him. How could they love it? And we need to hear this because we know the world does not know Christ. Things happen every day that we are opposed to: abortion, violence, theft, rape, murder. We hear people use our God’s name as a curse word. Yet we are called to love the world.
And third, Jesus prayed for them to be sanctified. “Sanctified” in this context means being set apart for service to God. The disciples were already separate from the world. They needed to be separated to God. They would be sanctified through God’s word. The Word of God sets Christianity apart from any other world religion. It comes from God and is truth. We cannot love a world which hates us, we cannot be one in purpose as Jesus and the Father are one, if we do not hold the Word of God as truth.
Conclusion: Remember...
So what does this all mean to us? We’ve heard a lot today. So if there’s anything I want you to remember, it’s the last point: the things Jesus prayed for us. That we would be one, that we would be in the world and love it, and that we would be set apart for service to God.
And one last thing. Remember that the soldiers took hold of Jesus. He carried His cross up Golgotha’s hill, and was crucified between two criminals. With His last breath he cried, “It is finished.” He was then buried, and three days later, when Mary Magdalene went to the tomb, Jesus appeared to her. He rose from the dead and is seated at the right hand of God the Father. And before He ascended into heaven, He said, “Surely I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
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