7th Sunday of Easter
John 17:1-11
I Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11
"A Sense of Togetherness"
1* ¶ When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify thy Son that the Son may glorify thee,
2* since thou hast given him power over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom thou hast given him.
3* And this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.
4* I glorified thee on earth, having accomplished the work which thou gavest me to do;
5* and now, Father, glorify thou me in thy own presence with the glory which I had with thee before the world was made.
6* ¶ "I have manifested thy name to the men whom thou gavest me out of the world; thine they were, and thou gavest them to me, and they have kept thy word.
7 Now they know that everything that thou hast given me is from thee;
8* for I have given them the words which thou gavest me, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from thee; and they have believed that thou didst send me.
9* I am praying for them; I am not praying for the world but for those whom thou hast given me, for they are thine;
10* all mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them.
11* ¶ And now I am no more in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to thee. Holy Father, keep them in thy name, which thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.RSV
Our gospel test for this morning comes from Jesus’ priestly prayer which He prayed the night before His death on the cross. He addressed His Father in heaven asking that the disciples might remain faithful to the world which He had given them, asked that they might remain faithful to the Father, asked that they might remain together as a group, or fellowship of believers. This prayer is named His priestly prayer, because Jesus was praying on behalf of the disciples to His Father in heaven in the same way a priest in the Old Testament would offer intercession on behalf of the nation of Israel.
As Jesus prays for the disciples, a few verses ring out loud and clear for us this morning as these verses 7,8, 9, 10 focus on the fellowship which Jesus wanted to establish between His disciples, between His disciples and the Father,and the loving and caring which would bind that fellowship together. Listen again to Jesus’ words as He charges the disciples and us to live in that loving fellowship.........
7 Now they know that everything that thou hast given me is from thee;
8* for I have given them the words which thou gavest me, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from thee; and they have believed that thou didst send me.
9* I am praying for them; I am not praying for the world but for those whom thou hast given me, for they are thine;
10* all mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them.
Do you sense the togetherness, the unity, the union, Jesus hopes and prays for in this prayer as He prays for His disciples and all those who would be His followers today???
Our second lesson picks up that theme of togetherness and brings to it the reality that life as a follower of Jesus is not easy. Peter speaks about the suffering, the brokenness that is in this world, the brokenness that all followers of Jesus Christ will encounter at one time or another as he or she walks with Christ. Peter ties the glory, the richness, the unity of the Christian community with the reality that, that community lives in a broken and less than perfect world.
He says in verses 6-11
6* Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that in due time he may exalt you.
7* Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you.
8* ¶ Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour.
9* Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experience of suffering is required of your brotherhood throughout the world.
10* ¶ And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, and strengthen you.
11* To him be the dominion for ever and ever. Amen.RSV
As we look at these two interwoven themes, we see that because of the love and fellowship, because of the brokenness we encounter in this world----there is a definite obligation for us as followers of Christ to uphold, to pull-together, to encourage, to comfort, to be there for another member of the community with comfort, cheer and love as we bind ourselves together in this community of Christ, known as the church.
Maybe this idea of unity, togetherness, caring, upholding will be made clearer by the following story entitled: "Who Flew the Kite??
"Who Flew the Kite?"......"I did," said the sticks, "I did," said the paper. "I did," said the boy. "No, I did," said the wind. "
But they all flew the kite together. If the sticks had broken, the tail caught in a tree, the paper torn or the wind had lulled, the kite would have come down. Each had a part to play. The application is inescapable, each have a work to do. If the work of the Lord is to be a success, then all parts must be played by every member of the fellowship, every member of the community. We have to work as a community in visiting, giving, preaching and countless other jobs to make the church and its work successful. We must all work together and each do what he or she can to help.
It is a matter of teamwork.
Paul emphasizes this in I Corinthians 3:6-9 as he says...."I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are equal, and each shall receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building."
These two interwoven themes of fellowship and caring are the basis of our scripture, but time does not premit to look at them both.
I would like to look at one of those themes this morning.
Fellowship.
Maybe the best way for me to describe what I mean by fellowship, fellowship with Christ and fellowship with one another is to tell you a story which appeared in the Christian Herald. "A senior executive of one of the largest banks in New York told how he had risen to a place of prominence and influence. At first he served as an office boy, then one day, the president of the company called him aside and said,"I want you to come into my office and be with me each day." The young man replied, "But what could I do to help you, sir ? I don’t know anything about finances." "Never mind that!!! You will learn what I want to teach you a lot faster if you just stay by my side and keep your eyes and ears open." That was the most significant experience of my life," said the now famous banker. "Being with that wise man made me just like him. I began to do things the way he did, and that accounts for what I am today."
I would like to suggest that fellowship in the community of Christ means "rubbing elbows" with Jesus Christ on a daily basis and also "rubbing elbows" with other Christians so that one’s faith may be strengthen, may be upheld, may be watered, may grow as God would will it to grow. Fellowship in the community of Christ is for us a strong foundation as we walk our Christian pilgrimage. It is that fellowship which encourages us to stay in the word of Christ, live as Christ would have us live.
Paul in Romans 12:1-3 reminds us of the sense of obligation we have to live the way Christ would ask us to live as Paul says:" I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I bid every one among you not to think of himself/herself more highly than he/she ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith which God has assigned him/her."
The modern Christian martyr, Dietrick Bonhoeffer, says in his book, "Life Together" these words about the importance of Christian fellowship and "rubbing elbows" with one another as we share ourselves in the community of faith. On page 23 he says: " God has willed that we should seek and find His living Word in the witness of a brother/sister, in the mouth of a man/ woman. Therefore, the Christian needs another Christian who speaks God’s Word to him. He needs him again and again when he becomes uncertain and discouraged, for by himself he cannot help himself without belying the truth. He needs his brother as a bearer and proclaimer of the divine word of salvation. He needs his brother solely because of Jesus Christ. The Christ in his own heart is weaker than the Christ in the word of his brother, his own heart is uncertain, his brother’s is sure."
This fellowship, this community in Christ is very important for our faith and daily living.
We need each other’s faith as we journey now the road of life. I need your faith to strengthen my faith and you need my faith to strengthen yours. We need to rub elbows!! We need each other’s faith, we need to share it to each other, we need to discuss it, to pray about it, to rejoice in each other’s faith.
We need to be a community of faith in this day and day. No lone rangers, we need each other, period.
Jesus said: 9* I am praying for them; I am not praying for the world but for those whom thou hast given me, for they are thine;
10* all mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them.
Amen
Written by Pastor Tim Zingale may 6, 2002
