A
while ago you all embarked on a prayer ministry called triplets. Groups of three were picked at random and
these groups covenanted to gather every so often for the sole purpose of
praying for each other. The stories
that I’ve heard about these prayer groups were quite enlightening. Although I don’t know what you all prayed for
specifically, you cherished these gatherings because in them you all shared
with each other your celebrations and concerns.
In these meetings you shared each other your testimonies of faith. When you lifted up to God the appreciation
you felt for the joys in your lives, you were testifying to the feeling of God’s
power in all things. When you asked for
God’s help in the tough times, you were testifying to the helplessness that you
felt and your faith in a power that is greater than yourself that can make a
way out of no way.
Then
for a few moments you would bow your heads and begin to pray for each
other. Whether spoken aloud or in silence the prayers
that you lifted up to God came united from all your hearts. However, how does it feel when you are the
one that is being prayed for? How does
it feel when you hear someone praying out loud for you? Some of you might say you feel comforted,
vulnerable, grateful, honored, humbled, maybe awkward yet grateful that a group
of people care for you. When we are
being prayed for, “we are not in control as we listen to people prayer for
us. They, not we, are the ones doing the
asking, and God not we, is the one answering the prayer.”[i]
In
this morning’s gospel reading we hear Jesus praying out loud for his disciples
in front of them. This scripture comes
from the farewell speech that Jesus gave to his disciples just after the last
supper and before he is about to be arrested and killed by those who feared
him. Imagine if you will how the
disciples were feeling at that moment. Maybe
they were feeling awkward, vulnerable, even grateful yet frightened. After all, the leader whom they had given up
their lives to has just told them that he will be leaving them. Yes Jesus did promise them that the Holy
Spirit would come after he has left, yet the disciples had no idea what this
would look like. Instead I imagine they
stared at Jesus with wet eyes wondering what Jesus wanted them to do.
However
Jesus was done giving them instructions.
He had already given them their “to-do” list. He had told them to abide in his love, just
as he abided in God’s love. He had told
them to hang on to him because he is the true vine and in grafting themselves
onto him as the branches, they will bear the true fruits of discipleship. He had made known to them everything that God
has told him and gives them his final commandment, that they love each other
just as Jesus had loved them. That in
this way the world will know that they are Jesus’ disciples by the way they
love each other.
Now Jesus is switching
to prayer, not only on the disciples behalf but on our behalf too. He is interceding for us before God praying
for our belief, our unity and our love. Jesus
prays that we will have the same close and abiding relationship with God as he
does. However, this prayer isn’t just
about our relationship with God; it is also about our relationship with each
other as believers in Jesus.
Listen again to the words of Jesus’
prayer:
"I ask not only on behalf of these, but
also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As
you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the
world may believe that you have sent me.” (John 17: 20-21)
That
they may all be one. In order for us
to understand the poignancy of these words, we have to understand the
audience to whom this text is directed. We
remember that the early Christians to whom the evangelist John was writing to
were just expelled from their church home, the synagogue because of their belief
that Jesus was the messiah. They had to
carve a new church community and a new church home for themselves. They already knew that this farewell speech
comes before the drama of the betrayal, trial and crucifixion of Jesus however
they hear it knowing the victory of Jesus’ resurrection over the power of
death. For this community who are trying
to make a new way, the words “that they all may be one” are of great comfort to
them and when they hear, “As you Father
are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us so that they may believe that
you have sent me.” (John 17:21) they are hearing Jesus’ great desire for
all to be one in him and in God.
“That they all may be one” is the motto
of the United Church of Christ. In 1957
leaders from the Congregational Christian denomination gathered with leaders
from the Evangelical and Reformed denomination to form a new denomination, the
United Church of Christ. They sought to
heal the divisions of the church by being a “united and uniting church seeking
renewal through the vision of Christ’s prayer ‘that they may all be one that
the world might believe’”[ii]
Ever since the
founding of the United Church of Christ, we have sometimes struggled to
articulate our identity. Some have
perceived us as not having a strong theological stance because the United
Church of Christ believes in testimonies of faith rather than tests of faith such
as doctrines or creeds. Others feel that
we are too loose on our interpretation of scripture because we recognize the
Bible as written in a specific historical time and place yet it speaks to us in
our present condition however the interpretation of scripture is not limited by
past interpretations. As one of our
forebears states, “There is more truth and light to break forth from God’s holy
word.” Some wonder at how we can remain
one denomination when “each congregation or local church is free to act in
accordance with the collective decision of its members, guided by the working
of the Holy Spirit in the light of scriptures.”[iii] We are a denomination that believes people of
faith can be able to live together with their differences and yet find unity in
the Christian message which comes down to the greatest commandment, the love of
God and the love of neighbor. Unity does not demand conformity rather it
demands love.
In these past
weeks, I have had the pleasure of getting to know groups of you in our
neighborhood getting acquainted meetings.
At these meetings you have shared with me and each other what makes us strong
as a faith community. One of those
things is that we have a diversity of theological views within our community
and we strive to recognize our differences while living with each other as a
church. And yet this church has not
tried to be all things to all people.
There are some stands that we have made that have been uncomfortable for
some and yes some have left our community. But on the whole, in spite of our
differences, we continue to be united, abiding with each other, hanging in
there with each other, sometimes even putting up with each other because our
bottom line is the ethic of love. We
first and foremost seek to love God with all our hearts, souls and minds. We seek to love ourselves, respect ourselves,
take care of ourselves because we are creations of God. And we seek to love our neighbor just as much
as we love ourselves for it is in this way that we make God’s love is made
known in the world. “Righteous Father, the world does not know
you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will
make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them,
and I in them.” (John 17:25-26)
May we all be one.
Amen.
[i] Mary Hinkle
Shore
[ii] John
Thomas, “Our Core Identity – Third Sunday after Pentecost June 2004” http://www.ucc.org/about-us/our-core-identity.html
[iii] http://i.ucc.org/StretchYourMind/UCC101/BriefHistoryoftheUCC/tabid/93/Default.aspx
No comments:
Post a Comment