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7th Sunday of Easter — May 28, 2017

John 17:1-11
Easter 7A

Jesus prays for his disciples – then, now and always.

Jill Duffield’s lectionary reflections are sent to the Outlook’s email list every Monday.

If we let that truth come to consciousness on a regular basis we might live differently, less afraid, bolder, more joyfully. These 11 verses in John (and the ones that come after them in chapter 17) reveal that the agency is God’s, not ours. In other words, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is working on our behalf, protecting, guiding, upholding, revealing. Odd as it is in our culture so imbued with meritocracy, faithfully following Jesus Christ (and embracing belief, unity and sacrificial love) is not first and foremost a result of our own efforts. Therefore, we are called to respond to God’s prevenient grace with gratitude and lives that reflect our love and loyalty.

Being “one” as the Father and Jesus are one isn’t about being uniquely first, but rather about being inexplicably united to the holy through and by the grace of God. We can’t do a victory lap waving our “We’re number 1!” banner. We can only look up to heaven and pray with Jesus, “Protect us that we might live as one.”

The word “keep/protect/guard” (tereo) is repeated three times in these 11 verses and has multiple meanings. Jesus’ disciples “kept” God’s word. Jesus prays that God will “protect” those whom God has given him. The word tereo can also mean “to retain custody” or to “guard” (like guarding a prisoner). In verse 15 of this same chapter Jesus’ prayer continues, “I am not asking you take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one.” It seems there is a custody battle brewing over us, one that will increase in intensity once Jesus has ascended into heaven. Divine action is needed to keep Jesus’ followers from coming under the care and sway of powers counter to the will of the Triune God.

Being kept close, being watched as closely as a prisoner under the protective custody of the Father, puts us in intimate proximity with God and, through Jesus Christ, with each other.

Miroslav Volf, in his book “After Our Likeness: The Church as the Image of the Trinity,” quotes Orthodox theologian metropolitan John D. Zizioulas, “The One Christ becomes ‘Many’ – a community – and the many become ‘One.’ ” Later in the book, Volf addresses the relationship between the one and the many arguing that “one” is not universalism, nor should “many” be reduced to pluralism. He writes, “God is grounded in both unity and multiplicity.” Therefore, “Trinitarian thinking suggests that in a successful world drama, unity and multiplicity must enjoy a complementary relationship.”

The oneness for which Jesus prays for his followers, the oneness that is like that enjoyed by the Father and the Son, does not mean all differences fade into oblivion. The parts are still distinct, but they are inextricably joined and dependent upon each other. Perhaps like a human body? Or vines on a branch? And yet, there are many forces at work attempting to render asunder that which God has joined together.

Our sinful tendency when faced with a real or perceived threat is to look out for number one, forgetting that we are in fact one. Our well-being, and that of God’s beloved creation, is intimately, inextricably linked. When we are in the mode of self-aggrandizement or self-preservation, we are under the influence of a power other than God’s.

For Jesus’ followers it’s not: “We’re number 1!” It’s: “We’ve been made one.” Our symbol isn’t a foam finger, it is a wooden cross.

The narrative of fear and the need to be protected is relentless. Many purveyors of fear profit from our sense that something – or someone, or some group – is out to get us. They count on our tendency to look out for number one instead of remembering we’ve been made one.

Sometimes it may even feel like there is a cosmic custody battle over us.

Last weekend in the town where I live, Charlottesville, Virginia, there was a rally around the monument to Robert E. Lee. You may have read about it in the national news. White nationalist Richard Spencer lead a group carrying torches and chanting, “Blood and soil” and “You will not replace us.”  Spencer said, “What brings us together is that we are white, we are a people, we will not be replaced.” A sinister version of “We’re number 1.”

The next night, in response to the Saturday night rally, another group gathered, not with torches, but with candles. Many more gathered Sunday than Saturday to “outshine their torches with our love.” Attempting to demonstrate that we are one – or that we at least hope to be one.

There were arrests on Sunday night as some from Saturday night clashed with those taking back the park. The mayor of Charlottesville spoke out against the torch bearing show of hate and received anti-Semitic tweets as a result. The Charlottesville Clergy Collective, started in the wake of the shootings at Mother Emmanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina, issued a statement stating that love is stronger than hate. The vice mayor sent out a communication urging citizens to work together. Maybe it wasn’t a cosmic battle between good and evil taking place in our usually quiet university town. I don’t know. But I do know this: We need prayer that we will be one like Jesus and the Father are one, unified in our multiplicity, parts coming together to work as a whole for good. Maybe like a vine with many branches, or a body with different parts, or God willing we’ll be like a family of many members in the same household, rejoicing when one rejoices and weeping when one weeps.

We can’t do this on our own. Such oneness is beyond our capabilities, but not beyond God’s promises. We have been made one, like the Father and the Son and the Spirit are one. However, if we ever have a hope of living that reality we need, like Jesus, with Jesus, to pray.

Who will win the cosmic custody battle over us? Over the world?

There really is no contest. Reconciliation has already been victorious. Sin and evil have been defeated. Candles will burn long after torches have flamed out because the Spirit’s light cannot be extinguished. Songs of grace will echo in heaven through the ages, drowning out chants of hate because the cross of Christ has conquered sin. Love will throw off hate just as the Risen Christ tossed aside his grave clothes. God will keep watch over us and we will be made one because Jesus prays for us and God promises us and the Spirit intercedes for us. So be not afraid and live joyfully together.

This week:

  1. Have you ever thought of yourself as being in God’s custody? Does that image resonate with you or is it a stumbling block?
  2. Notice the definition of eternal life Jesus give in verse 3. Is this how you think of eternal life? What are the implications of this definition for our understanding of eternity?
  3. The word glory is repeated over and over again in this reading from John. Why? What does glory mean?
  4. Look at other texts where Jesus “looks up to heaven.” What are those texts? What is Jesus praying for in those places?
  5. Read the rest of chapter 17 and notice what else Jesus prays for his disciples: joy, protection (again) and that they be sanctified in God’s truth. How do these requests inform the ones found in the first 11 verses?
  6. How would you describe the oneness of Jesus with the Father? How does that description apply to how followers of Jesus are (or are not!) one?

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