Story: There is an ancient legend concerning Jesus’ ascension into heaven.
In it, Jesus is met by the angel Gabriel who asks him, "Now that your work is finished, what plans have you made to insure that the truth that you brought to earth will spread throughout the world?"
Jesus answered, "I called some fishermen and tax-collectors to walk along with me as I did my Father’s will."
"Yes, I know about them," said Gabriel, "but what other plans have you made? "
Jesus replied, "I taught Peter, James and John about the kingdom of God; I taught Thomas about faith; and all of them were with me as I healed and preached to the multitudes."
Gabriel replied. "I know, but you know how unreliable that lot was. Surely you must have other plans to make sure your work was not in vain."
Jesus quietly replied to Gabriel "I have no other plans. I am depending on them!! "
I would like to look at some words of Jesus in our Gospel reading this morning – John 17.
John 17 is part of the farewell discourse of Jesus. It is known as the “High Priestly Prayer”.
It is a prayer that Jesus prays to his Father just before he is taken away - in a series of events - that lead up to his crucifixion.
And the key to this passage it seems to me are the words Jesus spoke when he said
4I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do
And so if this passage is going to have any relevance today, we need to ask the question:
What is the work that Jesus has given us – his disciples to do?
A few verses further on in this discourse, Jesus spells out very clearly the “work” we as Christians have to do.
As you have sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world (John 17:18)
The disciples were sent to proclaim a message.
Jesus entrusted them with spreading the Good News:
In Mt. 28 Jesus gave them the Great Commission
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Mt. 28:18.19)
And of course, that is one of the reasons why the most important “work” we as Christians in the Upper Wreake can do is to bring people to Jesus
That’s why we have started having a Prayer meeting on Thursday mornings from 7.30 to 9 am
That is why we have planned to start an Alpha Course in September.
We are called to “make disciples”
1. We are not told to get people merely to believe there is a God.
2. We are not called to make people Churchgoers
3. We are not called to get money in to pay the parish share
Good as all these things are
We are called to make disciples – that is people who will FOLLOW Christ
In our Gospel reading, Jesus reveals three requirements - for the disciples to be able to fulfil this command.
1. They need to know the message and the source of the message (Jn 17:6)
2. They need to be committed (Jn 17:6-8)
3. They need to be faithful (Jn 17:15-17)
1. The first requirement for preaching the Good News was that the disciples need to know what the Gospel is and where it has come from.
Jesus, speaking about the disciples said this to the Father:
For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them (Jn 17:8) and
“I have revealed you to those whom you gave me” (Jn17: 6)
I suppose it goes without saying – but we can’t preach a Gospel until we know what it is and where it has come from.
The disciples spent three years around Jesus listening to his message.
It was an intense time.
It was the most heavily documented three years in the ancient world.
And we have four Gospels that record some of what Jesus taught at that time.
What we know about GOD is not what we can - in the natural discern - but what Jesus has revealed.
And we don’t need to worry about what we have to say - we don’t have to rely on our own ideas.
We are simply preach what Jesus has revealed to us.
That is why I rate Bible Study so highly.
Because it is there that we can learn form Jesus and his apostles
2. The second requirement to be able to preach the Good News is that the disciples needed to be committed.
It is no use simply being “involved in Church” we need to be “Committed”
How can I best explain the difference. Take the analogy of bacon and egg.
Story: In bacon and egg, the hen is involved but the pig is committed.
In other words, if we are going to be real DISCIPLES, we need to be committed to Christ.
St Francis of Assisi said: “Preach the Gospel at all times – and use words when necessary”
And what he was saying was that we will preach the Gospel by the way we live.
Jesus in our Gospel reading said this about the disciples:
“For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them” (Jn 17:8)
In the ancient world, belief was not simply intellectual assent to a proposition.
It was more than that.
If you believed in someone it meant you adopted his or her teaching as your lifestyle.
If you were a disciple of Socrates, then you followed Socrates’ teaching.
And by extension if you followed Christ, you applied his teaching to your life.
The Early Church was so radical in their lifestyle that we read:
13And none of those who were not of their number dared to join and associate with them, but the people held them in high regard and praised and made much of them.
Story: It has been said that if God had taken His Holy Spirit away in the Early Church 90% of what they were doing would have stopped and 10% would have gone on
It is said of today’s Church that if God took his Holy Spirit away, 90% of what we are doing would go one, and 10% would stop.
3. The third requirement to preach the Good
News is they need to be faithful.
And so Jesus prays for them to be protected from evil.
How often has the Gospel been dragged into disrepute by the fallibility of our ministers?
Perhaps the fall of the tele-evangelists in America in the 90’s is a particularly sad example.
No wonder the Lord taught his disciples to be aware of evil and pray for protection from it.
“Deliver us from evil.” (Mt 6:13) as we say in the Lord ’s Prayer
Jesus in our Gospel reading says this:
My prayer is not that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one” (Jn17: 15)
However none of this is possible UNLESS God gives us his Holy Spirit. That is what Acts 2 is all about. It is the moving of the Holy Spirit in and through the Church that we celebrate next Sunday (Pentecost) and which I will speak more about them
In conclusion, the challenge of the Great Commission is this. We need to
1. Know the message and where it has come from
2. Be committed to following Christ ourselves and
3. Pray for protection from evil that we too will not fall.
Let us pray: Heavenly Father, we thank you that Jesus completed the work you gave him to do - so that we can come to know you.
We pray this morning that you will make us more committed to be disciples than we were before we came to Church today
We pray for opportunities to share our faith – and we pray in particular for the new Alpha course. We pray you will lead us to people who are searching for you – and want to find out more.
We pray that we will be able to encourage them to come on the course.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen
