7th Sunday of Easter
John 17: 20-26
One Plus One Plus One = One
We have a wonderful mystery to contemplate this morning, and it is summarized in a strange formula. It’s not really all that complicated, but it is worthy of reflection for it has implications for our lives together. Here is the formula, an equation, really: 1 + 1 + 1 = One.
Rather strange math, isn’t it? Well, it’s God’s math, so let’s see how it works. It works because as Jesus states in our Gospel lesson this morning, we are one in Christ and one with the Father.
He says in john 17: 21 "that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me."
Jesus and the Father are on and the disciples and those who may believe may be one in us. Jesus plus the Father plus those who believe equal one. One!! We are all one in the body of Christ.
Just think, we are all one today in the body of Christ. One. One leader, one person in charge, Jesus Christ. Jesus knew something that we sometimes forget. We need someone in charge. We need to have someone that everyone can turn to.
We need more than a committee. Jesus knew that the 12 disciples needed someone to be in charge. Someone had to be the leader. And that leader was Him.
There could not be one chosen successor to Jesus. His message had to go forth. It had to go forth as a light in the darkness. As a gift in a world sorely lacking in love. But it was the message OF Jesus, told in his words, in the story of his life. A single successor might be deified, might become the focal point for all the love and faith people had for Jesus. And so, 12 disciples, 12 teachers, 12 messengers, 12 men who after this evening and Friday would be cowering, hiding behind locked doors, fearing for their lives, silenced.
A committee can never win the hearts of people.
Can never inspire passion.
Can never lead as a light shining in the darkness.
They needed to be one, they needed to support each other, they needed to remind each other. When one falters another is there to support. When one falls, another is there to stand in the breach and to pick up their fallen comrade.
It is like the sky diver in the following:
"Three thousand frightening feet above the ground, Soviet sport parachutist Yuri Belenko realized he was in trouble. His main chute had malfunctioned, and his reserve chute "barber poled" around the main, rendering them both useless.
Kicking his feet to slow the natural spiral caused by the noisy whipping canopies above, Belenko yelled down to fellow jumpers on the ground. His jump buddies sprang immediately into action, grabbed a packing mat, and sprinted toward the impact point.
All the way down Belenko yelled and tugged furiously at the static lines in a vain attempt to clear the two tangled chutes. Below, his friends stretched the mat taught…and waited.
Belenko plummeted into the canvas at bone-crushing speed, ripping the tarp from his rescuers’ hands, and knocking them to the ground. When the dust cleared, Belenko lay gasping for breath and complaining of a sprained ankle. In addition to the injured leg, he suffered a few bruises.
His jump buddies were there for Belenko at the moment he needed them most.
This is a picture of what God wants people in the body of Christ to do for others in need. "
Together these people gathered around the one, and helped him. Today, we gather around the one, Jesus, and help Him spread the love he has for human kind.
We celebrated a day in the church year on May 24th which is barely noticed. Yes, it was the Ascension of Jesus. At that time according to Matthew’s gospel, Jesus gave the disciples the Great Commission.
He said, "Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.
19 Go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all things which I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.
At the ascension the disciples were given the commission to go, but Jesus also told them that they should wait for the power of the Holy Spirit to descend upon them, so that they might be filled with his presence to do the task that lay ahead. That power was given on Pentecost, which is another major festival that goes barely noticed in our church year. Next Sunday, we celebrate the Pentecost event. Next Sunday, we celebrate the coming of God’s spirit into the lives of the disciples. Next Sunday we celebrate the birthday of the church, we celebrate the power given to the disciples to go, to make disciples, to baptize in the name of the trinity.
Today, we are in a period of time that is somewhat confusing. Jesus has ascended, he has given the great commission, but the power to do the task that lay ahead has not been given, so the disciples go back to the upper room to wait, to think, to ponder, to pray, to trust, to believe. And I think we can use this time for a like purpose. This Sunday is a good time for all of us to come to some clear thinking about that gospel message Jesus is asking us to proclaim. It is time to pray, to ponder, to renew, to refresh, to examine again in a personal way what the gospel message means for us, what it means that Jesus is lord of my life.
In our gospel lesson this morning Jesus gives us a brief outline of that message, he tells us in simple way what the gospel message is all about.
First he says, that He and God are one. There is an unity in the God head. One plus one =one. Jesus was God’s revealed will on this earth. If you want to know about God look to Jesus. If you want to know what God is like, how he is going to treat you, look to Jesus. It says in John 3:17 "For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him."
God’s will for this world is salvation and Jesus brought that salvation, brought that will to this earth. The God of wrath that is seen in the Old Testament is also the God of grace as revealed in Jesus. God is more than the vengeful God of the Old Testament, he is the loving God of the new.
Jesus says in John 5:36, "For the works which the Father has granted me to accomplish, these very works which I am doing, bear me witness that the Father ha sent me." Jesus and God are one, their purpose is one to save, to redeem a fallen world.
But not only does Jesus say the he and the father are one, but he tells the disciples that they and him are one. There is a togetherness, an unity, a harmony, a common cause between him and the disciples. There is a bond that links Jesus with his disciple, just as the bond of love links Jesus and his father in heaven.
The Christian Herald once carried an article about a Senior Executive of one of the largest banks in N.Y. city. He 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 "
Now just think of what we can accomplish in life, if we had the attitude that Jesus is standing by our elbow, and we are following his directions, his advice, his guidance as we go about our journey?
"In Yakima, Washington, sometime back a dying man made a strange request. On his deathbed, Grant Flory said to his family: "Get me to the Mustangs’ playoffs. No matter what." He was referring to his old high school team, The Prosser Mustangs. So in early December, when the Mustangs played in Seattle’s Kingdome, Flory’s cremated remains were in attendance. His son Dwight approached the stadium gate wearing a camera bag that contained his father’s urn. He was stopped by a guard who asked what was in the bag. "It’s my dad," he replied. The guard looked puzzled but allowed the ashes inside.
Family members said anyone who knew Grant Flory wouldn’t be surprised by his request. He was a real football fan."
That football fan was dedicated. Are we as dedicated to Jesus? Are we dedicated to have Jesus at our elbow through life? Sadly, many are not!!
It is the dream of every pastor to have a congregation filled with people who are that determined to be in worship every Sunday. I need not even say to you that there are church members who are much more dedicated to their favorite sports team than they are to God. They give more money to their team. They know more about the players on the roster than they ever will about the heroes of the Bible. And I will not live to see the days when people in the average congregation will sit in a cold, miserable rain to worship God like many will do to cheer on their favorite team. Perhaps that’s because we don’t understand the essential nature of the church. I believe if we could see the church as Christ sees the church, we would not take attendance as casually as we do.
He is telling us we are one with him, there is an unity, a bond, a link that brings us into his presence, and that presence can, should and does affect our lives, so that we might then become like Jesus, we might become his presence in this world to bring love, mercy and compassion.
Yes, Jesus wants to be at our elbow, giving us the wisdom , the power, and making us a team with him as we journey through life. But we must be dedicated. We must come together in his house each week to keep that bond alive.
Jesus wants to be our guide. Like a blind man following another with whom he has taken a hold of the guides elbow. We are to take a hold of the elbow of Christ and be guided in our love for Him and in our love for those around us.
"There is a story about a mountain guide who lived in the mountains of North Wales. One day, two mountain climbers came to his cabin and asked if they could stay with him as they climbed the hill and mountains. The guide said yea, and asked the men if they needed a guide.
"There is no need , "said the man "we don’t need a guide, we have our compasses, we have our charts, we have our maps that will bring us back here."
"But" said the guide, "I know the mountain tracks like the back of my hand; I know where the dangerous pits are, I know where the tall cliffs are, I know how to guide you around those and through those difficult places."
But the men just said again and again, but all of that is on the map, we can make it.
Then the old guide smiled and said, "You may have the map, but the mist is not on the map "
Yes, that gospel message that we are called upon to proclaim has been briefly outlined for us by Jesus. He reminds us he and God are you, and He tells us that we and him are one. He is at our side, he is at our elbow giving us the power to live life, and giving us the guidance as we journey through the mists of life. As we live and wait for the Pentecost experience coming next week, let us focus on that gospel message so that we might, when filled with the spirit’s power, proclaim that message not only in words, but in our actions, in our lifestyle, in the power of the risen Lord in our lives.
One plus one plus one equals one in God’s math. Jesus and God are one, and we and Jesus are one.
Amen
