7th Sunday of Easter
John 17: 6-19
"In between Time"
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.
12 While I was with them, I kept them in thy name, which thou hast given me; I have guarded them, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled.
13 But now I am coming to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
14 I have given them thy word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
15 I do not pray that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from the evil one.
16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
17 ¶ Sanctify them in the truth; thy word is truth.
18 As thou didst send me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth.RSV
Grace and Peace to you from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus who is the Christ. Amen
An ancient leaned tells of Jesus’ ascension into heaven. He is met by the angel Gabriel who ask him, "Now that your work is finished, what plans have you made to insure that the truth 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 began to lose patience. "Really now, all this is well and good, but surely you must have other plans to make sure your work was not in vain."
Jesus fixed Gabriel with a steady gaze and said with finality, "I have no other plans. I am depending on then!! "
Jesus said he was depending on the disciples, depending on them to spread the message of love, mercy, and compassion to all the world. He was depending on them as he said in Matthew 28:19 " Go and makes disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit, and lo, I am with you to the close of the age." Jesus was depending on the disciples, but he would not leave them alone, for he promised them a helper, one who would come in power to give them the needed power to spread his message.
The disciples knew all of this. And today in the church year is a day of waiting, a time for reflection, a time to stop, to ponder, to listen quietly, to pray, to feel, to experience, to wait and to wonder.
In the sequence of things, last Thursday was Ascension Day, the day Jesus rose into heaven, and next Sunday is Pentecost, the day the spirit of Jesus, His Holy Spirit visits the disciples with power, it is the birthday of the church.
Today, is a waiting day, a day to reflect upon all that Jesus had said, all that he had taught, all that he had done.
I imagine the disciples at this moment felt confused, felt alone, felt lost, were wondering what was going to happen next, were wondering if this was the end or just a beginning as Jesus had promised. They probably felt frightened, alone, insecure, amazed, and perplexed.
They had just seen Jesus rise into heaven, they had just seen their friend, their teacher, their Lord go away from them. This was a glorious event, for now they were certain that Jesus was with the Father, now they knew for sure that Jesus was indeed the Son of God, now they knew for sure that Jesus and the Father were really one.
But on the other hand, now they were alone, without their friend, without their leader, without their companion. Yes, today in the lives of the disciples was a day that was really in between times, in between the time when they had Jesus with them, and before the time when they would be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. Yes, this was a awkward time for the disciples. It was a time for them to think about the words of Jesus, to dwell on his teaching, to recall his promises for them.
And I think it is very appropriate that this text from John’s gospel has been chosen for today. For if the disciples were to think about this text, if they could recall this conservation with Jesus, if they could remember these words, this in between time wouldn’t seem so frightening, nor would they seem so alone.
This was Jesus’ high priestly prayer. The prayer that Jesus prayed with his disciples before the events of Holy Week. He prayed this to comfort the disciples who could not understand this prayer then, but now following the death and resurrection of Jesus’,following his ascension, now they could really appreciate the words of this prayer, now they could understand what Jesus was saying, what he meant.
As we look at this prayer of Jesus, we can see that the disciples could have drawn strength from it they could power, they could draw assurance that indeed would be with Jesus again somehow.
Jesus says: "Holy Father, keep them in thy name which thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we are one."
Jesus praying that the disciples would remain in faith, remain in the name of the Father, remain true to the teaching that he had taught them. This is important for the in between time.
It would have been so easy for the disciples to forget all that Jesus had taught them, it would have been easy to say: well it back to the fishing boats, it is all over. It was good while it lasted, but Jesus is gone, we are alone, there is nothing more for us to do, let’s go back to something we know, something we can do. It would have been very easy for the disciples to have thought this way. But if they could have, which I am sure they did, remember this prayer of Jesus, then they would of have the power, the strength and the encouragement to wait, to stay in Jerusalem for the coming of the Spirit.
Jesus wanted the disciples to have faith, to remain true to the Father, to believe in the promises and teaching he had given them. Jesus knew that in a little while after his ascension, the disciples would have the needed power of the spirit to carry forth his work, so he prays that they would remain true they would remain in the faith.
It is like a sail boat that bobbed up and down in the waves as the brisk wind made the tree tops dance. The sailboat was clean and smooth, yet it hovered helplessly next to the dock
The sails danced playfully in the power of the wind, but the boat did not move. Other ships cut across the lake with glee in the wind’s silent grace, but the boat at the dock did not move. Its sails shook in the wasted breeze. Its hardware rattled and banged with eagerness to be used, but the ship drifted helplessly in the windswept water.
All the power was at hand, The wind drenched the boat with its force. The boat was ready.
But the boat did not move because the person at the tiller did not have the wisdom to use either the power nor the equipment. He did not have the knowledge to set the rigging, and did not even know how to direct the craft to receive all the glorious power around it."
The disciples were exactly like that. They had all the power from Jesus, they had the mission spelled out, they had the tools at hand, but they didn’t know how to use them, they didn’t know how to set sail.
They needed the Pentecost experience, they needed the guidance of the Spirit, they needed the power of the spirit to get their boat sailing in the breeze. Jesus prayed that while they waited for all this, they would be drawn together while they waited to get started in their mission, they would not loose faith, but they would remain in the Father.
There is something we can learn from this text and sequence of events, too. Jesus also prays for us to remain in the faith as we face the in between times of our lives.
There are many times when you and I are not quite sure of our faith, not quiet sure what is going to happen next, not quite sure what the future is going to hold for us. I think it is appropriate for us to recall these words of Jesus also. It is appropriate for us to know that even when we are confused, even if we don’t know what is going to happen, even if we cannot get our boat sailing, we still have a relationship with Jesus, we still have faith. We can still cling to his promises, we can still rely on his redemption in our lives. We might feel in between, but Jesus is still there for us.
People who have lost a loved one, people who are facing sickness, people who are confused about relationships with family members or spouse,it is in these situations, when we go from one situation to another, not knowing what is going to happen next, not knowing where we are going to get the strength to carry on, it is in these kind of situations that these words of Jesus cry out to us.
He says, remain in faith, believe in me, I will give you the power to see you through, I will be with you. As those words were comforting to the disciples, they are also comforting to us. In our in between times. Jesus is telling us to remain in faith, for our in between times will not be in between times much longer because he will come, he will be with us.
Not only does Jesus pray for the faith of the dsiciples, but He grays that they will be in his truth. He says: "Sanetify them in the truth, thy word is truth." Jesus is asking that his followers be made holy in the truth and then he goes on to define that truth, that truth is the word of God. In this in between time for the dsiciples, these words are directing them to the Father’s words, to the Fathers teaching, to Jesus teaching to make them holy. It gives them something to turn to, gives them something to rely on, gives them something to hold on to.
Jesus is directing them to a great resource in life, he is directing them to something that can help them now when they are uncertain about the future, that is the word of God. The disciples didn’t at this point have the New Testament writings as we do, but they did have the Old Testament, and they did have the oral teachings of Jesus. Jesus is asking that they rely on these. They study the Old Testawmnt, they retell his stories, they retell over and over his teaching to keep them fresh in their minds.
As the disciples faced an inbetween time in their lives, in between the Ascension and the Pentecost, they could recall these words of Jesus where he prays for them to remain in faith and to remain in the truth of God’s word.
As we face our in between times, and also our everyday living, we know that Jesus is praying for us to remain in faith, and remain in the truth of God’s word.
We thank him for those prays and we pray that he will give us the power to be faithful to him and to his words.
Amen
Written by Pastor Tim Zingale May 26, 2003
