Sent Into The World

Sent Into the World

13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world,

so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.

14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them,

for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.

15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.

16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.

17 Sanctify them by[d] the truth; your word is truth.

18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.” John 17:13-18

Intro: 40 days after the resurrection is the ascension.

But as Jesus is ascending into heaven he is sending those left behind out into the world to make disciples

and to transform the world. To discover unexpected joy in serving and giving.

Jesus is sending His disciples out on their own…, to be in ministry in the world and spread the Good News.

And that is a difficult task.

So, before he goes away he says a prayer for them.

He asks God to unify them,

He asks God to protect them,

He asks God to sanctify them

so that they may be able…, in the name of Jesus Christ…, to save the world.

He wants them to stick together for the sake of the world.

In verse 20 and 21 he says

“I pray for those who will believe in me through their message…, that all of them may be one,

Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You.

May they also be in us that the world may believe.”

Robert Fulgham wrote a book titled “All I Really Need to Know, I Learned in Kindergarten.”

He said, “When you go out into the world…, it is best to hold hands.”

Jesus said, “I pray that they may be one,”

The unity implied here is not that everyone will look alike, think alike and act alike.

The unity Jesus prays for more of a symphony,

where everyone plays well together, where everyone contributes to the greater whole.

So I ask you -- under what conductor are you blowing your horn?

To the beat of what drummer are you marching?

To whose tune are you singing your song?

This week we will be preparing for Memorial Day weekend.

For many, this coming weekend means a trip to the lake, a cookout with family and friends,

a dip in the pool, the beginning of those lazy, hazy, crazy days of early summer.

It was designed, however, as something entirely different.

Let us NOT forget, let us pause to remember that over the past 239 years,

over 1.2 million Americans have died in combat defending our freedom to worship, to play, to work, to speak.

Take time this week to say thank you to the Veterans who are still among us.

We are grateful to you for your gifts of service to this country.

In 1971 Coke a Cola started an ad campaign with a television commercial “Buy the World a Coke.”

It made popular the song “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing In Perfect Harmony.”

I'd like to build the world a home

And furnish it with love

I'd like to see the world for once

All standing hand in hand

I'd like to teach the world to sing

In perfect harmony, that's the song I hear

What would happen if the church would have such a lofty ambition?

What if we dreamed about peace in the world,

What if we tried to make harmony the goal and work the Kingdom of God?

The Prophet Isaiah chapter 2:4 declared “It’s time for the world to beat their swords into plowshares

and spears into gardening tools.

We are to exchange our individualism for the mission and ministry of the church.

Around the world and close to home, it’s time to stick together less the church perish apart.

A pastor I know told about a vacation he and his family went on.

They had rented a cabin in the mountains.

When they arrived they were greeted by the unmistakable smell of sewage

It had backed up into their bathtub.

What a wonderful welcome.

They called for a plumber…, who came and discovered that it was a problem with the main sewer.

He removed the tap and three feet of raw sewage shot out in the yard.

The plumber having diagnosed the problem offered a difficult and ethical decision.

He could stop the flood of sewer in their cabin and flood everybody else’s down the road.

What do you want me to do?