Lesslie Newbiggin, Anglican missionary to India wrote:
‘’When a man is going on a long journey, he will find time, on the eve of his departure, for a quiet talk with his family, and will end – if he is a man of God- by commending to God not only himself and his journey, but also the family whom he leaves behind.
Very surely this will be so, if his journey is the last journey.’’
These are among the last words by Jesus. Jesus is not talking to his disciples. He is talking to God and we are invited to listen in. It is holy ground isn’t it, the God head in conversation…
You may say – if this is Jesus speaking with God, how useful is it to me?
Well, first we need such prayers to help teach us – these prayers are meant to be overheard, so we can study them and learn from them. Like the heartfelt prayers of Jeremiah of Nehemiah. In Acts 16 we have recorded the content of the praying by Paul and Silas in prison, after suffering, while facing an unknown future, they praised the known God.
- Jesus and spirituality.
Well the first point we can just miss by it being so obvious! Jesus prayed. In the gospels, he was a man of prayer. Jesus spirituality was made visible. He modelled a life of worship, prayer and devotion and love for God that left a mark on his followers. Remember the Jewish model of discipleship was not about communicating information only, a disciple would follow his rabbi around and spend hours with him, seeing how he did what he did as well as what he taught.
An example is how as parents we know this how our kids will imitate us, more than we like to think. We seek to imitate Jesus relationship with God and that includes a vibrant prayer life.
Our gospels don’t only point to Jesus works and the teaching but also to that personal relationship with God. We read how at times he went off alone to pray, other times he told his disciples they had to pray, and at times we read, when Jesus was ‘’alone’’ in prayer, the disciples were nearby – Luke 9 says – once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him.’’ Jesus made his spirituality visible. They asked him to teach them to pray and he did.
We are reminded. Christian life includes conversation with God – a dynamic relationship we enter into through prayer and surrender, through faith and trust in Christ and his death, and as it begins with prayer, the talking begins and keeps on.
2. Jesus interests.
What are Jesus’ interests as he prays. You could say the focus of this prayer is ‘’father the time has come. Glorify your son that your son may glorify you.’’
Jesus reveals his aim in life has been to glorify God.
V4 ‘’I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.’’
Jesus is so dependent on the Father; so oriented to what the Father wants, So desiring that God be glorified through his living and what he does. This has controlled every part of his life.
John 1 said Jesus displayed Gods glory – ‘’we have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only who came from the Father full of grace and truth.’’
And Jesus says he has accomplished the tasks he was given and his life has glorified God. Yet the prayer, shows it is not only about Jesus bringing glory. He prays
V22 – ‘’ I have given them the glory you gave me.’’
Glory has come through these disciples as they obeyed, accepted, believed.
Jesus prayer, he prays for us who will believe – and that means we hear what he prayed for you 2000 years ago – how awesome you were pray for by Jesus –
he prays that you and me and each of us at All Saints, will live a life that glorifies God, that we will show in all or our worship, in our actions, the same glory that Jesus showed on earth.
We are to be glory carriers. The same glory given to Jesus, he prays for us to have. My glory will be displayed by you – that is the aim – ‘’I have given them the glory.’’
That is incredible and humbling. But this is, we see, Jesus vision for the church. It is not just to be a community that heals people – so we can be whole – though that is important;
It is not just to be a community that teaches truth so that people can be build up and shaped by knowledge – though wisdom is valuable.
It is not just a community that evangelises so that it will grow its numbers of the body – though our mission to the world is crucial.
The church is a community that invites people in the world to touch the glory of God, to be changed by it and to carry it to the world. Remember John 15 ‘’this is to my Father’s glory that you bear much fruit showing yourselves to be my disciples.’’ Spiritual fruit is that fruit which glorifies God…
That prayer makes me ask:
If Jesus aim is that we are glorify God, a question we ask about our life as a community, a question to ask about my life as a disciple, is God glorified by that choice, that decision.
It may not be an easy question or an obvious one, yet it needs to be in mind. Jesus said – I have brought you glory by completing the work you gave me do to.
3.Jesus and the church.
So how can we or any church bear fruit that glorifies God?
4 ideas we can see in Jesus prayer.
Encounter Teaching Fellowship Mission.
Encounter.
Some people have a spiritual interest – there must be more than this. Some seek places where God seems present, where he can be met, where you could truly say ‘’the Lord is here, his Spirit is with us.’’
Jesus prays v22 – 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.’ God is present in his people individually as well as corporately. Christian spirituality is about God who indwells us – ’ How, through the Holy Spirit who indwells each Christian.
Christian spirituality is about holiness – sanctify them he prays –
and Christian spirituality includes knowledge of The Father’s Love for Jesus – this is my beloved son the words said in baptism of Jesus – what did that mean, Jesus’ prayer is saying Christian spirituality means we can know and be guided into that knowledge of the love of the Father for the Son,
and Christian spirituality is about joy ‘’they may have the full measure of my joy within them.’’
This is a life affecting, experiential, relationship Jesus is promising and that is reflected in our corporate worship as well as in our personal relationship with God.
Teaching.
Yet all Christian spirituality needs to be grounded in the truth, in the Bible. We need that historic revelation on which we can depend, else a church becomes like a ship without a rudder. Jesus prayer included – ‘’sanctify them by the truth, your word is truth.’’
So these words, mean that any seeker after God, any disciple, should grow in wisdom and knowledge as well as in encounter / experience.
And what knowledge teaches us is that any experience that takes us away from loyalty to Jesus is mistaken. The Spirit of God will never contradict what has been given by Jesus Christ in history – as John 16 says. The church is to abide in the vine – in Christ – the church knows and listens to it shepherds voice. The church returns to the truth as it works out its experiences today.
Fellowship.
People look for encounter, look for sound instruction, they look for community. Some, many, can feel alienated, lonely, unloved, disconnected. Jesus prays that the church will be that genuine community of strong unity. It is a clear theme through his entire prayer and shows how important it is to Jesus. Twice already in his farewell words he has said ‘’love one another’’ – unity needs that love that is like our Lord’s.
And Jesus connects our inner spiritual life with unity. See the words ‘’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.’’ The oneness we experience with him, should lead to an experience we share with others in the community. Our relationship with the Lord should remind us that with other believers what unites us is much more than divides us.
Henry Ford – American businessman said: ‘’Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.’’ Keep the unity of the Spirit Paul says in Ephesians 4 and then later he says – do not grieve the Spirit. Disunity in its many forms must grieve God’s heart. It goes against the prayer of Jesus. It is estimated there are currently 41,000 different Christian denominations in the world today; in 1900, there was 1600 only …
Yet disunity can affect each of us can’t it?
There can be a form of competition between believers. One feels the need to be better than another; or threatened by a believer, their spirituality, their ministry etc, or a wound that was caused in the past that has left a root of bitterness hiding below the surface…
What about not being upset at the fall of a believer you know? An inner smile when misfortune happens.
Or a secret desire that the latest effort by that believer will not quite work out the way they hope. The quite ‘’good’’ when it fails…
Jealously over someone being asked to do something and you were not…
Or have you joined in when someone starts criticising a Christian when the criticism is over simply opinion and preference?
Unity I think has a different face.
It is believing the best and speaking the best over everything God is inspiring and everything God’s people are doing for his glory.
Unity is about cheering.
Being a vocal supporter of everything that is good and of God in a believer, a church.
Unity. About
Compromise and appreciation, it means you don’t need to always have it your way or done by you and appreciating it has been done.
Unity – Reminds us
There is one church in Amersfoort.
But different expressions.
Mission.
We talk about being a church of UP, IN OUT. Jesus prayer reminds us that the church – the BODY – has a mission, a cause, just like Jesus had a mission in the world. The unity of the church, the quality of its life and its experiences of God, lead to a powerful witness in our world. V22 ‘’so that the world may believe that you have sent me.’’ Acts 1 says – I told you all that Jesus began to do and teach, suggesting he would continue to do and teach by his Spirit through his Body the Church. We bring the kingdom – his rule and reign – to reality wherever we go.
Encounter/ Teaching/ Fellowship / Mission. What Jesus desires to see in his church. Pillars for any church to build upon.
When I was in training there was a set of 4 Ws which summed this up – Worship, Word, Welcome and Witness.
The aim is that the church is to be an-other worldly community, that experiences the supernatural God in closeness, in power, in relationship; that grounds itself in the word of God; that generates a family that nurtures its members; and a community that understands what it is do to for Christ in the world – how it is to serve others and to share faith.
Conclusion.
Jesus prayer shapes us:
We learn about his spirituality and especially prayer; We learn about his interests and especially glory. We learn about his vision for the church – one of encounter, teaching, fellowship and mission – or worship, word, welcome, witness…
Jesus prayer was prayed and is not answered. So it encourages us as we think maybe about our church or other churches, to continue to pray for these things as he did.
Shall we pray…
Living God
So flood us with your mercy
That our parched souls
Dry hearts
And dull minds
May be refreshed by your grace
Filled with your love
And renewed by your Spirit.
Mould us into the people you want us to be
So that this church may become like a stream in the desert
Bringing blessing and new life to all around.
Through Jesus our Saviour, Amen.