Prayed for By Jesus
Sermon Note:
There is not a sermon recording from this week’s worship gathering. Instead of a traditional sermon, we participated together in a practice called Lectio Divina, in which we listened to the words of Scripture read 3 times in three different translations, with some times of quiet in between the readings, during which we listened for God to speak.
Scripture Reading: John 17:1–11 (NRSV)
1 After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. Read more…
Looking to Sunday
by Elaine Poproski
There’s a common little word in ancient Greek: hina (ἵνα). It’s a conjunction, which means it joins things together. In English, we use conjunctions like and, but, and or. In Greek, hina is used as a way of expressing purpose. For example, a couple weeks ago, we read John 14:13, in which Jesus says to His disciples,
“I will do whatever you ask in my name,
so that [hina]
the Father may be glorified in the Son.”
This little conjunction is super important to understanding what Jesus is saying because it ensures we don’t treat Jesus’ words like He’s promising that His name is some kind of magic spell we use to get whatever we want. There’s a specific purpose connected to the promise – the Father’s glory.
This week we’re going to be reading from John 17, which follows on the heels of Jesus’ conversation with His disciples since chapter 13. In chapter 17 we move into Jesus’ prayer for His disciples and once again we encounter this little conjunction. It’s in the second half of verse 11, which reads this way:
“Holy Father, protect them in Your name that You have given me,
so that [hina]
they may be one, as we are one.”
I’ve been praying a lot these past few months for God to protect my family, all of you, our country… I’m not just praying for protection from this world-stopping virus, but from all the things attached to it: people’s employment, mental health, violence (especially in families), our church. If I had to attach a so that to my prayers, it would probably be so that I don’t lose them or so that they don’t suffer. In John 17, Jesus knows He’s leaving and He knows things are going to get tough for His disciples so He asks His Father to step in and protect them. What I find interesting is that He doesn’t ask this so that they’ll be safe or so that they won’t suffer. He asks it so that they will be one as God – who is Father, Son, and Spirit – is one. In other words, He’s not praying that they won’t be persecuted or harmed like He’s about to be. He’s praying that their fellowship won’t be broken. He’s praying that God will protect this new creation, which is the Church.
We who are Walmer are a local manifestation of that same Church Jesus prayed for in John 17. What that means is that just as He didn’t pray for them to be safe from harm, but instead prayed that their unity (their fellowship, their identity as a body or as a family) would be protected, so does He pray that we would be one. And just in case you’re not convinced He was also talking about us, a bit further on in the prayer, He prays this: “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word” (v. 20); that’s us.
As you prepare for Sunday, I invite you to consider what it might mean for Walmer to be “one”. What is it about the unity of the church (locally and globally) that is so important it was among some of Jesus’ last words as He faced His own impending death? What does this unity even look like in this age of physical distancing and virtual gatherings? How does this priority of Jesus’ impact the way you live your faith and connect in with church?