Easter VII – Yr. B, 5/24/09

John: 17:6-19)

The Rev. Nan M. Cushing

On this seventh Sunday of Easter, between the Ascension and Pentecost, the Gospel, a flashback to Holy Week, personifies Christian unity.  The Easter Season readings consist of just two accounts of Resurrection appearances; the other passages are rather like memories of Jesus as he taught.  The miracle of the Resurrection thrust the disciples into the role of witness in the wake of an enormous void.  When the disciples began to grasp that Jesus was gone from their sight, they began to undertake the commission Jesus had given.  A reprise of his teaching serves to remind us that the disciples must have been mining through all they remembered of Jesus to find a place to begin their work.

After Judas defection, only eleven disciples remained to carry on and most of these had fled when Jesus was arrested. The Bible offers little information about what happened to them. Acts tells of Matthias, replacement for Judas Iscariot, chosen with a toss of the dice, the Old Testament way to discern God’s Will.  (Note they did pray before the dice were cast.)  Matthias may have been appointed as replacement, but then fades into oblivion.  In Acts, Peter and John are at work in Jerusalem, but it’s Paul who refers to himself as the new apostle. True, there are epistles bearing the names of Peter, John and James, but knowledge of the remaining disciples comes from stories inherited more from early tradition than historical fact or the New Testament.

Tradition tells that the early church spread out from Jerusalem, established by itinerant disciples preaching what they knew of Jesus’ teachings.  Beyond that any specific identity remains a mystery.  For example, the Gospel of Matthew is comprised of stories likely handed down through generations of oral interpretation within communities led by perhaps “the” Matthew or someone of the same name.  Although the author of Mark remains unidentified in the Gospel itself, early tradition reports that a companion, named Mark, to the disciple Peter wrote down what he heard Peter preach.

First John looks to be a letter circulated to address conflict of some type in a cluster of churches.  Some rebel group within a congregation or a rival group preaching a false gospel put pressure on loyal members, undermining the confidence of all.  Doctrinal and ethical disputes were rife when this epistle was written.  Not unlike today.

At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, promised by Jesus to come as their helper and guide, broke the barriers of language with tongues of fire and inspired many to believe.  Surely, the ripple effect of Pentecost is the important contribution to the spread of the Gospel because many individuals, beyond the twelve, were encouraged to preach.

Chapter Seventeen of John’s Gospel is best read in its entirety.  The portion read today is referred to as “the high Priestly prayer,” while verses 20-26 are known as the “Prayer for the Church.” This final prayer in its entirety is presents the institution of the discipleship community, the Church

Jesus, the high priest offers his work to God, as well as that of those who would pass it on to others.  The prayer isn’t like that of a condemned man.  There is no feeling of despair, only of hope and blessing.  Jesus completes His ministry on earth leaving the disciples in the care of God.  As Jesus consecrates himself He consecrates — makes holy — the lives of the disciples.  Thus, He bestows his legacy on all succeeding generations – an inheritance that comes to us through what is known as “Apostolic succession.”    In the ancient ritual of “laying on of hands,” the life of Jesus is carried forward in Confirmation and Ordination. Apostolic succession is the formal connection between the episcopate of today and the apostles of the first age of the church.  Jesus’ teachings, the gift of himself, his life and his relationship with God, the Father is a gift to be shared forever.

“I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world.  They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.  Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.” (17:6-8)

Subsequent disciples continue to instruct, revealing God’s nature, if not in words, then in the living example of Jesus.  Paul says, (1 Corinthians 11:23-24),

“For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you.  Do this in the remembrance of me.’”

In the Gospel of John, Chapter 17 is the Great Commission.

“Do this in remembrance of me,” the recurrent phrase as the wine and the bread are blessed, is written in our hearts. As Jesus prays for his followers to become “one” in Him (17:6), he also makes them one with the Father through Him:

And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world and I am coming to you.  Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. (17:11).

In remembrance of Him, we are His presence in a world that flees from commitment, especially a religious one.  Inherent to living with Christian values, we must ask ourselves if we can endure ridicule, rejection or persecution.  When faced with speaking our Faith, do we back off?  I may be standing here preaching, but I’m not immune to weakness.  Being a Christian demands, if nothing else that we honor others, even the least among us.  We must explore and discover our frailties in sharing ourselves as Christians if we are to live our witness.  Perfect attendance in church is great, but I think we do better paying attention to daily spiritual discipline and its practice in our places of work, as well as worship.

Perhaps, if we did so with conviction and commitment, church attendance would take care of itself.  We could attract new members, not have to hunt them down.  There is enormous hunger for spirituality in the present culture, especially in this era of insecurity.  At St. Andrew’s we do a fine job on Sundays, but ministry commands follow-up in daily practice where we live, where we work — in all we do.  That’s where the task becomes burdensome and hard to maintain . . . but the key phrase to recall is that we are “to practice in order to become.”

Church endures among people who are in communion in community.  Whenever we gather to hear Scripture, worship and reflect – whether Eucharist or Morning Prayer or even at meetings, there is the Church.  The Word given and the Word received is the legacy we share.  The common root of Christian life is Scripture where God speaks.  Jesus’ final prayer is for the life of all who are to come, as well as those who remain.

In verse 20-21, Jesus prays:  “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one.” This is the ONE Church — held together through centuries as Jesus described, “even as you, Father are in me, and I am in you.”  We are linked to one another, as Jesus is to His Father.

Trusting God’s promises and visibly living our faith sounds simple yet works so hard.  In our differences we can be one through the unifying action of God’s love.  ["By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (13.35)]

Each of us in this sanctuary is a precious gift of God to one another.  While we are in the world, but not of it, God’s creative love makes us unique and completes our true individuality . . .  not so we stand out or stand alone, but so each life becomes a life given back in the name of the living God. We grow into the stature God’s People, not just at Easter and Christmas but all year round . . . not just on Sunday but every day.  It is Christianity that recreates us and allows us to express the truth.  The church of Christ is more than an institution — It is a living being.