Easter 7A – George Yandell
In the Acts reading, we are with Jesus and His apostles after his resurrection. He is offering his final words to them before his Ascension, which the church calendar observed last Thursday, 40 days after his resurrection. He said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” As his friends watched he was lifted up into the clouds. Then two angels garbed in white appeared beside them. They asked, “Why are you men from Galilee looking up into heaven- this Jesus will come again the same way you saw him taken up.” The apostles returned to Jerusalem and with the women who’d followed Jesus, devoted themselves to prayer. Luke has them waiting for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day we call Pentecost (50 days after the resurrection).
Jesus’ departure and the outpouring of Spirit enable his disciples to be at once in the world, yet not of the world, yet for the world as Jesus had been in his earthly life. [This sentence adapted from Preaching the New Lectionary, p.199, by Reginald Fuller, 1971 by the Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN] This is the launching pad for our ministries as his disciples today.
The Gospel passage is a portion of the “high priestly prayer” from the conclusion of Jesus’ Farewell Discourse in John (13:1—17:26). Jesus offered this prayer for his disciples—of every place and time—on the night before he died. As the passage begins, Jesus looks up to heaven and declares that his “hour has come”. This is the hour of Jesus’ offering of himself, and through that offering he will come to glory. What will appear by worldly standards to be a shameful repudiation of Jesus’ life and message will be the means of God’s glorification in Christ. Thus Jesus asks the Father to glorify the Son so that the Son may in turn glorify the Father. Jesus has been given authority to grant eternal life, through which the one true God and Jesus as God’s Messiah are manifested.
The earthly ministry of Jesus has given glory to the Father by doing the work he was commissioned to do. Now that the tasks are completed, it is for the Father to glorify the Son. Indeed, Jesus already possessed this glory while with the Father before creation. Making God’s true name and nature known to those whom the Father gave him is the central work with which Jesus was charged. Those individuals belonged to the Father as the Creator of all; but God entrusted them to the Son, who enabled them to obey the Father’s word.
Those so given to the Son have recognized that the Father is the source of everything the Son has received. Thus the Son has been able to give to his own colleagues this knowledge. (He has revealed to them the Father’s name and nature). This was possible because they trusted in him as sent by the Father; and Jesus is further glorified in them. Jesus offers this prayer specifically for his disciples, and not for the world that has rejected him and his mission. Jesus has overcome the world; but persecutions will threaten to divide his followers. Therefore, Jesus prays that they remain united, so their unity reflects the oneness of Jesus with the Father. [These paragraphs adapted from Synthesis, a Weekly Resource for Preaching, for Easter 7 Year A.]
Most of you have heard that we Jesus people are to be “in the world but not of the world.” Those words are drawn from the prayer Jesus prayed in the verses following today’s reading. “I am praying for them; I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours; all mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.”
Just think: Jesus is telling the Father that God is glorified in us. There’s no reason whatsoever to believe that our Lord prayed this prayer, known as his high priestly prayer, just once. It wasn’t like he said the prayer once and forgot about it. I believe this is his constant intercession for us. The words he spoke two thousand years ago, he speaks to us today, and the prayers he offered then he offers now. [Adapted from Fr. Ivor Kraft in Hieropraxis]
You are the recipient of Jesus’ prayer. Jesus has entrusted us to God’s protective care and loving kindness. What if we daily reminded ourselves, “We are the community for whom Jesus is praying now?” Jesus invites us into the intimacy of his relationship with God the Father. Jesus is bold enough to hold God to God’s promises- he says, “Father you have sent, you have loved; now keep, sanctify and let them be one.” Jesus opens his intimate relationship with God the Father to include us all. [Paragraph above adapted from The New Interpreter’s Bible, vol. 9, p. 798.]
Our final hymn 460 (in the 10:30 service) reflects this supreme inclusivity- read along with me stanza 2- Alleluia, not as orphans are we left in sorrow now; Alleluia he is near us, faith believes, nor questions how: though the cloud from sight received him, when the 40 days were o’er, shall our hearts forget his promise, “I am with you evermore”?
And stanza 4: Alleluia, King eternal! Thee the Lord of lords we own: Alleluia! Born of Mary, earth thy footstool, heaven thy throne: thou within in the veil hath entered, robed in flesh, our great High Priest: thou on earth both priest and victim in the eucharistic feast.” It’s no wonder that this hymn is sometimes called the Episcopal National anthem- its theology of joy reflects the fullness of the love and care God gives us continually. We are at once in the world, yet not of the world, yet for the world as Jesus had been in his earthly life. He is with us now and always.