Jesus Prays For Our Unity

Seventh Sunday of Easter

May 12, 2013

John 17:20-26

Jesus Prays For Our Unity

In the name of Jesus.

A mother prays for her children.

She prays for their health when they are in the womb, when they are small and sick, and when they are grown up and live far away.

A mothers prays for their happiness. She prays and disciplines her children when they are rude, partly to help them from themselves as they get older. She cries out silently when her children are unpopular in the neighborhood or at school.

One of the most important things that she prays for her children is that they get along with each other. Perhaps she had a difficult relationship with her siblings and wants her kids to be there for each other, especially when they get older. Or maybe she has a great relationship with her brother and sister and wants that kind of bond for her kids.

This particular petition of mothers for their children is unique. I remember as a child praying to be healthy and happy. But it never occurred to me to pray for unity with my brothers and sister as we got older.

What kind of relationships do you have with your siblings? Are you close? Do you talk every week?

It's common (and Scriptural) that the Church talks about itself in terms of a family (e.g., the Bride of Christ, the body of Christ). Brothers and sisters in Christ, our church family, are ways in which we talk about our unity in Christ. We want this unity because Jesus wanted it and He prayed for it.

I pray that they will all be one, just as You and I are one—as You are in Me, Father, and I am in You. (John 17:21)

The unity of the Father and the Son is mysterious. They are two equal distinct Persons, and yet They, along with the Holy Spirit, are the one true God. This is the unity Jesus prays for us to have as the Church here on earth. He's not asking for a new trinity, but He desires out of many believers, one Church. He doesn't want souls scattered, but for believers to come together, whether it is two, three, or 400 in His name.

He wants this unity for every congregation, but this togetherness is also the goal for all believers everywhere.

But how do we unite and how are we unified? I'll answer the first question with the last sentence of the sermon and answer the second question first.

First of all, we are unified because of our common problem: we are dedicated to the proposition that we are created selfish and unequal. King David cries out from experience: “All have turned away; all have become corrupt! No one does good, not a single one” (Psalm 14). When someone asks for help, we wonder how this is going affect me? How much will it cost? How much time will it take? If I help once, do I have to do it again?

Ever try to watch the best television show ever, (insert show here), while your little kids are in bed, but not asleep. That's one way in which our true dedication to self becomes easy to see, to yourself, to your spouse, and maybe to your kids (even though you try to hide the truth from them).

Secondly, by faith we are in this together because of our common Savior Jesus. Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick… For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:12-13)

These two things are the things found in Jesus' prayer, precisely when He prayed, “O righteous Father, the world doesn't know (ἔγνω) You, but I do; and these disciples know You sent Me” (John 17:25). The Father sent His only Son to solve our problem. Earlier in His prayer, Jesus had asked the Father to give the Church unity so that the world would know that the Father had sent Him. Jesus longed for all people to know their Savior from their sin.

Loads of people look at the Church and think that there must be something to all this. They appreciate the good the Church has done for the world in the name of their God: helping to end slavery, treating mothers and all women with respect. They know Jesus, they like Him, but they don't trust Him. They don't know Him.

On the other hand, you do. You do know Him. You don't like Him; you love Him! You fear Him because you know who you are, a wretched selfish failure. But you trust Him, body and soul, because you know, you know who He is. He's the God who—united the will of His Father—became a wretched selfish failure to buy mankind the help that it desperately needed in Galatia and Macedonia and Illyricum and Italy and into all the places of this world, where this help from God has never been heard before, not just to every geography, but to every generation. This includes you and your home, whether you live off Kimberly Road, Locust, Devil's Glen, Rockingham, or 53rd Street.

In our homes and in our church our unity in Christ is often ripped apart by our unity in sin. Kids don't show any gratitude for their moms or they only show it once a year. We fail to silently sit with women whom God has denied the privilege of motherhood. We don't mourn with those who have lost children to death.

We are a sorry sinful mess and we need help. We need Jesus. Oh, Jesus, sweet and merciful Jesus, help us! Pray for us sinners and forgive us our sin! Send us help, love, and the Bread of life!

And He does. First He sends us mothers, and then He sends us Himself. We were lying helpless by the side of the road and our Good Samaritan found us and washed and healed us (Luke 10). And now He gives us food to eat, His own true body and blood, that unites us to Him and to each other.

He's risen! He's risen indeed! Alleluia!

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Lukewarm Leads to Death

Sixth Sunday of Easter

May 5, 2013

Revelation 3:14-21

Lukewarm Leads to Death

So because you are lukewarm,

and neither hot nor cold,

I will vomit you out of My mouth.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

If you think about the Book of Revelation, you might conjure up images of war, famine, dragons, and the end of the world as we know it. All that and more is found in John's revelation, but in the first three chapters of what St. John saw, we read about congregations wrestling with outside evil and their own sin.

Jesus wrote seven letters to seven congregations and their angels (pastors) in Asia Minor (modern Turkey). Many of these mini-letters in the first few chapters are filled with encouragement and warnings for them—except for the last letter, writing to the church in Laodicea. Jesus only had warning for the Laodiceans because this congregation couldn't have cared less. Jesus told them:

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot… you are lukewarm… neither hot nor cold (Revelation 3:15-16)

The pastor and people in this church were lukewarm. They were indifferent to God's promises. Laodicea was a town that was comfortable. They printed coin money for their part of the world. They were famous for their colorful wool. They even were a medical center that was well-known for making eye ointments.

So the Laodiceans were saying, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing” (Revelation 3:17).

They meant that they were surrounded by enough stuff to be physically comfortable. They had money, clothes, and medicine. They felt safe and healthy.

But they were dying. Jesus was about to “emetic” them out of His mouth. An emetic is a medicine used to make throw up and it comes from the Greek word Jesus used here. Most English translations are polite and translate what Jesus is going to do as spitting. But that doesn't quite get across how nasty this is. This is a full-body retching out of the stomach, not a polite spit from the mouth.

The people of Laodicea were just like the man in this parable.

The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, “What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.” Then he said, “This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.‘ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:16-21)

This should sound familiar unless we are too lukewarm to see the connection between Laodicea and Davenport. They and we don't actively worship money and possessions. But the man in Jesus' story wasn't some corrupt Wall Street banker or Washington senator; he was a farmer. He'd had a good year and built more barns. He was a man who was looking forward to retirement. What's wrong with that?

Nothing, except his indifference towards Jesus' promises. His indifference to Jesus didn't come from his money and barns—those things were gifts from Jesus, who gives all things to all people—but how he used them revealed what was in his lukewarm heart. He had refused to set his mind on Christ above.

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:1-3)

We are guilty of this same lukewarmness, this same indifference towards Jesus' gifts to us. We refuse to buy Jesus' gold, clothes, or medicine. Jesus said to the Laodiceans and to us:

I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. (Revelation 3:18)

We treat God's service to us on Sunday morning not as gold, but as a nice extra, as though by going we're doing God a favor and that He should be extra happy with us this week. And certainly we don't want to hear anything from His pastor during the sermon that in any way rebukes us, because, hey, we're here, and that should be good enough for God.

We are indifferent toward studying Jesus' promises on Sunday and during the week. Half of us treat Bible study after the service as an extra that can be skipped or that is simply for children. And almost all of us refuse to set aside time in our homes to let Jesus speak to us in prayer and song as we meditate upon His cross and ours.

We are lukewarm. It shows in how we treat Jesus as an accessory  a hat we put maybe once a week. We don't put on Christ. We are comfortable in our old clothes.

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:22-24)

What did Jesus preach to these old corrupt selves of Laodicea?

Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. (Revelation 3:19)

He called on them to turn away from their old indifference. He called on them to throw away their lukewarm attitude towards His gifts. Buy His gold for He has already bought it for you.

Our lukewarmness leads to death, but not our own. Christ burned up our indifference by His death on the cold cross that dripped with His hot blood from His sacred veins.

Dear fellow struggling lukewarmers, let us repent and confess our indifference to Christ, to each other, and to your pastor. And then be absolved and forgiven by the promise of our Amen, our faithful and genuine Witness, Jesus Christ. Trust His promise when He says,

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with them, and they with Me. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with My Father on His throne. (Revelation 3:20-21)

Christ can say these things and we trust them because…

He's risen! He's risen indeed! Alleluia!

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.