Dearly beloved,
Today we hear a bit of Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer. He is praying for the church, and we need it. Jesus was in the upper room on the night of His betrayal. Jesus preached His last sermon, washed the disciples’ feet, thereby preparing them for the apostolic ministry. Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper. Jesus ends it all by praying for the church. The part of that prayer that serves as the Gospel lection for today is most meaningful. This petition of the prayer focuses on the connection between the heavenly Father and Jesus. The Father is in Jesus and Jesus is in the Father. Unity. Oneness. One cannot speak enough about the unity of God. Jesus also speaks about those eleven disciples who sit at the table as He prays. Jesus’ prayer is that “they may also be in us.” Jesus wants the disciples to reside in He and the heavenly Father. Jesus also prays for their unity in the faith. This is critical. One of the great tools of Satan is to separate. Satan likes to separate spouse from spouse. He likes to separate parents from children. The devil especially likes to separate Christians from one another. So, Jesus prays that the love of the Father may reside in the disciples. This prayer is geared specifically to the ministry of the apostles. They will go out with the gospel after the dust settles. These disciples will become apostles and will preach, teach, baptize and consecrate the Lord’s Supper. It is their task to carry on with what they have seen and heard from Jesus. This apostolic task is handed on to pastors, such as Timothy and Titus. St. Paul encourages the pastors to stir up the gift given in the laying on of hands (2 Timothy 1). It is a difficult task, not just physically, but spiritually. Those given the task of preaching Jesus and forgiving sins will take enormous hits from Satan. The more right on the pastor is, the harder are the hits that Satan will deliver. This doesn’t leave you out, of course. The book of Acts demonstrates churches that aid in the church’s mission. There are wives, such as Lydia, who are concerned about their families. Men, women and children gather at the seashore to pray on their knees with St. Paul as he departs. Paul expresses thankfulness for the help of the saints, as they love, pray and give aid to him. We are all in this together, as I preach and forgive sins. You pray, love, give aid and help, as well. The unity of the faith is strong. But Satan always tries to divide the church, the body of Christ. He tries to separate pastor and people, volunteers, helpers and fellow saints in the faith. Satan tries to get people to exchange prayer for gossip. Satan would rather that we rule with the heavy stick of the law in the church--in boards, committees, offices rather than the sweet mercy of the gospel. Satan would rather we use harsh words instead of kind words against one another. These things all tend to separate the unity of the faith. The root sin of ruling with the law, gossip, and judgment is the sin of pride. We all have it. Pride is a killer because we like to set ourselves above everyone else. The Christian faith is just the opposite. The prayer of Jesus shows us the true way of living the faith. Jesus being in the Father and the Father in Jesus shows meekness and humility. The disciples residing in Jesus and the Father shows meekness and the giving of themselves over to Jesus--a submitting of sorts. St. Paul says it best: “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience, forbearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive”(Colossians 3:12-13). Paul does the Christological thing by connecting the behavior back to Jesus. It sounds so good, but it is not easily done. I do not often do it like I should. None of us do, but St. Paul is laying out the pattern of the church. Jesus is the servant of servants. He resides in the Father and the Father in Him. So, too, the church abides in Jesus. Jesus sets the pattern and we follow. Jesus is the servant of servants. Jesus is merciful. Jesus forgives. Jesus forgives you. If you are like me, then you listened to those words of St. Paul and are cut deeply by the knife of the law. Serving in the church as pastor and people is to be “lowly, meek, compassionate, humble, patient, forbearing one another and forgiving.” But Jesus is the merciful One. Jesus is the forgiving One. If you are like me, then you need more grace, more forgiveness. As you live out the Christian existence in your family, maybe you need forgiveness in your marital relationship. Perhaps as children you need forgiveness for separating yourself from your parents. Maybe parents have separated themselves from their children. Maybe you have separated yourself from God. This is all the work of Satan, but residing in Jesus as you do by virtue of Holy Baptism, you remain in the love of Jesus. The love and mercy of Jesus is here for you. The pain and punishment that Jesus suffered on the cross is poured out in the cup of the Lord for you to drink. His love keeps growing. You are immersed by the gifts given to the church as they are distributed in the word and sacraments. You have the love of Jesus to the full. Jesus patiently leads in His own meekness as He continues to love you. His prayer from the upper room never ceases. His words are eternal, which mean that His prayer for the church to abide in Him will continue, as He faithfully and mercifully forgives you of all of your sins, lovingly bringing you into Him with the hand of peace. -- Rev. Chad Kendall Trinity Lutheran Church Lowell, Indiana www.trinitylowell.org
