Given at the Lynnville, IL UMC on June 1, 2003. The Scripture is from the Gospel of John 17:6-19…

 

You may find this hard to believe, but until I started college I was very, very skinny. I mean, I was one of those that you could literally count my ribs if I didn’t have a shirt on, and sometimes even if I did! So, needless to say, football was not my forte’. In fact, I had virtually no athletic skills at all as I was growing up. It’s not that I didn’t have any muscles… growing up doing farm work kept me in fairly good shape. But the time that I spent doing that work kept me away from doing any sports-type stuff… not that I ever really had much interest in it anyway. You see, my body was just never coordinated to do any of those kinds of things. I could swing a hay-bale up to the top of an almost loaded wagon, but I couldn’t pin anybody on a wrestling mat… I could swing a tire hammer and hit my mark almost every time, but never connect a bat with a baseball… my friends and I could toss and catch light bulbs to one another and never break a single one, but I couldn’t have got hold of a fly ball if my life depended on it… even today, I can toss anything solid into a trash can from thirty feet away and usually make it, but I doubt that I could even dribble a basketball anymore, let alone shoot it! When I weighed 155 pounds and stood 6 feet tall, my senior year of high school, I could play volleyball fairly well, and I could really sprint if I was psyched up for it. I remember being the first runner in an 880 relay… that is a four man team each running 220 yards then passing the baton… it was just PE, but I was worked up enough that (and I’m NOT exaggerating!) I was passing off the baton to the second runner as the first runners from the other teams were barely more than halfway around. But by far, that was more the exception than the rule! So it was that for all of my school days, I don’t recall EVER being the first one picked to be on a team, no matter what we were playing. (I don’t think I was ever last, but I came awful close a couple of times!)

However, it was a different story when it came to the finer arts. The schools in Hartford had a tradition of each class doing some kind of program for the parents each year. Since my voice was always the loudest and clearest, I would always be chosen to be the announcer, narrator, or whatever that year’s ring leader was called. Later on, as I would try out for various choirs I was always accepted, and as I tried out for special groups within those choirs I would also be picked for those. (I have one of those voices that may not work well doing solos, but can be really strong on the bass line.) And throughout my high-school years, and on a couple of occasions since, I was very excited to try out for and get some kind of part in various musicals and plays. (I remember playing the part of the girl’s father in The Fantastiks when I was 28… I had to dye my hair gray and practice walking with a ‘stoop’. Today, that all comes naturally!)

The point of all this is that I am well acquainted with the emptiness and dread that comes from NOT being chosen for something as well as the thrill and excitement of being chosen for something special. And I am certain that each of you sitting here today are just as well acquainted with those same feelings, though they are probably for very different things. Both of our Bible readings today have to do with choosing. In Acts they drew lots, after praying, to replace the twelfth apostle. And in the verses from the Gospel of John, Jesus is praying for those same apostles.

Let me quote from the Life Application Commentary… “John 17 contains Jesus’ great intercessory prayer. It is not the prayer of agony in the Garden of Gethsemane but an open conversation with the Father about his followers… It expresses the deepest desires of Jesus’ heart for his return to the Father and for the destiny of his chosen ones.

In today’s verses, Jesus has turned his attention to his followers. He wanted them to hear what he had to say to his Father about them and his desires for their future. The prayer almost takes the form of a progress report on the success of Jesus’ ministry. He reviewed their identity as owned by God. He repeated his own objective to give them the words that came from the Father. He formally turned them over to the Father for safekeeping. He was pointed in stating that his prayer was not for their safe removal from the world, but for their safe conduct within the world.”

As many of you know, I stand before you today as one who has begun the process of becoming a Licensed Pastor, and if God deems it so I may continue and work towards becoming a Deacon or even an Elder. It is, sometimes, a very slow, very deliberate process… there have been many loops and turns and hoops to jump through. And I have sometimes wondered if all of it was really necessary. As you know, in the Church of Christ which I grew up in there was no such thing as a minister or pastor… we each took turns leading the service and delivering a sermon.

And so, there have been times during this process that I have questioned the need for me to do and be any more than I already am… after all, I am very happy being here with you every Sunday, and am working very hard to build some new programs and build up attendance. The singing trio Breath of Glory will be performing here next Sunday, and I am in talks with a number of other singers in hopes of getting them to appear here later in the summer. We will be starting our Western Bible study next Monday, and lot’s of people have expressed an interest in attending. And I hope to set up a one-day Vacation Bible School this July. This is all very important work, and I feel very privileged that God has chosen me to be a part of it! Do I really need a piece of paper or a bunch of letters before or after my name to serve God? The answer, obviously, is a resounding NO! So I have questioned, at times, the need to continue on through this process… until I read today’s verses. I’m talking, in particular, about that last verse… “For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.”

Most of the translations that I looked at say ‘sanctify’, though some did say ‘consecrate’ or ‘give’. And so it would seem that Jesus did intend for these followers to be set apart for sacred use, cleansed and made holy. Perhaps the concept of Ordination isn’t as foreign as I once made it out to be. So, for the moment at least, I will continue moving down that path at whatever speed God deems feasible. And I ask all of you for your continued prayers and support throughout all of it.

However, let me read what Jesus says next… “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.”

Each and every person who has become a Christian since the time of Jesus’ ascension has done so through hearing the message presented by those present as He spoke these words. We have that message through the Gospels that they wrote and the people that they taught, who have taught others, who have taught others, who have taught still others until we reach those who have taught us… and those whom we have taught!

The Life Application Commentary states that, “Jesus’ great desire for his disciples was that they would become one. He wanted them unified as a powerful witness to the reality of God’s love. Unity between believers is not often mentioned as the catalyst for someone becoming a Christian. However, Christian unity does provide an environment for the gospel message to make its clearest impact, and lack of unity among Christians frequently drives people away.

“Unity in Christ grows as local church groups practice Christ’s teachings. This unity can expand as groups of local churches discover they can practice larger efforts in obedience to Christ. Because Satan’s power is directly challenged by these examples of unity, we can expect resistance. We can also expect simple resistance from people who confuse human loyalties and traditions with the command to obey Jesus. To achieve Christian unity, we need Christ’s help and the Holy Spirit’s restraining power.”

What are you doing to unify the body of Christ, the church? Are you praying for other Christians, avoiding gossip, building others up… are you working together in humility, giving of your time and money to exalt Christ, and refusing to get sidetracked by worldly matters?

Jesus has chosen each person here today for a special task! And He needs you NOW! He needs your devotion and your faith… He needs your hands, eyes, and feet… and He very much needs each of your tongues to spread His Word near and far!

Let us, each of us, rededicate our lives to doing the work of God! Let us rededicate ourselves to teaching our young, our friends and neighbors, and each other about the Glory of Christ! And let each of us rededicate our lives to living the Faith that we know we should be and work to let others know that faith through us!