Jesus' Bucket List or The Glory of Love
John 17:1-11
JESUS’ BUCKET LIST
This section in my Bible is titled “Jesus prays for his disciples”. Just think about it - Jesus who is himself God, prays for his disciples. Even if we today talk about prayer as conversation with God, it is usually seen as subjects invoking a deity. Here we have God-the-Son praying for his disciples and later in the chapter in v 20 he speaks of praying for “those who will believe in me through their word” ie us! In our lectionary calendar we celebrated the Ascension of Jesus on Thursday and this reading gives us a glimpse into Jesus’ ongoing ministry having gone beyond our sight - Jesus’ ongoing work is caring for and praying for us!!!
This is another one of those liminal or “threshold” experiences in the Bible - the already but not yet. Back in chapter 13, Jesus washed his disciples' feet and Judas departed. The next 3 chapters are like an extended sermon and here, in chapter 17 we have Jesus’ high priestly prayer. It is a mix of prayer and teaching (in the form of prayer) and it is the last teaching of Jesus before his arrest. It is climactic. At one stage Jesus says he is “no longer in the world” and yet clearly he is - like I said - liminal/threshold. Jesus is anticipating his imminent crucifixion and departure. This gives a heightened importance to his words.
We get a glimpse into the relationship within the trinity, an insight into Jesus’ understanding of his own purpose, a new understanding of eternal life and finally a glimpse into the longing of Jesus’ heart.
Reading this passage afresh I see it as Jesus’ “I have a dream” speech or on a more prosaic level as Jesus’ “bucket list”.
God is a complex being. In the first epistle of John is that famous verse “God is love” and this only really makes sense when you realise the three-in-one love each other. Jesus’ prayer in John’s gospel gives us a hint of that love, unity, oneness. John’s mystical language mixes it all up with glory. I found myself thinking of that old 1930s song and the recurring line - “that’s the story of, that’s the glory of love”. It seems, for Jesus, that glory has to do with self-sacrifice and love rather than status.
Over the course of my life, I’ve had my feet in a number of camps and in the more strongly evangelical camp one would hear the line “Jesus came to die for our sins” But here, before his death, Jesus says in verse 4 that he “finished the work God gave him to do”. Perhaps you could argue that he was anticipating the cross but then he goes on to say “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me” or as it says in the New Living Translation “I have revealed you to the ones you gave me.” Jesus’ purpose, Jesus’ life was so much more than his death - it was to show us who God is.
Some people, when one speaks of eternal life respond with “but I don’t want to live forever”. Some think that we Christians are about “pie in the sky when you die”. Jesus’ words redefine eternal life for us. It’s not something that happens after you die its a quality of life that starts here and now because it is rooted in relationship. Eternal life starts when we are in relationship with God, it is a quality of life experienced within that loving relationship of the Godhead. This is more than just me and God in a cozy twosome - it is us and God and us and each other. The final words in our reading today express Jesus’ longing, Jesus’ dream, Jesus’ bucket list “that they may be one as we are one”.
Nowhere in Jesus’ prayer do we find the external trappings that we associate with church - nothing about buildings, no flowers, no robes or processions, no songs or liturgy. There is nothing wrong with any of those things - they are just not top priority. The MOST IMPORTANT THING according to Jesus is unity, love, relationship. Being in relationship with God and each other. Connection, caring, being a team.
Perhaps that is a learning we can take from this eucharistic fast we are living through. This pandemic has shown us the fragility of our world in a way none of us would ever have thought possible. As a doctor I have read stories of my colleagues in other countries being inundated with desperately sick people. Colleagues who, in spite of taking every precaution became ill also and too many of them dying. In mid-March in a town in Skagit County, USA there were no known cases of Covid19 - so they decided to go ahead with their weekly choir practice. 60 singers showed up, they used hand sanitiser and refrained from hugs and handshakes. No-one at the rehearsal appeared ill, there was no coughing or sneezing. 3 weeks later 45 had covid19, 3 were in hospital and 2 were dead. It is the many stories like this that have lead to the strict guidelines for church and other gatherings.
We have all been encouraged by the number of days we have had with zero or one case. BUT - The “tail” of Covid has been observed to be long in other countries, other places have lifted restrictions and this has lead to new outbreaks. Some of you may feel you have had a good long life and if something has to take you then surely Covid19 is no worse than anything else. But if you got sick what of those to whom you could pass it on? friends, family, doctors, nurses, those in your church family … The recurring phrase a hashtag, if you will, is “it's not just about you”.
If we return to our reading today - what is Jesus’ dream, his longing his prayer? What does he deem of such supreme importance that this is what he speaks of and prays for in his final hours. What is Jesus still praying for now? It is unity, love, caring. This is the supreme value we must apply to all our decisions and even more for the decisions we make as disciples of Jesus, as the body of Christ here in Otumoetai in 2020. What is the most loving thing we can do? The issue is NOT - “what are my rights?”
Out of love for each other and for the surrounding community, let us be willing to sacrifice a little longer, not rush, not demand. Let us consider how we can show love for one another in other ways. We can call or write. We can visit each other (in small numbers). We can keep our social distance and wash our hands. We can pray for each other. We can pray together over phone or zoom or skype or when visiting a friend. Jesus, the One we follow, modeled love, unity and sacrifice.
Let us pray Jesus’ prayer with him.
O God our loving creator
We thank you for the eternal life we experience now - the eternal life of knowing and being known by you, of loving and being loved by you.
Jesus’ example of self-sacrifice inspires and challenges us.
May we know the glory of sacrificial love as we seek to love others.
Thank you for revealing yourself to us as a community of love.
As we press on to know you individually and together,
may we individually and collectively
express love, caring and unity
in such a way that our relationships
with you, with each other
and with our surrounding community grow.
May this love and unity bear witness
to the world
of the glory of God.
We ask this in the name of Jesus, our liberator and in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
bucket painting found here https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/568157309215477247/
Comments
Post a Comment