A Prayer For Disciples
Sermon
The Vine and the Branches
Eight Sermons For The Easter Season
If we want to know what is most important in someone's heart, we ought to hear what they pray and what they say as they know they are facing death. All the other incidentals and trivia are stripped away and we speak our deepest concern, our most avid and desperate worry at a time like that. It is for that reason this prayer of Jesus recorded in John 17 is of such importance:
'Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one (v. 11b).'
Jesus knew he now faced the cross in Jerusalem. He was speaking to God about great and serious concerns he had before his death. And what were those important concerns?
That those who followed him might not misunderstand and try to withdraw from the world.
That his disciples would remain united and one.
That God would protect his disciples from evil.
That his disciples be equipped with a heart and mind which would enable them to meet the challenge of discipleship.
Let's look, then, at these items that hung so heavy on our Master's heart and see what they mean for us in this church and in this day.
Jesus prayed that his disciples would remain in the world. 'I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one (v. 15).'
It's easy to think we should escape from the world and its temptations when we take on discipleship. Our Lord had a different idea! He saw discipleship as equipment to get through but never the means to avoid the trip. So, he called his disciples to a life of activity and service rather than retreat and seclusion. Not into the monastery but out into the world. Not out of, but into. That was his prayer and that is our directive.
Remember how Peter, James, and John had such a tremendous experience on the Mount of Transfiguration? God appeared to them in a cloud, spoke to Jesus, and Jesus even had a change in his appearance to the disciples. It was such a nice religious and emotional experience that Peter wanted to build a church and stay there. But Jesus informed him that disciples, after having a religious experience, must go down into the valley, into the world, and serve other people. That's the kind of discipleship Jesus was praying for those disciples.
Of course, there is a very important place in our life for worship and for prayer; we need always to study and deepen our spiritual lives. But, discipleship means action; it means to live and serve in the world around us.
'Don't coop your soul in a corner,' urged St. Theresa of the young women she was training.
Jesus died for our forgiveness in order that we might be put right again with our God. When that happens, we must go out into the world to minister with an enthusiasm for sharing all the undeserved we have received. There are those who are hungry and thirsty; there are those who are cold and shunned; there are those who don't know the joy of belonging to God's family like we do. All are waiting. It's just not correct or even recommended that we retreat to a withdrawn spiritual life. Out into the world, that's where the disciple's action is.
'As Lord Rosebery, the British Prime Minister, wrote of the purposeful and striking saintliness of the great Thomas Chalmers: ‘Again, it should be said that his saintliness was not that of an anchorite brooding in religious solitude. Here was a man, bustling, striving, organizing, speaking and preaching with the dust and fire of the world on his clothes, but carrying his shrine with him everywhere.' '1
There is a rhythm in discipleship life -- into the presence of God, out into the world. William Barclay puts it: 'Of course, there is need for quiet times, times when we shut the door upon the world to be alone with God, but all these things are not the end of life; they are the means to the end; and the end of life is to demonstrate the Christian life in the ordinary work of the world.'
We can easily violate Jesus' prayer for us here! We often see our Christianity as a release from our problems -- rather than a way to work through them to a solution. Troubles are not escaped or evaded here, they are faced and conquered!2
So, if you are hurting plenty:
with a disastrous marriage,
or a son or daughter is a problem,
or money is a terrible worry,
or you lost your job,
or a friend disappointed you,
God offers here, not escape from those problems, but the equipment to face them squarely and, with his help, to not only survive, but to do it with victory.
Jesus knew that one of the vital signs of an alive Christ after his crucifixion and resurrection would be response. That is, there would need to be a response from the Body of Christ for help to those who need, definite, practical help for life and all its complexities. Then others who saw the church would know that Christ really lives in them because through them they are helped. There is direct help when people have needs. That's a vital sign that he is alive still and now.
In order to provide that help for all who need, disciples had to be available in the world. Their religion had to talk about earthly matters and gut issues. Their worship language needed to be understandable and their worship practices meaningful. Everyday problems like marriage relations, trouble with children, sex, morals, ethical decisions all needed to be addressed.
It was, and still is, vital that the Body of Christ be the alive instrument through which Jesus' prayer for us is answered. Here in the world, on the cutting edge of life, we practice his alive presence.
Jesus prayed it for us: 'I do not ask you to take them out of the world, but I do ask you to keep them safe…' Rather than finding ways to abandon this world, we will always try to win it, assured he will keep us safe.
Jesus also prayed for our unity: 'Keep them safe by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one just as you and I are one.'
As Jesus prayed this prayer for the 12 disciples -- it was a bold prayer -- they would be against insurmountable odds. Yet, said Christ, they can do it because it's you and me and them and they can win the victory.
Jesus knew that when the disciples quarreled, picked at each other, allowed jealousies, bickered, continued to complain, the cause of his Christianity was severely damaged. So he prayed for unity.
That doesn't mean we all have to agree or think alike. It doesn't mean we all have to have the same opinions. But, it does mean there is one great, overriding principle we all are motivated by and will stand for and work toward. On this we are totally united. The gospel of salvation -- the presence of Jesus the Christ -- must be shared here. It is his church, his love, his forgiveness, his service to others we are and do.
As the ages come and go, Jesus says there are a couple of the supreme requirements of his church. First, that we should deepen our relationship to God, allow him to come to us and be always very near. And, out of that flows the second, that we will then become very close to each other. It is often true that because we live too far from God that we remain so distant from each other.
The gospel of Jesus Christ -- that is, the good news about our God, that he loves us and forgives us and takes us into his family -- that gospel cannot truly be preached and effectively experienced unless we are one united family of brothers and sisters.
We must also say it here: Competing churches, jealously in congregations and between congregations, exclusiveness and divisions, do continually tear down that which is very precious to our Savior. Jesus prayed that we, his disciples, might be united just like he and his Father were united.
Jesus prayed that we might have God's protection against evil. '… I do ask you to keep them safe from the evil one (v. 15b).'
I cannot explain where the evil comes from or just exactly why it is present. I do know that there is a strong power that works against God; and that power is subtle, and smart, and clever, and attractive. Call that power demon, devil, evil one, or Satan, or just plain us.
I did read once of a lawyer who went to a judge to complain that the client for whom he had just won a case had refused to pay his fee. 'Did you present your request in writing?' asked the judge. 'Yes, I did, sir,' replied the lawyer. 'And what did he have to say?' continued the judge. 'He told me to go to the devil,' answered the lawyer. 'Then what did you do?' 'Well, then I came straight to you, sir.'
No matter what you name it, we all know it continually presents a real danger to us.
There is a story that Alexander the Great once sent to a certain province a beautiful maiden whose breath was like perfume of the richest flowers. All of her life, however, she had lived amid poison, inhaling it until her body was full of poison. Flowers presented to her withered on her breath, and if she breathed on a bird, it fell dead. The legend embodies the truth that there are lives in whose presence nothing pure or beautiful can thrive, and whose moral breath is corruption and death.3
Not a man with horns and pitchfork and red underwear and with a tail, but a power that has dressed up and joined the church and that makes evil very tempting and respectable. Jesus knew that and prayed God to keep us safe from that evil which tempts us on every side.
'A man once dreamed he was in Hell. When asked to give an account of what he had seen -- if there were flames there, and suffering there, and wrecked and maligned creatures with whom he had to associate -- he said, ‘Yes, but there was something far worse than that; I was compelled to face my influence. I knew that I deserved punishment, for I had scorned and rejected Jesus Christ; but my sorest pain was to see what the effect of my life had been upon others.' '4
It's a great thing to remember when we are tempted to be destructive and mean and ungodly, that God himself is standing over our lives, trying to guard us and keep us safe. Especially when we try to live our lives on our own strength and cleverness this evil power is effective. It is then we must remember Jesus worked it out for his disciples to remain safe amidst all the evil of this world -- with his presence and support protecting us.
'… I do ask you to keep them safe from the evil one.' Jesus prays his disciples might have a heart and mind of truth which would enable them to carry out their discipleship. 'Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth (v. 17).'
The word translated dedicate here means ‘‘to set apart for a special task.' Indeed our Lord's prayer for us wants us to be set apart for a special holy task.
There are a number of examples in the Old Testament when God called and his people were set apart for a very special job:
Jeremiah 1:4 -- Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.'
Exodus 28:41 -- You shall put them on your brother Aaron, and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them and ordain them and consecrate them, so that they may serve me as priests.
Exodus 3:10 -- Moses stood at the burning bush and God gave to him a very specific responsibility to carry out. 'So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.'
But the words to dedicate can also mean to equip a person with the qualities of mind and heart and character which are important for the job to be done. If those disciples were to be effective servants of Christ -- their lives had to look and to be Christ-like -- they must ring true.
'When workers in marble in ancient Rome accidentally chipped their statues, they would fill in the chipped places with wax of the same color as the marble and then sell their work as perfectly wrought. Other statue makers, wishing to sell honest products, stamped their product sine cera (without wax). From this custom has come the modern word 'sincere.'6 Jesus prayed his disciples might be sincere.
That's so true for us. If we are to serve a holy God, we must live holy lives. So God not only selects us to be his disciples, but he also equips us with the qualities of life to carry out the task we have been given. In other words, God selects us to be his disciples, but he doesn't let it go at that; he continues to equip and help us with that which he has chosen us to do.
Jesus is praying here: 'Help them to devote themselves to it without reservation and as the end and purpose of their lives. Accept them as a people dedicated to your service, to the spreading of the truth, and the sharing with others what I have brought to them from you.'
He wanted them to catch the inspiration of his spirit, so that they might be utterly unable to keep out of this adventure, but would have to throw themselves into it. Given those elements, he felt anything and everything was possible.
That's our Lord's prayer for his disciples and for us. He was really saying in effect, 'Once you have selected them, God, for this holy and sacred task, stick with them and enable them to do it in truth and sincerity. Help them so they are not only set apart to be disciples, but are also given your presence and help through the whole of the discipleship that they must do.'
This means when God, through another member, the pastor, a committee, asks us to be true to our calling of discipleship, and to do a job for them, we do it in a special fashion. When we're asked to help with the feeding, clothing, comforting, exhorting, standing for justice, contributing, helping to do the witnessing, he goes with us and helps us as we try to do our best. 'Dedicate them to yourself by means of the truth; your Word is truth. I sent them into the world, just as you sent me into the world (v. 18).'
It's a great discipleship to which the out-of-the-grave and alive Master calls us. But just because he did come out of that grave, he can call us to such an exciting mission and service. He prayed for those early disciples and for us, that we would be set apart, equipped to carry out our discipleship, kept safe by him from all evil, united in a common cause and family, and out in the thick of things doing our discipleship.
It is a vital sign of the Body's life: The way and amount of discipleship we carry out as a result of our lives in him and he in us. And how great it is that he has prayed we might have God's help as we carry it out here.
It's a beautiful prayer: 'I do not ask you to take them out of the world, keep them one just as you and I are one, keep them safe from the evil one, and dedicate them to yourself by means of the truth.' Amen.
'Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one (v. 11b).'
Jesus knew he now faced the cross in Jerusalem. He was speaking to God about great and serious concerns he had before his death. And what were those important concerns?
That those who followed him might not misunderstand and try to withdraw from the world.
That his disciples would remain united and one.
That God would protect his disciples from evil.
That his disciples be equipped with a heart and mind which would enable them to meet the challenge of discipleship.
Let's look, then, at these items that hung so heavy on our Master's heart and see what they mean for us in this church and in this day.
Jesus prayed that his disciples would remain in the world. 'I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one (v. 15).'
It's easy to think we should escape from the world and its temptations when we take on discipleship. Our Lord had a different idea! He saw discipleship as equipment to get through but never the means to avoid the trip. So, he called his disciples to a life of activity and service rather than retreat and seclusion. Not into the monastery but out into the world. Not out of, but into. That was his prayer and that is our directive.
Remember how Peter, James, and John had such a tremendous experience on the Mount of Transfiguration? God appeared to them in a cloud, spoke to Jesus, and Jesus even had a change in his appearance to the disciples. It was such a nice religious and emotional experience that Peter wanted to build a church and stay there. But Jesus informed him that disciples, after having a religious experience, must go down into the valley, into the world, and serve other people. That's the kind of discipleship Jesus was praying for those disciples.
Of course, there is a very important place in our life for worship and for prayer; we need always to study and deepen our spiritual lives. But, discipleship means action; it means to live and serve in the world around us.
'Don't coop your soul in a corner,' urged St. Theresa of the young women she was training.
Jesus died for our forgiveness in order that we might be put right again with our God. When that happens, we must go out into the world to minister with an enthusiasm for sharing all the undeserved we have received. There are those who are hungry and thirsty; there are those who are cold and shunned; there are those who don't know the joy of belonging to God's family like we do. All are waiting. It's just not correct or even recommended that we retreat to a withdrawn spiritual life. Out into the world, that's where the disciple's action is.
'As Lord Rosebery, the British Prime Minister, wrote of the purposeful and striking saintliness of the great Thomas Chalmers: ‘Again, it should be said that his saintliness was not that of an anchorite brooding in religious solitude. Here was a man, bustling, striving, organizing, speaking and preaching with the dust and fire of the world on his clothes, but carrying his shrine with him everywhere.' '1
There is a rhythm in discipleship life -- into the presence of God, out into the world. William Barclay puts it: 'Of course, there is need for quiet times, times when we shut the door upon the world to be alone with God, but all these things are not the end of life; they are the means to the end; and the end of life is to demonstrate the Christian life in the ordinary work of the world.'
We can easily violate Jesus' prayer for us here! We often see our Christianity as a release from our problems -- rather than a way to work through them to a solution. Troubles are not escaped or evaded here, they are faced and conquered!2
So, if you are hurting plenty:
with a disastrous marriage,
or a son or daughter is a problem,
or money is a terrible worry,
or you lost your job,
or a friend disappointed you,
God offers here, not escape from those problems, but the equipment to face them squarely and, with his help, to not only survive, but to do it with victory.
Jesus knew that one of the vital signs of an alive Christ after his crucifixion and resurrection would be response. That is, there would need to be a response from the Body of Christ for help to those who need, definite, practical help for life and all its complexities. Then others who saw the church would know that Christ really lives in them because through them they are helped. There is direct help when people have needs. That's a vital sign that he is alive still and now.
In order to provide that help for all who need, disciples had to be available in the world. Their religion had to talk about earthly matters and gut issues. Their worship language needed to be understandable and their worship practices meaningful. Everyday problems like marriage relations, trouble with children, sex, morals, ethical decisions all needed to be addressed.
It was, and still is, vital that the Body of Christ be the alive instrument through which Jesus' prayer for us is answered. Here in the world, on the cutting edge of life, we practice his alive presence.
Jesus prayed it for us: 'I do not ask you to take them out of the world, but I do ask you to keep them safe…' Rather than finding ways to abandon this world, we will always try to win it, assured he will keep us safe.
Jesus also prayed for our unity: 'Keep them safe by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one just as you and I are one.'
As Jesus prayed this prayer for the 12 disciples -- it was a bold prayer -- they would be against insurmountable odds. Yet, said Christ, they can do it because it's you and me and them and they can win the victory.
Jesus knew that when the disciples quarreled, picked at each other, allowed jealousies, bickered, continued to complain, the cause of his Christianity was severely damaged. So he prayed for unity.
That doesn't mean we all have to agree or think alike. It doesn't mean we all have to have the same opinions. But, it does mean there is one great, overriding principle we all are motivated by and will stand for and work toward. On this we are totally united. The gospel of salvation -- the presence of Jesus the Christ -- must be shared here. It is his church, his love, his forgiveness, his service to others we are and do.
As the ages come and go, Jesus says there are a couple of the supreme requirements of his church. First, that we should deepen our relationship to God, allow him to come to us and be always very near. And, out of that flows the second, that we will then become very close to each other. It is often true that because we live too far from God that we remain so distant from each other.
The gospel of Jesus Christ -- that is, the good news about our God, that he loves us and forgives us and takes us into his family -- that gospel cannot truly be preached and effectively experienced unless we are one united family of brothers and sisters.
We must also say it here: Competing churches, jealously in congregations and between congregations, exclusiveness and divisions, do continually tear down that which is very precious to our Savior. Jesus prayed that we, his disciples, might be united just like he and his Father were united.
Jesus prayed that we might have God's protection against evil. '… I do ask you to keep them safe from the evil one (v. 15b).'
I cannot explain where the evil comes from or just exactly why it is present. I do know that there is a strong power that works against God; and that power is subtle, and smart, and clever, and attractive. Call that power demon, devil, evil one, or Satan, or just plain us.
I did read once of a lawyer who went to a judge to complain that the client for whom he had just won a case had refused to pay his fee. 'Did you present your request in writing?' asked the judge. 'Yes, I did, sir,' replied the lawyer. 'And what did he have to say?' continued the judge. 'He told me to go to the devil,' answered the lawyer. 'Then what did you do?' 'Well, then I came straight to you, sir.'
No matter what you name it, we all know it continually presents a real danger to us.
There is a story that Alexander the Great once sent to a certain province a beautiful maiden whose breath was like perfume of the richest flowers. All of her life, however, she had lived amid poison, inhaling it until her body was full of poison. Flowers presented to her withered on her breath, and if she breathed on a bird, it fell dead. The legend embodies the truth that there are lives in whose presence nothing pure or beautiful can thrive, and whose moral breath is corruption and death.3
Not a man with horns and pitchfork and red underwear and with a tail, but a power that has dressed up and joined the church and that makes evil very tempting and respectable. Jesus knew that and prayed God to keep us safe from that evil which tempts us on every side.
'A man once dreamed he was in Hell. When asked to give an account of what he had seen -- if there were flames there, and suffering there, and wrecked and maligned creatures with whom he had to associate -- he said, ‘Yes, but there was something far worse than that; I was compelled to face my influence. I knew that I deserved punishment, for I had scorned and rejected Jesus Christ; but my sorest pain was to see what the effect of my life had been upon others.' '4
It's a great thing to remember when we are tempted to be destructive and mean and ungodly, that God himself is standing over our lives, trying to guard us and keep us safe. Especially when we try to live our lives on our own strength and cleverness this evil power is effective. It is then we must remember Jesus worked it out for his disciples to remain safe amidst all the evil of this world -- with his presence and support protecting us.
'… I do ask you to keep them safe from the evil one.' Jesus prays his disciples might have a heart and mind of truth which would enable them to carry out their discipleship. 'Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth (v. 17).'
The word translated dedicate here means ‘‘to set apart for a special task.' Indeed our Lord's prayer for us wants us to be set apart for a special holy task.
There are a number of examples in the Old Testament when God called and his people were set apart for a very special job:
Jeremiah 1:4 -- Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.'
Exodus 28:41 -- You shall put them on your brother Aaron, and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them and ordain them and consecrate them, so that they may serve me as priests.
Exodus 3:10 -- Moses stood at the burning bush and God gave to him a very specific responsibility to carry out. 'So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.'
But the words to dedicate can also mean to equip a person with the qualities of mind and heart and character which are important for the job to be done. If those disciples were to be effective servants of Christ -- their lives had to look and to be Christ-like -- they must ring true.
'When workers in marble in ancient Rome accidentally chipped their statues, they would fill in the chipped places with wax of the same color as the marble and then sell their work as perfectly wrought. Other statue makers, wishing to sell honest products, stamped their product sine cera (without wax). From this custom has come the modern word 'sincere.'6 Jesus prayed his disciples might be sincere.
That's so true for us. If we are to serve a holy God, we must live holy lives. So God not only selects us to be his disciples, but he also equips us with the qualities of life to carry out the task we have been given. In other words, God selects us to be his disciples, but he doesn't let it go at that; he continues to equip and help us with that which he has chosen us to do.
Jesus is praying here: 'Help them to devote themselves to it without reservation and as the end and purpose of their lives. Accept them as a people dedicated to your service, to the spreading of the truth, and the sharing with others what I have brought to them from you.'
He wanted them to catch the inspiration of his spirit, so that they might be utterly unable to keep out of this adventure, but would have to throw themselves into it. Given those elements, he felt anything and everything was possible.
That's our Lord's prayer for his disciples and for us. He was really saying in effect, 'Once you have selected them, God, for this holy and sacred task, stick with them and enable them to do it in truth and sincerity. Help them so they are not only set apart to be disciples, but are also given your presence and help through the whole of the discipleship that they must do.'
This means when God, through another member, the pastor, a committee, asks us to be true to our calling of discipleship, and to do a job for them, we do it in a special fashion. When we're asked to help with the feeding, clothing, comforting, exhorting, standing for justice, contributing, helping to do the witnessing, he goes with us and helps us as we try to do our best. 'Dedicate them to yourself by means of the truth; your Word is truth. I sent them into the world, just as you sent me into the world (v. 18).'
It's a great discipleship to which the out-of-the-grave and alive Master calls us. But just because he did come out of that grave, he can call us to such an exciting mission and service. He prayed for those early disciples and for us, that we would be set apart, equipped to carry out our discipleship, kept safe by him from all evil, united in a common cause and family, and out in the thick of things doing our discipleship.
It is a vital sign of the Body's life: The way and amount of discipleship we carry out as a result of our lives in him and he in us. And how great it is that he has prayed we might have God's help as we carry it out here.
It's a beautiful prayer: 'I do not ask you to take them out of the world, keep them one just as you and I are one, keep them safe from the evil one, and dedicate them to yourself by means of the truth.' Amen.
