The Seventh Easter of Easter / Year A
John 17:1-11
The Rt.
Rev. Peter James Lee, the 12th Bishop of the Diocese of Virginia, is
a masterful communicator with a great feel for his audience. I’ll give you an example. Some years ago, after attending a Lambeth
Conference, where all the Anglican bishops (and their spouses) from around the
world gather in England once every ten years, Bishop Lee gave a detailed report
of their discussions and deliberations to the clergy of the diocese at our own
spring conference. It was clear and
informative and something most likely only clergy would find interesting.
A few weeks
later, Bishop Lee spoke about Lambeth at the yearly gathering of the Episcopal
Church Women of the diocese. Here he
told the ladies nothing of what he had shared with the clergy. Rather he talked about the afternoon all the
bishops and their spouses loaded into dozens of buses and went off to
Buckingham Palace for afternoon tea with the Queen. He mentioned a special fund had been set up
so the wives of foreign bishops from poor dioceses could afford to purchase
clothing suitable to the occasion. The
ladies at the meeting let out a great sigh of relief when Bishop Lee shared
this. It was as if they themselves had
been spared a great humiliation. Then he
described in some detail what was served and how things went and what it all
looked like and by the time he was done most of the ladies felt as if they had
been at the tea with the Queen.
But Bishop
Lee saved the best for last. It seems a
young woman from the diocese – I think her name was Annie and she may have been
the chancellor’s daughter – was spending the semester studying in England and
Bishop Lee, who has some pull on the other side of the pond – managed to get
her an invitation to the tea. Annie was
surely one of the youngest and no doubt most attractive people at the
party. Bishop Lee related as he, his
wife, Annie, and a few others were chatting, a dignitary approached them,
begged their pardon, and asked their permission to introduce Annie the Duke of
Sussex, Prince Harry, who was standing right there, wearing whatever princes
wear at such an occasion and looking, well, royal. Most blessedly, it seems the finest schools
of Richmond suitably prepared young Annie for such a moment.
Now this
took place over 20 years ago, but I suspect there are still a few women passed
out in the pews of that church, having swooned at the thought of meeting a
prince at high tea at the palace. My
point: When telling a story, know your audience!
Beyond
entertainment purposes (come back to me ladies, and focus), I share this story
to help you to appreciate an important aspect of understanding the bible. So, for example, when reading one of the
Gospels – say John – it is helpful to ask who is the original intended audience
and what is happening in their lives. This
question helps to explain why the author shares some details of Jesus’ life and
teaching, while ignoring others. John
does it for the same reason Bishop Lee held two very different conversations
about Lambeth, even though they both were true of the gathering. Who is your audience and what do they need to
hear?
John’s is
the only Gospel to include what is known as Jesus’ “High Priestly Prayer.” After sharing the meal we now call the Last
Supper, Jesus offers parting words to his followers and then, in chapter 17, he
prays for himself, then for his followers, and finally for all believers. Most likely it did not happen like this (I
mean, decades later who could remember a detailed conversation word for exact
word?), but rather John collects various teachings, sayings, and themes of
Jesus and weaves them together in this setting as a literary device to say
something powerful to the people for whom he is writing his Gospel.
He writes
it some 50 years after Jesus’ life. By
then, John may just be the only living connection between Jesus’s initial disciples
and the current community of followers gathered around him. At first, this group functions well within
the local Jewish community; attending synagogue and participating in local
commerce and affairs. But over the years,
as their understanding of Jesus increases (scholars say they develop a “higher
Christology”), their beliefs become increasingly at odds with the teachings of
Jewish rabbis. Eventually John’s
community is forced out of the synagogue and barred from life and commerce in
the village, and various other forms of persecution ensue.
This is the
context in which John writes his Gospel.
Understanding this gives us an even deeper appreciation for the
intercession Jesus’ prays in today’s reading:
“And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world,
and I am coming to you. Holy Father,
protect them in them your name that you have given me.”
Then, as
now, the world is not a safe place, but for very different reasons. Then, as now, Jesus intercedes to protect the
faithful (remember the image I spoke of two weeks ago: the mother hen gathering
her chicks under her wings). I suspect
those initial readers took great comfort knowing God was protecting them, but I
doubt they flaunted it. I doubt they
used these words to as a directive to storm into the synagogue and brag about
how God makes them invincible. More
likely, God’s protection gives them a feeling of peace, the strength to
persevere, and a hope for a better day to come.
What does
God’s protection look like for us in our world today? Not long ago I drove past a church in
Smithfield with one of those message boards out front. On this day it happened to say, “COVID 19, in
the name of Jesus you are defeated!” If
only it was that simple, I thought. It
occurred to me a better message for the faithful would be taken from
Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” My faith does not tell me God will make a
pandemic magically disappear. Rather it
tells me we are all in this together and God is with us and is giving us
everything we need to get through this time together.
One of my
colleagues pointed out recently you can’t live life without taking risks. You risk your life every time you get in the
car and go for a drive. You have to take
risks, she said, but you don’t need to create risks! In other words, be smart, take precautions,
expose yourself to danger as little as possible! I imagine this is how John’s first readers
understood God’s protection and I suggest this is what we claim for ourselves. God gives to us peace and confidence, but we
will not push it as if our faith in God makes us invincible.
Another
colleague passed along something she had heard recently: Up until the middle of
March we were the Church Gathered, but overnight we became the Church
Scattered. We can no longer be together
in our building to worship, to fellowship, to study, or to serve. Yet, while we no longer gather, we are still
the Church, even if scattered. Speaking
of Holy Week and Easter Sunday, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry recently
expressed amazement and appreciation for how most Episcopal churches have adapted
to on-line worship. He said, and I
quote, “It was not easy, and it wasn’t always pretty, but dog-gone-it, we kept
the Feast!” And we did and we continue
to do so!
When Jesus
asks the Father to protect his followers who are in the world, he has a
specific outcome in mind. He does not
ask this so no harm will befall us. He
does not ask this so our lives can return to normal. He asks it so his followers may be one, as he
is one with the Father. For Jesus, the
focus is not on gathered or on scattered, it is on Church. We are still one, though scattered.
I sense the
strength of our community every time we gather for Morning and Evening
Prayer. I sense it as we gather on these
Sunday mornings. And I sense it every time
I cross paths with one of you, either here at the church or at the grocery
store or when I am out taking a walk or during a phone call. This time we are apart is reminding us how
important we are to one another. I so
look forward to when we can be together again, without fear or hesitation. Until then God is protecting us so that we
might be one and we are… yesterday, today, tomorrow, and no matter what
comes. We are God’s. We are in God. And nothing can separate us from the love of
God.
