John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15; 17:1-26
“The Battle Prayer of Jesus”
“The Battle Prayer of Jesus”
OUR LORD’S PRAYER Sung to Hymn Tune: MELITA (“Eternal Father, Strong to Save”)
Our Father, Thou who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name we pray. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, For by Thy hand we all are fed.
Our Father, God, forgive our debts as we our debtors now forgive. Into temptation lead us not; Deliver us from evil. Thine is the Kingdom, Thine, the power, Thine is the glory, evermore. Amen.
“The Comforter Has Come”
Some visual images that we may consider this Sabbath and allow to filter into our brains are Jesus at prayer, images of money, classical art images of Peter and Judas Iscariot. And a thought image to sing in our head is “Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying” # 429 in our hymnal. Of course when we get certain hymns and/or tunes into our heads we have a hard time getting them out or getting on with other things. And since our General Conference theme is “pray,” think about praying and prayer.
Jesus’ last hour was at hand, the moment of his greatest confrontation with evil. Before long he would be arrested, tortured and crucified. What does he do to prepare himself for battle? Jesus prays. Though there are many examples of Jesus at prayer in the Gospels, the chapter we read today contains the longest prayer we have. It is instructive to see how Jesus prays in his hour of greatest need. This prayer is often called the High Priestly Prayer. Given the content of the prayer, we might also call it a battle prayer. Jesus fought a lifelong battle against evil and the rule of Satan. Now, the culminating battle was at hand.
The great theologian Karl Barth described prayer in this way: “To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorders of the world.” Certainly this is true of the prayer Jesus prays. Jesus is enlisting the help of God in the greatest uprising against evil, the uprising that results in suffering, death, and the victory we call the resurrection. Jesus is asking that God equip him for the task of sacrificing himself for the sake of the world. He came to establish a way back to God and give the gift of eternal life. Jesus simply asks that God, who he addresses as Father, would enable him to do that. And that is pretty much in line with Jesus’ other great prayer: “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done.”
Only after Jesus has prayed for God’s will to be done, does he pray for the equipping of his disciples. Again, it is interesting that what Jesus asks for his disciples is that they might be equipped to carry out their mission. He has given the words of truth, and now it is their task to share those words. He prays that God will protect and sanctify them as they do.
Isn’t it interesting that Jesus spends a good portion of this prayer asking for the disciples’ protection from the evil one? We need to take that to heart and give more attention to it in our own personal prayers. Jesus is very much aware that his followers are participants in a battle. As they share the good news that God gives in Jesus, the forces of evil will do all they can to impede their efforts. Only through the power of God can they prevail.
Jesus is praying for protection for his disciples so that they do not become like Judas who is lured away by the devil. In the gospel of John, I believe, there are just two types of followers: the Judas type and the Peter type. The Peter type of followers grows in discipleship because they trust that God’s grace is greater than their sin. The Judas type of followers pretends to love Jesus, but they do not. The word that John uses for Judas is betrayal. The word means, “to hand someone over.” Judas pretends to love Jesus, but in the moment of crisis abandons him and hands him over to his enemies. There is much more of this in the church than we care to talk about.
The second characteristic of the Judas type is a life centered on money. When Mary of Bethany pours expensive ointment on the feet of Jesus, Judas is the one who protests that it should be sold and the money be given to the poor. John comments that he didn’t say this because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and wanted the money for himself. In other words, we need protection against money. It has the power to lead us astray. We are called to be good stewards.
The third characteristic of the Judas type is self-promotion and self-centeredness. John illustrates this by telling us that Judas had procured for himself the place of honor at the Last Supper. Somehow, after accompanying Jesus his entire ministry, he had not learned that the life of a follower is a life of serving others rather than being served.
Have you heard of “church shoppers?” Usually they announce that they will join a church that best serves “their needs.” There may be nothing wrong in this; however, shouldn’t the primary issue be to join a church where I can best serve the needs of others and carry out the will of God? Shouldn’t prayer for discernment be one of the most important things I do before I join a congregation? Might it be that God would be so bold as to direct me to a congregation where some of my needs might not be met, but where my spiritual gifts are greatly needed? When we look at the church solely from the viewpoint of a consumer rather than a servant, we are acting as Judas would.
In his High Priestly Prayer, Jesus asks for our protection and empowerment so that we will be like Peter and not like Judas. He prays, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (v. 17). How does God sanctify us in the truth? Do we not believe in the communion of the saints, which we take as referring to the fellowship of the church? We also believe in our use of holy things, which we call baptism, communion, and the word of God. That is how we are empowered to be the kind of people God wants us to be.
The first part of our reading this Pentecost Sabbath does not describe the coming of the Holy Spirit, rather Jesus’ promise to send the Spirit.
Now a promise is a serious commitment. A person should not make a promise without a reasonable expectation of fulfilling it; otherwise, it becomes an empty or deceitful promise that can cause disappointment and even pain – typified by the complaint of children to their parents or elders: “But you promised!” Fulfilling a promise is a familiar theme in fiction, popular entertainment, and song lyrics. Do we need to consider any promises that we have made? God and Jesus Christ did send the Holy Spirit and we will read that account in a moment.
Jesus could not send the Advocate (Comforter) until he departed from the disciples. When people who are close to us in life (family, loved ones, friends) are also at a distance, we often say we are with them “in spirit.” Consider what this means. So does being with someone in spirit mean thinking about him or her, imagining what he or she is doing, feeling with him or her, praying for him or her, or realizing that we share a common life united in the Holy Spirit? Consider also how to concretize this expression with something tangible like a gift, a phone call, an email or a card or a letter.
Jesus anticipated that his followers would be persecuted if they testified on his behalf. In our society the persecution Christians face most often is some form of ridicule, caricature, or insult. Have we worshipers ever felt persecuted for bearing witness to our faith and/or have we ever been ridiculed, caricatured, or insulted because of our faith?
As we clasp our hands in prayer, as Jesus did, we do receive the protection and power that we need to grow as disciples.
PRAYER:
Lord God, we pray against hypocrisy, as Jesus did. Empower us through the Holy Spirit to walk the Christian walk, as well as talk the talk. We pray, as Jesus did, against a life centered on money. Empower us to be generous givers and good stewards. We pray, as Jesus did, against self-centeredness and self-promotion. Empower us through the Holy Spirit to serve rather than be served. Overcome whatever is in us that would inhibit us from praying for others and asking for prayer. Help us realize that it is only as the Holy Spirit is invited daily into our lives that healing does occur. Holy God make all our congregations centers of mission, where we equip people through the holy gifts you give. We pray this in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
