John 17:11b-19 * May 24, 2009 * Easter 7 * Pastor Pagels

In the name of Jesus, our risen and ascended Savior, dear friends:

Two people are engaged in a spiritual conversation. One of them is doing most of the talking because something is weighing heavily on his heart. He wants some advice. He wants someone to help. But more than anything else he just needs someone to listen.

And so that is what the other person does. It's not his problem, but by listening he takes at least some of the burden off his friend. He wishes that he could do something. When it’s his turn to talk he wants to say just the right thing. But he realizes that this problem has no magic solution. There is nothing he can say to make it go away, but that doesn't stop him from saying something at the very end of the conversation. He leaves his hurting friend with these words: “I'll be praying for you.”

That phrase reminds me of some advice my dad gave me about ten years ago, right after I was assigned to St. John's. I don’t remember his exact words, but what he said went something like this: "When you promise people that you will pray for them, you need to make sure that you actually do it."

I have a confession to make. There have been times when I didn't heed my father's advice. There have been times when I broke my promise to pray for someone, and maybe you have too. It wasn't deliberate. It wasn't intentional. But because we aren't perfect, we aren't perfect prayers either. We pray selfishly. We pray thoughtlessly. And sometimes we forget to pray altogether.

No one can pray perfectly, except for the one person who did everything else perfectly, Jesus. He prayed for his friends. He prayed for his enemies. He prayed for God’s will to be done. And in the text before us this morning, he prayed for his disciples, which means that your ascended Lord is also praying for you.

You don't have to wonder if Jesus has forgotten you. He will never forget you. You don't have wonder if Jesus will keep his promises. He keeps all of his promises. You don't have to worry about anything because...

YOUR PRIEST PRAYS FOR YOU

I. A prayer for your divine protection

II. A prayer for your divine mission

Maybe you noticed that I just referred to Jesus as your priest. Why? Why not “Your Lord Prays For You” or “Your Savior Prays For You?” Either of those would have been good ways to describe Jesus, but I specifically chose the word “priest” because today’s sermon text comes from a prayer that has been called Jesus’ High Priestly prayer.

It was Maundy Thursday evening. Jesus and the disciples were in the Upper Room. He had washed their feet. He had given them communion. He had just finished telling them that they would have trouble in the world, but then he went on to tell them to take heart because he had overcome the world (John 16:33).

And right before Jesus led them out of the city to the Garden of Gethsemane, he prayed. Like the Old Testament priests who offered sacrifices on behalf of the people, Jesus our Great High Priest offered up a prayer to his heavenly Father on behalf of and in the presence of his disciples. With his eyes lifted up toward heaven he prayed:

“Holy Father, protect them by the name you gave me--so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that the Scripture would be fulfilled” (11b,12).

For the better part of three years Jesus had been mentoring his disciples. He had instructed them. He had protected them. And with the exception of Judas (who decided to go his own way and ultimately went to the place where he belonged) the Lord had done an excellent job. So why did Jesus need to ask his Father to take over? Why did Jesus pray for the Father to protect his followers? Because things were about to change.

Jesus’ prayer continues: “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them” (13). Exactly six weeks after Jesus uttered those words he ascended into heaven. He ascended into heaven because his work on earth was complete. And from that day up until this day Jesus has been at God’s right hand ruling over all things for the good of his church.

But the men who were in the Upper Room with Jesus didn’t know that. They didn’t know what was going to happen. When Jesus talked about leaving them, they probably didn’t want that to happen. And when they heard the words Jesus was praying, my guess is that their hearts were not filled with joy. Maybe they were sad. Maybe they were afraid, but they were definitely not filled with joy…not until later…three days later.

When the risen Lord appeared to the disciples they were afraid, but they were also filled with joy. Because their friend was alive? Yes, but even more importantly because their Savior was victorious. It was their joy to know that the devil had been defeated. It was their joy to know that death had been destroyed. It gave them great joy to know that their sins had been forgiven.

That is our joy too. That is the definition, the essence of Christian joy. Our Savior lives, and so will we. Our Savior is victorious, and so are we. But it doesn’t always look that way, does it? It doesn’t always feel that way, does it?

Being a Christian in the world isn’t easy. Living as a Christian in an anti-Christian world isn’t the easiest way to make friends. In fact, sometimes it makes you a target. Jesus said as much in his prayer: “I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world” (14).

Last weekend Pastor Leyrer’s sermon focused on the distinguishing mark of a Christian. Do you remember what that mark is? It’s love. Jesus told his disciples: “As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34,35).

A couple chapters later, on the same night, in the same Upper Room, Jesus spoke about another distinguishing mark, something else that makes Christians stand out. It’s not love. Actually it’s the opposite of love. It’s hate. In his prayer Jesus declared that Christians will be hated by the world.

Why is that? If Christians strive to be loving, then why are they hated? It’s not just because we are sinful, because Jesus was sinless and the world hated him too. They hated him because he drew a clear line between right and wrong. They hated him because he wasn’t afraid to call sin sin. They hated him because he didn’t look the other way, because he looked people right in the eye and told them to repent.

And when you follow in Jesus’ footsteps, you can expect the same reaction. You might be left out. You might be passed over. You might be challenged. You might be mocked. But no matter what form the persecution takes, the underlying cause is the same. The world hated Jesus, and it will hate anyone who follows him.

Even though Jesus knew what was about to happen to him, even though Jesus knew how the world was about to unleash its hatred on him, that didn’t stop him, and it didn’t stop him from praying for his disciples either: “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one” (15).

Remember that the disciples were in the same room with Jesus. They were listening as Jesus was praying. They heard him pray about protecting them. That sounded pretty good. They heard him pray about sharing his joy with them. That sounded good too. But then he clearly stated that they would be hated. That didn’t sound so good. And so maybe they were hoping that the next words out of Jesus’ mouth would go something like this: “Father, please come down immediately and deliver them out of this hostile world and take them to the glory of heaven.”

But that’s not what he said. In fact, Jesus said something very different. He said: “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world” because they had important work to do in the world. Jesus’ prayed for his disciples’ protection because he had chosen them to go out on a divine mission.

Jesus prayed: “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world” (17,18). A good mission prayer includes two key elements, and Jesus’ high priestly prayer contains both.

It all starts with the Word. The Word isn’t just true. According to Jesus, it is truth. It sets people free from sin (John 8:32). It accomplishes what God desires (Isaiah 55:11). God’s Word reveals God’s grace. God’s Word is the channel through which the Holy Spirit gives us God’s grace. Equipped with that Word of truth, Jesus’ disciples become Jesus’ apostles when he sends them out into the world.

In one sense this prayer includes all of us. On a certain level we are all apostles. We have been given God’s Word. We have been placed in the world. When we leave church this morning each of us will be entering our personal mission fields.

But Jesus also encourages us to ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into harvest field (Matthew 9:38), and just a few days ago the Lord heard and answered that prayer. Thursday was Call Day at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. On that day thirty seminary graduates were sent out into the world. Our senior vicar Adam was sent literally to the other side of the world when he accepted a call to serve in China.

Should Adam be nervous about going to a foreign country, a country that isn’t exactly known for its religious freedoms, a country where Christians are hated and persecuted? No. Adam has nothing to fear because he has God’s Word, because he has God’s promises, because Jesus is praying for him.

On this Memorial Day weekend Americans remember the men and women who sacrificed so much to preserve the freedoms we enjoy. Since this weekend has been set aside as a time for remembering, this might also be a good time for you to remember the great things God has done for you.

He set aside his divine glory for you. He lived a perfect life for you. He sacrificed his life for you. He rose from the dead for you. He has ascended to prepare a place for you. He is coming back for you. And in additional to all of those things today Jesus your Priest assures you that he is praying for you, a prayer for your divine protection, a prayer for your divine mission. Amen.