In this chapter of
John’s gospel Jesus, knowing he will soon be leaving his followers, prays for
them. Part of the prayer of Jesus shows that he speaks about you and
me. Jesus has prayed for those he has
with him and then proceeds to include all those who, in later times, come to
believe in him. At this time he is
completing the final part of his very short ministry on earth. He has gathered a nucleus of people on whom
he is to relay to maintain the momentum he has started. They are the ones who will take the good
news to the wider world.
As times goes on they
will find themselves drawing vast numbers of believers into the fold and what
will become the new church will grow and spread throughout the world. It began with twelve men from Galilee. Eventually millions will believe in Jesus,
the Messiah. There will come
difficulties with many different strains of Christianity. There will be Roman Catholics, Orthodox,
Coptics, Protestants and many more. Within these groupings will be formed many
sects and denominations, all followers of Jesus. Many of these Christians will at least know
of, if not, recite the Nicene Creed. In
those words we find this expression: one
holy catholic and apostolic church.
Like
many others, at first I could not understand the inclusion of the word,
catholic. It is common to speak of
members of the Roman Catholic Church simply as catholics. We have a number in our family since our son
married a Roman Catholic wife. David,
some years back, decided to become one himself. Ever since I can remember, we have accepted
this word to refer to members of the Roman Catholic Church. So when we first hear the expression, “one
holy, catholic and apostolic church we find confusion. But what is meant is simply ONE church, universal.
Today’s gospel
passage is the place where we can find understanding. This is simply because Jesus speaks of his
prayer as including every single believer, both present and future. There is no mention of different groupings
because Jesus has a single vision that sees all of us together. Any future boundaries have been drawn up by
others.
In reading this
passage we must realise that there is, in the mind of Jesus and of God, no
difference just because we belong to this denomination or that. In the eyes of God all are equal. But, at the time Jesus was praying,
something great was being created. It
was the church universal. The various
forms this great body would eventually take were not on the agenda. Indeed, it is true that they never were and
that humankind has erred in letting it all happen. Be that as it may, we are all here and
worshipping and this is the important thing.
Whilst it is
sometimes difficult to honestly include in our hearts all the different
groupings of Christians as part of a single family we do have to accept that
Jesus is inclusive. We need to see the
whole of Christianity as a single entity, united in our returned love for
Jesus. When we consider the prayer
contained in today’s gospel reading we need to see in it the comment by Jesus
which desires our unity to be based on the unity between Jesus and his heavenly
father. He says: “May they all be one,
as you, Father, are in me and I in you, so also may they be in us, that the
world may believe that you sent me.”
So, not only do we
have a sense of the importance of unity, but there is also the very real need
for this to lead to the whole world realising that it is included in universal
salvation. It is vital that the world comes
to know that Jesus, Son of God, is for them and all who are yet to be
born. This universality of the purpose
of the coming of Jesus is extremely important.
In context, we need to remember that the prayer under consideration is
offered up very close to the time when Jesus was arrested in Gethsemane. In context, therefore, we see that it is
part of many matters that have to be established before Jesus is taken from his
ministry by his enemies. In one sense,
three years is quite a long period in which to begin the work of delivering
God’s love for the world to the world.
Yet it is also a very short period in which every important truth is
established in the hearts and minds of those who followed Jesus at that time. As a planning exercise it was vital to get
the key parts in place so that the gospel would go forward in the hands of
people like us.
When the gospel is
preached in today’s world, as in any other time, it is vital that the result is
that the penny drops. Unless this
happens the work of spreading the gospel is incomplete. Another thing is that we need to see for
ourselves that, when Jesus speaks of himself in the Father and the Father in
him, we are not think of ourselves on the outside looking in in some privileged
way. The amazing truth is that we also
have our place in that expression of unity.
We are included in the single unity:
Father, Son and us. Jesus never
intended to leave us on the outside of this relationship. This is how he is inclusive.
The work of gospel
spreading has been going on now for over 2,000 years – Quite a thought
really. Generation after generation has
taken the baton and run its own section of the race. Here we are today, worshipping God with that
baton in our hand. But there is a
sobering thought to consider too. The
Church of Jesus Christ is never more than one generation away from
extinction. If we were to fail to pass
on that baton we hold then the church, and its work, would be no more. When I was worshipping in my teens I was in
a congregation counted in three figures.
I really felt to be secure in a great group of the faithful. Almost sixty years on the picture is very
different. The original secure feeling
when part of large congregations is no longer the experience. The first church where I preached was a few
miles outside Burnley in the countryside above Todmorden. Getting here and back entailed three bus
journeys. I can clearly remember seeing
the crowds waiting outside the Roman Catholic Church in Burnley as the bus took
me past. They were waiting for the next
service which would follow the Mass that was going on as they patientlywaited
outside. That is no longer the
case. We live in a different era.
I say all this in
order to emphasise that the proximity of extinction for the church is a
reality. Passing the baton is
absolutely vital. This generation must
pass the baton to the next and we are much smaller than we used to be. It looks frightening, doesn’t it? But we have to keep steady and remain firm
in our belief that the work of Jesus will continue. He prays, not just for those with him then,
but for us today. We may be less,
numerically, but we still have the strength to hold that baton and then offer
it to our next runners. So we need to
be awake and ready to pass on the baton, which is the word, to others. In Mark’s gospel, in relation to end
occurrences, Jesus is quoted as saying “It is like a man away from home: he has
left his house and put the servants in charge, each with his own work to do,
and he has ordered the door-keeper to stay awake. Keep awake, then, for you do not know when
the master of the house will come.” It’s all about being prepared at all times in
the mission we have been given.
The baton we carry is
the mission itself. Being active as a
church is vital so that we pass this activity on as the relay baton. We look back at past times and see quite a
different world in terms of church.
From that historic view we can learn what was best of all the work we
were involved in. As for the present we
need to have a vision before us. In
Proverbs we read “Where there is no vision the people perish.” Here is a reminder in a different form to
keep watch. If we don’t watch it is
certain we shall have no vision. But
that vision is not necessarily our view of the future of the church. If what we do know is of value then we shall
pass the baton to others who will have a foundation on which to build other
work which is their responsibility to continue. We have no control over what happens when
our successors are in charge, so we need not concern ourselves.
Returning to the
prayer of Jesus we need to remember that it really was us that he was praying
for. It means that we are important as
part of the mission and that what we do must carry the same high level of
importance. Remember that Jesus was not
just passing through when he came to Palestine. He was establishing a church which had to
continue right on into the future. Too many
Christians sit back in expectation.
They expect things to get better in this great cause without their own
input. Sometimes they don’t realise how
crucial they are to the success of God’s mission. We are told “The first shall be last and the
last shall be first.” But this does not
mean that the last are to be an inactive group waiting for advancement. I have heard people say, “God will not allow
his church to die.” If they mean
something external will revive it they are wrong. The Church is commissioned to do this job
and no one else.
As vital parts of the
whole we have to think what we can do to advance what was once described to me
as “the greatest cause of all.” We may
feel very weak because our numbers make it seem so, but God can place in each
of us the required energy to make that difference we pray for. If five loaves and two fishes can feed a
multitude we should know that small numbers are not a barrier. Amazing things can happen.
Like Jesus, we must
pray fervently for a vision and the strength to bring it to reality. If we don’t believe this can happen why are
we here today? There was a boy who behaved very badly in Sunday School and he tried the teacher's patience sorely. The teacher knew he had potential, saying "one day that boy will know" and it
turned out to be true. Long after that
time my work as a preacher has continued.
God has stuck with me and, even when I thought my work was losing and
inspiration fading, new strength and vision came and kick started the work once
more.
Grasp that baton and
remember that Jesus was praying just for you.
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