I was out of town - on vacation in Chicago (very nice, saw the new Art Institute building, drank way too much wine with my lil sis) - until Saturday afternoon and wrote my sermon that afternoon. That is really late for me.
I'm not really happy with the sermon - but the final image came to me at the last minute, and I added pictures for the big screen. I liked the last part, so did others.
So here it is - with pictures.
Easter 7 B, May 24, 2009 – “An Identity to last” John 17:6–19
(An Identity to last – you are the person Jesus prayed FOR)
I teased D. about this Sunday’s topic. I wanted him to dress up like a king – march in with a crown and a purple cape (I’m not sure how I would have found one long enough) and have him knight our youngest worshippers. The king or queen alone can make a knight or a dame – That authority, to change the status of a person, rests only with those with the highest power and respect.
At that point – you have an additional identity – you are ennobled. Just like kings of old could nominate a follower for higher status – so Jesus calls out his disciples in at the end of his ministry. We are given an identity – and identity that lasts – we are called his friends. We are ‘his’ and because of that we are God’s. We are part of God’s family and we are part of God’s on-going mission.
This is the time of year when some people celebrate graduations – significant transitions that hold both excitement about a new future, and a poignant sense of goodbye. Completing high school or college or graduate school ushers the individual into being someone new – it is a moment of identity change. You can’t go back. In the same way those who participate in the military understand – once in, always changed.
And for the church – for the faithful, it should be the same. Once Jesus is real for you, once you have come to know the Lord, you are always changed. You have a new identity that will last – beyond all others – beyond death itself
We are God’s children, Jesus’ friends…and for us Jesus gave his life. And in John’s Gospel, Jesus, knowing what is to come, offers this prayer that we are allowed to overhear. It occurs right after Jesus’ last supper with his disciples. He has washed their feet and given them his last teaching for them. Now he prays to God.
His prayer is for those Jesus leaves behind. It is for those disciples who lived 2,000 years ago and for the believer today…you and me… we who live complicated and layered lives, who carry many titles and identities. Jesus prays for you and me – (1) to remain in him, (2) to be safe, (3) to be one, (4) to be transformed.
He prays that God will protect the believers from the evil one. Jesus sees the evil one as a real threat – should we not at least take notice of this?
We think we are strong, and smart, and too modern for such old-fashioned language – but maybe the evil one knows that and adapts to our blind spot. Lutherans believe that sin is real – but don’t forget, we also believe that we have a most powerful advocate – and can return daily to the miracle of the baptismal washing.
So Jesus prays that God will be with us in the world. Jesus then asks that the disciples will be one. And Jesus prays that we will have joy.
All these things are mixed together – it’s clear that the continuing presence of God is a gift, the grace of God, that will move in us to be united – to love each other – and that in process of being united we will find joy. Personally, I think we find this in worship – when we gather with a common purpose and learn to put ourselves aside for a short time, to focus on the One great Gift of God. Someone once said that singing is the only time on this side of heaven when many can occupy the same space.
Jesus’ final request is that we be sanctified in the truth.
Sanctification is a word we don’t use often. Remember, it means purified or made holy. This is not something Lutherans have been comfortable with in reference to ourselves, because we are usually focused on the reality of not being perfect before God. But here it is – in Jesus’ prayer – that we be set apart and shaped by the truth.
Last Sunday John and I finished watching Masterpiece Mystery, and since it was some time like 9:20 – we stayed to watch the next program. You know how PBS catches you that way. The program was about glass-blowing. A famous artist and designer called his friends together to re-create some of his most beautiful glass designs.
We were fascinated – these talented artisans took ordinary stuff – sand, chemicals, black wooden tools, simple iron tongs and snips, and pulled and manipulated and blew and even danced with the molten glass to create objects of stunning beauty. Out of ordinary stuff of life comes incredible beauty. There, I realized was a parable for our sanctification.
That is what Jesus desires for us, that we become things of beauty
– that our lives – the ordinary stuff of our lives
– the relationships, the stories, the work, the sleep, the time alone, the time together – the joys and the sorrows, the high celebrations and deep, deep sadness – all work together to make us more like Jesus – to set us apart , to make us fit for God.
This happens when we walk with God on a daily basis. We have to submit to the tools that he uses. It happens when we consciously turn toward God and accept God’s love. We turn our lives over to him as the stuff of his art.
It is the living life fully, with all its joys and sorrows, we open ourselves to God. In the process God transforms us – puts us into the furnace that is life, and dances with us to make us his own work of art.
May we all be protected from evil. May we truly love one another. May we have true joy! And may you be set apart -- sanctified – be a beautiful vessel in service of God. Amen.
Images are of Dale Chihuly Glass. The film was "Chilhuly in the HotShop" Watch it if you can - it's fascinating.
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