Reflection on John 17:1-11

When we think of glory, one of the most readily available images is that of a football quarterback who has led his team in the defeat of multiple opponents to win the season. You imagine the quarterback, lifted high by his teammates, pumping his fist in a well-deserved victory as crowds of people cheer from the stands in solidarity with their victors. 

Glory is about rising to the top.  Glory is about a hard earned win.  Glory is about defeating opponents and muscling your way through the impossible odds. 

I think you will agree, whether it is a quarterback, a king, a president, a general, a CEO, a golf legend, or some other well-deserving individual or leader, that glory is about the accomplishments of those at the top of their games.

So, if this is glory, then why did a High School football team lift the waterboy into the air as they celebrated in the locker room?  You know, the waterboy, who brings drinks to the players, who hands out towels for sweaty hands and foreheads, and who serves the team by running errands.  You cannot get much lower in the ranks of football, but after the big, public celebration on the field was over, it was the waterboy who got the glory in the locker room.  Why?

This story about the glory of the waterboy from years ago was wrangled loose from the dusty corner of my mind by this text from John.  It too has to do with “glory.”  I do not know if it struck you as you listened, but the word “glory” or “glorify” is mentioned in this text five times in just the first five verses. 

“Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you,” and Jesus continues, “I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do…Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.”

There is a lot of glory going on here, but Jesus’ situation looks nothing like a conquering king returning from the blood stained fields of battle, trampling over the bodies of his enemy.  No, rather the situation is one in which Jesus is suffering words of hatred from those who despise him, suffering betrayal and abandonment by those who love him, and suffering death in the most publicly humiliating form that the Romans had devised to date; death on a cross. 

There would appear to be nothing glorious about any of this, unless God has a different idea of glory than any of us understand.

You see, if people were raised up on shoulders and celebrated with shouts from the crowds in the kingdom of heaven, they would be those who stoop down to love one another, as Jesus commanded. 

They would be those who bend down like a cheaply paid intern who kisses…I mean…wash other people’s feet.  They would be the ones who are closest to the ground, closest to the smell of fear and pain and death.  They would be the ones who join in the suffering of others, because Jesus entered into the world of suffering so that he might grasp onto those who are low, and never let go. 

“All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them…” Jesus urgently prays.  “Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.”

In the kingdom of God, glory is not found in the one who defeats through raw strength and destruction.  Instead, glory is found in the one who enters into the pain and death of the world. 

Jesus is worthy of glory because he does not shy away when you scream out in frustration. 

Jesus is worthy of glory because he does not back away when you cry out at the loss this world inflicts on you. 

Jesus is worthy of glory because he willingly carries our sins, the worst, most shameful parts of us, to the cross so that they can die with him. 

Jesus is worthy of glory, not because he tromps over death and suffering, but because he chooses to enter into it with us, and in doing so, he redeems it.  

In Jesus Christ, death does not get the last word, resurrection does.  But, resurrection could not come if the savoir of the world were to refuse to be a part of the pain and suffering like a CEO who ignores the grueling conditions that his company inflicts on others and blindly flies over the slums surrounding the neighborhood in his private jet. 

Jesus cares too much for that.  He loves too much for that.  Jesus promises, “You are mine.”  That is what glory looks like.  That is what being raised up looks like.  It looks like a cross.

Maybe it was the notes that the waterboy would leave that raised him up.  Once the quarterback found a note in his locker after suffered a devastating loss because of an interception.  The quarterback could hear the taunts drifting down from the stands before the game was even over.  As he opened the waterboy’s note, he read, “One stumble does not define you, it makes you.  And, you are still miles better than last year’s quarterback.” 

The waterboy was the one who was there, wrapping the bum knee with words of support.  He was there cleaning up, saying good job when the team felt anything but good.  He was the one who was there when everyone was at their lowest. 

He was the one who understood what glory was all about.  He was Christ’s teammate in that football season.  He was the one who taught everyone Jesus’ understanding of glory.

Maybe, in this time of pandemic, fear, and frustration, we will find glory, not in the glaring defeat of invisible viruses (though that would be nice), but in the love and service offered to the vulnerable.  Maybe, glory will be found when we enter into one another’s pain, bearing an armful of love.  And, when we do, Jesus will pray, “They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word…All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them…Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.”

Reflection on John 14:15-21

“Mom, what can I possibly do for you?” the adult daughter asked as she joined her mother at the side of the bed in the hospital. 

Remember when you could do that…actually be there at the bedside? 

In any case, the mother looked with the loving smile that you can only get from your mother and she said to her daughter, “You can be here for me.  That is all I need.”

I do not intend to start this sermon out on a sad note; that is not my intention.  However, there is a lot of sadness to go around right now, so I think that it is inevitable that it will creep in here too.  In fact, as I left this morning to go and film this sermon, Isaac, my almost three year old, broke down in tears.  His Dad, who has, for the most part, been home with him for an entire two months was leaving him!  He was losing his Dad…if only for a few hours.

We need to have those we love beside us.  We need those who love us to be close. 

And, that is what is making weddings, and funerals, and lost family gatherings, and lost graduation ceremonies so difficult.  Imagine having to call up a good friend and letting him know that he did not make the cut to attend the wedding because only 25 people are allowed to be present. 

I have not gotten any better at reversing the sadness of this sermon have I?  Well, let us look at things in the positive then. 

When looking at the entrance to the haunted house, with sounds of ghosts and screams seeping through the doors, the young child will desperately hold onto their parent’s hand, knowing that the parent is right there, beside them the entire time. 

And, that kind of presence is what the disciples needed as Jesus’ final hours before dying on the cross approached.  They needed Jesus to be there.  They needed him to continue to be there, just as he had in the past. 

In the past, they literally followed Jesus and trusted he knew where they were going.  How would they do that with him gone? 

In the past, they literally listened to his voice and listened to his teachings.  How would they learn anything with him gone? 

And, when trouble arose, Jesus was right there to protect them.  Who would protect them now?

Jesus knows the troubled ruminations of the disciples, of course.  He knows the fears and sadness in the disciple’s hearts, and he knows the fears and sadness without our own hearts too.  So, Jesus does what any of us would do in the face of fear and sadness; he moves to pray to his Father.  He fiercely turns to prayer, and through prayer the answer will come for the disciples and for us.

“I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever,” Jesus says.

^“This is the Spirit of truth.”  He continues,

“I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live.”

And, Jesus finishes by declaring that those who have his commandments to love and who in fact do show acts of love are those who love him.  He says, “And those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”

Parents try to walk alongside their graduates as they go off to college, or trade school, or off to live and work on their own.  Some parents send daily texts.  Some send letters of support, or emails.  Some call at 9pm every night. 

All of this, of course, can elicit the response of “Come on Mom!” or “Geez Dad!” 

Even so, these parents are right to do so, because when the world has been turned upside-down for you, you need someone to walk alongside you.  These parents are simply acting out of the love that has been given them from the one who walks beside them, Jesus Christ our Lord, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Greek word for Holy Spirit after-all literally means, “The one who walks beside.” 

You, O people of God, have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit.  You, O people of God, have the one who walks beside.  And, as the mother in the hospital said, “That is all I need.” 

It is enough for Jesus to simply be present. 

It is enough, in the face of the unknown, to know that Jesus and his glory and power is with you. 

It is enough, in the shadow of loneliness, to know that Jesus walks right there, beside you through the Spirit. 

And, it is enough to know that even if you start walking on the wrong path, there is someone bedside you, full of forgiveness and love to help you to see a new path to walk. 

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.”  Jesus says. 

The message cannot be any simpler. The Spirit will accompany us. The Spirit will be our companion.  

And, in these times when uncertainty starts to settle deeply into our souls in disturbing ways, this accompaniment, this love through presence, is exactly what we need, and perhaps this love through presence is just what we need to do.

So, what does love look like when everything has gone wrong?  What does love look like when no one can even plan two weeks into the future?  Well, love looks a lot like…being there. 

Love is walking along beside.  Love is making the call.  Love is traveling over to someone’s house and choosing to at least and stand six feet away in their front lawn and visit with them. 

Love is being present, because Jesus is present.  Jesus says, “Love one another, as I have loved you,” and, so, we will.  We too will walk beside.

Reflection on John 14:1-14

Here we are, slowly moving back toward worshiping in the church building. 

We, of course, the people, are the church.  There is no doubt about that.  Wherever we go Christ’s church is present, but the church building where we gather does hold a special place in our hearts.  The same way that your childhood home is not your family, but wandering into it and smelling the smells and seeing the pictures on the wall will make you think of family, so too the church building draws us to the familiarity of Jesus and it feels like home. 

But, it is not the building that is our spiritual home, but Jesus himself who is our home. 

And, just as seeing the familiar front door, and climbing the familiar stairs within my childhood home immediately sets my heart at ease and alleviates the stresses of the world, Jesus hopes the same might happen for his followers when they are at home with him. 

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.  In my Father's house there are many dwelling places.” Jesus promises.  “If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. 

Now, in the Greek where it says “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places,” that more accurately translates to say that there are many “abiding places.”  Think here of how Jesus promises that we will abide in him and he in us.  In the life of Christ, there is space for us all. 

And, this is good news to the disciples because in their story Jesus has just declared that he is going to die, Judas has left the scene in order to betray Jesus, and Peter is told that he will deny him.  It is a lot.  Just like these last couple of months have been a lot for all of us. 

The disciples do not know what things will look like once Jesus is gone, we do not know what things will look like in just a couple of weeks. 

Judas has betrayed Jesus and relations within our own homes have not necessarily been going smoothly during all of this uncertainty. 

And, then there is Peter, who is told that he will not even acknowledge that he had any part in the life of Jesus.  It is a lot, and it threatens to leave all of them without a sense of home.

In fact, they are on a journey, without knowing the destination, and not knowing how to even get there.  Sound familiar?

But, Jesus has a promise for them and for us.  Jesus promises that he is already on the journey to go and prepare a place for them and us. 

The one thing that soothed the hearts of ancient travelers was the knowledge that the town to which they were going contained nice people who would open up their homes and feed them and let them stay the night. 

This was general ancient hospitality that was expected in the ancient world, but not always given. 

But, Jesus promises that where we are going, he is already there preparing a place for us to abide with him.  In other words, even though we do not know where we are going or how we are going to get there, Jesus has journeyed there first and made a home for us, his weary travelers.

There is a place in which even the denying Peter can abide.  Even for Peter who messes the whole thing up.  Even for Peter who forgets the one who gave him his very life.  Even for Peter there is a home that has been prepared.  Even his journey will not come to a crashing end.  This is grace.

And, that is the promise from Jesus Christ that I want you to carry with you in the days ahead.  You are on a journey, and you surely have no idea where the journey will end or even how you will get to the end. 

We agree with Thomas saying, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?"  

That is right, Lord, I have no idea where you are taking us in all of this, and even if I did, I certainly do not know the right road to take in order to get there!  I am just as lost in all of this as anyone else!

But, Jesus looks Thomas, you, and I in the eye and says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”  Jesus says, I am the road and I am the destination.  No matter where you are, I am there also.

I have to tell you, these are words of grace for me.  These are words of comfort that you only get if you have the privilege of finding yourself in a safe and loving home.  These are words that give us the space to cry out, “We don’t know the way!” while still reminding us that it does not matter.  We have been near our home the entire time. 

God, in Jesus Christ, has been with us the entire time.  We were never lost.

There was a time that my family was walking through the local mall; remember those, malls?  Remember gathering with lots and lots of other people in one space?  Boy, it only seems a couple of months ago? 

In any case, I was probably around three, and my attention was drawn to a toy in a store window.  In an instant, as I wandered toward the toy, I became lost.  I cried as I turned around and around, searching for my parents who were nowhere to be seen.  It was only a brief moment in time, but it felt like an eternity.  For a three year old, my entire life was at stake.  Who would feed me, clothe me, protect me, and love me?  

But, soon I felt the gentle hand of someone who belonged to my home.  Even though I felt lost from my parents, and I felt lost from any means of getting home, it is absolutely true that my parents knew where I was the entire time.  

It is true now too.  You may feel lost, not knowing how you are going to return to any sense of normalcy. Maybe, you have lost precious events or markers in life.  Maybe, you’ve lost a “someone” quite recently.  You might feel lost from home, but Jesus has known where you are the entire time.  “I will come again and take you to myself,” Jesus promises.

So, live with that promise.  Live knowing that you are never truly lost.  Live knowing that no matter where you are or how confusing things get, Jesus and his grace is always the way…the road to travel, the truth…all that is truly important, and the life.  Find your eternal home in Jesus along with his grace and love, all of which never come to an end.

Reflection on John 10:1-10

Jesus has confidence in you. 

Really, truly, he does.  Jesus is confident that you recognize his voice whenever he calls.  Jesus is confident that you will follow where he leads.  And, Jesus is also confident that you, his followers, will have life…and have it abundantly.

Now, that is a little different than how we usually envision our relationship with Jesus.  Usually, we see ourselves as placing our confidence in him. 

Jesus is the shepherd who knows us…who calls us by name.  We trust that Jesus will not forget even a single hair on our heads. 

Jesus is the one who leads us out of our shelters, through dark valleys, and keeps us safe until we reach the lush grasses and still waters. We trust in his leading. 

Jesus is the door to the sheepfold, the gate to our fenced in area of safety, and Jesus will not let the thieves who view human life as disposable and something to be exploited to enter in, search us out, and feast upon us.  We trust that Jesus has our backs.

But, the remarkable thing to me about these promises in the holy gospel of John is not only that we trust in Jesus’ promises, but like I said before, Jesus trusts in us. 

In John 10:4 Jesus says, “The sheep follow him because they know his voice.”  These words hold a deep confidence in our ability to know our Lord’s voice and distinguish it from all of the other voices in the world. 

And, further in John 10: Jesus says, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them.”  That is right.  Jesus has confidence that you will not listen to the other competing voices in the world.  You are Jesus’ sheep.  You are the people of God.  You are the ones who believe in Jesus Christ…the ones who trust in the Lord.

Now, even a cursory look into the personal details of my life would reveal that this trust in me is vastly misplaced.  I preach a lot about following the Lord with love and forgiveness in your hearts, but I will be the first to admit that love and forgiveness is probably pretty hard to see after having to tell the children to go to bed for the tenth time!  The children hear my voice all right, but for some reason, they do not follow. 

I am pretty sure that I do not follow the Lord all that much better than my children follow me.

But, Jesus is no dummy.  He knows all of this.  He knows my failings.  He knows my wanderings.  He knows my betrayals, my hatred, my dismissive partisanship, my closed cliques, and my hardness of heart.  He knows it all; yet he still trusts that I will come when he calls out.  How?

Isaac, my two year old, has been testing his distance from us lately.  He has been wander further and further away from us in the yard, discovering new, two year old territory further and further away.  Very soon in his wanderings, fear sets in and he runs back. 

Little Isaac is safe of course as he ventures out.  I am there in the yard, watching him the entire time, knowing that I could be there in a matter of seconds if need be, but I also trust him.  I trust that he will hear me when I call him back.  And, though he may get confused where to go if he slips behind a bush as he returns, he still tries to work his way forward because he trusts that I am there.  I can trust that he wants to return.

And, as a close friend once relayed to me, though the alcohol seemed to steal away his soul, and though he acted as if the alcohol would save his life, he still, in his heart of hearts, knew where he would find his true salvation.  

On the day when he was at his lowest, literally on the floor because the alcohol had failed him, the depths of his soul knew the sound of Jesus’ voice.  And the friend had never forgotten how to rise up and stumble toward the saving hands of Jesus. 

His story certainly is not unique.  All of us are tempted by the voices that would seek to lure us away from the sheepfold.  All of us have the capability of getting ourselves lost when trying to follow the Lord toward the still waters and lush grasses. 

Apparently contradicting Jesus’ promise that we will run away from strangers, we do trust in the wrong people and wander away from the Lord.  That much is certain.  We will listen to the voices of those who do not properly respect life because they have convincing arguments.  The thief will come, and break in, and sometimes we will follow the thief out because the thief talks a good talk. 

But, Jesus trusts that when he calls out to our lost souls, we will know it is him.  And, not only will we know that it is him; we will make our way back toward his voice.

After-all, the Lord has formed a close bond with you.  Jesus will not be able to forget you, and you will not be able to forget his voice. 

You are the Lord’s.  Yes, yes sometimes you may be messed up.  Sometimes I am messed up…Ok, more than sometimes…but we are none-the-less, the Lord’s.

In other words, no matter what is going on in our lives, Jesus has confidence in us and encourages us by saying, “You got this.”  But, that is only after he has told us: “I got you.”

People of God, you got this.  The Apostle Paul tells you as much in Romans 8, “Who will separate us from the love of Christ?  Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”  I might add, will distance, or disease, or alcohol, or plague separate us from the love of Christ? 

Paul continues, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

You are the Lord’s and the Lord is yours.  And, that is good news people of God!

You got this. 

You will be Jesus’ follower no matter the situation in which you find yourself. 

You will walk in his ways no matter what path you take. 

How can I be so certain?  Because, the Lord has a grasp upon you.  

If the Lord has you, you cannot help but belong to the Lord.