That the World May Believe

John 17:20-26

Confirmation Sunday

June 2, 2019

William G. Carter

Jesus says, “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.  The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.  Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

“Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

We have a remarkable confirmation class. They have met regularly and faithfully, usually on Sundays after church. If they look particularly fit and trim, it’s because they have often skipped the cookies in coffee hour and gone right to class. They are dedicated, rarely missing one of our sessions. And they are smart, really smart. The conversations have been rich. We’ve discussed important matters – scripture, sacraments, and service – and as was evident when they met with our elders yesterday morning, they are ready to be full adult members of our congregation.

But as I reflected on the scripture passage that we heard a minute ago, I realize there is one more thing that we should talk about before we make this official. It’s a topic that doesn’t make it into the confirmation curriculum. I don’t know why that is. I can’t explain the lapse. Maybe it is a topic we assume, or perhaps, just perhaps, it’s something that we don’t always know how to talk about.

You see, Presbyterians are pretty good about ideas like grace and salvation. We also like to talk about structures and official things, like committees and session meetings, and even some of the unspoken rules. But there’s the one thing at the heart of it all, the one thing that keeps the whole Christian faith alive; and of that, we’re curiously reticent.

To tell you the truth, I might have passed over it completely, had not Jesus spoken up in the seventeenth chapter of John. It’s a chapter where he’s praying. He’s talking to the heavenly Father, sharing an intimate conversation. It is almost time for him to return to the Father after a lifetime of service. He will be lifted up on the cross, lifted up from the tomb, lifted up to return to his throne in heaven.

Before he goes, Jesus prays for all of us. He asks the Father to protect us, and to punch the devil in the nose. He also asked the Father to send to us the Holy Spirit, his own living presence, to remind us of what he said and to keep opening us to fresh insight.

And in the passage today, he says the one thing that we haven’t had the chance to talk about very much. It’s there in the center of the passage, in a single sentence with a lot of commas and clauses. Let me give it to you again:

The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.  

Did you hear that? He prays for us “to be one.” That’s the last lesson for the confirmation class. It may be the most important.

Now, what does that mean, “to be one”?  Does he want us to get along? Yes, but it’s more than that. Does he want to agree on things?  That would be nice, but it’s never going to happen. Not completely. That’s why we have a Presbyterian government in our church, so people can disagree without damaging one another.

What does it mean “to be one”? I went to that big, thick Bible dictionary on my shelf. Blew off the dust, looked in the index, found the page, and do you know what it said? “One” means one, as in the number one. And that was a head-scratcher.

Is this a new kind of math? Sometimes the Bible talks that way. Like at a wedding, when two people stand before the rest of us and make rash, improbably promises to one another, and the Bible says, “The two shall become one.” In other words, one plus one equals one.

What exactly is this? It’s a mystery, and it’s the way Jesus talks. He’s praying to the Father and says, “You and I are one.” He says, “I know you and you know me.” And then he even says, “I am in you, and you in me.” That is the oneness.

That’s what he wants for us. As he says it over and over again in this section of the Gospel of John, “I in you, and you in me.” And what is he talking about? He’s talking about living with God.

That’s the secret at the heart of it all, my friends: living with God. We can be the people God made us to be. We don’t have to be ashamed of who we are, or how God made us. We don’t have to stash away all our secrets. We don’t have to push down all the abilities and be afraid of embarrassment. We can just live – and live with God.

Thanks to the grace, and mercy, and forgiveness of God, we don’t have to remain captive to our mistakes or the things we’ve done wrong. Forgiveness sets us free, so we can get on with living – as long as it’s living with God.

The alternative is to live by ourselves, as if we know better, or know best, or know it all. That’s a sure formula for failure. Over and over again, there are Bible stories about people who try to live without God. It never turns out very well. One of them will start beating up on another. Or cheating their own family members. Or taking money, land, food or whatever else doesn’t belong to them. Or stepping on top of those that have already been stepped upon. That’s why the world is a mess – it’s full of people who do all they can to live without God.

But since Jesus is alive, since he continues to live us, life can be different. It can full, and abundant, and good.

Of all that impresses me about this confirmation class, at the top of the list is one of the conversations we had with the elders yesterday morning. The topic that took the most time was when one of the youth asked about what it means to live with the Holy Spirit. We spent more time on that one than anything else. At the heart of it is essentially the same issue: living with God.

And it’s so important, so central to the whole life of faith. It means that we are never alone; God is with us. It means we don’t have to be insulated by our own opinions; instead we can seek God’s opinion. We can care about the same things that God cares about; and if we don’t know what those are, we can study the Bible. And it means we love all the other people that God made, whoever, wherever they are. And we can take care of the planet where God has placed us to live out our lives.

I’ve been around the religion business long enough to know what’s real and what’s fake, and especially what’s from heaven and what’s not. When a religion obsesses about how to hold your hands, or what to wear, or how to hide who you are and what you think – and then talk about it later in the parking lot – it’s a pretty good bet that stuff is the fake stuff. I’ll bet God thinks it’s all pretty boring.

What gets God excited is having people who live with him, people who enjoy beautiful things and make more beautiful things, people who build understanding and create common goals, people who want other people and other creatures to flourish, people who know that life is a gift and a gift to be shared, people who are not afraid of trouble because they know God is alive, people who choose not to be afraid of loving - for they are living with the God that they are slowly coming to love.

So I thought this would be a good day to bring this up. It’s important.  

In fact, it is so important that, when Jesus talks with his Father, it is the very last thing he asks: “Father, I desire that those whom you have given me may be with me wherever I am.”  May it be so.

 (c) William G. Carter. All rights reserved.