Christ's Prayer for Us

Jesus Prays for His Disciples

6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me,for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. 12 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 Scripture would be fulfilled.

13 “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. 14 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. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

I have been wanting to give a sermon about giving for some time now but did not know how for sure to work it in. Since our scripture for this morning uses some variation of the word give nine times today may as good as any to have the discussion.  Giving, tithing, offering now matter how we choose to say it, it is a difficult discussion to have.  No one likes to openly discuss finances.  No one likes to compare what one person gives versus another because we think that the amount we are giving assumes some sort of worth.  We have a tendency to think that the bigger the number we give the holier, the more sanctified we are.  Not true.  The number in which we give assumes absolutely nothing about the giver.  We often forget about the different ways we can give other than financially.  Seven guys gave of their time yesterday.  They gave 5 hours of their time and look at all that was done.  Sure, financial giving can accomplish a lot but so can the giving of our time, our sweat, and our talents.  

Our scripture for this morning offers us such an awesome look into the relationship between God and Jesus, Jesus and us, and between God and us.  When I chose this scripture for this week I remember thinking it was Jesus’ eulogy.  Jesus saying to God, “It is my hope that I have done what you have sent me to the earth to do.”  In the very next chapter of John, Jesus is betrayed, arrested and eventually crucified.  Yet, Jesus says something in chapter 17 that seems odd, (v12) “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 Scripture would be fulfilled.”  That, to me, sounds like it was something Jesus would have said when he was resurrected, not before you he died.  “While I was with them...” sounds like Jesus was no longer with us physically.  But verse 13 makes it clear, “I [Jesus] am coming to you [God] 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.”  In other words, Jesus is saying these things so we can see just how connected to God he really was.  So we can see the confidence that Jesus had in his relationship with God.  So we could see exactly how Christ was giving of himself, understanding the purpose and role of his faith.

Among this prayer and eulogy of Jesus, we find the goals of our faith.  Jesus says that he gave his disciples the words that God had given him.  We too should pass along the words, the hope, faith and love, that God has given us to the “disciples” we call friends and family in our lives.  Jesus says that people knew with certainty that he came from God.  How great a life have we lived if we too can say this with confidence?! Jesus says, “I pray for them.”  Jesus is not only saying this to those who know with certainty, he is saying it about those who do not  know at all.  Jesus says, “All I have is  yours, and all you have is mine.”  The humility of that statement is lost on us today.  We do not want to give God all that is ours.  In fact, I would venture to say that we are scared to know God fully because of what it would mean.  In other words, most of us are unwilling to fully give of ourselves for two reasons: One we aren't confident God will accomplish anything with it.  Or, two, we are scared of the changes that will occur because of our close connection with God.  

It is easy for me to say to you that God has given you so much so you should do your best to return the favor.  But I won’t.  I won’t because I have no idea of how much, or little, you feel you have been given.  Possibly, you feel that God has taken more than He has given.  Therefore, making it nearly impossible for you to see or feel how much God has given you.  That is not how I feel but who I am to tell you otherwise?  Your circumstances are much different than mine.  That is why the number in which we give is so irrelevant.  That number has no bearing on how much God loves us.  For many years, the church placed a significant amount of importance on that number by closely tying it the amount of faith the giver had.  Today, I am telling you there are countless ways to give other than financially.  We are incredibly blessed.  Look around you.  What you see is the hard work of many generations who have come together through time for one common purpose: to share the love of God with the world.  The means in which each generation has done that may have been different, even misguided at times.  Each generation is full of imperfections and mistakes but through their continued passion of faith we are here today.  And that is our goal headed into the future.  If mistakes are made, at least we are taking initiative to keep progressing God’s love into the next generation.  Mistakes mean choices have been made in the hopes of becoming better.  

The giving of our time, talents, or finances is a form of worship.  We often do not see giving as worship.  Most of the guys here yesterday probably do not see what they did as worship but it was.  They gave of themselves as to dedicate their work to God and to God’s people.  I hope that Janet see’s what she does as worship because it allows for the youth to enjoy not listening to me a couple Sunday’s a month so their parents can.  I hope the deacons, elders, and deaconesses see their time and talents as worship.  The choir sharing of their talents.  Chloe and Joanne leading us in worship.  Russ tackling the finances of the church.  Dale as the board chair and Emily as the secretary.  Each of you as you give of your hard earned money.  As you prepare a meal or treats for youth group, view it as worship.  My wife as she keeps me organized.  Mary Lea as she keeps events in the hall organized.  For no bigger than our congregation is, we are blessed.  It is the realization of that blessing that matters.  It is that realization that leads us to action.  Thank you to all of you for your continued giving.  Continue to give so that others may see the love and grace of God.  Amen.