Jesus prays for believers to come

All right, good morning.

Okay, we're completing our mini-series on Jesus' high priestly prayer of John chapter 17.

John 17 · chapter mention

So if you've got a Bible, whether it be an app or a real hard copy, please turn open to John chapter 17.

John 17 · chapter mention

As I said, it's the finish of the series, so it's the last six verses, verses 20 to 26.

Up to this point, as we've been going through the series, we've found that Jesus has been praying from the perspective of the big picture.

He prays, glorify me at the very beginning.

He asked God to glorify him, and as we discovered in that, what he was really praying for was that God would actually glorify him at the cross.

That was where his glory would be most evident to us.

The hour for which he had come was that hour.

So he prays, glorify me.

And then with his disciples present, he turns his prayer to them, and he prays for his disciples, sanctify them.

He asks the Father to sanctify his disciples, to set them apart from the world, but within the world, and to actually go out into the world.

And as they do that, he asks that the Father will keep them.

The implication is that this is his will, and that this will have an impact.

As these people go out into the world, something will happen as a result.

And now Jesus gets personal, and I say personal for a couple of reasons, but one of them is that he's actually talking about me and you,

and the other is that he's actually becoming much more personal in his language, in the way that he's engaging with who he's praying for.

And he gets personal in a revolutionary way, because here he prays, not me, them, but us.

Unify us.

He asks the Father to unify us.

And by us, I don't just mean us here present.

I mean all of us, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and us.

Not just Christian with Christian, but Christian with Christian, with Father, with Son, with Holy Spirit.

So as we consider this, it's an amazing thing, the degree of personality that Jesus goes to at this point.

Let's just think about how that's actually panned out in our society this week.

Bo's already talked about Tower of Babel, which was several thousand years ago.

Just think about this week.

How good are we at actually promoting unity within our society, within our families?

Even our families, my goodness.

Within our church.

How good are we at doing that?

I think it's quite an interesting thing that we actually, the more we desire unity, the more we seem to be able to define how different we are.

And yet it's so difficult and so elusive it is for us to actually discover the reality of that unity, actually live in unity.

Have you noticed that?

There's this theory called intersectionalism, which is a really interesting theory.

It's a kind of a, I guess you call it neo-Marxist theory, that actually really is helpful at getting a sense of where we're different,

where divisions occur, and the power imbalance that actually creates those divisions and sustains them.

But one of the really interesting things I've been finding as I've been reading it is that even as we get better at understanding

our lack of unity, our lack of unity, we still struggle to move from that point to actually producing unity.

We just don't seem to be able to do it.

And it takes one virus for it to be every man for himself in the toilet paper aisle.

Have you noticed that?

One thing.

And boom, we suddenly break down into our constituent parts, don't we?

So easily and so readily.

So perhaps we should get some sort of sense into how we actually find unity by just looking at what Jesus even does,

which is to actually pray to the Father for unity.

He doesn't turn into himself or turn to an interesting or new philosophy.

He turns to a person and he asks for it.

Let's follow the passage through and see how that unfolds.

See, Jesus prays at the beginning.

We get a sense of who he's praying for in verse 20.

He actually says that he's praying for those who will believe.

I'll read that verse out, verse 20.

I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word.

Jesus has just prayed for his disciples that he's sending out.

Remember, I've just said that.

And he absolutely expects there to be a response.

And so he prays for those who he knows will believe in him.

This belief will come through their word.

Their word is their testimony about Jesus' life and teaching.

But remember, they're not very quick to understand what Jesus is talking about.

It's been coming all the way through this whole upper room, this meal, this last meal together.

These guys, they don't seem to be like the sharpest tool in the shed at this point.

On their own, they didn't understand.

This testimony that they've passed down is based on the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

And you can read about that in John 15, 26 to 27.

It's something Jesus said at this meal table.

Through the Spirit, they would remember what Jesus said.

They would understand what Jesus did.

And we are those who have heard and believed their testimony.

Those whom the Father chose, sanctified by the Father through those who believed before us,

as Gareth taught with the kids about.

This message has been passed down and handed down.

So as Jesus lifts his hands to heaven and prays, he prays for us.

For you.

He knew even then that it would be you sitting here today.

Think about that.

I mean, when we pray alone or as a family or as a small group, in our small groups,

we're praying for the people around us that we love, aren't we?

We know their needs.

And we pray for them personally.

In the words of this gospel that John's recorded,

Jesus is praying personally for us.

Imagine yourself huddled around in that group and hearing these words.

So what does Jesus pray for?

In a word?

Unity.

That we will be one like God.

That's one aspect of it.

And the second aspect of this unity is that we will be together.

So let's have a look at that as it unfolds in the passage.

That's roughly the passage splits into two halves like that.

One like God and together.

So in verse 21, we look at the oneness aspect.

Jesus prays this.

He prays that they might all be one,

just as you, Father, are in me and I in you.

That they also may be in us,

so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

Can you see some of the nuances of oneness

that are actually coming out here?

The first one is one like God.

Jesus prays that we will be one.

One like the Father and the Son are one.

I've got to say at this point,

we're diving into a mystery that's so profound it may be confusing.

I mean, I get some of these things done already.

Last week we've looked at election and predestination.

This week I'm actually getting the chance

to dive into the mystery that is the Trinity.

One God, three persons.

What the heck does that mean?

Well, I've got to say that in a sense we don't fully get it

and we'll need eternity to contemplate it.

We get eternity to contemplate it, which is great.

But Jesus is saying here

that we'll also experience something of it here and now.

We are becoming and will be one with each other

like the Father and the Son are one.

No less than that as our template.

One like God.

That's an amazing thing.

Now, let me try and say something

that's at least a start at grasping what Jesus is meaning here.

You see, the Father and the Son, if I was to describe them,

the Father and the Son are distinguishable and inseparable.

Distinguishable and inseparable.

Distinguishable persons in the sense that we can see

their distinctiveness, how they interact with each other

and in the world.

Their mutual glorifying of each other, self-giving love.

They're distinguishable and they're inseparably one.

So one that it is impossible to pull them apart.

I think perhaps at this point we're meant to think

of the marriage oneness that we read about

in Genesis 2, verse 24.

Genesis 2:24

If you remember that, the man will leave his father and mother

and the two will become one flesh.

I think we're meant to kind of think of that sort of thing,

that distinctiveness of the marriage relationship,

serving one another, and our relationship in Christ

inseparably joining us together.

Now, you know, I've preached a few times here now,

and you know that occasionally I mention Joe,

and perhaps some of you think I can't stop talking about her.

But one of the things about marriage is this,

that when you are actually one with someone,

they are a huge part of your life.

You don't just step into a different place

and feel like you're apart from them.

There is an intimacy that you share in that relationship

that you carry with you wherever you go.

Well, I want to say to you this,

that oneness is something that marrieds experience in part,

but that married or single,

we experience in its fullness in Christ.

If you are single, you are not missing out on this promise.

You get the real thing.

Marriage is like the sermon illustration

that I so often use.

The oneness that's being talked about here in Christ

is the real thing.

And it's something that we're expected to express

as a community, a church community.

One like God.

The next point he goes on to make,

which he really focuses on,

it comes up in verse 21,

but he really focuses on in verse 22,

is that we're also one with God.

Let me read verse 22 out.

The glory that you have given me,

I have given to them,

that they may be one,

even as we are one,

I in them,

and you in me.

It's the second time he speaks about being one.

Verse 21, verse 22, and verse 23,

he repeats this desire for us to be one.

So when we read these verses,

what we discover is that we're saved to be one like God,

and we're saved to be one with God.

The glory that Jesus shares with us

is his completed work at the cross.

We discover that in the first week of this series.

So three weeks ago, two weeks ago.

And remember that Jesus' prayer for himself was,

glorify me.

And here he's saying that we will share in that glory.

In other words,

we will experience the fruit of his saving work.

In Christ, we are one with God.

We are united so deeply and profoundly

through Jesus at the cross

that we are not just like the Father,

the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Not just one like them,

but one with the Father,

the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Distinguishable, dare I say,

distinguishable and inseparable from God.

Not God,

but distinguishable and inseparable from him.

And this is another truth

that I can only imagine

in terms of from lesser to greater.

So to think of the relationships

that I share with my friends and family,

and to think beyond that,

to realize that that is just a pale shadow

of what Jesus is talking about here

in terms of our relationship with God.

Jesus' prayer

is that we might experience this truth

in our lives together.

It's an amazing thing.

Finally,

so we've had one like God,

one with God,

and the final point he makes

is that we are one for God.

A lot hangs on this.

Jesus reveals in his prayer

that our unity reveals his nature.

He says in verse 23,

I in them and you in me

that they may become perfectly one

so that the world may know

that you sent me

and love them even as you loved me.

This unity is meant to be visible,

not in our statement of beliefs,

but in our actions,

our lives together.

Not in isolation,

but actually in the world.

Our unity is meant to be so clear

and distinct that the world knows

that Jesus was sent from the Father.

It's important to God

that the Son is vindicated before the world.

And there will come a time

when every knee will bow before Jesus,

but we are the first place

that this starts to happen.

The world will see Jesus' glory

through our unity.

unity.

This is the role that God has given us

in the world.

Our unity was meant to be so clear

and distinct that the world knows

that Jesus was sent from the Father

and that we are loved by the Father.

It's also the way God shows his love for us.

Unity like this is supernatural.

We can't do it ourselves.

We divide and divide and divide again

until we're comfortable with the people around us,

or lonely, or a mixture of both.

The unity that God is working in us

is astoundingly different.

It's not of this world.

And I don't use these phrases

to undermine the believability

of what I'm saying.

I use them

because that's what people think

when they see it lived out.

The unity of God

expressed by us

and with him

is astounding.

We were talking to some friends recently

and they were talking about

how they're moving

from one place to another

and how difficult it is

for them to settle in.

They're not Christians.

How hard it is

to break into a new community.

Have you thought about

what it's like

when you travel

from one place to another

as a Christian

and you go into a church community?

Yeah, they're a bunch of strangers.

You don't really know them.

But in some sense,

you really do know them as well.

And you feel so at home

and comfortable in their presence.

Friends,

Jesus' prayer is that

we might experience

this truth in our lives together

day by day.

But can I ask you this?

Is it our desire?

Is it our prayer?

Is it our goal?

Jesus gets personal

and this is the one thing

he emphasizes.

Is it the thing

that we yearn for?

I'm going to suggest

that even if it is,

we don't conform to it.

Now, if you're a visitor here

and you're starting to wonder

what's going on here,

what kind of church

have I come into?

Please understand

we're a bunch of people

who are not perfect.

We're not the finished work.

Jesus is praying here

that this might be perfected in us.

So please allow

that we're a work in progress

and the reality

that there are problems

within this church family

that we need to deal with.

Who do you feel awkward around?

So this I'm speaking

to the members

of the congregation here now.

Who do you feel awkward around?

Who do you avoid?

Who are you holding

a grudge against?

Who is holding a grudge

against you

that you know about?

Why have we allowed

separation

within

the inseparable?

Perhaps you're thinking,

well,

if only you knew

what they did to me,

then you'd understand.

Let me say this.

And I say this

knowing the challenges

of broken relationships.

Whatever they did to you

was an offense

against God first.

And God the Son

died

to deal with it.

Surely

we should be prepared

to do the same.

Surely

this is what Jesus

is calling us to do.

I'm going to encourage you

now,

right now,

to make a list.

Write down the names

or put them in your phone

or mentally log them.

The names of the people

you need

to reconcile to.

Log that list of names.

Resolve to deal

with that list

starting today.

begin where

Jesus began

by praying

that unity

would reign

despite the existence

of that list.

And if anyone

on that list

is too big

for you to contemplate

dealing with,

then seek help.

Talk to someone.

Talk to a friend.

Talk to your small group leader.

To an elder.

The thought of even this

may terrify you.

And perhaps you're in a place

where you really can't even

think about approaching someone.

You really struggle

to engage with someone

in a conflict type scenario.

I'm going to say something

to you

that I think

is wisdom.

And I hope,

I'm not trying to offend you

if you struggle

with the issue of psychology.

But I'm going to say this.

If the thought

of actually engaging

with someone

where a relationship

is broken down

and it's a brother

or sister in Christ,

then I would say to you,

seek professional help

so that you can

fulfill

Jesus' desire

and prayer

for us

that we might be unified.

Whatever it takes

to realize the unity

that Jesus died

to save us for.

For us

to be distinguishable

and inseparable.

To be devoted

to joyfully

giving ourselves

to one another.

What a wonderful thing

it is

that Jesus

is praying for here.

Let this,

if anything,

be our battle cry.

So Jesus prays

for oneness.

And then he goes on

to pray

that that oneness

might be experienced

together

in proximity.

All along,

Jesus has been praying

from the perspective

of the big picture

and you can see

how he keeps breaking

into how he's,

to shape his prayer.

But have you noticed

already how personal

this last section is?

Oneness.

And now,

this prayer

is about us

all being together.

He says in verse 24,

Father,

I desire

that they also

whom you have given me

may be with me

where I am

to see my glory

that you have given me

because you loved me

before the foundation

of the world.

Can you see

how we're just being

swept up

personally

in an eternal,

abrasive,

eternal perspective?

Jesus prays

for the elect,

the ones the Father

has given him

and his heart's desire

is that we be together

with him.

Notice that.

He's praying about us

like we're his close

personal family.

All this father

and son language

are now drawing us

in as well

to share in it.

You know,

even when we say

our farewells,

so for example,

yesterday was Joe's birthday

and so our daughter

came up from Sydney

and all the kids

came over

and we had a meal together

and even as we're leaving

at the end of that day,

even as we're leaving

after all the photos

are done

and Facebook posts

have happened,

all that sort of stuff,

even as they're leaving,

we're already,

if you notice,

how you're already thinking

about the next time

you'll get together.

Have you noticed that?

As we dropped Hannah off

at the train station

on the way to the church

this morning,

we were talking with her

about the next time

we would see her.

It's a natural thing

for us to do,

isn't it?

We love each other.

We want to be

in each other's presence.

This is the kind of imagery

that Jesus is invoking here.

These people I am praying for

are my close,

close personal family.

He's praying

with an eye

on the time

when he knows

that he'll be together

again with us.

And this prayer isn't just

for his own personal desire.

It's the same desire

the Father has.

So Jesus prays in line

with the Father's will.

The Father chose us

and sent the Son

to save us

and plan for us all

to be together

since before the foundation

of the world.

This isn't plan B

for a botched plan A.

This isn't a passing feeling

that God has.

Friends for now,

but you know,

one of these ones

that I'm going to kind of limit

the amount of posts

I see from them.

This relationship

is eternal in scope.

And it's headed toward a place

where Jesus' glory

is unveiled.

And glory unveiled

in the sense

of to be basked in

rather than feared,

to be delighted in,

to be shared.

But there's a pathway

that Jesus must walk first

because the Father

is righteous

or just.

Same word in Greek.

Jesus prays in verse 25.

O righteous or just,

Father,

even though the world

does not know you,

I know you.

And these know

that you have sent me.

I made known to them

your name

and I will continue

to make it known

that the love

with which you have loved me

may be in them

and I in them.

Verses 25 and 26.

Jesus prays,

Holy Father,

when he prays for his disciples

to be sanctified

in the last section.

Now he prays righteous

or just,

Father,

because justice

is the focus

of what's about to come.

Do you remember

when Moses got a glimpse

of God's glory?

Two weeks ago

we looked at this.

When Moses got a glimpse

of God's glory,

as God passed,

as we looked at Exodus

Exodus 34:6

chapter 34

verses 6 and 7,

if you want to

look it back up,

Moses asked

to get a glimpse

or get to see

God's glory

and Moses got a glimpse

of God's glory.

As God passed by Moses,

he only showed him

a glimpse.

That's all Moses

could cope with

and live.

And as he passed Moses,

he declared his nature

in these words.

This is Exodus 34,

6 and 7.

This is God

declaring of himself,

the Lord,

the Lord,

a God merciful

and gracious,

slow to anger

and abounding

in steadfast love

and faithfulness,

keeping steadfast love

for thousands,

forgiving iniquity

and transgression

and sin,

but who will by no means

clear the guilty,

visiting the iniquity

of the fathers

on the children

and the children's children

to the third

and fourth generation.

The experience

of God's people

right up to Jesus.

God is absolutely just.

No sin goes unpaid for.

Either it's paid for

at the cross

or you carry it yourself.

The cross is where

God's love

and justice meet.

So at the cross,

Jesus has made God

known to us

in his fullness.

Not simply in being present

in human form

or in his teaching

about God

or his example

of how to live,

all those things

are all important,

but in his dying for us.

This is the love

that Jesus is talking about

in John 13, 34.

So this is earlier

in his conversation

with his disciples

over this meal.

In verse 34,

he says this,

A new commandment

I give you

that you love

one another.

Just as I have loved you,

you also are

to love one another.

By this,

all people will know

that you are my disciples

if you have love

for one another.

Jesus' love

turns away

God's righteous judgment.

It opens the way

into God's

unfiltered presence.

It enables us

to see his glory

and live,

to know that

that point of family

reunification

is coming

and to not fear it

but to delight in it,

to long for it.

If we understand

the cross

as God intended to,

then we will see

what's about to come

in the Gospel of John

as love,

an expression of love.

If we believe in him,

then this cross-shaped love

applies to us.

It's our experience

of what Jesus

is praying about here.

just as I have loved you,

Jesus says.

The cross,

the moment Jesus

is glorified,

the moment we know

how loved we are,

the moment we are loved

beyond measure,

personally.

When you think of

Jesus' desire

is to be with us,

that moment in history

at the cross

is like those

family reunions,

the fierceness

of God's embrace,

the breath against our neck

as he envelops us,

the warmth of God's greeting,

the intimacy of bonds

that go beyond words.

This is the imagery

that's being used here

of what he's about

to do at the cross.

This is the eternal desire

of God for us,

for love and justice

to meet,

but not in our bodies.

Thank God.

And this love

is made possible

through the cross.

Love where justice

is turned away from us

is made possible

at the cross.

So friends,

we never move from the cross.

We never move on from it.

This isn't like basic teachings

and then you become

more mature as a Christian

and you start to understand

some of the bigger words.

We never move on from this.

It remains forever

the foundation of our unity

with God and with each other,

our pattern for relating

to God and to each other,

our personal experience

of the Father's love for us,

our way of loving the world

together.

This is what our friends

and family

who aren't yet Christians

should see modeled in us,

a cross-shaped love.

Not just see modeled in us though,

but they should experience it

when they're included

in our social gatherings,

when we celebrate

as we often do.

We should be celebrating

alongside our friends

who are still of the world.

Anyone who socializes with us,

whether that be members

of the LGBTI community

or the homeless

or anyone else,

should feel welcome

in our midst,

in our gatherings.

They should feel safe.

They should feel loved

with this distinctive kind of love.

This is the community

that God is calling us to be,

a community that just shows

just how wonderfully God

has loved us.

It doesn't just show it,

but actually enables people

who don't yet know Jesus

as their Savior

to experience it personally

through us

and to see their way toward

believing in Jesus too.

So in conclusion then,

Jesus prays that the Father

will glorify him

and he does at the cross.

Jesus prays that the Father

will sanctify his disciples

and through them

all who follow

and he does

by the cross.

And Jesus prays

that the Father

will unify us all

and he is doing

as a community of people

who experience

his love daily

through the cross.

Let me pray.

Father God,

we are so good

at building our own

kingdoms,

our own designs

around our lives,

even our own desires

around your church here.

We very quickly

come up with ideas

of what this church family

should look like.

But I pray, Father,

through looking

at the Son's prayer,

that Son's prayer

over us,

that we might have

a bit more of a sense

of what you desire

for us

and that you might stir

in our hearts

a desire for the same.

And as that desire

is stirred, Lord,

that you would grow

in us

this sense of awe

at the glory

that you've shown

of yourself

at the cross.

The sense of

unity that we have

through your Son

with you

through the cross

and that it might

colour and shape

everything we try

to build in your name.

In Jesus' name

we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.