March 14, 2010 Pastor Tim Pusey

WHAT DOES GOD WANT FOR US?
John 17:9-23

I don’t know if Cindy and I will ever forget the feelings that swept over us when we left our kids at college and turned to walk away, leaving our babies hundreds of miles away! It was like a chapter in our lives was over—a chapter we had so much anticipated and so much enjoyed and so much thrown ourselves into. But when the day came when we said goodbye to our son and left him on a college campus in Oklahoma and turned and walked away and headed to our car to begin the long trip back to Ohio, a powerful wave of emotions swept over us. We remarked later what a quiet first few hours it was on the road. And then, just two years later, we left our twin daughters on another campus in Illinois, and turned to return to our new home in Kansas City.

And as parents you think, “Have we taught them everything they need to know to make it on their own? Has our faith in the Lord been influential enough that they have learned that they too can depend upon Him day by day? How are they ever going to make it without us?” And, if you know our three kids at all, you’d know how ridiculous the last question was—because ours were all so independent that they were thrilled to finally be on their own! But what was clear to us was that a wonderful chapter in our lives was over—that things were never going to be the same again.

We’re trekking along with Jesus as He journeys to the Cross as we remember again in this season of Lent the sacrifice Jesus made for the forgiveness of our sins. Part of the dynamic was that Jesus was getting ready to leave His disciples. There were a lot of last-minute instructions that He had for them—and, in the case of the passage of scripture we’re going to read this morning—a lot of last-moment prayers for His disciples. Things were about to change—and they would never be the same again from that point on. The passage of scripture from John’s Gospel that I want us to turn to this morning records for us a prayer that Jesus prayed just hours before He was arrested and everything got turned upside down—never to be the same again. It was before He went to the Garden to pray—the Garden where He was actually arrested—but it happened the same evening, perhaps in the Upper Room where He had celebrated Passover with His disciples. It’s often called Jesus’ “High Priestly Prayer.” It’s His prayer for His disciples and for us—and it reveals the more poignant things that He so wanted His followers to understand and embrace. In many ways, it reveals the most important things that He wanted for us.

Listen as I read from Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer in John 17. I’ll not read the whole prayer, but begin at verse 9, as He had turned the focus of His prayer toward His disciples—
[Read John 17:9-23, NIV]

I’ve been dwelling on this passage all week, trying to discern what it is that Jesus truly wanted for His disciples and what He truly wants for us today. It all seemed to boil down to two things.

First, Jesus wants us to be set apart for His holy purposes—but not segregated from the world to which we are called. Look again at verse 17—
Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. (John 17:17-19)
If you look in the footnote of the New International Version of the Bible, it indicates that the Greek word (hagiazo) translated “sanctify” means “set apart for sacred use or make holy.” It calls for us to be consecrated or dedicated to God’s purposes alone—that’s what Jesus was praying for His disciples! We are to be separate from evil and devoted whole-heartedly to God. Since the Word of God is truth, it gives us the unchanging standard for the course and the character of our lives—thus Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” We live in a world that struggles with what truth is—and tends to make up its own. Jesus had already taught that truth is found in Him—and that’s where we need to find it, too.

If you’ve been around the Church of the Nazarene for many years, chances are that you’ve heard that word “sanctify.” Our doctrine and our traditions put a lot of emphasis on this matter of “sanctification”—the expanded version of the word “sanctify.” In a nutshell, we believe that every follower of Christ, every believer, must come to a place where he or she recognizes the need to fully consecrate themselves to the Lord for His will and His purposes. We don’t “sanctify” ourselves—only God can do that…it’s His marvelous work to do in our lives, and a marvelous work that He wants to do in each of us! And that’s what Jesus was praying for His disciples—and for us!—that we would be sanctified. There came a point in my spiritual journey when I recognized that I needed to yield the controls of my life to the Lord—that I needed to get out of the driver’s seat and let the Lord do the driving. It’s been a great journey ever since!

And the work of sanctification was accomplished in the lives of these followers of Jesus when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon them—and, as the book of Acts says so many times, “they were filled with the Holy Spirit.” God’s Holy Spirit does the work of sanctification in our lives when we dedicate ourselves fully to Him. There’s a point when we yield ourselves to the Lord’s work and can appropriately say that we’ve been “sanctified,” and yet we also see that this work of being set apart for God’s holy purposes is a process that continues as long as we’re alive—never fully completed this side of heaven, but reaping the results of ever-increasing growth in Christlikeness. In this relationship with Christ through the Holy Spirit, we are drawn into a dynamic where the Lord is constantly molding and shaping us to be more and more like Christ—in our actions, in our words, and in our attitudes—even the attitudes of our heart. And that’s exactly what Jesus so desired for His disciples and for those of us who would someday follow Jesus too!

But this matter of being set apart for God’s holy purposes brings about a certain tension. That’s why Jesus prayed what He did in the verses before those words, beginning at verse 15—
My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. (John 17:15-16)
While Jesus would pray that we would be sanctified—set apart for His holy purposes, He did not desire that we be removed from what He knew would be a disagreeable and dangerous environment. Like Him, we have a mission we are to carry out—and that mission necessitates us being fully engaged in the world in which we live. We are to be engaged in that world, but not transformed by it.

I think often of the words of Paul in Romans 12:1-2—
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1-2)
The mission we’ve been given is a dangerous one—we must carry it out in a world where we really don’t belong, as Jesus said.

Here’s a tension that the church has struggled with for many years—even throughout the centuries! The Lord calls us to be sanctified—set apart for His holy purposes—but too often that’s been interpreted as a call to separate and isolate ourselves from the world. It’s what prompted the formation of the monasteries and convents—isolating men and women from an ungodly world in order that they might live holy lives. The problem was that it isolated them and insulated them from the very world we are called to love and serve—the world which we are called to reach in the name of Jesus, the very people who most need to hear about the love of Christ!

Christians today are still struggling with this. The answer to some is to become like our world—to simply “blend in” and embrace the ways of the world, to refuse to in any way be an “offense” to the world. But Jesus didn’t become like the world around Him—and His words and His actions were indeed offensive to many (including some of the traditional religious folk!). Scripture clearly tells us not to conform to the patterns of this world—but rather allow Christ to transform us!

Others try to isolate and insulate themselves and their families against the world. The problem there is that we can become so insulated from the world in which we live that we are totally ineffective in the mission Christ has given us. Jesus prayed, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.” Somehow, it would seem, we are to be equipped to learn to live Christian lives in the midst of a very unchristian world! The church was never meant to be a holy huddle, isolated and barricaded off from the rest of the world! We’ve been sent! And where we’ve been sent is out into the world—out into a complicated, ungodly, unwelcoming world full of people…people who desperately need Jesus and what He alone can be for them.

That’s why Jesus prayed for our protection from “the evil one.” He was praying that we would be equipped for the battle again the Enemy of our souls, the one who wants to wreak havoc in the lives of every person on the face of the earth, the one who is opposed to everything the Lord wants to do in our lives. Jesus prayed for our protection from the evil one. Do you think that’s a prayer that God can answer? Do you think Jesus would have prayed it if it wasn’t?! In other words, we are sent out into a risky world with a powerful Gospel and we are to trust the Lord for His protection from the attacks of the evil one.

And we are not alone in this battle! Listen to the words of Peter, from 1 Peter 5:8-9—
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. (1 Peter 5:8-9)
The enemy of our souls—Satan himself—is sneaky and devious, the liar of all liars. He’s out to destroy us all—and we must be on guard at all times, for there is a battle going on. But it’s not a battle we can totally walk away from! There are people’s souls at stake! And we dare not desert them to the ploys of the Enemy!

We must look to the Lord every moment in order to remain strong in the battle. But the answer isn’t to walk away from the good fight—which is the very mission to which we’ve been sent. It’s one thing to walk away from temptation and evil in our own lives—that we must do! It’s another thing to refuse to come in contact with the ungodly people around us, fearing we might become contaminated by them. Sure, we must make sure we’re strong enough for the battle and not unwise in stepping into that which is over our heads or for which we’re simply not prepared—but to stay clear of those we’ve been called to love in the name of Christ is not the answer!

It is a tension, isn’t it?—Being sanctified (set apart for God’s holy purposes in this world) and yet not separated from the very world we are called to reach! And it’s a tension for which we’re each going to have to seek Godly wisdom and direction! We’re each going to have to lean heavily upon the Lord to find our way through this! We may not all approach it in the same manner, but we have to come to terms with the holy tension in this calling!

Well, that’s one thing I heard in Jesus’ prayer that He wants for us—something that so powerfully stirred His heart in our behalf that He would pray it for us in His final hours as He journeyed to the Cross, about to leave His faithful followers behind to continue His mission in this world. But there was something else that I heard in Jesus’ prayer that reflects so much of what He wants for us. It’s actually voiced several times in Jesus’ prayer. Let me pull them out for 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…My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you 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. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:11, 20-23)
Do you get the idea that Jesus desperately desired that His Church be united—One in spirit? There’s no doubt about it!

Our challenge is figuring out what that means and how we’re going to live it out! Does it mean that we’re all uniform—all alike in how we act and think and feel? Not hardly! We raised identical twins and they’re not even like that! God created each one of us so wonderfully unique! There’s no way we can all think and act and look alike! And yet Christ’s prayer is that we would be one—just as Jesus and the Father are One.

I want you to hear one perspective of what unity is—
[View video called “The Power of Unity” (1:25)]
That’s a great analogy!—especially in the context of unity starting with one cup.

The reason I say that is because there are those who take our call to unity to being a unity with all religions—that there are many ways to God and that we all need to work together…Buddhists, Muslims, Mormons, Christians and everyone else…being tolerant and accepting of one another’s faith, recognizing it to be as valuable as our own.

The problem is that we don’t all fit into the same cup. Christ is praying for there to be unity among His followers—and by the power of the Holy Spirit working within us, Christians must be brought to complete unity. But Christ’s call to unity is not a call to unity with all religions. In fact, Jesus made it clear that His followers would be hated by the world. Our calling as followers of Jesus is to allow the Lord to bring us to complete unity with one another so that we can together be about Jesus Christ’s mission in our world. We are certainly to love and respect people of faiths, but that doesn’t mean we place false and misleading religions on equal plain with Christianity. We’re not “One” with them spiritually, so we can’t be united with them in matters of faith.

How does Christ’s call to unity fit with other denominations and churches within the realm of Christianity? Oh, I have no problem at all recognizing that we are One in purpose and mission with lots of other churches. We belong in the same cup with them!—and I thoroughly enjoy Christian fellowship with the people and the pastors of those churches! But I will confess that I do not believe that every church that puts “Christian” in their name or their by-laws is truly committed to following the Jesus of the Bible. Suffice it to say that we need great wisdom and guidance to make our way through those cobwebs!

In lots of ways, I think a particular congregation has enough of a challenge before them in simply embodying Christ’s call to unity among us who call this particular church (or any other particular church) our church home! We’re working together and serving together week by week—and our greatest challenge is learning to live out unity right here among us! So…what does it mean for us to be united?

It seems to me that being united means standing alongside one another—worshipping together, praying together, serving side-by-side, encouraging one another through all the challenges of life. I understand that the Christian world today has been ripped apart by what is sadly labeled “worship wars.” And it seems to me that all too often the real battle is a battle of personal preferences that tears congregations apart. I honestly have no problem with lots of different worship styles—but I’ve come to believe that if a congregation can’t worship together that there’s something inherently wrong with that congregation. It’s certainly not a congregation.

Being united means we stand up for one another and look out for one another—letting lose of our own agendas and preferences in deference to others. We’ve got to acknowledge the petty things that easily divide us—and see them for what they are, refusing in Christian love to let them put a wedge between us! That’s what unity is!

In the American church world today, if we get upset at someone in the church or offended by somebody or something that happened at church, we just pick up our things and go to another church! The problem is that all too often the problems follow us like a shadow as we step into another church. Oh, I understand, there are times when changing churches is the right thing to do, but we need to seek Godly wisdom and counsel to make sure that we’re making such a change for the right reasons!

Being One means we’re about the same thing! We may come at it different, see it from a different angle, and be passionate about a different dimension of it, but we must be about the same mission—Christ’s redemptive mission in our world! And as we move along together, a spirit of unity fosters Christlike love for one another despite our differences. In truth, unity delights in our differences, affirming and applauding the unique contributions others make to the mission!—others accomplishing things we could never do!

The goal is to become one heart and one mind in serving Jesus together. We may come from different generations and prefer different kinds of music and dress quite a bit different—but we affirm the love of Jesus in one another and we care about one another and pray for one another and cheer one another on in this great challenge of Christian living! We laugh together—and sometimes we cry together, because the love of Jesus is poured out over us and flows into our relationships with one another. We hurt when another one hurts. We’re brokenhearted when one of us fails—and we do all we can to help the fallen get back on his or her feet. We cheer when there’s a spiritual victory in one of our lives, and we keep challenging one another to stay focused on the great mission Christ has given to us—a mission that’s far too big for any of us to tackle on our own—but a mission that Christ intended for us to tackle together. We’re united—and committed to staying that way.

So what was it that Jesus, the Son of God, wanted for us so much that He prayed it in His last hours with His disciples?
• Jesus wants us to be set apart for His holy purposes—but not segregated from the world to which we are called.
• Jesus desperately desired that His Church be united—One in spirit.
He knew how important these things would be for His disciples then and now. A couple thousand years may have passed since Jesus spoke this prayer in the earshot of His disciples, but it’s a prayer I believe He still prays over us—even here and now, at Valley Shepherd Church in Meridian, Idaho. He prays it over you and me. And this morning, we need to join Him in that prayer—that we would be set apart for His holy purposes and that we as His Church would be at all costs truly “One.” Would you join me in that prayer today?