Sermons and Reflections:

Wednesday after 7 Easter
May 11, 2005
Lutheran Theological Seminary Chapel
The Rev. Nelson Rivera

Jesus Prays for Us
John 17:1-11

One of the most enduring lessons from my training years in Seminary --
and I don't recall who said it or who wrote about it --
is that God shows and does in the church,
the Christian community now,
what God wants to do with the whole of humanity.

I understand that this proposition tries to answer
the question about God's plan for humankind.
Is the plan of God to build an inclusively ecumenical community --
in its broad sense of the "world at large" --
or an exclusively Christian one in the narrow sense of the word?

My belief is that what God wants is to build communities,
whose goal is the well-being of the human community
in all its ecumenicity and diversity.

However, before you actually think that I believe
that everything that happens in Christian communities now is good,
let me remind you that I'm aware that Jesus did not pray such a long prayer on behalf of his disciples for nothing.

Jesus knew better.

Beginning with his close disciples,
every one of his followers has always been in need of prayer.
The whole Christian community needs prayer,
because, among other things,
it needs to be rescued from itself;
it needs divine help, time and again.

Besides, as Jesus clearly states in the context of his farewell address,
"[he] pray[s] for them (the disciples), not for the world."

What does such a prayer say about us, followers of Jesus?
Whatever else it says,
it is Jesus' concern with true discipleship, not exclusivity,
what matters here.

It is also the case that in the same Gospel of John,
Jesus has proclaimed that God so love the world,
that doesn't want anyone to perish,
God has sent him, Jesus, to save all who believe.

Another enduring lesson --
and this one, I think to remember, came from Bonhoeffer --
is that the community that God grants us,
and where we find ourselves,
is the very one that we know at any given time and place --
plainly, those around us.

Therefore, we better appreciate those around us,
and let's not overlook them,
instead of waiting for others who are not here yet.

In other words, what you see is what you get --
and be thankful for it!

Those very imperfect people-of which you are one too --
are God's gifts to you.
And this is the same wherever you go.

Scripture and tradition have it that those who belong to Jesus
are different and special in their own way.
Therefore, they are to keep themselves apart for the sake of the Gospel.

Yet, they are not to be taken out of the world
but rather remain in the world.
They are called to function as salt for the whole earth,
and as light to all nations.
They are in the world also for the sake of the world --
surely not for themselves or for their own sake.

Perhaps, that's why St. Paul insists that even nature awaits
for the manifestation of all of God's children,
and wishes also to be redeemed itself.

Which brings me to one more unforgettable lesson.

Communities, Christian or otherwise, by whatever name,
are fragile and complicated realities.
We have been created, through a very long process,
to depend on one another, to rely on each other,
in order to survive and to grow together.

Yet, even social, dependent beings cannot avoid tension and conflict,
among themselves and with others,
within and without.

No community or group can be taken for granted.
Every community is precious.
Every one is similar but also unique in its own way.

Real community, with real (instead of imagined) people,
is always a gift of God, something that God slowly builds.

I hope that, like Jesus, we pray for one another,
as well as for many others.

I believe that Jesus, the risen one, still prays for us.

Amen