St. John’s Lutheran Church, Toluca, IL – 7th Sunday of Easter
Acts 1:6-14; Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35; 1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11; John 17:1-11
John 17:1–11
“After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.
“I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you, for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.”
NRSVue
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Predestined
Grace to you, beloved of God, and peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
We used to play pickup soccer during recreation time when I was a kid in school. You should know I was stubby, much like today. I was not very good, either. Therefore, I was one of those who always was picked up last or not picked up at all. Consequently, I was often sent to be a goalie because of my size. So much so that I became a decent one by the time I slimmed down in high school. I was a little better at basketball as a child, though. I learned how to play when I was about 9. Plus, I was somewhat tall compared to my peers. However, I did not develop my game at all. So, by High School, I could not dribble, but I still could shoot. They tried to get me to be a situational player because of it, but I was already the starting goalie for the soccer team, which got me a higher status and popularity. I was a teenager, after all.
Yep, those years have passed a long time ago. So much has happened since. It makes those experiences minuscule in hindsight. Nonetheless, not being chosen is never fun. It does give a sense of how those who are outcasts and marginalized may feel. Sure, when you are a child, having a stable family, friends, and people who love you, you get over it. However, not everybody grows up with supporting adults in their lives, but this is a sermon for another day.
We do that a lot to ourselves, human beings, that is. We prefer what is defined as beautiful; or what is tall, strong, fast, smart, eloquent, powerful, popular, ambitious, a type A-personality, etc. I get it. We consider those gifted and predestined. Most people are not. Maybe if we latch to them, they might take us places. However, in the process, we marginalize, exclude, leave behind, and antagonize. If you remember that image, we ask the fish in the bowl to grow legs and lungs overnight and climb the tree.
God doesn’t operate that way. God picks us up for who we are. Not always the strongest, the tallest, the fastest, the most eloquent, the most courageous, the most charming, the smartest, the most powerful, the best of the best, no sir. That truth is self-evident. God does not pick those with superhuman powers. They do not exist. God also picks up you and me, common folk. God also picks up people with health problems, special abilities, and those too young or too old. God also picks up those with old wounds and those with wounds that are still open. God picks up the enslaved and sets them free. God picks up sinners and makes them saints. Since before time, God picked up the flawed and gifted them with his kingdom making us heirs by faith in Jesus Christ, a chosen holy people, disciples, predestined to be witnesses to him. That is the common task, wherever we go, whoever we are, to be witnesses of better things.
We are, indeed, not good enough to bear such witness by ourselves. We are too flawed to make it on our own. That is why Jesus gave us his word. That is why he never stops looking for those who are lost. That is why he is willing to save even those who betray, deny, or abuse him. Jesus knows all of us were picked, but none of us can do it without him, for we are all bound to fall for the traps of this world.
And so, he promises to dwell with us in love, not to let us orphans, and to send the Spirit that works on our behalf. And so, he prays that we remain together. And so, he sends others to assure us that our witness is not defined by the size of the challenge we face but through the strength of the faith that binds us. We are the royal priesthood of all who believe, predestined to bear witness together to the love, mercy, and power of Jesus Christ, crucified and risen for the sake of the world. We are the church. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Bridging Faith 