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“We Are One!”

Sunday, May 4, 2008
By pastor John Jorgenson

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.‘”

The Gospel of the Lord. Praise be to God.

The lesson Jesus has for us today is that His intent is that we be one as God and Jesus are one. After all we belong to God as created beings. Therefore, we belong to Jesus also. In addition we have a common beginning and that is an essential strength given to us as well. Sometimes we forget what a tremendous gift we have and to use. We are one in the Lord. Thanks to Jesus. As a result of his, we are one, have the same basis, and are to continue His work and live in unity.

That is the basis for survival. That is the basis for security. That is the basis for satisfaction in life. That is the basis for happiness and joy. So I wonder why it is that we have to deal with this nonsense of “I am right and you are wrong and, unless you become like me, we cannot get along and I will do my best to get rid of you.”

Why in the world is it so difficult for people to work together? It is a whole lot more fun and you get a whole lot more done when we do things together. Seems to me this is what Jesus tried to do and gave His life trying to do that.

So then, if we stop and think about it, you and I are the gifts that God has created and you and I are, in essence, God’s gifts to Jesus. Well now, that can be interesting! I can understand and accept that Jesus is God’s gift to us. After all that is what Christmas is all about. We celebrate the birth of Jesus and we spend a lot of time enjoying the baby and thinking about just how generous God really is coming to us in this innocent and loveable form. I mean who could ever not respond happily and thankfully to this joyful little one. Then to think that Herod went and had all the kids that were under two years old killed is simply disgusting. But that is the way the world is and we accept that as part of life.

Then each year during Lent along with Holy Week, Good Friday, and at Easter, we focus once more on the profound nature of this gift of Jesus, who as a demonstration of His love for us, gave his life as an innocent victim of a prejudicial society and what those issues are all about. For example, Jesus came into our world to express God’s love for us. Jesus taught us about God and Jesus gave His life for us and God restored Jesus to life again. That I understand. That is easy to grasp.

Now what concerns me is thinking about you and about me as God’s gifts to Jesus. Now that proposal I feel we have to do some thinking about. For example, why in the world would God give me to Jesus? Where or what is my value? Well, I must admit that God was ultimately responsible for my life. God gave me parents and a family that loved me and I suspect still do. At least I hope so anyway...! God spared me from the effects and results of the many errors and mistakes that I made while learning what life includes and what life is all about. I must admit that I certainly due owe God a lot for all that has been done for me.

But the thought that I am a gift to Jesus, I mean, well, how do you feel about that? You may be more patient, you may be more loving and understanding, maybe you are a whole lot better than me and maybe you are really worthy of being a gift to Jesus. Me? Well, with the feelings of enjoyment and satisfaction being a creative producer for the church, skepticism toward the managers and supervisors who didn’t agree with me because I knew what I was doing after all, I had the Master’s and Doctorate; traveling around the country and overseas, I was doing what I enjoyed doing. This was my life. Now am I to be a gift to Jesus? I have to think about that. I mean, poor Jesus, having to put up with me, I wonder if God is kind of irked, giving me to Jesus. Maybe I was not appreciative to God for all that had been given to me. I certainly do respect Jesus as one of the greatest teachers I ever studied and learned from. Jesus knew his students and taught them very well. Jesus loved those who listened to Him. How in the world would Jesus want to or ever be able to accept someone like me?

Well, seriously, that is what has happened to all of us. Jesus has accepted us just as we are and, together with God. Jesus has offered us forgiveness for our past and all that we need for a future life together. Jesus has also offered us an Advocate, God’s motivator, to give us the wisdom and the understanding of life that we can be the joyful people God created us to be.

So as a result we pray as Jesus taught us, “Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one!” That gift is priceless. That gift provides life and joy that we seek each day that we live. God has provided that for you and for me. With Jesus teaching, Jesus help, and Jesus support, we can be the tools that our Holy Advocate can use to bring the rest of God’s family home again. This is a tremendous gift to share as we celebrate what God has given us this day. We are God’s gift to one another! We are God’s gift to Jesus! What an awesome idea!

Amen.