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United in the Glory of God
By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
May 29, 2022
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John 17:20–26 (ESV)
20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may 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. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 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 loved them even as you loved me. 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. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 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.”
There are moments in my life that I feel at a loss. Let me explain a bit. I know who I am. I know what I am capable of. And I a very aware of my limitations. This week we had a workday here at the Meetinghouse. We spent time moving logs, changing rooms around, and just doing a bit of tidying up. We did this Friday and on Saturday, my body decided to remind me that I am not the man I used to be. I used to load hundreds of pounds of fertilizer into a truck by hand, and then spread that amount of product over dozens of lawns all day long. And then after working ten hours, I would come back to the shop and load the truck up for another day. I would throw those fifty-pound bags around like they were nothing…today I grunt when I bend over to tie my shoe. And I have a chiropractor on speed dial.
I know who I am, I know what I am capable of. I am aware of my own limitations. I am also aware of the great harm I can cause. When I was in college, I took karate for my P.E. credit. I encourage everyone to take martial arts classes and any other type of defense training. I encourage this because the number one thing they teach you is that you can get hurt easily and you can also cause a great deal of harm. This is an important thing to know, because every day we interact with people. And within each one of those interactions, we can cause promote community or destruction. We can encourage health or cause harm.
There is a fine line between health and harm. It is an artform to master that process. This is why medicine, while it uses science, is called an art. Because every person is different and reacts differently to substances and situations doctors must be careful and mindful. The same is true with each of us as individuals. We as members of a community have roles to play in promoting the health of this community.
I know that I often reference the Eden account in scripture. I think that this is important, not because I want to promote the idea of original sin, but because I want to remind us of what God created us to be. God created us for a purpose. That purpose is to love God with all that we are and to love our neighbor as ourselves. This purpose was given to our first parents by God telling them to go out into the world and bring it under dominion. That dominion is the kingdom of God. Where God and mankind live and walk with one another. God’s original plan has always been incarnational.
But we all know that there was a turning away. We turned away from the light of God and began to live in the shadows. When our back is toward the light all we cast shadow, but when we face the light, we reflect it. The shadow lands are where we are left to our own devices, making our own attempt to determine good and evil yet where is our knowledge coming from? It comes from the shadows and the shadows is death. God did not change his plan. Even though we allowed death to enter our existence God remains steadfast, constantly calling us to return, calling us to repentance.
This has always been God’s plan. He has always wanted us to be in communion with him. He has always wanted to walk with us in the cool of the evenings. But we hide, we walk away, we go our own way of self-determination. Instead of communion and peace, we bring in conflict and selfish ambition. It is not wrong to make the world around us better, that is part of God’s plan. God did not create a perfect world, he called it good. This means he wanted us to participate with him in making it into the perfect place. Yet in our blind ambitions we cause war and despair. How will God turn it around?
God initiated our redemption. This is something that the reformers have correct, God initiates our redemption. God had to come to earth, God had to become human so that he could bring humanity back with him. But God does not use force to draw us to him. He calls out to us, just as he called Abraham. He calls to us and caringly leads us back to a place of communion, but the shadow of death remains. He had to confront and conquer that final curse. This is the glory of God. That God became man, he lived a complete life with us from the embryonic state to adulthood. He lives within a family, a community, and a nation. He learned what we learn, he worked the way we worked. He worshiped, prayed, and served. And he calls us to participate in that holy rhythm of life. And then when everything was set; Christ was betrayed, tried and executed. He took on the injustices of this world. He became the victim. He became the cursed. He became everything we despise, everything we hoped for, everything we rejected, and everything we desired. He was crucified, buried, and on the third day he rose from the grave.
This is the glory of God. Not just the cross, not just the resurrection, not just the birth but the entire life and lifestyle of Christ. We tend to focus on one aspect but all is necessary because Christ does not just redeem us for life after death but for life.
This is God’s glory, but this glory does not come easy. Peace does not come easy, there is always a cost. Today we celebrate Memorial Day, it is a day that we in this country remember those that have given their lives to protect the freedoms we as a nation believe are ordained by our creator. This day was originally set aside to remember the ending of the first world war. The conflict that was said to be the war that would end all wars. We celebrated that day of armistice and yet conflict continues to erupt. Peace comes with a cost. Conflict comes with a cost. When we place ourselves between the light and the world, we cast the shadows of death. And the only way to lasting peace requires one party to turn. To lay down their arms and to say no more.
That is the glory of God. God came into this world, to make peace. He gave his only unique son, a son that is of the same essence, light of light, God of God. God himself laid down his own life for our sake. It was not taken, but it was freely given for us.
The day that the betrayal was in its works, Jesus did something astonishing. He withdrew to the isolated place and he prayed. He prayed for his own life because he knew the pain that he was about to face. He conversed with the Father attempting to find an alternative way, all the while knowing that the pathway to glory required sacrifice. Peace comes with a price.
He is in that isolated place. He prays. He prays with such earnest that the stress within his body begins to sweat blood. He knows that there is only one way, he knows that he must confront the curse of death so that he can be the incarnation of the complete human existence. This prayer is important, because it tells us that our personal desires are not always the will of God. Jesus, although he was obedient unto death even death on a cross, he did not want to experience the pain. Our prayers are not magic incantations that can force God into doing our bidding, prayer is a conversation that brings us into communion and community with God. And community is a place where there is mutual profit. Meaning that the greatest good for the community is the goal, not the greatest good for the individual. Jesus prayed that the cup would be removed, Jesus had faith, and yet Jesus faced the cross.
This is God’s glory. And this is our glory.
Jesus prayed that spring evening saying, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may 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.”
Jesus not only prayed for himself, but he also prayed for his disciples. He prayed for his disciples, but he also prayed for those that would listen to the words that they spoke and wrote, so that they may also share in the community of God. That we too may be one.
This is the glory of God, and this is our glory. Our glory is to be united with Christ. To be joined with him in spirit and in truth. To live his holy rhythm: Loving God, embracing the Holy Spirit, and living the love of Christ with others. This is the glory of God, to take up the cross and follow him. To say, “Not my will but thine.”
Have you ever really stopped to consider what that means? What does that mean when you are standing in line waiting to check out at Walmart? What does that mean when someone asks you to put on a mask during a pandemic? What does that mean in our family, in our marriage, and in talking with our parents? What does it mean to live out the glory of God in our lives?
It means that we die. We sacrifice. We take up the cross and we take the hits of injustice so that someone else might be able to live free. God so loved the world, the fallen broken, sinful world, that he gave his only son not to condemn the world but to save the world. And who ever believes in him, will not perish but will have everlasting life. This belief is more than just knowledge, or trust, but it is entrusting or embodying that life and lifestyle. We become united in Christ through belief. It is no longer me who lives, but Christ lives through and in me.
That is the glory of God. That he gave his life to make peace with us. What is it that he expects then from us?
“I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 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. O righteous 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.”
I have thought a great deal about unity. I have thought a great deal on what God expects from those who call upon and embody his name. What does this all mean? One commentator I read while in study said this, “The unity in question, while it is a spiritual unity rather than one of organization, as we have seen, yet has an outward expression, for it is a unity that the world can observe, and that will influence the world.[1]” I read this and I considered the history of Willow Creek. I considered the history of Friends, and the history of the Church.
Every great movement of faith begins in the same way. It begins when someone dies to self and begins to live a life in a way that they believe reflects the image of God within them. Usually this begins with self-denial or a life of simplicity. They cast off the luxuries of this world, so that they are in a position to serve the people around them. Along with this lifestyle of sacrifice, they engage in a life of prayer and the study of scripture. They seek to know the mind of God and they humbly submit to the leading of the Spirit within their life.
You can see this in the monastic orders within the historic catholic church, you can see it in the Society of Friends, and the methods of the Methodists. You can see it in every denomination and expression of faith. They deny themselves, and they Love God with all they have and are and they love their neighbor as themselves. This is the glory of God. And the world begins to see, and they respond. They see that there is a different lifestyle available, one of hope and peace. One that does not seek only after their own benefit but also for the benefit of those around them. And the kingdom of God expands. This is God’s glory and it is our own.
Jesus came to live true life among us. He showed us how to live, how to commune with God and man, and he is calling us to follow. He is not only calling us to live this lifestyle, but also praying for us. He is asking that God will send the Spirit to empower and embody us. That is why I love that we have an icon depicting this story at the front of our worship space. God is with us. God is for us. God is within us, and he is empowering us to join with him in his glorious mission. The mission that was set up at the beginning of time. Our Father in heaven, Holy is your Name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have offended us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever and ever. Amen.
[1] Leon Morris, The Gospel according to John, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995), 651.
If you would like to help support the continued Ministry of Willow Creek Friends Church please consider donating online:
https://ccskc.com/church/donation.htm
To help support the personal ministry of JWQuaker (Jared Warner) online and in the community click to donate.
Encircled
By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
May 22, 2022
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John 14:23–29 (ESV)
23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me. 25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe.
This week I have done something I do not often do. I have literally spent most the week sitting around watching TV. I am not completely guilty of sloth though, because it is important. You see there is a new Star Wars show coming out and I as the complete nerd that I am, am required to rewatch everything so that I can be prepared to adequately enjoy the new release. Ok that is the excuse, the real reason I have binge watched Star Wars besides the fact that its amazing, is that Albert has been sick. And when Albert is sick, I feel about as helpless as anyone could. I try to put on a brave face and act like I know what I am doing but the truth is that my mind is going through every potential disease, disorder, infection, pathogen, poison, and pretty much anything else you could imagine trying to figure out what is going on. I have ruled out potential KGB assassination attempt.
When a child is sick, we often feel helpless. We want to take away the pain. We want to make everything better, but we can’t. We do things to help them feel better, we get medicines, we make soup, we make sure they stay hydrated. And we let them do the things they want to do. I even drove to the complete other side of town to get him something to eat, because we bend over backwards for our children.
This is really where Star Wars comes in. I do actually love Star Wars. The problem is that my sister did not like robot movies, so if she was around, it was a dramatic ordeal to be able to watch anything related to Star Wars. My brother had a similar problem because he was a Star Trek fan, and yeah Star Trek is ok. My sister is an extremely strong-willed woman. If she sets her mind to something, it will happen. I love my sister a great deal. I would do anything for her. Usually, it was just so we could make it to school on time, but there is more to it. But she hated Star Wars. I could not win the argument no matter how hard it tried, that is unless I was sick. If I was sick things changed, when I was sick no one complained. And I could watch as much as I would like. Star Wars became a comfort to me. I could wrap up in a blanket, sip on chicken soup, and become one with the Force. Now as an adult I still tend to retreat to things like Star Wars when I feel bad, and I have come to realize that when a child is sick so am I. When Albert was awake, I act strong and in control. But when he was asleep, I would allow him to curl up beside me as I watched Star Wars.
I am not going to make any illustrations about how Star Wars and Jesus relate, I could but that is not the point. The point is that that is where I often find myself in times of distress. That is a place where I feel secure, at home, even comfortable when everything else seems to be wrong. I feel that way because when the family saw that I was not at my best, there was not an argument over the movie instead we all just watched Star Wars together. In theory this works great, but only if you were the only one sick. We only had one TV so if everyone watched together eventually everyone was sick and then we were back to normal.
We all have those safe places in our minds. The activities we do, the books we read, the movies or music we consume that allow us to restore and reset. It is something that is pretty specific to you, others might not understand but it is your place. And when someone loves you, they recognize the importance of it, and if they are smart, they allow you to the space. If you love others, you will also recognize that place yourself and realize that you have withdrawn and need to reemerge once again.
That is what love is. It is giving and receiving and receiving and giving. It is a step forward, to the side, back and forward again. Love is like a dance, where each involved has a part and a role, and it only really works if we work together. To truly love it is not looking only at what you can get out of things, but each is working to make the other shine brighter.
I want us to think about this dance. The dance that honors and highlights the other. Constantly spinning in turning so that your partner illuminated to the greatest degree. This dance, this love. Close your eyes and just imagine it. That is God, that is the word of God; that is the light of God that created everything around us. The triune God was in this dance and out of it light. Then there was evening and morning the first day. You can almost see the steps and the turns. It’s a waltz of light, oceans, land, and plants. Flowers, insects, and birds join in the music as the dance continues. Each step along the way in this dance of life greater and more beautiful things emerge. Animals with vibrant coats and voices, joining in the dance and then when the excitement can hardly be contained, “Let us make man in our image.” And it was very good.
There is a reason why love is such a powerful emotion. When love is pure and freely given and received without regard to personal benefit, we join in the dance that began before time existed. The dance whose steps created the world around us.
Humanity was created in that dance of life. And there is poetry and art in this. As much as I would love to be an artist, or creative I am not. I studied science and even in science I find that the dance of life is beautifully present. The core of our being, the center of every one of our cells is a beautiful molecule we call DNA. And the form of this molecule is a helix, it spins and loops, it divides and comes together. Even the nuclei of our cells join in this dance of life.
I know this in my mind. I see the pictures and I stand amazed. From the spiral of a galaxy around a black hole to the spiral of our genetic material all of creation is a participant in this dance of life. Each contributing its part. One could say that that is like the Force that Star Wars speaks about, “I am one with the Force and the Force is with me.” But the force is energy, and out of energy comes life, and we again are brought back to this dance. The dance reminds us of love, and love causes us to exert energy once again and the cycle continues.
I bring this up because that is the picture, I want us to have when we think of God. Often when people of faith speak of God there is a distance. A God of wrath, vengeance, jealousy. A God that is cold and judgmental. God does not want us to have a good time but has given us rules and laws and if we do not measure up, we are cast into the outer darkness.
But if that is God, why did He create beauty? Why would he bother creating amazing galaxies in the sky which would not even be seen for millions of years? Why would he bother making flowers aromatic, and honey sweet? God dances, God spins and twirls. God blesses and God directs. It is not judgement but a dance. It is not wrath but love. The problem is that we so often do not want to join in the dance. I know this well because I was one of those wall flowers that would go to the dance and be so concerned with looking foolish that I never enjoyed. (Yes, the faith and practice does say that we should not dance but even pastors were once a rebellious youth and if you want more information, please come talk to me.)
God does not cast us out; we refuse to dance.
“If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” Does that sound like a vengeful God? Between episodes of Star Wars cartoons I did manage to do some research this week. And as I read, I found in one of the driest commentaries I own, some of the most poetic imagery. “He insists that the theophany of which he has been speaking occurs within the circle of love that displays itself in obedience to the Son’s teaching…Of the person who so loves and obeys Jesus, Jesus himself promises, My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” You might not find it that poetic, but for me I began to hear music. Love, Obey, dwell. Love, pray, serve. One, two, three. One, two, three. The dance. But the dance expands and grows. We begin with the incarnate word, Jesus and Jesus brings in the Father and they do not just join but they dwell.
We were once just wall flowers, out in the darkness. But we heard the words and we took a set. And Jesus comes and meets us where we are. At first, we do not understand and we step on toes, or we move forward instead of to the side. Maybe we even trip and fall. But Jesus continues to whisper the words to us, and soon we begin to keep step. One, two, three. Then he does something surprising. Maybe He spins us around. What do we do now?
One, two, three. One, two, three. We keep step we keep his word. As we continue in this dance, we find that we are no longer counting or even thinking of the steps; we just moving in sync with Jesus. We abide, we dwell. We keep step and we find that we are right where we need to be, and then the music changes. We look up and we see a wall flower take a step, and we come along beside them and encourage them; one, two, three. And they turn away. And we just keep moving, spinning and another sees us, and we count the steps for them and they come along beside us. We laugh as they join and they laugh, we cry as they step on our foot and they apologize, and we continue to keep step and point them to Jesus. And they listen to the words, and they join in the step and the dance. And we all keep moving together.
This is the poetry I was speaking of this is the theophany, or the vision of God that Jesus speaks of. It is not a vision of the vengeful God, but a community encircled in love and joy. We were created in this dance; we once knew the steps and were encouraged to take this dance of life out into the world. But we got distracted, we began to listen to a different voice and two became one and one became three. And suddenly what was once a dance of life, is now chaos.
When the dancing DNA within our cells get out of step and fail to dance to their created tune, we call it cancer. When a pathogen enters our body disrupting the rhythm of our life we get a fever, an infection. These things pull life away, they strip us of what should have been. But God is still around. The life is still around us if we can see. There is a dance between the flowers and the bees. Each living according to their directed steps, and the result is honey. Honey is one of natures greatest medicines. Even within the chaos the dance continues and God provided a way to direct us back.
“And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me” Jesus says these things to his disciples. He says it because at the time they only knew God through the history of their people. And the preexistence of Jesus before time began would have been to much for them to grasp. What he means is the words he says the steps to the dance he is calling out to us are the same words that have always been there. One, Two, Three. Love, Obey, Dwell. Love, Pray, Serve. Eat, Pray, Love…Wait that is a different movie.
God told our first parent to go out into the world and subdue it. This was before the fall, so the command is to bring all of creation into his kingdom. To encircle every aspect of life with the love of God. Why? “We will come to him and make our home with him.” Creation comes to God, God comes to creation, the dance continues. Eden’s mission is still valid today.
Eden’s mission remains, but so does the voice of distraction. The voice of distraction continues to speak into our world, saying two when God says one or saying one when God says three. Close but just out of sync. We struggle on our own trying to keep up with the words of Christ. We keep trying in our own strength to continue to dance even when we have lost track of the rhythm and cannot hear the music.
We try and we fail. We strive and it appears to be in vain. We see people trying to join the dance and they are quickly distracted and we ourselves get discouraged. Jesus does not leave us to dance alone. “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
One, two, three…one, two, three. Love, obey, dwell, … love God, embrace the Holy Spirit, live the love of Christ with others. The whispers of the Holy Spirit remain speaking into the distraction, encouraging through the chaos. We lose sight of the goal and the mission and the spirit through the words of someone around us or through the pages of scripture direct us to move, reminding us of the rhythm. Our mind again drifts… what about the bills, what about my weight, my reputation. What will people think… one, two, three…Love, obey, dwell is again whispered deep to the core of who you are reminding you even to the cellular level that you are beautifully made, created to bear the image of God, in this dance of life.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world give do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe.”
Peace, this word of greeting and farewell. This hope that all will be good and right among you. Is spoke to us and over us. The disciples at this time will soon see Jesus wrongfully accused, crucified, and killed. They will see him face the very worst that humanity can inflict. And their world will be shaken, turned upside down, and everything they once thought they knew will be dashed upon the rocks like a ship in a storm. He is telling them that they will see things that will cause them to fear.
We see this all around us. I have spoken about how this conflict in Ukraine has shaken in ways that I really cannot explain. It has caused me to question my own life and my own direction. It causes me to wonder. Yet in the midst of the chaos, a still small voice reminds me of something greater. The rhythm is felt once again and my feet again begin to move.
Our attention can be drawn away. War, immorality, plagues, and famine are seen and we begin to wonder if this might be the end. The Spirit whispers again, that is not for us to know, only the Father knows… peace be with you. This reminds us that we cannot be all. We can only be here. Right here in this place at this moment. This is where God has brought you and this is where God wants you to be. And it is here that he wants you to live and join in his dance of life. It is here in this community, your community, the place you dwell. It is here, in this place where he wants you to love, obey, and dwell… to love God, embrace the Holy Spirit, and live the love of Christ with others. It is here. In this place God is calling us to bring the earth into submission or under his dominion. He wants us to build his kingdom here, by encircling those around us with his love. So that they to can begin to hear the voice of Christ and feel the rhythm. They see and hear through our words and our deeds as we live Christ love among them. And invite them to the dance of live that was created by God, encoded in our DNA, and mapped out in the Galaxies, and now beats within your heart.
Sometimes we need to retreat to those quiet places. Sometimes we need to sit around watching Star Wars. Sometimes we need to go on a walk. But there are also times we need to dance. And as we enter this time of holy expectancy, I pray that we will encounter the peace of Christ, and once again hear the rhythm and be reminded of the steps so that we can be encouraged once again to move into his kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven.
If you would like to help support the continued Ministry of Willow Creek Friends Church please consider donating online:
https://ccskc.com/church/donation.htm
To help support the personal ministry of JWQuaker (Jared Warner) online and in the community click to donate.
The Standard is Love
By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friend Church
May 15, 2022
Click to join our Meeting for Worship
John 13:31–35 (ESV)
31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. 33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.”
Last week we celebrated the women in our lives that have encouraged us along the pathways of our faith journeys. As we celebrated those great women, I hope you saw a recurring theme. A theme of encouragement, discipline, of faithfulness, and most of all love.
We do not always see these things until days, months, or even years after the experience. It is difficult to makes sense of things in the moment, but only after time has moved forward. It is after the stress, the dust, the emotions have passed that we are able to see more clearly. We can often get caught in the moment. We want something, we perceive that we need something, and in the torrent the present we are unable to view the larger picture. All we have is what we feel now.
Today we read from the gospel of John. John, most scholars believe to be the last of the gospel account that was written. It was most likely written by the youngest of the twelve apostles, and by the apostle that experienced the most persecution. I do believe that the gospel, the letters, and the Revelation were all written by the apostle, some scholars have other opinions and I respect their thoughts, I just do not believe their arguments carry enough weight to counteract historic tradition. It is believed that John was a teenaged young man just beginning life as an adult in his culture. The traditions of the first century were that the children would attend schools and learn the basic tenets of faith and life so that they could participate in society, then when they became adults at around the age of thirteen paths were opened up to them.
The first path available is that they could be asked to become a disciple of a rabbi. This pathway would extend their education and would set a course for them to become leaders within the community. The disciples of these various rabbis would become teachers within the synagogues, they be arbiters of justice in disputes, and if they were of the proper linage priests within the temple. This path was not available to most within the community. Firstly, if you were born female, this option was not available to you for various reasons. Secondly, to be a disciple meant that you had to leave the house and follow the rabbi. You ate where they ate, you slept where they slept. You mimicked or reflected every aspect of their life. Their lifestyle became your lifestyle. This does not sound too bad unless you were unable to afford that lifestyle.
The second path for these young adults was that they joined their parents in their lifestyles. The parents, the grandparents, the aunts, and uncles all became your rabbi and you became their apprentice. Young women learned to manage the household and young men learned the trade of their fathers. If your father was an artisan, you learned those skills. If your father was a farmer, you became a farmer. If you father was a fisherman, or a carpenter, you took on that life and lifestyle. This second option was the option available to most of the youth. When you came to the age of majority, you became, you clothed yourself in the lifestyle of your family.
There is a certain beauty in that type of culture. You knew what was expected and you had a place within the community. But there is also a darkness. How many great people, great leaders, inventors, and dreamers were silenced because they never had an opportunity to explore?
It is in this background that the disciples of Jesus lived. From everything we know about the disciples, they were common. This meant that they would have been members of the second option. The opportunity of greater education had passed them by and they took part in their family business. There might be a few examples that break from that, like Matthew leaving the tax collector’s table, he might have ventured off to do his own thing. The basic premise remains, they were not in the educated, scribal class. These men and women were common.
When Jesus came to them and asked them to follow him, we need to understand what he asked. He was giving them the opportunity of a lifetime. He was giving them a chance. He offered them something different. He offered them a new lifestyle. He might not have been a traditional rabbi familiar to them, but they had a chance to do something different. And they eagerly embraced that chance.
John, if he was just entering into this apprenticeship age, is unique. All his understanding of life and faith would have been based on the teachings of Jesus. Where the others, since they were older had more exposure to the teachings of the other rabbis. This is why John’s gospel is so different from the writings of the others. His perspective has less of the traditional training because his main rabbi, his predominant teacher is Jesus.
John comes at his gospel presentation from a different perspective. And because of this unique perspective we are given something more. In John’s gospel we are shown a more abstract, theological story. An account written through the experiences of someone that has lived their entire adult life under this teacher. One that has suffered and endured. One that is less about trying to prove something, but one that is filled with hope. At least that is what I see.
In today’s passage, we meet Jesus just after he has washed the feet of his disciples. We meet him just after he had eaten what we call the last supper. We meet him just after Judas has left to fulfill the betrayal. The disciples are in this whirl wind of emotions that they really do not understand. Their teacher is being weird. And now they are getting a bit worried.
“Now is the Son of Man glorified…” Jesus begins to tell them. It is almost as if there is a conspiratorial tone to this discussion. You can almost feel the tension in the air, you can almost feel yourself leaning forward to listen with great intensity. I almost feel as if Jesus said these words in a somewhat hushed manner, a near whisper. He is letting them in on the greatest secret of the kingdom. A secret that only they, the true disciples are privileged to hear. “Now is the Son of Man glorified.”
They are leaning in to listen to Jesus. They are eager to hear what he has to say. They just know that at this moment they are going to get the strategic details that will allow them to throw off the cruel unrighteous rule of Rome and usher in the kingdom of God’s glory. “Now is the Son of Man glorified.”
Jesus uses the term “Son of Man” at this point for a reason. In the writings of the ancients this term spoke of something glorious. It was often used of the prophets to speak about the magnificent era when God would reestablish the kingdom. But when used in the other gospel accounts Jesus primarily uses the term to point to suffering. John uses it now to weave both ideas together.
Jesus begins this final teaching saying, “Now is the Son of Man glorified,” and he continues, “and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once.” There is a great deal of glory being thrown around in this sentence. Five times Jesus says this. The glory of God and the glory of the Son of Man is tied up in what has now been set in motion. The mind of these disciples is drawn to Isiah 49, where the prophet speaks of the glory of the servant. They see Jesus as that man. Jesus by using the title Son of Man labels himself as that man. In this moment Jesus is taking all Israel, all humanity, onto himself. He is becoming the mankind in relationship with God.
This has aways been the case. John tells us this from the very beginning of his Gospel where he writes:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not all things made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it…The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1-5, 9-14)
Light and Word both refer to the source of wisdom and knowledge of God, God himself. John is telling us that when the incarnation of Christ happened God and mankind were united. And since Jesus united divinity and humanity, he could reverse the destruction caused by the rebellious spirits that brought about separation and death. In Jesus, God would glorify himself by restoring what was once lost and reestablish our original mission, to make the whole earth a dwelling place for God.
Now, right now, the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him. Jesus has their attention. Everything they had hoped for is being played out right before them. It is time!
Jesus then says, “Little Children,” This is the first time this term is used to describe the disciples in John’s gospel. It is a term of endearment, which was often used by rabis in reference to their disciples. But in this instance John is again drawing our attention to the introduction of his Gospel, those that believe will be given the right to become children of God. Jesus is confirming that they have believed. He confirms that they have recognized the Word and Light of God within him and have been given the honor of being his children.
But just as he confirms this in them, he says, “Yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’” The confusion begins to set in. He is about to usher in the glory of God, and they cannot join him? How is this possible? This proves that although they believed, they did not have full knowledge. Although they were made children of God, they did not understand what it means to part of this family.
Jesus knows that the glory of God is found not in the methods of men but in obedience and submission. It is found in sacrifice and service. The glory of God is found in the mutual cooperation devoted to God the most high.
The ultimate expression of this mutual cooperation is found in the sacrifice of Christ. It is up to this union of divinity and humanity that can reverse the effects of the rebellion and reestablish the proper order. We cannot do this on our own because we are only one part of the equation. Humanity cannot lift itself up into God’s realm, God must come to us. Our responsibility is to respond to Him.
Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. Jesus brought the incarnate Word of God to mankind through his birth. He lived the Word of God with us in his ministry and showed us how to participate in that Word. God came to mankind in the incarnation. The glory comes when the Incarnate Word returns to the realm of God, and through this also lifts mankind back into that place. In Eden, mankind in our first parents Adam and Eve, lived with God. When the rebellion occurred that brought about death our first parents were removed from God’s presence. Our glory, our created nature, is to live with God. For our glory to be restored the Son of Man must face the curse of death and overcome its power in the resurrection. In Jesus, the glory of God in union with mankind is restored.
Jesus then looks at his disciples, his children, he explains to their confused faces that it is time to restore the Glory of God. They rightfully sit there dumbfounded. Even today we do not understand the fullness of this glory. For thousands of years Israel thought that redemption was through the actions of man. Just as their ancestors believed at the tower of Babel, man can build their way to heaven. The Torah teaches a different path yet the interpretation seems to point to similar result, man can make their own way to glory. Jesus looks at his confused disciples, his children, and says that he has a new commandment.
This new commandment is not at all new. It has been the teaching from the beginning of the faith of the Hebrews. The Shema states, “Hear O’ Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your might.” The Shema has been the prayer of Israel for centuries. And when Jesus was questioned about the most important commandment this is what he stated. He then says that the second is like the first, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” These statements encompass the entire Law. The law is to love God and love our neighbors. Jesus looks at his disciples and says that he is giving them a new law, a new commandment. “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.”
The standard is love. The glory is love. The glory of God and mankind is encapsulated in love. Jesus is not only the incarnation of the Word; he is also incarnate love. He tells his disciples, “Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” This prompts them to consider the life of Jesus. What has he done, what has he shown them? Just moments before, Jesus took on the role of the lowest household servant and he washed the feet of his disciples. This is what Jesus is telling his disciples to do. The incarnation of love is service. It is becoming a servant to each other.
Paul tells us, “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8a) He also tells us in Philippians, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:3-4).
This is the opposite of the teachings of Babel. At Babel man was focused on themselves and their own glory. Christ teaches a different path, a different way. It is not you that is important but the community together. You are important not in yourself but in how you interact with those around you.
Are we reflecting our own ambition for our own glory or are we living in the incarnation of love? Are we participating in vain conceit or are we working for the mutual benefit of those around us?
In Barclay’s New Daily Study Bible Commentary, he explains the love of Christ like this: “He loved his disciples selflessly…So often at the back of things it is our happiness that we are seeking. But Jesus never thought of himself. His one desire was to give himself and all he had for those he loved.” He goes on to say, “Jesus loved his disciples sacrificially… Sometimes we make the mistake of thinking that love is meant to give us happiness. So in the end it does, but love may well bring pain and demand a cross.” And again, “Jesus loved his disciples understandingly…we say that love is blind. That is not so, for the love that is blind can end in nothing but bleak and utter disillusionment. Real love is open-eyed. It loves, not what it imagines people to be, but what they are. The heart of Jesus is big enough to love us as we are.” And finally in his fourth illustration of Jesus’s love Barclay says, “Jesus loved his disciples forgivingly…Jesus held nothing against them; there was no failure which he could not forgive. The love which has not learned to forgive cannot do anything else but shrivel and die… For that very reason, all enduring love must be built on forgiveness, for without forgiveness it is bound to die.”
Barclay is probably not the most scholarly commentator, but his simple words are powerful. Jesus commands us to love one another, just as he has loved us: Selflessly, sacrificially, understandingly, and forgivingly. Imagine if that was how we treated those within this meeting? Imagine if instead of arguing with your spouse you listened. Imagine if instead of wanting to play your game, you let play the one your sister or brother wants. Imagine the difference this type of love would make in that family. What if we go deeper? Imagine if instead of debating with those around us about improvements to the meetinghouse we simply listen to each other and move forward knowing that this is not ours but it is for the good of the community that we meet. Imagine when we see an area the meeting might be neglecting, we offer to fill the gap or step up to assist those who are already trying to fulfill the needs of the community.
We can get caught up in ourselves and our own ideas and we often forget why we are even here. What is the purpose of the church? I will probably surprise you when I say this, the church is not meant to be the institution to convert the world. The church is here to equip the saints to do the ministry God has called them to do. We are here today not so I can convince you to turn your life to God, we are here to encourage each other, to challenge each other to live a life with Christ in the world around us. We are here to encourage each other to take on the life and lifestyle of Christ so that we can join him in the glorious kingdom he has already established through his life, death, and resurrection.
We are here to love God, embrace the Holy Spirit, and to live the love of Christ with others. This is the lifestyle Jesus taught and shows us in the pages of the gospels. He made it his custom to worship in the synagogues. He withdrew often to the isolated places to pray, and he ministered to the community in word and deed. “Little Children, a new commandment I give to you,” he says to us all, “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.” The standard is not the law. The standard is love. Love that is selfless, sacrificial, understanding, and forgiving. Let us live by that standard. Let us provoke each other to love.
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