When you look ahead what do you see?

Do you share the same vision as Christ?

John 17

Banjo Patterson is a famous Australian poet who had an illustrious career writing some of the most famous Australian poems. He lived between 1864 and 1941. He was responsible for writing Waltzing Matilda that at one point was a contender for our national anthem, unofficially of course. Amongst his other great poems was The Man from Snowy river of which a televisions series and a franchise of movies was made and then another great peom from which I am lifting a couple of lines. The poem is Clancy of the overflow. In this poem, Patterson contrasts the dull and dreary life of an office clerk with that of Clancy a bushman who enjoys the freedom of the vast open plains. In the poem the office woorker imagines Clancy out there in the unending open plains and the words the words of the poem read, “And he sees the vision splendid of the sunlit plains extended, and at night the wondrous glory of the everlasting stars.” The verses carry with them a sense of incredible beauty. Its more than just the picture of nature, the lines convey the sense of wonder and awe, freedom, beauty on a grand scale and a deep longing for a deeper and richer life.

Do you have a vision of a vast unending freedom and a deeper and richer life?

This morning I had a short dream about a tiny toddler teetering outside a friends home. The little girl was unsteadily making her way to some chairs a short distance away. But between her and the chairs was a campfire. I was quick to grab her and lift her around the fire. This little girl could not have been more than about one year old and yet she spoke eloquently, still in a childs voice but like an intelligent ten year old. She managed to climb onto a camp chair beside me as I was now seated, looked up at me and said, “I wonder”. In that phrase I imagined the awe and inspiration that this child beheld in all the things she would learn and see and experience. And yet my heart was full of dread at all the things she would see and experience throughout her life as she grew. And yet again my faith looked beyond and reminded me of all the things that would be presented to us by God as He undid all the evil and and hurt that we are subject to today. My eyes were filled with a vision of tomorrow, of a world described by St.Paul that neither eye or ear can imagine.

When Jesus was recorded as praying the High priestly prayer in the gospel of John , I imagine that He too, was looking a long way forward. Beyond the immediate discouragement and frustration to something even more profound than Pattersons splendid vision.

Jesus longed for His disciples to be one with Him and the Father. He had a vision and a mission whereby not only His disciples would be One with the Father and Himself and the twelve Apostles as foundation members of His church, but that all those that would hear and stick to the words of the 12 would also be One with them all. And today that is the spelndid vision for us also. That we may too be One with the Father, Jesus, the Spirit the 12, the disciples of that time and all the faithful down through the ages. That we may all be One. And that like that little child in my dream I would wonder too at the prospect of hope for freedom and a deeper and richer life.

The vision for Christ, as He looked ahead, was a vision that was shared by the Apostles and today should be shared by the modern church. Christ’s vision was to have followers that would make disciples and would also be involved in raising new churches. And it would be done by manifesting or making known the Fathers name.

Something has happened to the clear vision of what an established church and its members were to do. Gone are the days where we can continue with the status quo. The Christian church as a whole is bleeding out. By that I mean that the lifeblood is flowing from it at such a rate that soon it will be lifeless. Why, because to accomplish the mission for making disciples and planting churches we must first manifest the name of the Father. We will talk about that in a little while, but first let me share wth you some stats that will prompt us with a reality check.

And maybe some of us are a little sceptical of the stats. However, the stats keep saying the same thing about the state of the modern church in the west year after year.

In a recently published book by Philip Hughes called “What is happening to religion in Australia” the decrease in believers is alarming. Conversely the non belief in God is equally alarming. Hughes records that in 2018 almost half of the population used to believe in God but they do not any longer.

I think Christ’s vision for His Apostles and disciples and for us is strongly hinted at in John 17. It also seems that for the vision to take place and for Christ not to lose any that the Father gave Him, except for the one that prophecy foretold of Judas, He needed to glorify the name of the Father. He needed to manifest and make known the name of Father to His disciples. Jesus had to keep the disciples in the name of the Father and would continue to make known the name of the Father.

So, what of all this repetitive talk of the Fathers name? vs 6, vs 11, vs 12 and vs 26.

When Jesus says “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world,”1 he’s claiming to have revealed God’s essential character and presence to his disciples.

In biblical usage, God’s “name” extends far beyond a mere label. The description “the name” actually refers to the presence of God2—not God’s abstract existence, but his active, personal engagement with people. What had been merely a label was revealed through Moses to be a personal name, with the revelation confirmed through the Exodus events—the redemption of God’s people, the Passover and the Red Sea.3

In John 17, Jesus claims to have accomplished something parallel. Those given to him belonged to God, kept God’s word, and came to know that everything Jesus possessed came from God because he transmitted God’s words to them and they recognized his divine origin.1 By teaching them God’s truth and demonstrating his own unity with the Father, Jesus made God’s character tangible and knowable.

The church of today is made of Jesus disciples ideally. Jesus disciples are disciple makers and church planters. The vision of the Apostles was the same as Jesus’ vision and the vision of today for the church movement must be the same for it to make a difference to the community in which we live.

My challenge for us all, is that we may regain the wonder of what might be, just like a little child. A picture of freedom and a deeper and richer life committed to our part in Jesus’ movement. A desire for a harvest that sends a clear message to the rest of the world, that the world will not prevail against the church nor the powers behind the world. But that when we, the church clearly decide that we will manifest the name of the Father then the people of the communities in which we live, will come to know the character of God and see the presence of God through His people. The Australian public will then regain confidence in the church which brought so many good aspects to modern society again. And then because the church will embody the character and presence of God, those that will be drawn and will be kept as Jesus did for His Father the church will do also. May the Lord change all our hearts that we might truly know the Father, manifest Him and be One with Him. Blessings.