Well if Jesus thinks it is important...

Statue 1

Bits & Pieces, June 25, 1992

Years ago, a large statue of Christ was erected high in the Andes on the border between Argentina and Chile. Called "Christ of the Andes," the statue symbolises a pledge between the two countries that as long as the statue stands, there will be peace between Chile and Argentina.

Statue 2

Shortly after the statue was erected, the Chileans began to protest that they had been slighted -- the statue had its back turned to Chile. Just when tempers were at their highest in Chile, a Chilean newspaperman saved the day. In an editorial that not only satisfied the people but made them laugh, he simply said, "The people of Argentina need more watching over than the Chileans. - Disarming wisdom from that reporter to maintain the unity between the two nations.

2 Tim Slide

This bible is full of wisdom. The old testament is full of the wisdom that God issues through man. The new testament is full of wise words that God through the Holy Spirit has has compelled people like Paul to write tells us

2 Timothy 3:16 NIV

16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,

You know the New testament goes one better than that, it has the direct words of God in it, the words that Jesus spoke. Some of us will have those words highlighted in Red in in our bibles. How much more are the words of Jesus useful for all of these things.

I want to look at some of that red text today.

How may of us know that when a book gives lots of space to a subject or teacher spends a lot of time on a subject it is important to that teacher or that author?

I want to look at a prayer of Jesus, it is the longest prayer of Jesus we have recorded.

As it is given so much page space we can infer that this prayer is therefore important to Jesus, and to us as his followers

Let me ask another question. Who understands that if we could listen in on peoples prayers we would be able to understand what the real desire and concern of their heart was?

If I could bug your prayer closets I would hear the real deal when it comes to what is important to you.

Instead of the “I’m ok” we swap in greeting, we would hear, the true places of our hearts.

The “God I don’t know how I am going to cope this month, there is just not enough time, or food or money”

The “Father, I’m scared! will you heal me I don’t know how much more I can take”

The heart felt cries for loved ones who are lost or huting

The passionate please for God to provide a new pastor ;-)

The things we pray are the things that are important to us.

Just as an aside, can I suggest that if you are praying for things that are not important to us, I’m not sure you are praying right. God sees out hearts, as much as he hears our words. I am not saying that you should stop praying for things, I am just putting it out there that we may need to expand the capacity of our hearts so that we care as God does.

Never-the-less what we pray for is important to us, yes? So we can assume that the same was true for Jesus.

We are going to turn to

John 17:1–5 NIV

1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

Jesus prays for the Apostles

John 17:6–19 NIV

6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. 13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

John 17:6-

John 15:6–19 NIV

6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. 9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other. 18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

John 17 NIV

1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. 6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. 13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. 20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

Jesus prays for All Believers.

John 17:20–26 NIV

20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

John 17:2

Wow - there is a lot in that.

In the first section Jesus recommits to the task in hand, and declares that he is one with God and that he is God. He speaks of eternity both his, from which his Glorious nature comes and also the eternity of life that His actions, and out acceptance of Jesus as Lord of all is available to all given to Christ.

In the second section Jesus stake a firm claim on his followers .He makes note of the coming empowerment that will at Pentecost bring the disciples the authority through the HS that will allow them to take His words to the Nations and will make those reconciled with Christ holy, sanctified. Fundamental to all NT theology is the shift in perspective brought about by the was is reference in this prayer, the role of Jesus, the coming of Jesus Messiah, and the coming of the Holy Spirit. God has come amongst his us people to reconcile us to himself and the future has already been set in motion, although the end has only just begun. Our Holiness can only be understood in this framework. If you take a look at the <name> they do not look holy, if you watched the actions of <name> they do not appear holy. If I could see into the thoughts and feeling of <name> I a guess, but don’t know that they would not be entirely holy. God sees all those things but he also sees written through all of us, like Skegness rock, Holy - Sanctified - redeemed by Jesus. Jesus makes no illusion that life will be easy, but he prays for protection as we live in this world

Fundamental to all NT theology is the shift in eschatological perspective brought about by the coming of Jesus Messiah, and the coming of the Holy Spirit. God has come amongst his people to reconcile them to himself and the future has already been set in motion, although the end has only just begun. Sanctification cannot be understood outside this framework

and , or more accurately the

We hear Jesus pray for love to abound, for Gods glory to rest on each of us, we hear that we are under the protection of God. All great stuff, that I am so glad that my God cares about and desires for me and for you. But that aim of that desire that Jesus expresses in that prayer is not a warm fuzzy feeling for each of us. The main desire of the prayer the thing that is on the heart of our Saviour is in verse 22 and 23.

John 17:22–23 NIV

22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

Jesus’s desire is that we are as close with God and importantly with each other as the Father is with the Son as they are with the Holy Spirit. - Indivisible.

Why unity is so important.

Why was this so important to Jesus?

Jesus had spent the last three or so years with the disciples. He had seen how they behaved, how they lived life together. He had seen the damage that was amongst his 12 when disunity reigned.

Who sometimes feels that they don’t always manage to live up to what being a follower of Jesus is?

I certainly have the feeling. I tell you what though if you are having one of those days or weeks where you just blow it, you snapped at the kids, got angry with the neighbour, swore at the cat. Take heart, what you don’t get right has got nothing on Jesus’ disciples.

He had two brothers arguing who was the better disciple. James and John practically can to blow over it. They event got their mother involved not to resolve the issue but to promote their cause as disciple(s) of the year over the other disciples.

He had Peter who would rather rush in all guns blazing than take a moment to understand the significance of the events that he was interfering with. Peter even tried to stop Jesus going through with Gods plan for salvation. Not the best credentials for one of the 12 followers of Jesus.

When I say Peter went in with all Guns blazing, I was of course speaking metaphorically. They didn’t have guns in the time of Jesus. What I should have said was Peter rushes in with all Swords swinging.

Sword story

The main thrust of this

You will know the story of Jesus’ arrest in the temple garden, it is in

Where the Jewish officials and the soldiers came to arrest Jesus. As Jesus stepped forward, Peter rushed forwards swinging his sword about lopping off the the right ear of the High Priests Servant.

Can you imagine the scene, there is Jesus on the threshold of fulfilling thousands of year of prophesy, treading the path of restoration for the whole of mankind that had so elegantly been set out by the Father when,

In comes Peter, brawn before brains - swinging a sword, why he had that I don’t even want to consider, and whack. Now I don’t imagine for one minute that Peter was a skilled swordsman that thought “I’ll just use a surgical, accurate sweep of the sword to deftly remove this mans ear as a distraction, while we make our escape” No, he was going for the head he was a blunt instrument wielding a sharp one setting out to kill. He just wasn’t very good at it.

Now we know from Luke’s Gospel that Jesus healed Malthus but not before he had words with Peter:

There was the High Priests servant kneeling on the ground clutching his ear, or more accurately where his ear should have been, blood oozing through his fingers. And there stood with a sword in his hand was a grinning Peter, that sort of didn’t I do good grin my dog has when he manages to stand in the muddiest puddle.

Jesus : “ I’ll be right with you sir, I’m having some disciple problems, I’ll sort your ear but I just need to speak to Peter first”;

“Peter put the sword away, am I not to drink from my fathers cup.”

Interesting that before Jesus could heal hurting humanity he had to stop a sword swinging disciple.

Encouraging that Jesus tells Peter to put it away not throw it away. we sometime hurt people when we exercise the very gifts and talents that God has given us, but we exercise them in the wrong way. Jesus doesn’t ask us to dispose of those gifts he just asks us to wield them with love.

Reference the statues

The prayer in exposes Jesus desire that today, his followers stop swinging being illicit sword swingers, that they stop using the gifts we have been given to hurt people. That includes this sword. while this is there for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, it is not there for division, domination or condemnation.

The content of this are to bring us together not to tear us apart.

Unity where?

The content of Jesus heartfelt prayer reflects on what brings us to unity and what fosters disunity. I am going to be clear here. When we talk about unity in the church context we often think about doing things with other churches and that is indeed a result of unity. It is good to work together focusing on the 95% of common belief and respecting the 5% differences in style and doctrine.

How we achieve that unity is found in the previous chapeter of John.

But that is not Only what this unity is about, this unity that Jesus prays for is unity with in the church, between brothers and sisters, within our families our work places.

Paul in Romans tells us...

Romans 12:5 NIV

5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

Romand 12:5

It is in the diversity of humanity, and the diversity of our personalities and desires that we find true richness, when we are brought together in unity through our belief in the true God and through our fellowship with the Holy spirit.

We are not called to like every one, but we are called to love every one.

We are not called to agree with everyone but we are called to be understanding and compassionate

We are not called to agree with every one but we are called to be peace makers.

The unity that Jesus prays for is not one that is brought about by diluting our faith, but by applying our faith through the lens of God’s grace and his glory

Unity is not simply compromise. The scriptures of the new testament are clear, that outside of heresy we are to be accepting, that is not to excuse sin and the behaviours that a fallen world brings about but to offer hope and peace.

The Hunter and the Bear

Source unknown

Winter was coming on and a hunter went out into the forest to shoot a bear out of which he planned to make a warm coat. By and by he saw a bear coming toward him and raised his gun and took aim.

"Wait," said the bear, "why do you want to shoot me?"

"Because I am cold," said the hunter.

"But I am hungry," the bear replied, "so maybe we can reach an agreement."

In the end, the hunter was well enveloped with the bear's fur and the bear had eaten his dinner. We always lose out when we try to compromise with sin. It will consume us in the end. We are called to strive for unity and we are called to bring hope and peace and Joy and the good news of grace to those that need it.

Ephesians 2:16–18 NIV

16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

Hope, peace love and Joy, infact all good things come from the Father but we are the actors in this. We are called to

Ephesians 4:3 NIV

3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

Next week I am going to continue this theme on what the secret to Unity is.

This week I am going to close with two things. Learn to keep the sword in you belt.

Some things require healing not a sword.

Some situations require sacrifice not a fight.

This is a powerful weapon (Bible) as is this (tongue) let’s make sure we use them both wisely.

When we do use a sword and sometimes we are called to. Let’s make sure we are using it to advance the kingdom and not just to hurt those we are called to love, called to help, those we are to call our brothers and sisters in Christ.

.Don’t r If you are the sort of person that instinctively reaches for a sword when grace is what is really called for - I think God want to do something with you today I am not going to ask anyone to raise their hand if that applies to you as I look silly standing at the front with my hand raised. But I am going to ask us all to stand and I am going to pray about that specifically. I also want to pray for us all. This time is a busy time and it is so easy for the rush of life to force a wedge between us.

If you are the sort of person that instinctively reaches for a sword when Grace is what is really called for - I think God want to do something with you today, I am not going to ask anyone to raise their hand if that applies to you as I look silly standing at the front with my hand raised. But I am going to ask us all to stand and I am going to pray about that specifically. I also want to pray for us all. This time is a busy time and it is so easy for the rush of life to force a wedge between us.

STAND

Next week I am going to continue this theme on how we get to the point of unity.

And it startw with

Pray about rushing for a sword.

Jesus you prayed for our protection as we are left in this world. So we echo that prayer Holy Father protect us by the power of your name, so that we may be as one with You, Father, Son and Holy spirit and through Grace and Fellowship that we should be one body together, one church, one people. Give us that full measure of your Joy within us, Holy Spirit dwell in us in power this week and always.

Amen

John 17:11–15 NIV

11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. 13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.

Years ago, a large statue of Christ was erected high in the Andes on the border between Argentina and Chile. Called "Christ of the Andes," the statue symbolizes a pledge between the two countries that as long as the statue stands, there will be peace between Chile and Argentina.

Shortly after the statue was erected, the Chileans began to protest that they had been slighted -- the statue had its back turned to Chile. Just when tempers were at their highest in Chile, a Chilean newspaperman saved the day. In an editorial that not only satisfied the people but made them laugh, he simply said, "The people of Argentina need more watching over than the Chileans.