Embodied by a Loving God
Notes
Transcript
To the leader. Of the Korahites. A Psalm.
Clap your hands, all you peoples;
shout to God with loud songs of joy.
For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome,
a great king over all the earth.
He subdued peoples under us,
and nations under our feet.
He chose our heritage for us,
the pride of Jacob whom he loves. Selah
God has gone up with a shout,
the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
Sing praises to God, sing praises;
sing praises to our King, sing praises.
For God is the king of all the earth;
sing praises with a psalm.
God is king over the nations;
God sits on his holy throne.
The princes of the peoples gather
as the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
he is highly exalted.
Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
God of all glory,
as we come to know your Son
through the living word of scripture,
enlighten our hearts
with the spirit of wisdom and revelation.
Remind us again of Christ’s authority over the church
at all times and in all places.
Renew in us again our purpose as Christ’s followers:
to proclaim repentance and forgiveness of sins
in the name of Jesus Christ
to all people in all places.
All glory and honor be to you, Christ Jesus. Amen.
Pastoral Prayer
Pastoral Prayer
Lord, we sometimes wonder why you bother with us. Throughout history, you have called to humankind to be your witnesses. You have given to each a special blessing. But the historical record reveals the stubborn, selfish responses of your people. We think that we deserve your blessing and don’t have to do your will. We have acted in wicked ways far too often. Today you have called us together to hear the words of Jesus as he prayed for his disciples, telling you that his love for them is complete and that he believes in them. We would like to think that we are included in that number, that Jesus prays for us and loves us. And, indeed, he does. He has given his life for us. Now we are called to give our lives for him, to offer to all the good news that God’s love is real and powerful. God’s healing mercy is for all people. We offer our prayers for our families and our friends who are in situations of need, asking God’s blessings upon them. We raise our voices in choruses of pleading for you to be present to all your people, creating pathways of peace. Be with us, gracious Lord. Help us to witness to the world, not only by our words and our thoughts, but by our actions that your peace may be known. We ask all these things in the name of our ascended Lord, Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray by saying...
Introduction
Introduction
What does it mean to be embodied by a loving God? The idea of embodying something means that it is something that is deep within us. It becomes part of who we are as followers of Jesus.
This is Jesus’ final prayer for his disciples and for us before he is arrested and then killed. HIs prayer is for the unity of Christians throughout the ages. But the precise character of this unity is define in specific terms: the mutual indwelling of the Father and the Son. And the intimacy shared between the Fahter and the Son is also defined in very specific ways to : the Father’s sending the Son into the world and the Son’s fulfilling what the Father sent him into the world to do.
Jesus is talking about the disciples who will come later who will believe based on the word of the disciples now. His prayer is that they would all be one.
We embody one another.
We embody one another.
Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.
“I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, 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.
17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.
John 17:20-
Jesus is talking about the disciples to the Father, and those who will believe in him “through their word.” But what Jesus is praying for is precisely that these disciples and their followers might have - with one another and with him - the mutuality he shares with the Father, a mutuality expressed in the very tenor of the prayer itself. Thus the two specific requests is first “that they may all be one and “that those also … may be with me” - can only be understood agains the backdrop of the relationship between the Father and the Son and the deep drama of intimacy and mutuality.
As followers of Jesus, we are to embody one another in the sense that God is dwelling in us. We are connected as one body in Christ. There is none of us that can do this without one another. We have to have our brothers and sisters in Christ to help us in our discipleship and grow in love and grace. We are not lone rangers in our faith. There is a deep connection between those of us who are disciples of Jesus because of the relationship that the Son has with the Father. It is the example of how we are to be with one another.
Graduates, as you go out in this world know that you have to have others with you on your journey. You have gotten to this place in your lives because with help from family, friends, and your church family. We need one another to be successful in this world and in the kingdom of God. Paul reminds us in that we are one body and that we have one bread. It is a reminder from the communion liturgy that we gather around a table to receive the grace of Christ and empower us to do the good things in this world.
We embody God’s glory.
We embody God’s glory.
so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints,
The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
John 17:24
We are called to embody God’s glory in the world. We need one another so that we can be true disciples of Christ. But we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to go into the world share God’s glory with all people. On this Ascension Sunday we are reminded of Jesus’ command to the disciples in
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
The power that we receive is from the Holy Spirit to go and declare God’s glory to the world. What is God’s glory? It is the manifestation of his power and presense. As human beings, we give God glory through our worship and praise. But we also embody that glory as an inheritence through the Spirit. The glory of God manifests itself through the believer in the way that we live in the world. How do we show God to others? How do we walk in the holiness of God so that others can see God alive in us? This is where the crux of our lives in Christ takes place. As believers, we embody the glory of God and his power when we draw closer to him. When we are living in the mutual relationship with God that Christ showed us through his life. This is not to say that we can become divine in some way but we do embody a sense of the divine in our lives because we are made in the image of God. That image of God is made more and more into the likeness of Christ as we draw closer to him through pray, study, and sharing his good news with other.
We are sent into the world to proclaim the glory of God and show it in our lives so that others may come to know Christ as savior. We are called to share our faith with others and not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, but boldly proclaim his name
and most of the brothers and sisters, having been made confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, dare to speak the word with greater boldness and without fear.
We embody the work of Christ.
We embody the work of Christ.
He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.
“Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
This leads us to our final point today: we are to embody the work of Christ. What does this mean to embody the work of Christ? What is the work of Christ? The work of Christ is being a witness to the gospel. One of the things that many of us in the church have forgotten to do is to witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. We don’t understand the importance of sharing our faith with others. A lot of it is because we no longer know how to do it. We live in a society that doesn’t want us to share our beliefs with others because it is seen as rude or unkind to discount someone else’s Belief system. But brothers and sisters, we have the true message for eternal life in Jesus Christ. He sent out his disciples in to proclaim. Some people would not accept them. Some people would. But the point that Jesus makes is a simple one - the harvest is plentiful. There are millions and billions of people in our world today who do not know Jesus Christ as savior. There are many just around our church who don’t know Christ. What are we doing to make sure they know? Do we take this work seriously? Do we expect that if we just have the right pastor or right youth leader or right music that suddenly people will be breaking down the doors? What are we doing right now to tell the story of Jesus to someone who is not a Christian?
This is the purpose of church. We have tried to make the church into something it is not. This starts from denominational leaders on down. We have tried to make the church into a social club or a political action committee and not the embodiment of Jesus in the world - declaring the good news to lost sinners so that they might come into a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Our goal as a congregation is to be a people who will declare the good news of Jesus boldly in our world - who will not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ and to make disciples of Chirst who will in turn take the gospel into new places.
Conclusion
Conclusion
How are we going to embody the fullness of Christ in our community today? Will we be bold enough to embody one another and care for one another as we have been called to do? Will be bold enough to walk with the glory of God in our lives? Will we desire holiness and righteousness? Will we seek after God just as he has sought after us? Will we be bold in proclaiming the good news of Jesus to all? Will we take the work of Christ seriously and share our faith with others? This was Jesus’ final prayer for us before his death - that we would embody these things that he did. We would embody him in our lives and that we would want to be a deep relationship with the Father just as he was. This prayer is a reminder that the walk of the Christian is not for the faint of heart. Following Jesus is not easy. But we are called to this life because God desires so much to be in relationship with us that Jesus was sent into the world. Now we are sent into the world so that all people can come into his presence.
Benediction
Benediction
As Christ has loved you and prayed for you, go now in peace, bringing Christ’s loving words to all you meet. Know that Christ is with you in all that you do. Amen.