Prayer for the "Wicked"

Grace and Peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

In today’s Gospel reading we hear the last portion of Jesus’ prayer which has become known as the “High Priestly Prayer.” But let’s set the scene first before we dig into the text itself.

Today’s gospel reading brings us back to Maundy Thursday. The disciples are having their last supper together with Jesus. It is a time when Jesus is giving his last gifts of love and wisdom to his disciples prior to going to the cross. There is a quiet urgency in his actions and words as he works to prepare them for what is to come.

Earlier in the meal Jesus had gone around and washed his disciples’ feet. They had passed the bread and the cup around the table. Judas stands up and leaves to betray Jesus. Jesus gives the commandment to the disciples to love one another as he has loved them. And then… Jesus begins to give them his final teachings.

After all of this is said and done, Jesus begins to pray—and what an incredible experience for the disciples that they get to hear every word of this prayer at the table…. and it’s a lengthy prayer. It is so lengthy, in fact, that each year during our 3 year lectionary rotation of the readings, we get to hear a different portion of the prayer.

In the first portion, which we will hear again next year, Jesus prays for himself. In the second portion, which we will hear two years from now… Jesus prays for his disciples. This year, we hear the final portion of his prayer. Any idea who he is praying for?

Jesus prayed: “I ask not only on behalf of these (in other words, the disciples) but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one.”

Any guesses as to who he might be praying for?

In the very final portion of this lengthy High Priestly Prayer that Jesus speaks openly to his disciples around the last supper table in preparation for to be arrested, tortured, and crucified… Jesus prays for those who “will believe in him through the word of his disciples.”

Any guesses as to who he might be praying for?

That’s right. ,He’s praying for us. He’s praying for you, and for me.

Being prayed for is a powerful thing.

Now I’ll be honest, I much prefer to pray for other people than to be prayed for. When I am praying for someone, I have the opportunity to stand with someone in the midst of whatever they are going through and recognize with them that Christ is present in whatever stressful situation might be going on for them whether it’s an upcoming surgery, drug addiction, financial despair, marital stress… or whatever else it might be.

But being prayed for… that’s a different story. Being prayed for opens me up to the realization that I am vulnerable. When I am praying for someone else, I have something that I am able to do. When I am being prayed for… all I can do is to be there and receive that which is offered.

I remember when I first officially began the process to become a pastor just a little over 10 years ago now… I had my first interview with the Bishop and our own Arkansas-Oklahoma Candidacy Committee. I remember feeling incredibly anxious and unworthy as I waited in the hallway for my name to be called to stand before that committee of 12 people for that interview.

And I remember that after introductions were made and before the interview even began… that the group prayed for me… and prayed for themselves… that we both might be blessed with wisdom. I remember after the interview when the decision had been made to officially “entrance” me into the candidacy process… a process which would take 7 years for me from that first entrancing meeting until I would be ordained here in this church… that they prayed for me again.

In both of those instances I found myself somewhat uncomfortable because all I could do was stand there and receive those prayers. And yet… and yet it was also an incredibly powerful experience. It was a reminder that I didn’t have to do everything by myself… it was a reminder that others with along with me in that journey. It was a reminder that Christ himself was and is along with me in that journey. It was a reminder that I was not alone in that journey but that there were others present to support me, that I was valued and cared for by another.

The experience of being prayed for… was and is incredibly powerful.

The boys and I have been listening to the soundtrack from the Broadway Musical, “Wicked” this last week. The soundtrack is on Amazon Music if you are interested. As we have been listening to the story through those songs, I have begun to understand why the show is still running since its debut in 2003.

The musical begins with the great celebration that the Wicked Witch of the West is dead. And in the midst of the celebration there comes a curious moment as the crowd is in sing-song about the Wicked getting what they deserve. The lyrics go like this:

And Goodness knows The Wicked's lives are lonely Goodness knows The Wicked die alone It just shows when you're Wicked You're left only On your own

Yes, Goodness knows The Wicked's lives are lonely Goodness knows The Wicked cry alone Nothing grows for the Wicked They reap only What they sow

Are people born Wicked? Or do they have Wickedness thrust upon them?

That question that the author poses, “Are people born wicked or is wickedness thrust upon them?” defines the rest of the musical.

In an attempt to answer that question the musical goes back to the very beginnings of the Wicked Witch of the West… all the way to her birth.

The baby's coming

And how!

I see a nose

I see a curl

It's a healthy, perfect, Lovely, little -

Sweet Oz!

What is it? what's wrong?

How can it be?

What does it mean?

It's atrocious

It's obscene!

Like a froggy, ferny cabbage The baby is unnaturally

Green!

From her birth she becomes ostracized. We hear her pain… we hear her struggle. We recognized the unfairness that this young green lady is encountering in life as she is indeed different from all others. And yet, as a child, she has hope for something more.

She sings about the day she looks forward to most… the day that she will finally meet the Wizard of Oz:

And then I meet the Wizard What I've waited for since: since birth! And with all his Wizard wisdom By my looks, he won't be blinded Do you think the Wizard is dumb? Or, like Munchkins, so small-minded? No! He'll say to me, "I see who you truly are - A girl on whom I can rely!"

Without spoiling the rest of the musical for you, you might guess how that eventual encounter might unfold as the young green witch becomes the Wicked Witch of the West. The support that she hoped for, the support that she yearned for… is something she never received. And ultimately, the wicked witch of the west is formed not because she was decidedly evil herself. But because she never heard the words from her neighbors or from her Wizard that she had the potential to do great good.

So, you might be asking yourself what in the world this Broadway Story of the Wicked Witch of the West might have to do with Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer.

In our own walks of life there are times that we might be filled with anxiety and fear. There are times when we might feel isolated and alone… judged and ostracized either for what we look like, what we believe, some action or inaction that was seen by others as a failure despite best intentions. And in some ways, we might feel more than a little bit like that young witch as we turn not to a wizard for our hope of someone who might see us for who we really are but instead to our God.

And 2,000 years before we were even had the opportunity to seek God out to answer that question, we hear the answer in today’s gospel.

And what we hear is that Christ, on his way to the cross, is praying for his disciples… and for us. He prays for his disciples. He senses their anxiety, confusion, and fear, and so he prays for them. He knows they can bear no more, and so he prays for them. He knows he will soon leave them, and so he prays for them. And as he does, and whether or not they understand everything he says, he tells them that they do not have to do everything or even understand everything. He tells them that he is there to support him, that they are not alone, and that they are valued and loved.

We hear this prayer lifted up for the disciples… and for us.

We hear what I heard as I stood in front of that candidacy committee 10 years ago. We hear what that young green witch needed to hear so badly… We hear that we are not alone in this journey of life. We hear that despite the many things that we might see causing us to feel separate from other people… the many pains that cause separation, the frustration, the failures, the brokenness in our lives, that Christ’s prayer for us is that we experience the love of God that he known.

This week, as we hear Christ’s prayer for all of us, I invite you to be prayed for. And the way we’re going to do that is this:

In the pew, you should have a mechanical tablet—you know, one of these but it that make use of paper and pencil instead. And I am going to invite you to write about something going on in your life that you would like to have prayed for this week.

These prayer concerns will be kept confidential. It is up to you as to whether or not you would like to have your name on the sheet of paper.

But I invite you to write as little or as much as you would like on a sheet of paper. Then carefully rip it off of the mechanical tablet and place it in the offering plate when that comes around later in the service.

Now in a minute, we’re going to sing the hymn: One Bread, One Body. This hymn echoes both where Paul writes that there is no longer Gentile or Jew, Servant or Free, Woman or Man but that all are in one body in Christ as well as Jesus’ prayer for us that we hear today. And as you come to the table later in the worship service today you will taste the realization of Christ’s prayer for you that you will indeed experience God’s love. That you are being made one in the Body of Christ… that are sharing in the one cup of blessing. That in the midst of the trials and tribulations that you have experienced in life or that you are in the midst of right now or that concerns that you might not have even realized exist yet, that you may know that you are not alone… Christ is praying for you. Christ is claiming you. Christ is with you.

I’ll now ask Mary to go ahead and play our hymn through a couple of times to give you a chance to write down your prayer concerns and when I join in with guitar we’ll sing this beautiful echo of Christ’s prayer for us and for the world.