Recently Jesus has\u00a0been getting a lot of press. There have been headlines asking \u201cWhat
\nkind of car would Jesus drive?\u201d (\u201cnot\u00a0a gas-guzzling SRV,\u201d say environmentalist advocates) and \u201cWhat
\nkind of stocks would Jesus buy?\u201d (\u201cnot AOL Time Warner
\nand Disney,\u201d say the \u201cfamily-life\u201d proponents– Time,
\nMay 19, 2003). Although the Evangelist John was not among those being
\nquoted in recent press releases, he apparently sensed what readers
\nneeded to hear in writing the material used for this Seventh and Last
\nSunday of the Easter Season. One might caption his article \u201cWhat
\nkind of prayers would Jesus pray?\u201d As with the first two articles,
\nyou could be surprised about John\u2019s description of Jesus\u2019 prayer
\nlife– and specifically about his petitions for you and me! What John
\nsays about Jesus\u2019 prayers will make you sit up and think a great
\ndeal more than current American \u201cprayer talk\u201d does.<\/p>\n
American prayer life has acquired, to mix a metaphor, substantial superficiality.
\nWhen someone experiences a problem, it\u2019s common for people to say,
\nespecially in the parlance of folk piety, \u201cwe\u2019ll be praying
\nfor ya\u2019ll, hear?!\u201d Whether such prayers ever take place or
\nnot cannot be answered with certainty. Even less likely is the prospect
\nthat all the prayers recently advertised for American soldiers on marques
\nat every bank, hamburger stand and car dealership ever took place. Golfing
\nbuddies, dropping off a distraught member of the foursome at his house
\nafter a terrible game in which he missed the shot of a lifetime, cheer
\nhim on hilariously with \u201cwe\u2019ll be praying for you!\u201d The
\nsuggestion of prayer has become a pious way of expressing our care for
\na person, but often there isn\u2019t much content attached to the concern.<\/p>\n
In another era, Peter Marshall, who became famous in the two years
\nhe held the position of Chaplain to the United States Senate (1947-49),
\nonce told a touching story of his widowed, praying Scottish mother. Long
\nafter all the household chores were completed, Marshall said that there
\nwas one thing he knew about his mother with certainty. She knelt every
\nnight at her bedside and prayed for, among other things, him! There were
\nfew things in life, Marshall later wrote, which impacted him as powerfully
\nas the fact that every night his mother went before the Lord in prayer
\nfor him. It is this kind of image that John is sharing in the lesson
\nthat has been saved for the last Sunday of the Festival Half of the Church
\nYear. Those who chose this lesson for us wanted to be sure that long
\nafter we had been exposed to the account of the crucifixion and resurrection
\nand the commissioning of the disciples, we get to hear Jesus praying
\nabout us and for us. Just as Peter Marshall never could forget that his
\nmother took his needs to God in prayer every night, so we can\u2019t
\nhelp but be impressed with what John remembers hearing Jesus say about
\nhis followers in prayer. If you asked 300 people \u201cWhat kind of
\nprayers did Jesus pray?\u201d you would probably not get John\u2019s
\nanswers.<\/p>\n
PUT THEIR FEET TO THE FIRE<\/p>\n
John remembers Jesus\u2019 praying that God would \u201cnot take
\nthem out of the world but preserve them from the evil one.\u201d It
\nis of course too easy to suggest that over the centuries, millions of
\nthose who went into monasteries missed Jesus\u2019 intent here. Regardless
\nof your religious tradition, it would be valuable to understand that
\nthe first Christians who took up monasticism in 4th Century deserts did
\nso because after the Edict of Milan (313), at least according to Eusebius,
\ntolerated Christianity, discipleship in the urban centers came to be
\ntoo self-understood and \u201ceasy.\u201d Many felt that those who
\nlived in the cities had abandoned the battles with the evil one, succumbing
\ntoo readily to temptation. They didn\u2019t think of themselves as escaping
\nthe world.<\/p>\n
It might be helpful to consider how such ease continues in our Christian
\naccommodation to the evil one today. We exercise the option for escape
\nnot by heading to monasteries or weekend retreats or moving the family
\nto a commune in West Texas, but by ignoring the realities of temptation
\nor restructuring immorality. Some years ago, Denmark reported that it
\nhad reduced the number of criminal offences by a substantial percentage.
\nThe discerning reader quickly learned that the reduced crime rate had
\nresulted from decriminalizing a number of offenses. Something similar
\nis happening in the United States today. For example, parents increasingly
\nseek to water down punishments for their children in high schools because
\nsuch information may look bad on their records when they try to get into
\nelite universities. U.S. News and World Report (May 26, 2003) reports
\nthat \u201cthe consequences of no consequences can be worse, however.
\nTo raise a trophy kid, the focus is often on grades, the SATS, the Ivies,
\nrather than moral development. The trade off: No conscience, no sense
\nof remorse, accountability or empathy.\u201d Clearly, this is the very
\nescape from the world in which no battle is done with the evil one.<\/p>\n
There is a shabbiness to this new American immorality which stands
\nexposed by John\u2019s story of the cross and empty tomb. It was no
\ncheap grace which allows Jesus to talk about having his joy completed
\nin his followers. Facing head-on the complacent forces, the enormous
\nodds, of those who call for status-quo, those who want the well-worn
\nstyle of easy peace, overruled temptation and acquiescence to immorality,
\nJesus sets his face toward Jerusalem with its enormous \u201cNO\u201d to
\nhis invitation to accept alternative approaches to peace, integrity and
\njustice. For the \u201cjoy that was set before him (Heb. 12:2), he endured
\nthe cross, despising the shame, and now is seated at the right hand of
\nGod.\u201d It is this joy which Jesus has in mind for us as we claim
\nhis resurrection victory and make bold decisions over against the temptations
\nof the evil one. We are in the world, although not of it, and we dare
\nnot ignore evil or pretend that choices are not real. With the joy set
\nbefore us by the One who daily gives us strength and confidence, we willingly
\naccept challenges in the most ordinary places at work, in human relationships,
\nin school, at church. We are stunned that Jesus does not pray that we
\nbe given the means to escape challenges and temptation, but that our
\nfeet be put to the fire. We may be the \u201cblessed meek,\u201d but
\nwe are not allowed to be cowards. Disagreeing with the Nissan Maxima
\nadvertisement which says \u201cThe Meek Shall Inherit the Passenger
\nSeat,\u201d Christians are willing to take the driver\u2019s seat!
\nThat\u2019s what Jesus prays for!<\/p>\n
LET THEM SEE ME AND YOU TOGETHER<\/p>\n
Another of Jesus\u2019 petitions is equally surprising because it
\ndemonstrates more insight about us that we have about ourselves. The
\nhistory of Christianity is a story of divisions, but nowhere in the world
\nhas the diversity of religion become as rich as in America. Politically
\nand ideologically, one can attribute this to the First Amendment with
\nits non-establishment clause. Once it became clear that government would
\nnot be allowed to legislate religious matters, movements sprang up to
\nexpress every spiritual insight that can be named. Additionally, however,
\nthe diversity in America emerged from a \u201ccan do\u201d pragmatism
\nwhich finds new solutions for ever dilemma. Christian Science (with its
\nmind over matter Gnosticism) and Seventh Day Adventism (with its sabbatarianism,
\nand vegetarianism) are examples of \u201cAmerican\u201d religions which
\narose to address loopholes in spirituality for which there were no existing
\ntheories. I teach a course in the History of American Denominationalism
\nand it is a challenge to decide whether the rich and confusing Christian
\ndiversity that emerged on American soil is a triumph for freedom or a
\ntragedy for the unity of Christianity.<\/p>\n
Jesus prayer that \u201cwe might all be one just as I and the Father
\nare one\u201d is poignant and challenging in this regard. Would it be
\nbetter if we had only a State church (and, thus, a semblance of unity,
\nbut perhaps not as much vitality) or is there a means for Christians
\nto celebrate unity in the midst of existing diversity? On the one hand,
\nit is clear that many religious groups that were formed by immigrants
\nfor the purpose of maintaining language and ethnic heritage remained
\nisolated minorities. As \u201cAmericanization\u201d united such groups
\nover the centuries, mergers took place to remove distinctions. Lutherans,
\nfor example, who once had 150 synods, now have only three. Episcopalians,
\nPresbyterians, United Church of Christ and some Lutherans have \u201cfellowship
\nagreements\u201d allowing them to recognize the validity of one another\u2019s
\nministries. Gradually, a growing consensus is apparent\u2014although
\nsometimes splinter groups continue to form at the edges of the mainline
\ngroups, defying any movement toward unity. It would seem that the real
\nissue, if one takes John\u2019s overall vision of Jesus into account,
\nis not that organizational and structural unity is of such importance.
\nIn a nation of immigrants in which Christians are divided. because of
\nobvious and enormous cultural and ethnic heritages, it seems more important
\nthat we learn to appreciate our ties as disciples with the Master who
\nprays for us. How interesting that Jesus asks us to observe him and his
\nFather together, in their oneness.<\/p>\n
Christians have historically put more emphasis on maintaining clarity
\nand purity in teaching, leading to endless disputes about who had the
\ngreater clarity. It is worth remembering that Christianity grew phenomenally
\nin the first century because pagans were astonished at how much Christians
\nloved one another– and that it declined precipitously in the seventh
\ncentury when it was too severely divided to resist the simplicity of
\nIslam. Jesus knows us too well, and he prays that we see him and his
\nFather in their oneness and imitate it, not argue about it, split hairs
\nabout it, prove that we\u2019re right. We\u2019ve done enough of that.
\nThat\u2019s what Jesus prays for.<\/p>\n
HELP THEM FIND THE SECRET PATH<\/p>\n
Lastly Jesus prays that his followers might see themselves \u201ccalled
\nout, set apart, holy.\u201d \u201cSanctify them in your truth,\u201d he
\nprays. It is a wonderful insight, and an important one to enunciate clearly.
\nSome have perceived this \u201csanctification\u201d to mean moral uprightness
\nand, unfortunately, when taken to extremes, sanctimoniousness. We all
\nknow about Holy Joe and Pious Sarah. They can only lead us to pharisaism.
\nAdditionally, we should remember another problematic interpretation from
\nthose involved in the radical Reformation of the 16th Century. They understood
\nthe New Testament Greek hagiazein to require a departure from society,
\nrelinquishing the structures of government and established church to
\nform a consecrated people who were defined by their separateness. Many
\ncommunal groups that came to the United States in the 1700s had such
\nintentions. The Amana Colonies in Iowa and the Amish in Pennsylvania,
\neven the Quakers, represent such interests still today. However, Jesus\u2019 first
\npetition in this prayer seems to speak against such separateness. His
\nprayer is not that we leave the world but that within it we become the
\njoyful, peculiar, unique, set apart, consecrated, holy people. This is
\nnot a call for arrogance, but for vision. Those who know that God sends
\nthem into the world with a task keep their focus on the One who loves
\nthem and empowers them. In their relationship with him they find their
\nway through the morass of choices, too many of which have dead ends.<\/p>\n
In D.H. Lawrence\u2019s play David, Jesse, David\u2019s father, explains
\nto his son, Eliab, why the spiritual solution to confusion and dead ends
\nis better than the military solution:<\/p>\n
My son, the heart of man cannot wander among the years like a wild
\nass in the
\nwilderness, running hither and thither. The heart at last stands still crying:
\n\u2018Whither, Whither?\u2019 Like a lost foal whinnying for his dam, the heart
\ncries and
\nknickers for God, and will not be comforted. Then comes the prophet with the
\nother vision in his eyes, and the inner hearing in his ears, and he uncovers
\nthe
\nsecret path of the Lord, Who is at the middlemost place of all. And when the
\nheart
\nis in the way of God, it runs softly and joyously, without weariness.<\/p>\n
Lawrence makes a valiant plea for the role of the Other, the Alternative,
\nthe Transcendent, the Different One who calls us outside of and beyond
\nourselves to discover what we cannot find on our own. It is in and through
\nthis Other, through God himself that we are enabled to discover the secret
\npath, the right choice among the false ones, that is the truth.<\/p>\n
Jesus\u2019 petitions are powerful and personal. He doesn\u2019t
\ngive us a \u201chigh five\u201d and promise, as he disappears, \u201cI\u2019ll
\nbe praying for ya\u2019ll, hear?!\u201d He who broke the barriers of
\ndeath and established life\u2019s continuous future goes the whole length
\nof the road with us, praying that faithful followers will be able to
\nkeep their feet to the fire, lay claim to a unity more powerful than
\nmere cries for distinctness of beliefs and nimbly traverse the wilderness
\nof life on the secret paths of God. Here is Jesus concerned about our
\nfuture, our daily walk. It is an image left for the last Sunday of the
\nChurch Year when we now leave behind us all the great acts of God in
\nChrist celebrated at Christmas, Epiphany, Lent and Easter and walk the
\nlong road with all its choices and decisions. It is future fraught with
\ndanger, yet filled with opportunity. It is excitement worthy of adventurers
\nin the driver\u2019s seat of life. How exciting to know that Jesus has
\nforeseen every turn in the road and is praying for us!<\/p>\n