John 17:6-19

“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. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 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. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 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. 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.

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. 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. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. 

Let us pray,

Guide us, O God, by your Word, and Holy Spirit, that in your light we may see light, in your truth find freedom, and in your will discover peace; through Christ our Lord, Amen.

When I was a freshman at Pitt, a book came out that changed my life. The book was called The Last Lecture. And it was written by a professor of computer science, Randy Pausch. Before giving this lecture at CMU in September 2007, Pausch was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. The book offers Pausch’s best and final advice to college students about how to live a meaningful life.

This book came into my life during a time when I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do when I grew up. I had gone to college thinking I was going to be a high school English teacher. But I was learning that a love of literature and teaching grammar to bored teenagers are two very different things. This book also came into my life when my father was dying of a terminal illness. And I needed to be reminded that life is beautiful. And you should still chase your dreams even if they seem crazy and out of reach.

Just as The Last Lecture came into my life at exactly the right time for me to receive it, Jesus’ disciples received his farewell discourse right when they needed it. This Sunday is the last week in Eastertide. Jesus’ disciples are in a place of transition. Jesus is about to leave them and ascend to the Father. And they fear they have no idea how to carry on the work Jesus began without him. I think it is helpful to think of Jesus’ farewell discourse as a last lecture. In it, Jesus prays to the Father. And offers his final and best advice to his disciples. Regarding how they are to live. Once he ascends to the Father.

If his disciples take nothing else away from his ministry on Earth. Jesus wants his disciples to remember that they were put on this earth to share the good news of Jesus with the nations. That the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only hope humanity has for a new world order. In order for his disciples to carry out their mission. Jesus prays to the Father on their behalf. For unity. Protection. And sanctification.

Jesus prays, 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. The disciple’s mission- to share the gospel with all the nations- is a tough one. They will encounter many obstacles along their journey. In order to fulfill their mission, the disciples will need to constantly return to God. As a source of strength and comfort. For the many long days they will face along their journey. Jesus longs for his disciples to have the type of relationship with God that Jesus does. A relationship of love and mutual respect. 

Next Jesus prays, My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. In the gospel of John, Jesus is quite clear about the persecution his disciples will face in his name. This is a fair concern. Considering Jesus just days ago died a painful death at the hands of Roman authorities. Here Jesus implores the Father to protect his disciples from the evil one. So that the evil one does not distract the disciples in their mission.

Finally Jesus prays, “Sanctify them you your truth; your word is truth… For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.” To sanctify something means to set it apart, to make it holy. Jesus wants his disciples to be holy because he wants his disciples to prioritize their mission over everything else going on in their lives. This holiness, this purity of focus, will make the disciples more effective sharers of the good news. And sure, holiness is something the disciples can practice on their own. But they will also learn to rely on the grace of God when their own effort fails.

Friends the goal of these seven weeks of Easter is to prepare us (modern day disciples) to participate in the mission of God in our own lives. Next week, at Pentecost, we will learn exactly what that mission is. And how we can participate in is. But before we receive our mission, it’s worth taking a week to reflect on how we can prepare ourselves for this mission.

First of all, it’s worth asking how we are drawing closer to God? Remember the spiritual disciplines we learned about in Lent? Things like prayer. Worship. Confession. Fasting. These practices all aim at helping us draw closer to God. They are ways we can discipline our minds and our bodies to discern the movement of God in our lives and our world. Now that it’s safer to be around people again, another way that we draw closer to God is by spending time with people who are trying to follow God in their own lives. These conversations can happen in the simplest of settings. Over coffee or during a board game night.

Another question worth asking, as we prepare ourselves for mission, is what is distracting us from God? I think this look a little different for everyone. For me, the social media app TicTok, has become a huge distraction and time suck. For others it may be a chatty neighbor. For others it can be Facebook arguments that never get resolved. The problem with these distractions is that they make it easier for the evil one to mess with us. If I’m allowing myself to get sucked into TicTok, I’m probably going to be late to whatever it is I’m supposed to be doing. Which will make me surly and ensure that whoever I’m meeting with won’t get my full attention.

The last question worth asking is, what in you needs to be made holy? Again, looks different for everyone. For me, my desire to be in control of all things at all times needs to be sanctified. It is a part of my personality that I cannot make holy on my own. I am only ever able to do it with God’s help. For others it may be anger over a childhood trauma. Others may need to let go over dreams they had for their lives and start living the lives they have. Whatever it is, we offer these challenges to God because we know that we cannot sanctify ourselves apart from God.

Friends, this past Thursday the church celebrated Ascension. The church celebrated Jesus’ return to the Father. Proving once and for all that Jesus is fully God and fully human. The Ascension marks a new chapter in Jesus’ ministry and in God’s relationship with humanity. Jesus did for us, what we can’t do for ourselves. Jesus took care of the sin problem and in so doing restored the right relationship between God and humanity. It is only in the context of this restored relationship that we have any hope to share the good news of Jesus with others.

But before this transition happens. Before we go out into the world to share the good news of Jesus with others. Jesus prays to the Father on our behalf. In his last lecture, Jesus promises to be with us always. Jesus ascends so that he can constantly offer intercessions to the Father on our behalf. Even though he is no longer physically present with us, he is with us always.

Friends Christ has Risen. He ascended to the right hand of the Father. Let us now go into the world. Equipped to share the good news of this Jesus with the world! 

Thanks be to God, 

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.