7 Easter, Yr B (2024) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield
7 Easter, Yr B (2024) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield
John 17:6-19 St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
In the name of the one, holy, and living God:
who was, and is, and is to come. Amen.
I once met a high school teacher,
whose calling was to work with the kids who were struggling in school.
The day I met her was a sad occasion:
it was the funeral for a recent high school graduate…
one of the kids who had struggled through high school
but who had made it and had just been accepted to college.
His tragic death came all-too-soon in his young life.
Many of her kids struggled with poverty and drugs,
trying to juggle school and jobs to help bring in money to help their single moms,
taking care of younger siblings at home so that mom could work.
This teacher told me that her husband had been one of those kids many years ago.
They had met in high school and fell in love,
but in his own struggles,
he made some dangerous choices in his life.
She told me that after high school she lost touch with him
but that she continued to pray for him daily:
Lord, keep him safe.
Protect him.
Have you ever uttered that prayer for someone?
Lord, keep him safe?
Protect her?
When we utter this prayer,
we pray for someone we hold dear in our hearts,
and it may not even be someone close to us.
It just maybe someone we know who is in need of God’s protection,
from whatever the source of the dis-ease…
whether physical or mental illness,
or poverty,
or an environment of violence or abuse, or addiction.
Lord, keep her safe…
protect them.
“Looking up to heaven, Jesus prayed,
‘…Holy Father, protect them in your name.’”
Protect them - keep them - Jesus prays, so that they may be one as we are one.
“Protect them from the evil one.”
A few notes about this passage…
In the Gospel of John,
Jesus prays this prayer for his disciples
right before he is arrested, judged, and crucified.
He knows that he will be leaving them soon,
so he asks God to keep them as he has kept them…
in God’s tender and loving compassion.
The Gospel of John was written during a time of Christian persecution…
to a group of Christians
who were likely wondering what their futures held…
and if they should get out while they had the chance.
The persecutions were trying their faith.
They didn’t know if they could, or should, hang on.
Father, protect them.
Enfold them.
Love them.
Strengthen them for this journey.
How desperately the disciples,
and we,
need this prayer!
And here’s the amazing thing…
Jesus prays:
“Protect them in your name…so that they may be one, as we are one.”
In our Scripture we hear over and over
that the Father abides in the Son and the Son abides in us.
We are intimately bound with God and each other.
We here at St. Andrew’s are to be one as God the Father and God the Son are one,
and that means that we are bound to one another
in the same deep and abiding love that exists in the Godhead!
How amazing!
Therein lies the gift…
and the challenge.
We don’t simply get to bask in God’s love…
we are sent into the world to continue the loving and reconciling work of Christ.
And reconciliation often runs counter to the ways of the world,
where competition rules supreme.
Jesus calls us to resist the unjust structures of the world
that continue to marginalize the vulnerable, the weak, and the powerless.
Jesus calls us to help those without a voice to be able to speak
and to have their needs met.
That voice could be the voice of a teacher advocating for students,
who are struggling to find the resources they or their families need…
or the voice of a friend or family member or a member of the church community
seeking resources for those who are assailed by addictions…
or a voice advocating for affordable housing and adequate healthcare for persons who are unable to work…
or a voice praying and advocating for immigrant children and families crossing the border.
One question for us is this:
How do we live into Christ’s mission of reconciliation and love in this place…
in this town of Canton, NC?
Maybe we could check in with local teachers and school counselors
to see what needs our local children have aside from weekend meals.
Maybe our church buildings could provide space for a local nonprofit
or for community meetings.
If you have ideas, please let me or the vestry know.
In Jesus’ prayer for his disciples – and for us – he prays:
for our unity with God and with one another,
so that our joy may be made complete,
and that we may be made holy.
I find it comforting to know that Jesus prays for me…
for us…
and that in the bond of love
we pray for our neighbors of every sort and condition and circumstance.
Let us pray for the knowledge of God’s presence
and guidance
and courage to follow where the Spirit leads us.
I close with today’s collect:
O God, the King of glory:
Do not leave us comfortless,
but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us,
and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
