Seventh Sunday of Easter

Seventh Sunday of Easter (A)

May 21, 2023

Text: John 17:1-11

Alleluia!  Christ is risen!  He is risen, indeed!  Alleluia!

            “Father, they are Yours.  Save them.”  That is essentially what Jesus prays this morning in our Holy Gospel, the first portion of what we’ve come to call His “High Priestly Prayer.”  It is a little glimpse into what Jesus prays for us continually now that He has ascended, bodily, into heaven, and is seated, bodily, at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.  The crucified and risen Lord Jesus reigns over all things for the good of His Church, for you.  And He intercedes for His Church.  He prays for you.  He has the Father’s ear, seated there by His side.  “Father, they are Yours,” He says of you.  “Save them.”  Grant that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent, and so live with and in Us eternally (John 17:3).  You gave them to Me.  And I have given them Your Word, and so revealed You to them as their gracious Father.  Now, keep them in Your Name which You have given Me.  That is, keep them in their Baptism into Me, and into My death and resurrection, where You placed Our Triune Name upon them, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Jesus prays for His Church… He prays for you… “Father, they are Yours.  Save them.”

            I find this exceedingly comforting, that Jesus Himself prays this for His Church.  Because this is the continual prayer of your pastor.  “Lord, they are Yours.  Save them.”  I pray that little prayer for you constantly, because I have to remember that I am not your savior, and this is not my Church.  Jesus is the Savior, and it is His Church, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  St. Paul speaks of the daily pressure he suffers in his anxiety for all the churches (2 Cor. 11:28).  Well, that is an anxiety common to every called and ordained servant of the Word with regard to the flock under their care.  We’re anxious about your faith.  We’re anxious about your salvation.  We’re anxious when you are not here.  We’re anxious when you are here, whether or not you’ll stay.  And are you listening?  And are you taking the life-giving Word of Jesus Christ to heart?  Are you repenting of your sins, or digging in your heals with self-justifications?  Is the Gospel salve doing its healing and resurrecting work in you, or are you refusing it in hardness of heart?  And if you wander away, will you hear and heed the call, “Come back!  Come back into the Word and Name of Jesus!  Do not go the way of death.  Repent.  Turn.  The world does not love you.  Your idols do not love you.  Only Jesus loves you.  Only Jesus gives you life.”  Never mind the anxieties of, “Will we make budget?  Will we have a building for worship?  (I originally wrote that line, and this whole sermon, before we knew what we know now.)  And do the people even like me?”  Pastors are an anxious people.  But we should not be.  We should trust our Lord.  Jesus is your Savior.  Your pastor is not.  This Church belongs to Jesus, not to me.  “Lord, they are Yours.  Save them.”  It simply echoes the prayer of Jesus.

            You should find this exceedingly comforting, as well, that this is Jesus’ prayer.  Because this should also be your prayer when you are anxious about children, or grandchildren, who have wandered from the faith.  Or maybe they haven’t wandered, but you are anxiously wondering, “Will they be faithful?  Will they stay in the Church?  If they do wander away, will they hear and heed the call, ‘Come back!  Come back into the Word and Name of Jesus!’?”  Perhaps you are anxious about your siblings, or your parents, or other loved ones and friends.  Well, trust the Lord.  Remember, beloved, you are not their Savior.  Jesus is.  And so, you commend them to Him.  You pray, in echo of our Lord’s High Priestly Prayer, “Lord, they are Yours.  Save them.  I cannot.  Only You can.”

            As it happens, Jesus Himself is the answer to His own prayer, and to ours.  What are the first words of His Prayer?  “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you” (John 17:1; ESV).  In the Gospels, and particularly in the Gospel according to St. John, the hour refers to the time God appointed from all eternity for His Son to suffer and die on the cross for the sins of the whole world.  Thus reconciling sinners to the Father, bringing us life and salvation.  And in the Gospels, and particularly in the Gospel according to St. John, this is how the Son of God is glorified.  In the lifting up of God incarnate on the cross of Golgotha.  “‘And I, when I am lifted up, will draw all people to myself.’  He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die” (John 12:32-33).  “Father, they are Yours.  Save them.”  “I will, My Son, by glorifying You in Your sin-atoning death.  And then I will be glorified, and they will have life, when I vindicate You by raising You from the dead.” 

            Now, we know, and it is a heart-wrenching mystery, that not everyone receives the salvation given them in the death and resurrection of Christ.  It is a great tragedy.  Judas, as we heard… one who held the Office of Apostle of Jesus Christ… turned aside to go to his own place, despairing, and suffering a self-inflicted and gruesome death (Acts 1:12-26).  And we know that many others fall prey to the pressures and enticements of the world, to the passions of their own sinful flesh, and to the arch-enemy, the devil, who prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).  From him, false christs and false prophets arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray even the elect, if possible (Matt. 24:24).  It is true, as St. Paul says, “the time is coming,” and I think we can agree, it has arrived, “when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (2 Tim. 4:3-4).  It is because we know this, that we are anxious. 

            But what are we to do with it, this anxiety?  Continue to preach the truth unalloyed, yes.  It is by giving us the Father’s Words that Jesus brings us to know the Father, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent (John 17:8).  Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ (Rom. 10:17).  But also, we pray.  Never neglect that spiritual gift, which is common to all who are in Christ.  Never belittle what God gives us to accomplish by prayer.  You may never know this side of heaven, who heard the Word and took it to heart, who came to faith, who didn’t fall away, or who came back, with the help of your prayers.  “Lord, they are Yours.  Save them.”  Think about this…  You are praying what Jesus prays.  You are praying with and in Jesus.  God will always hear that prayer.  And He will answer.  Now, what the answer is, is up to Him, and it is all shrouded in divine mystery.  But pray, knowing that the salvation of those we know and love, is right where it belongs… in the pierced hands of Jesus, and with His Father, and the Holy Spirit who proceeds from Father and Son.  Preaching and prayer.  That is what we have.  That is what we’ve been given.  It is not ours to be anxious.  It is ours to believe in the One who is the Savior of sinners, and to preach and pray accordingly.  After all, we have His unshakeable Promise, which we heard just two weeks ago: “Whatever you ask the Father in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it” (John 14:13-14).

            And so, here is a thought… maybe even a challenge.  First of all, I encourage you to keep a list, whether literally, on paper, or in your heart, of people you know who don’t have faith in Christ, or who have wandered from the faith, or whose faith appears to be weak or wounded.  Pray for them, by name, once a week, or if you’re up for it, maybe even daily.  “Lord, they are Yours.  Save them.”  Secondly, pray daily, at least in general, for your brothers and sisters in Christ in this congregation.  And maybe once a week, or on some regular schedule, intentionally pull out your congregational directory, and just pray for every member by name.  And I’m asking, please pray for me, and for my family, often, by name.  How strengthened would we be if we were all committed to praying for one another, intentionally, and by name, that God would keep us in Christ and grant us faithfulness in our Christian life?  “Lord, they are Yours.  Save them.”  Third, and most importantly, pray for your family members by name.  Every day.  This is your vocation in Christ as parents, grandparents, children, siblings, etc.  “Lord, they are Yours.  You bought them with Your precious blood.  They are baptized in Your Name.  Keep them.  Save them.”

            Know, by the way, that I pray for you daily, as I promised to do when I became your pastor.  Usually by name.  I go right down the list, pausing to mention any specific situations or needs that I know, asking the Lord’s help, giving thanks for His blessings to you, and commending you to Him for your salvation, and for whatever may be needed in every circumstance. 

            But even more, know that Jesus prays for you by Name, not just daily, but continually, eternally, as He sits at the right hand of the Father.  And know that He Himself is the Father’s answer to that prayer.  Glorified as He is lifted upon the cross for your sins.  Risen, living, and enthroned with the Father, ruling all things in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, for your good.  Revealing His Father as He gives you Himself in His Word and Supper, and sending His Spirit to create faith in you, and sustain you until the Day Jesus comes again in glory. 

            “Father, they are Yours.  Save them.”  He does.  He sent His Son to die for the sins of the whole world.  And now, Christ is risen!  He is risen, indeed!  Alleluia!  And you belong to Him.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.