John 17:20-26
How was your behavior this week?
I am not asking for details, rather I ask because if you at all were nice to someone whether in your family and/or in the community, the chances are the reason for that positive behavior is because you worship.
I am not lifting up our worship or my preaching, or our fellowship, rather according to research there is a correlation between good behavior and religiosity. A study on that research, conducted by Harvard professor Robert Putnam and Notre Dame Scholar David Campbell, will be published this year in a book: American Grace: How Religion Is Reshaping Our Civic and Political Lives.
Although their study has not been published some of the information on the research was shared at a conference in 2009. And although the study surveys and interprets religion in the
According to study of the research done by Campbell and Putnam, religious people are three to four times more likely to be involved in their community than are nonreligious people. That means in the
But here is the reason why and what makes their study interesting: Putnam and Campbell say that the reason religious people are nicer and are better citizens is not because of a religious teaching that all hold in common; some universal truth. Nor are religious people “nicer” because they are trying to secure a place in heaven or because they are afraid of divine judgment; rather, the research suggests it is because of the relationships one has in their places of worship.
The authors theorize that if someone from your “moral community” --- as opposed to say, someone from your work place --- asks you to volunteer for a cause; you are more likely to agree if they belong to your “moral community.” They go on to suggest that “It’s not faith that accounts for this,” says Putnam. “It’s faith communities.”[1]
On a surface level, this suggests for us Christians that there is something to be gained from going to worship that cannot be had by staying home and listening to Christian music or listening to a preacher on television, or spending time on an Internet site or relying on private devotions alone. Our gathering in worship includes a time to honor God, and learn and grow in our relationship with Jesus Christ as disciples but it is also where we draw forth good things from one another for the benefit of others.
But I would suggest there is something more. With that study and research in mind let us look more closely at today’s words from Jesus.
Let me make a couple of points regarding its context. Today words are a final snippet of Jesus’ grand closing prayer beginning with verse 1 of Chapter 17. This closing prayer itself comes as a part of Jesus’ farewell speech to his disciples beginning in Chapter 13.
This final, grand prayer begins with Jesus praying first for his return to glory --- vs. 1-5, then for his disciples --- vs. 6-19. Our verses today contain the third and final focus of Jesus’ prayer: those who will come to faith in future generations. The prayer is a symphony of three movements, with a gradual shift in focus from God to world.[2]
Jesus begins praying by addressing God in an intimate and personal way, “And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.”[3] By the end of the prayer, however, he is speaking not only to God but future generations of believers. “I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”[4]
Now that we know some of the context of this prayer, we should ask ourselves, why would Jesus ask for this in his final public prayer? Why pray for oneness --- unity?
The unity for which Jesus prays for is not based on who we are, or what we need, but on who God is. That means that Jesus does not pray for unity or oneness among his followers because the followers of Jesus are already one, and need to stay that way forever and ever --- Amen. Unity is not an heirloom. For example one family treasured a very old vase. They even kept it on the mantle where everybody could see it. When the mother came in from shopping late one afternoon, her teenage daughter said: “Mother, you know that vase that has been handed down from generation to generation?” “Yes, dear,” her mother replied. Her daughter said: “Well, this generation just dropped it.”
Unity flows from the fundamental character of God: God is one with Jesus Christ, and God loves God’s people in the same way that God loves Jesus his son. The unity, for which Jesus prays for, is not therefore dependent upon our ability to overcome our divisions, and move up in unity, or hold on to some type of ideal heirloom, rather it is based on God’s constant love for us in spite of our divisions. Meaning that in Jesus’ prayer, God loves his followers like he loves his son. We the followers, Jesus prays, are to love each other in and out of that unity and that God design our faith communities to be vessels of love that put God’ unity on display for the entire world to see.
What lesson should we take from this snippet of overheard prayer? Besides reminding ourselves of our unity and oneness with other Christians because of God’s love we should not assume that we know what faith community is all about, based simply on stated faith and/or what is said and done in worship. Unity, oneness does not revolve around a similar confession of faith. Rather the gospel of John shares with us that the ultimate concern of our savior Jesus Christ is that God loves us and is seeking a relationship with us. Jesus is praying that we seek not a self-centered trust of our own knowledge and skills but a true understanding of the God’s love for us, so that we may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and through believing we may have life --- a moral, obedient, loving and eternal life, in his name. Jesus prays that our relationship with God will be like his, unified, and that we will believe and thus love.
Here is the bottom line for us today: People are looking for guidance in many places. Where shall we go? What decision do we make? Are we doing the right and wise thing?
As I said earlier the final snippet of the prayer is geared to the future, that this road we travel is now the Jesus' road leading us towards the future. In fact, God's preferred future will depend upon the decisions we make. So in choosing the journey of faith, we practice a living as loved children of God, redeemed men and women, building relationships of love, kindness, and joy.
This unity or oneness with the Father and the Son is a relationship that is a firm desire to be in tune with God in prayer, worship, and the study of Scripture. Simultaneously, as we nurture a relationship with the Father and the Son, we build a faith community that helps us to remain and strengthen in obedience and love. The single twig, the proverb says, breaks more easily than the bundle. Or said another way, how can we love and serve a God we have not seen and yet hate our brother or sister we see daily? How can we love and serve a God we have not seen and not gather with other believers to learn and grow in our relationship with God?
Let me return finally to the research and study by Putnam and Campbell. Our Christian fellowships are moral communities, and in that regard, we are bound together. That means, that the longer we spend in the environment of Christian community, the clearer it becomes to us that God loves us all with the same persistent love. It is out of that love and with the guidance and strength of God’s Holy Spirit, we come to see others through the eyes of Jesus Christ, to fulfill his prayer “that the love that you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” This is Jesus’ prayer for us, and it never ceases. Jesus prays for us even today.”[5] Amen.
Very cool, Pr. Fredrickson! Would you kindly edit this down to a 200 (or so) word post for the Hand in Hand Blog Digest?
A personal note: I know that my piety and my connection with God is all tied to my congregational life.
Blessings on your head, Sue
Posted by: Sue Edison-Swift | 17 May 2010 at 09:47 AM