John 17:9-19

John 17:9-19

I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth. (NRSV)

"I sent them into the world." We have been "sent into the world" sanctified in truth by Jesus. As his prayer continues today, I can't help but think about the mission he was on and how he invites us to participate in his mission. He prays for protection as we navigate the horror of this life. 

This near the end of the longest prayer that Jesus offers and one can't help but notice the angst in his tone. Not that he hasn't prepared his followers, but that he loves them and doesn't want harm to come to them. As a parent this evokes feelings of concern that I have for my children. I want them to be successful in what they set out to do. I hope and trust that I taught them the difference between right and wrong and how to make good decisions. Like Jesus, feel that I have but there is that lingering worry that hangs over us rooted in love for the ones entrusted to us.

Our joy is in knowing that we have a loving God who like a parent has tended us with care and nurtures us to continue on our life of love. It's the truth with which we are sanctified. Our response is to follow in the way of Jesus and go into the world and care for others like we are taught.

Hebrews 3:1-11 (NRSV)

Tuesday in the First Week of Lent - Reflections on the Letters during Lent

"Therefore, brothers and sisters, holy partners in a heavenly calling, consider that Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses also "was faithful in all God's house." Yet Jesus is worthy of more glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that would be spoken later. Christ, however, was faithful over God's house as a son, and we are his house if we hold firm the confidence and the pride that belong to hope. Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, as on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your ancestors put me to the test, though they had seen my works for forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and I said, 'They always go astray in their hearts, and they have not known my ways.' As in my anger I swore, 'They will not enter my rest.'"

"Builder of a house." As a former builder, hearing this phrase in scripture immediately got my attention. I have always liked being creative, and I felt an extreme sense of accomplishment after the completion of each project. When you are a craftsman, artist, or wood/metal worker, or machinist,  and you pour your whole self into what you are doing, there is a great sense of satisfaction. Ask anyone who has ever built anything, written anything, or created anything.

The writer to the Hebrews calls the recipients "holy partners" and "brothers and sisters." The writer goes on to point out that we should be confident that we are part of God's house in Christ Jesus. The letter also warns of hardening hearts as a response to hearing the voice of God and contrasts this to the Hebrew people who wondered in the wilderness for 40 years after they left Egypt.

We harden our hearts very much like a disobedient child does when they hear the voice a loving parent, knowing that what they have done (or not done) would disappoint the parent. We are fearful of the parent that may be angry and what corrective action the parent may take. If we are members of God's household, then we have responsibilities to the head of the house (God). It's not wrathful anger, but I see it more as loving anger and frustration.

We should remember that Jesus referred to the creator of the universe (creator of ALL things) as "Daddy." This was a loving term of endearment meant to invite us into the understanding that we should relate to God as more of a loving parent that loves us unconditionally. God desires a relationship with us and God wants us to have a relationship with each other. We are brothers and sisters with Christ, invited into the household of God, called into a relationship as God's children, so that we may know God a little closer.