An Unanswered Prayer

Gospel: John 17: 20-26

Jesus prayed that his followers all may be one.  How has that worked out? We all claim to want unity, but always on our own terms.  If everyone just thought and acted like I do, everything would be fine.  If these people just belong to our club, accept this credal formula, adopt this particular form of worship, then there will be unity.  That is our idea of unity, framed by issues and criteria remarkably absent from the concerns of Jesus in his words and deeds.  

What if, instead of our perseveration on things Jesus did not care about, Christians actually focused on things he did care about?  What if we were about caring for the sick and addicted, helping the hungry, poor, marginalized, immigrant, refugee, and migrant? What if we were about clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, giving food and drink to the hungry and thirsty, caring for the imprisoned and stranger? What if these things were the focus of unity?

We human beings love to complain to God about our unanswered prayers, and yet here we have the prayer of Jesus that has gone unanswered for two thousand years.  And it is not the fault of God.  It is our fault.  We human beings have failed to make this prayer a reality.  This is God's unanswered prayer that we have failed to answer and fulfill.  Today's Gospel portion gives us much to ponder, much to discern, and much to repent of.  

Of the World

Gospel: John 17: 11-19

Jesus prays that his followers remain in the world but not be of the world.  What does this mean?  To be of the world is to be in the realm of self-interest which leads to the destruction and exploitation of others.  It is about the striving for material gain which is always at the expense of others, as other people are seen as rivals, competition, or at best as transactional agents for our advantage.  It is the brutish world of Hobbesian state of nature, or what Augustine called the city of man  

By contrast the kingdom of God is about the common good and the welfare of all people.  It is about following Jesus in his work of being the mercy and love of God on earth through healing, liberating, and nourishing others wherever we go.  Other people are seen as image and likeness of God, other Christs, temples of the Holy Spirit.  This way of life is what John Paul II called the civilization of love, or what Augustine called the city of God.

Many claim to come in the name of Jesus, but they preach not the city of God but that of the world.  When self-interest, power, and influence over others are the messages of the sermon, that pulpit is that of the world and the evil one.  But where the towel and basin and the fish and loaves are the images of import, here we find the true Gospel, here we find the way to the kingdom of God, here we find the fulfillment of Jesus' prayer for his followers.

To Know God

Gospel: John 17: 1-11

To know God.  This is eternal life.  But what does this mean? Is it merely an intellectual proposition like many others to which we assent?  In the case of God this is not possible, for a finite being cannot possibly know an infinite being in that way.  Besides, intellectual knowledge does not conform to our experience in the spiritual life where every aspect of our being is engaged and the emotions are an important component of religion that is not present in mere intellectual knowledge.

The fundamental purpose of religion is the constant effort to be conscious of God's presence in our lives at all times, all places, and all circumstances of life.  To know this presence in one's life is not to define it or to understand it in intellectual terms.  It is merely to be aware of it and to experience it in one's life.  We come to realize that this presence of God encompasses every aspect of our being, and we see that this presence is enough.  We do not need  God to do anything.  We just have to be aware that God is present.

In the Christian tradition we come to this awareness through the person of Jesus, the presence of God on earth, the one who came among us in the flesh to make us aware of this presence of God.  Jesus manifested the love and mercy of God in his presence on earth, and he invited us to be that presence of love and mercy in the world as well.  He invites us to demonstrate to the world the presence of God so that others may experience its peace, healing, and liberation.