The Redeemer Lives to Give me Eager Expectation of Glory
A Prayer for Now and in the Future
Jesus prays to __________ ______.
Glory through ______ _______________.
His and brings .
You are and .
Welcome to worship today at Morrison Zion Lutheran Church. We exist to glorify God. We have set out to do this by gathering around the Gospel so that we may grow in the Gospel and go to others with this Gospel.
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from Jesus Christ, our Lord:
Think of some of your favorite books to read, like fiction, or some of the most moving movies that we watch. Some of the things that really get us into books and movies are that we are allowed to get pictures of conversations or emotions that we’re not normally allowed to see in real life. In the last moments of someone’s life, the author can share what they are thinking and what they are saying. In the movies you can see the words that someone shares when it’s just two people, alone, and something very moving that in real life we don’t get to see.
When we look at our sermon text today, it’s a pretty unique section of Scripture. John 13-17 is a beautiful part of Scripture where Jesus is in that Upper Room with His disciples and it’s the night before He dies. You know that these things He talks about are so important. He shares the words that are in the back of our church as you go out, He is the vine and we are the branches. He gives all of these words that tell us we’ll have trouble in this world, but take heart and have peace. He is pouring His heart out to His disciples and also tells them what we’ll see next week. He reminds them that as He leaves, the Holy Spirit will be sent. They won’t be alone.
But here at the end in this last chapter of that section, Chapter 17, is where Jesus begins to pray. We get to hear Jesus pray. In the prayer, He prays for different people and different things. He first prays to His Father. Then He prays about the disciples. Then later (not in our section of Scripture) He prays for all of us. It’s such an interesting and beautiful thing that we get to see a prayer between Jesus and His Father. What is that prayer like? What are the contents of it? What is He praying about the night before He dies? This section of Scripture is vitally important for us as we get to see what is on His heart as He speaks to His Father, as the Trinity, this thing that kind of blows our mind (the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit), how they are one but yet they communicate and show love to each other. So what does Jesus pray about in this prayer that is for now as He is facing the days ahead? We’ll also see that He speaks about many things in the future. There is this expected glory that we know, so Jesus is going to talk about that, but before that, there is something that Jesus would face as well.
Jesus begins His prayer: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.” He begins this prayer talking about glory. But notice what He says. Even though He says “glorify your Son,” what is the reason? Jesus prays to glorify God, to first glorify His Father even though, yes, He is saying “Glorify me,” but the purpose of that is to bring glory to God.
Think about that. Isn’t that what we are supposed to do in life? As Christians, as this church, what is our mission statement? Glorify God. We do that in different ways: gathering around the Gospel, growing and going, and in so many other different ways. But that’s just the life of a Christian and this church, to glorify God. This is what Jesus prays for. On the day before He is going to die, He says “Lord, let me glorify you.”
When you think about what we, as people, seek to do first, is that usually what we seek to do first? Even though we say, “Yes, the mission of our church is to glorify God,” what are people told to do and who to put first? “Put yourself first. Make sure you get what you need and put yourself in the first place because who else is going to take care of you? You have to love yourself or follow all your dreams and make sure to put what you need before others.” This world really has emphasized that people think they are supposed to glorify themselves. However that is, maybe it’s flaunting a lifestyle or seeking glory through their identity, through money, through your work, through family, putting down others or making yourself feel good because you’re not like “those” people. Maybe you can glorify yourself by saying “Yes, I’m here. I’m not like those people who aren’t here.” It’s so easy for us to serve ourselves and to not think about how I can glorify God and serve others.
If you look at what Jesus says about glorifying Him, to glorify God, you have to think about what that meant. For Jesus, He says that what this is going to be is going to bring suffering. He is going to have glory through His suffering. How does that happen? We see in Verse 3: “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” He could easily have said “Oh yes, glorify me.” Jesus asked to be glorified, but what does that mean? Glorify Him by letting Him be arrested, beaten, mocked, falsely accused, put on a cross, and killed. This is how He was going to be glorified, but it was necessary. He was going to be glorified and through His suffering, that would bring glory because it means eternal life. His suffering and glory brings us eternal life. That’s what He says. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know God, they know Jesus and what He has done. Yes, He would suffer and die, but then He would be brought back to life. He would defeat death for us to show that sin no longer had power. Death would be defeated. He could defeat the thing that held us all down. So His suffering and His glory means eternal life for us. That’s through knowing Jesus. That’s what He talks about as well.
He says: “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They know with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.” Knowing Jesus and knowing what He has done means our eternal life. We know that God has sent Him. What He has done is true. That means that when we always put ourselves first, when we lack the ability at so many times (because of our sinful nature) to glorify God in the ways we should, we are forgiven. Jesus speaks about this work when He says, even before it happens: “I have finished your work.” He speaks as if His death and His resurrection are already done. He was confident of what He would go through and what it would mean. We heard on Ascension exactly what it would mean. Repentance and forgiveness would be preached. This is what His death and resurrection mean. His suffering and His glory bring us forgiveness and eternal life.
What does that mean for us? We know everything isn’t so easy today. We heard that in our Second Lesson, how outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. We have all these troubles, all these worries and all these stresses, we are so busy, we are so focused on so many different things. Some things are small. I joke with high school kids or grade school kids, “That thing that you’re so worried about today, you think that is going to be a big deal in a month or a year from now? It’s not.” But then you take it a step further and you think about those big problems; those health issues or the things that don’t go away. In the grand scheme of eternity, they still are light and momentary troubles. We know that because Jesus is watching over.
In these final hours before He dies, what does Jesus do? He is praying about what He is going to do and what it means for us. But then He prays for His disciples; He prays for He speaks about how we are still in the world. He is going to leave this world but He says this: “I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you.” He prays for us. Think about how Jesus, on those last days, has you in mind. As He prays about this, we know that He has our good in mind. So whatever we face, those light and momentary troubles that don’t seem so light and momentary, you can know that you are loved and protected.
There are times when it doesn’t feel that way. It doesn’t feel like things are in control or “How could God love me if this is happening?” But as we sang in that Psalm, all of these disasters, all of these troubles can come but we know the Lord is still watching over us. We know suffering doesn’t mean that God has left. We know that we live in a sinful world, a world that brings trouble and difficulty, sins that we do, sins that other people commit, and this sinful broken world brings tragedy and disaster. God is watching over and He tells us to not be overcome by those worries or stresses, know that glory awaits us, and even though we will be in this world where there is difficulty and trouble, God loves you. Jesus loved you so much that He could go to the cross for you. He talks about how God has given us to Him and He watches over us and has done this for us and He will continue to watch over us. What a pleasure it is then that we can go out and share this hope.
We talked on Ascension about what Jesus tells the disciples: His work is finished. What does that mean? Repentance and forgiveness will be preached. This message that God is still here even though we don’t always see Jesus and troubles do abound, Jesus loves you and He is with you and we have a hope and a certain peace. We might say, “Who am I to go share this? I can’t do that. I’m not gifted. I don’t have the skills to do that.” But we know that God has prepared us and gives us all we need. Those disciples who went out and shared this message with those others who spread the message from place to place to place to finally get to you, what were they? They were fishermen. They were people who God shared the Word with and as it says here, they had this confidence because they could trust in Christ. They knew that He was the one that had come from God.
Since we know Christ and His love, we don’t have to fear. We can go out with confidence that He has given us the Word and (what we’ll hear next Sunday) that the Holy Spirit is with us and will guide us and give us the Words to say. So don’t be afraid. Don’t fear. Know that you can go with confidence sharing what God has given you. Even though we have difficulties, even though right now there is suffering in the same way that Christ had suffered, glory awaits. Glory awaits each and every one of us, and now we can have that peace and forgiveness and a certainty of eternal life. Amen.
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7) Amen.