By: The Very Rev. Robert S. Munday
All of us are waiting for God, whether we know it or not. The question is: What are we waiting for God to do? All of us are waiting for God to come at the end of our lives. All of us are living in that era between Jesus’ ascension into heaven and His coming again and the end of this age. But if that is all we are waiting for God to do, we are going to miss out on a lot that God intends for us to experience and enjoy between now and then. Like what? Well, Jesus gives us some pointers in our Gospel lesson today, when He prays to the Father that certain things might come to us and be true of us.
That we might be one. “My prayer is not for them [the disciples] alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one” (John 17:20). One of the great hallmarks of ours as Anglicans is that we believe in “unity in essentials, liberty in non-essentials.” We tend not to split over details or to divide as readily as some of our fellow Christians of other traditions. But we hold the core of our faith seriously–the faith of the Scriptures and of the apostles’ teaching, embodied in the three great creeds, one of which we are likely to stand and say in this Sunday’s service. We are to be one—one in faith, one in truth, and one in love and charity.
That the world might believe. “Father, just as you are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (17:21). Jesus commanded the disciples to remain in Jerusalem until they had received the gift of the Holy Spirit, in order that they might be witnesses. And so it is with us. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God desires that each of us might be witnesses that the world might believe.
That God might be glorified. “Father I want those you have given me to be with me where I am and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the world began” (17:24). The first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism is : Q. What is the chief end of man? A. The chief end of man is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever. What is this glory that Jesus has given to us that the father first gave to Jesus? The biblical scholar, William Barclay, lists three ways Jesus has glory: 1) His cross – suffered in love for the sake of others 2) His perfect obedience to the will of God – out of love for the Father, and 3) His special relationship with the Father – that people could see God when they saw Him, and hear God when they heard Him. Jesus allows those who believe in Him this glory – His glory – the glory of the Father. As we turn to Him and live in Him, He lives in us; His obedience becomes our obedience his cross – His burden for others and for a lost world – becomes our burden; and His ability to reflect and show God to others, becomes ours as well.