Don Bouldin tells about a study he did of people who were 95 and older! He asked the question, “If you had life to do over again, what would you do differently?” First, reflect more. Second, take more risks. Third, do more things that will last forever. Invest in
eternity.
Jesus has taken a risk with these disciples. He has invested all of eternity into these followers with the hope of creating the world largest spiritual social network. His message is about to go public after he gives an offering of his share of God’s grace and mercy.
When Facebook went public this week and offered shares to be purchased, people invested into them! Investors raced to get shares, Facebook raised $16 billion that valued the company at $104 billion. It was the third-largest public offering in the history of the USA, behind General Motors and Visa. Mark Zuckerberg is only 28 years old and he has
prayed on the great need for a stronger social network fabric in our ever disconnected world. In just 8 years, Facebook went from a scrappy college service in a dormitory to the world’s largest social network, with 901 million monthly users worldwide, and roughly 200 million in the USA, or 2/3 of population.
It’s all about the return on investment. The hour approaches for his offering. He is not quite sure how this investment will go. What does the start up director of one of the worlds now largest spiritual networks decides to do? Jesus decides to engage in prayer! But Jesus doesn’t pray for himself – all of Chapter 17 is a prayer! Jesus will soon pray for
himself in chapter 18 - in the garden! But now he is praying on behalf of those to whom the Father has authorized him to "give eternal life." He loving & longingly is concerned about the forces that pull at us. Priestly prayer of Jesus
This lengthy prayer in John 17 shows Jesus concerned for his disciples. He is trying to encourage them in the face of his imminent departure. Jesus had invested three years into the disciples. He has invested into them, though a high risk & high yield! For some it may have looked as if it were not going to pay off! Yet of the twelve disciples, he will get almost a 91% return on investment with 11 of them panning out. After Jesus is death and
resurrection, they appoint another disciple to take on a twelfth of the responsibility placed upon them.
One pastor suggested that this is a preview of Nicene Creed where it says, that we all be “one, holy, catholic and apostolic”. We believe that Jesus wanted unity, that he was set apart (holy) so that they are set apart (holy); that there is just one church and that it’s a message that will go everywhere so he is sending the disciples.
Jesus is talking about unity in the body of Christ, oneness. In the midst of difficulty, there is a tendency to get pulled apart. The pressures of life tend to pull people apart – create denominations. How many churches are there in Rockford? One! Jesus wants them to "close out" any old "accounts" they invested into. Unity with the father and son and Holy Spirit is discovered when we live in community around the word, the meal and
fellowship.
The other part of chapter seventeen is about being catholic, small “c”. Catholic means universal church that exists throughout the world. Jesus wanted all to believe through their message and be one in the message. We think of the new Rockford Bishop Malloy who held a non-communing Vespers prayer service Sunday evening demonstrating openness to be in prayer with other Christians in our community.
eternity.
Jesus has taken a risk with these disciples. He has invested all of eternity into these followers with the hope of creating the world largest spiritual social network. His message is about to go public after he gives an offering of his share of God’s grace and mercy.
When Facebook went public this week and offered shares to be purchased, people invested into them! Investors raced to get shares, Facebook raised $16 billion that valued the company at $104 billion. It was the third-largest public offering in the history of the USA, behind General Motors and Visa. Mark Zuckerberg is only 28 years old and he has
prayed on the great need for a stronger social network fabric in our ever disconnected world. In just 8 years, Facebook went from a scrappy college service in a dormitory to the world’s largest social network, with 901 million monthly users worldwide, and roughly 200 million in the USA, or 2/3 of population.
It’s all about the return on investment. The hour approaches for his offering. He is not quite sure how this investment will go. What does the start up director of one of the worlds now largest spiritual networks decides to do? Jesus decides to engage in prayer! But Jesus doesn’t pray for himself – all of Chapter 17 is a prayer! Jesus will soon pray for
himself in chapter 18 - in the garden! But now he is praying on behalf of those to whom the Father has authorized him to "give eternal life." He loving & longingly is concerned about the forces that pull at us. Priestly prayer of Jesus
This lengthy prayer in John 17 shows Jesus concerned for his disciples. He is trying to encourage them in the face of his imminent departure. Jesus had invested three years into the disciples. He has invested into them, though a high risk & high yield! For some it may have looked as if it were not going to pay off! Yet of the twelve disciples, he will get almost a 91% return on investment with 11 of them panning out. After Jesus is death and
resurrection, they appoint another disciple to take on a twelfth of the responsibility placed upon them.
One pastor suggested that this is a preview of Nicene Creed where it says, that we all be “one, holy, catholic and apostolic”. We believe that Jesus wanted unity, that he was set apart (holy) so that they are set apart (holy); that there is just one church and that it’s a message that will go everywhere so he is sending the disciples.
Jesus is talking about unity in the body of Christ, oneness. In the midst of difficulty, there is a tendency to get pulled apart. The pressures of life tend to pull people apart – create denominations. How many churches are there in Rockford? One! Jesus wants them to "close out" any old "accounts" they invested into. Unity with the father and son and Holy Spirit is discovered when we live in community around the word, the meal and
fellowship.
The other part of chapter seventeen is about being catholic, small “c”. Catholic means universal church that exists throughout the world. Jesus wanted all to believe through their message and be one in the message. We think of the new Rockford Bishop Malloy who held a non-communing Vespers prayer service Sunday evening demonstrating openness to be in prayer with other Christians in our community.
Jesus also is focused on setting these disciples apart for a purpose. As Jesus was set apart for a mission, we reme5mber that the word “holy” means “set apart”. We are the “holy” catholic, church “set apart” (holy) to share the good news. His final action will make us holy because he pays for our sins on the cross, a huge investment risk. He makes them
and us holy. The “word made flesh” will lead them into the truth about themselves, others and God. For then they are sent!
When Jesus said that he was sent by the Father, so now he is sending them out to the world. He prays that they would be guarded once sent. The word “apostolic” means “sent” and so the disciples (students following the way of Christ) and now “apostles” or senders. Jesus is about to his the “send” button and causes them to share the message throughout the world. His last word in this section is not about reflection but about going
and us holy. The “word made flesh” will lead them into the truth about themselves, others and God. For then they are sent!
When Jesus said that he was sent by the Father, so now he is sending them out to the world. He prays that they would be guarded once sent. The word “apostolic” means “sent” and so the disciples (students following the way of Christ) and now “apostles” or senders. Jesus is about to his the “send” button and causes them to share the message throughout the world. His last word in this section is not about reflection but about going
out to invest into eternal things.
Starting next week, we will train a disciple of Christ so that she might be sent into the world as an ELCA pastor of Word and Sacrament. This congregation has invested time, talents and resources into a kid who grew up here. Chrissy Salser will be our Summer Pastoral Intern. You will see the pay off when seminarian Chrissy Salser will come back here to serve a Summer Pastoral Internship for ten weeks. She isn’t just that little kid
Starting next week, we will train a disciple of Christ so that she might be sent into the world as an ELCA pastor of Word and Sacrament. This congregation has invested time, talents and resources into a kid who grew up here. Chrissy Salser will be our Summer Pastoral Intern. You will see the pay off when seminarian Chrissy Salser will come back here to serve a Summer Pastoral Internship for ten weeks. She isn’t just that little kid
anymore. She has been blessed and is responding to the good news. She is here because of 2000 years of return on investment, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and is paying off. Others have built up her faith as they have committed their hearts, sweat and bones, calluses and money. Other invested into Chrissy and each of us long before we even were born. Others have provided us this community because we are the “one holy catholic,
apostolic church.
There is a great “return on investment” because Jesus is concerned about the world. The investment into those twelve disciples has paid off, we are the “prophets” (sic)who are sent into the world to service. What is more important is that we have the greatest investor. Long before we invested into God, God reached into an unlimited pocketbook and sent the great broker to invest into our portfolio, breaking the bank for
us!
Let us pray…
apostolic church.
There is a great “return on investment” because Jesus is concerned about the world. The investment into those twelve disciples has paid off, we are the “prophets” (sic)who are sent into the world to service. What is more important is that we have the greatest investor. Long before we invested into God, God reached into an unlimited pocketbook and sent the great broker to invest into our portfolio, breaking the bank for
us!
Let us pray…
1 David Versen, May 28, 2006; John 17: 11b-19; www.predigten.uni-goettingen.de/archiv-8/060528-7-e.html
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