7 Easter/Year B/May 12, 2024
Acts 1:15-17, 21-26; Psalm 1; 1 John 5:9-13; John 17:6-19
Opening Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ,
who prayed for your disciples that they might be one,
even as you are one with the Father;
draw us to yourself,
that in common love and obedience to you
we may be united to one another,
in the fellowship of the one Spirit,
that the world may believe that you are Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. Amen.
— written by William Temple (1881-1944).
In today’s gospel reading, we hear Jesus praying to His Heavenly Father for his disciples with deep compassion and unwavering love for them, lifting them up into God’s presence and protection…as he knows the time is drawing near, that he will depart from this earthly life… Jesus’ fervent prayer and purpose could be summed up in this way today: “May they all be one”…One in Love for God, one in Love for each other, one in love for all of creation.
As we listen to this part of his prayer today, line by line, I envision the embrace of God’s love, expanding and ever-widening…with no end in sight as to how large this beloved community could become…when we are united as one…in love for God, one another, and all of creation…
This all-encompassing love, this love that has the power to unite us so that we all may be one…has been made known to us, through the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ…and by the power of the Holy Spirit…
Jesus has given us so many examples of how to love one another, serve one another, and care for another…
In today’s Gospel reading, we are given another example of how to love one another, by praying for one another, encouraging one another, lifting up one another into the embrace of God’s protection, and God’s love…with the same love and compassion and fervor that Jesus prayed for his first disciples…
In Jesus’ prayer for his disciples today…we too are invited to hear through his Words, that this prayer is for us, too…
Jesus lifts up his disciples in prayer to God…knowing that he will no longer be there with them, physically…
Jesus prays as the One who reconciles us to God and one another…
Jesus prays for his people as He faced his death upon the cross.
Jesus prays that the Father would protect his disciples in the world…He prays that God would be with us in the world…
Jesus prays that the church will show the same oneness that exists between Jesus and the Father….
Jesus prays that we experience joy, complete joy, in the midst of all that pulls us in different directions in the world in which we live…
And Jesus’ final request in the prayer today, is that his disciples will be sanctified…consecrated, set apart for something special, made holy…transformed by His love, for the work we are all being called to do…
Jesus said: “As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.”
It seems apparent through Jesus’ model of prayer we hear today, his intercessory prayer, that we are being called to do the same for one another…Just as Jesus has prayed for all of us…we are now being sent out into the world….to pray for one another…That we may all be one…
Intercessory prayer is the kind of prayer we pray when we want to bring before God the needs of others…
I don’t think that there is anyone sitting here today who does not know someone or some troubling issue that needs to be lifted up in prayer...to be transformed by the love of God and the assurance of God’s love and presence in the midst of whatever is troubling them…
I have so often heard people say, “I can’t do anything anymore”… “all I can do is pray”…as if prayer is a last resort, and as if prayer is what we do, when we don’t know what to do for someone…so we may as well just pray…not always believing that it might make a difference…
Prayer is number one. Prayer aligns us with God’s will and purpose. Prayer strengthens, supports, comforts, encourages, and encompasses so much more. Prayer unites us, lifts us up, as one family, through the power of God’s love…as revealed to us in Christ Jesus…and through the gift of the Holy Spirit that was promised and fulfilled in the scriptures we listen to every year, on the Day of Pentecost.
As Jesus has set an example of praying, and serving others, and just as Jesus has sent his disciples out into the world, he sends us out into the world. And one way, all of us – the young, the busy, the retired, the home-bound – no matter who we are - we can be a servant in this world, through the ministry of prayer.
In our Catechism section, An Outline of our Faith, on page 856 in our Book of Common Prayer, there is a section all about Prayer and Worship and it begins with this first question: “What is prayer?” The answer noted is this: Prayer is responding to God, by thought and by deeds, with or without words.
I love this opening question and answer, because it doesn’t define prayer, as needing to have all of our words perfectly formed, or sounding elegant, as many of the prayers in our book of common prayer do. It doesn’t define prayer as only an idle spiritual practice. It doesn’t define prayer to limit how we are being called to pray at various times throughout our lives. It encompasses all the possible ways we can pray and respond to God’s invitation to love and serve one another…whether it’s with thoughts or deeds, or with or without words…
Sometimes, the most powerful prayer, is offered in moments of silence – moments when we sit quietly, responding to God, acknowledging His presence.
Sometimes, the most powerful prayer, comes streaming down our faces, with tears of sorrow, or tears of joy and gratitude for those we love…
Sometimes, the most powerful prayer is offered in our music, or the sounds we hear while strolling through the forest, or down by the waterfront.
Sometimes, the most powerful moments in prayer are when we are the recipients of people praying for us.
When we are on the receiving end, we are truly being given a gift – the gift of God’s love, and the assurance that in the midst of all that may be uncertain and unsettling to comprehend...that God is with us always…
Jesus’ words in the scriptures on Ascension Day, as he was getting ready to depart this world, affirm that when he says. “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
Yes...it’s wonderful to be on the receiving end of prayer…especially as we think of Jesus praying for his disciples and us…Yet, one of the amazing things about prayer...is that when we pray for others, the gift and assurance is for us, too…
One of the mysteries of prayer is that while and when our intentions may be directed to another, we will receive a portion of God’s grace as well. (David Haas)
God’s grace, the gift of his love, is intended for all people…
This gift is revealed to us, through the love of Jesus and the many examples he has set before us…teaching us how to love one another, as he has loved us…how to pray for one another, as he has prayed for us…
We are now being sent out into the world to follow his example that he has given us…to pray for one another, by thought and by deeds, with or without words…that God’s will may be done…here on earth…as in heaven…May it be so.
Let us take a few moments now…in the silence of your heart…to present your own needs, and to bring before God, the needs of others…
Closing Prayer/Hymn: Hear Our Prayer, O Lord
Lift Every Voice and Sing II, #249
Hear our prayer, O Lord, hear our prayer, O Lord;
Incline thine ear to us, and grant us thy peace. Amen.
Rev Julie Platson, Rector
St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church, Sitka, AK
****photo of St Peter’s and aurora taken by Dan Evans…May 11, 2024