Message

William Barclay says, “It was in their death that the great ones found their glory.” I’ve been thinking about that statement, and I believe it is true.

Abraham Lincoln had his enemies in his lifetime, but even those who had criticized him saw his greatness when he died. Martin Luther King, Jr. was ridiculed as a radical, a rabble-rouser, and a dangerous communist in his lifetime, but is hailed today as a prophet.

Maybe that’s what Jesus had in mind when he turned his eyes toward heaven and prayed, “Father, the time has come; glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.”

The one who endured the shame of the cross brought salvation to a broken world. It was in their death that the great ones found their glory.

On our way to Holy Communion today, I want us to think about “Glorifying Christ,” lifting him up and offering him our finest acts of praise. In my life, Lord, be Glorified – one prayer that really matters.

So why Glorify Christ? Our text today says there are two good reasons.He has given us ETERNAL LIFE. “For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given me.”

Eternal life, quality life, abundant life, life that has no end.

Our first thoughts of eternal life is life without end, in the presence of God.

Eternal life for John was more than this. It had to do with quality more than quantity. Eternal life is Godly life, life as God designed it to be.

My childhood preacher once said in a sermon: “What if all this immortality stuff is a hoax? What if it is nothing more than a far-fetched dream designed to soften the blow of death? What if this life is all there is?”

He then said, “It wouldn’t change a thing. A Godly life is still the way to live—seeing blessings and becoming a blessing… It is the right way to live now!” That is so true.

Christ has given us eternal life, because he has shown us the Person OF GOD. Now this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God.

It is disrespectful to say all religions are the same. All religions are not the same. If you are a Hindu, God is pure Spirit with no personality whatsoever. If you are a Muslim, God is the Final Judge whom you must please to enter Paradise. If you are a Jew, God is Elohim, the Holy one with a glory so bright that humans cannot see his face and live.

If you are a Christian, God is our Heavenly Father who loves his children unconditionally and provides for them continually.

Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” Jesus came to show us the true nature of God, who God is as a person.

Oh, what a relief it is to know that God is not hostile to humanity. The one true God makes room for the other and stranger, welcomes, affirms and empowers.  Everybody needs to know WHO God really is. For when we find a better God, we become a better people.

We can glorify Christ by the LIVES WE LIVE. They have obeyed your word.

In my life Lord, be glorified! If that is your prayer, how do you put it into practice?

With Devotion – Jesus prays that we are united in our devotion to God and one another. Christ has blessed us as he introduced us to the person of God the Father.  We know God’s will, character, likes and dislikes, and attitudes.  He taught us that God seeks to love us as a loving parent. 

In response to God’s love we are moved to a growing and deeper relationship with our Heavenly Parent. This happens through study and worship. 

It’s like my experience with Ancestry.com.  It was so exciting to see how far back the family tree went.  The pictures.  The family stories that were shared around the Thanksgiving Dinner tables with extended family were affirmed or their embellishments exposed. 

I then became interested in reading history to get the setting and context to these ancestors. What life was like in the frontier America or the cities in the old world. I spent hours and hours researching the records.  

If you do this you come to a greater appreciation for what they endured and the rich gifts of life experiences that have been passed down. 

Bible Study becomes alive when you seek only to discover what our God is like as a person. Just before the outbreak I began such a midweek study with some of you. I hope to resume it sooner than later. 

Worship gives us the chance to remember God’s love for us and to offer our joyful thanksgiving for God’s presence in our lives.  Worship is a time for celebration.

Many have expressed a longing to return to public worship. I long for that day as you.

When that day occurs, we will celebrate with homecoming celebration. I believe we will understand the experience of the exiled Jews when they returned to Jerusalem and held their first worship service in the Temple. 

Unforeseen blessing, even an overlooked ministry occurred during this outbreak. Our homebound have expressed an appreciation for the virtual services. I plan to continue these virtual services as a midweek service but there will be a more fitting name, Worship Without Walls. I hope you like the name….

In my life, Lord, be glorified.

Glorify Christ Through Service – Jesus reveals the goal of his mission was to call and prepare his followers to continue the ministry God began with him.

Soon he will die and ascend into the Father’s presence. God’s presence will be experienced in the Holy Spirit that will empower the church to carry on Christ’s ministry.

We become Christ’s Body in this world to continue the ministry of Christ until he returns. This is not the task of the clergy. It is the purpose of the people of God—the church.

Christ has faith in you and me. Christ has faith in the broken, sinful, imperfect, weak people we sometimes can be. But when we rely on the Spirit when we seek to do ministry to the world God loves, we bless lives God seeks to touch.

Some families pack lunches or gift cards that they keep in the car to give to the homeless begging on the street corner. It is a caring, concrete, compassionate thing to do.

Some people volunteer at homeless shelters, collect for the food banks make masks for frontline workers tutor children, help with after-school care, teach Vacation Bible School, or other random acts of kindness.

Find your own way to serve the least of these.

So Jesus ends his earthly life with a prayer. This prayer in John 17 is really the Lord’s Prayer. He prays for himself. He prays for his disciples. And he prays for us, that we may be united together as one.

As we gather at the Communion Table, let this prayer ring true as we glorify Christ and seek to serve him with our undivided devotion.

In my life, Lord, be glorified, be glorified.

Pastoral Prayer

Lord of Love and New Beginnings, let us not dwell in the past, nor worry about the future. We cannot undo what is done. We cannot foresee what will come. Let us instead dwell in your peace, to be loved and to love, to be forgiven and to forgive, to be healed and to heal, to be made whole, and to bring wholeness to this fragmented world.

We give the past to you and rest in your forgiveness. We give the future to you and rest in your love. We live in your light, open our eyes that we may see. We live in your love, let your love flow through us, to the fulfillment of your kingdom. Thank you for teaching us how to love, by first loving us, so that we can love all those you love—even the lost, broken, the outcast, the poor, enemies, sinners. Help us to make ourselves at home in your love revealed in Christ Jesus… For this is our prayer through the Christ, who taught us to pray:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.