John 17:20 - 26
When we look out our back window we see a birdfeeder, which if I remember, is usually full of birdseed. Identical little brown birds swarm over the feeder, pushing aside the ones that are there, who immediately push the first aside; and it goes on all day long, they never take a break. I’m sure they must spend more energy fighting over their perch than they get from the seeds they managed to eat. I think my wife likes to watch them because it reminds her of when the kids were young at the supper table.
Humans are like those birds, more sophisticated, perhaps, because we can control ourselves a little better than the birds. But left to ourselves, our priorities are, in this order: me, my family, my tribe, and down the line. For humans, our priorities never extend to the whole human race, or to even the rest of our countrymen. The larger the group, the more abstract our sense of belonging. And added to this is the fear of the stranger – the tribe we don’t belong to we withhold trust, we view suspiciously. And we may go to war with it over nothing. If the birds learned to take turns at the feeder, they would all get a lot more food with a lot less effort. Same for us humans.
Now Jesus’ prayer seems a little complicated and abstract. Like much of the second part of John’s gospel, you have to read the passages over and over to get something out of them. But one thing is striking when you think about it. Jesus is praying for us, his disciples. He’s praying that his deepest desire for us be realized. This Jesus, who has calmed the sea, cursed a fig tree, healed people right and left, and even raised the dead – is there anything he can’t do? Apparently, there is. He can’t make us become one as he and his father are one. And Jesus, as a human being who is also the second person of the Trinity, prays to the Father, the Father who is God creating, God all powerful, God all loving, God all knowing – to bring about this unity. Jesus has managed to bring about a little unity in his apostles – but that will shatter. Judas will betray, Peter will deny, the rest will desert, and Jesus is out of time. So he prays with deep humility, with a sense of powerlessness, for something that he knows is against human nature. Because if we are free to say yes or no, and we are, we can’t be forced to be one, as Jesus is one with the Father.
But the Father does what he can; he gives us the grace to become one. Human nature fights against this and the devil, whose very name means “the divider” , is always conspiring against what Jesus longs for with all his heart.
So what can we do to begin to respond to the grace offered by the Father? It amounts to repentance, to conversion. It means we change the way we see things.
First, we recognize our dependence, Jesus said “The Son can do nothing by himself”. Neither can you, neither can I.
Second, we try to do the Father’s work. Jesus talked about the works that he does in his Father’s name. We can either work for ourselves, or we can see that there is a way for everything I do to be done in my Father’s name, even cleaning up the dishes.
Third, we become familiar with the word of God. Jesus said, “I speak only what the Father has taught me”. The bible is scary if you’ve never really tried to read and understand. But if you start out small, reading and thinking, I think you might fall in love with God’s word.
Fourth, we recognize that we share God’s being with the Father, with Jesus, with one another, through the Holy Spirit. It’s a mystery, but the Spirit is God drawing everything into himself, and you and I and Jesus share this Spirit
Fifth, and perhaps most important, is love. Jesus said, “You have loved them as you have loved me.” Think about those words. God loves you and I just as much as he loved Jesus. If God loves me and loves you just as much as he loved Jesus, then you and I better love each other, not in some abstract feeling kind of way, but by putting ourselves at the service of each other. I may not be called to die on a cross for you, but how am I putting myself at your service? If I show you agape love, self giving love, that’s what Jesus is praying for.
In the prayer we heard Jesus say today, we realize he’s done all he can; he’s hit the wall in his efforts to become one with us, to unite us to the Father, to forge a bond of love between his disciples so that the Father will receive the glory due him, so that the world may believe that the Father sent Jesus to redeem it.
And Jesus is still watching, still waiting, still living among us praying for us to enter into the unity that he offers. And it starts with you and me.
