[Jesus prayed:] “Now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.”

John 17:11

Our gospel reading today (John 17:6-19) is a prayer, a very famous prayer, and so I thought I’d spend this sermon time with you looking at the whole topic of prayer, a central part of our life of faith. 

When you think about it, there are only two reasonable ways to look at prayer. It is either incredibly important, perhaps the most important topic of all, or it is an outdated, worthless habit, done only by the superstitious and unenlightened. There is no middle ground with prayer. And if we are here, it is because we believe in a God who hears our prayers. We believe prayer is essential. 

But still, if we are honest with ourselves, we will question it at times. Wonder if it is worth it. Wonder why we should pray. Or how we should approach prayer, And wonder what we should pray about. That is only natural. 

As you might already know, our midweek Bible study group is looking at this very topic, using a resource by Philip Yancey called “Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?” And in this resource, Yancey has a very simple answer to the first and most important question: Why pray? And I love his answer, just three words. Because Jesus did. 

Jesus prayed. Often. What better reason can there be for us to pray? Jesus taught us how to pray, he encouraged us to pray without ceasing, and he modeled for us what a life of prayer looks like. Jesus spent time alone in prayer, especially before significant moments in his ministry. He prayed with his disciples. And he prayed for his disciples. 

Philip Yancey describes Jesus as something like a “magnifying glass of faith.” We can see faith up close through Jesus, and we can see important subjects like prayer up close through Jesus. 

John 17 – The High Priestly Prayer of Jesus

And today’s gospel reading is a great example of this, because it is a passage from John 17, a very famous prayer of Jesus that John recorded, which is sometimes called “The High Priestly Prayer.” Through John, we are given the chance to listen in as Jesus shares this intimate prayer with his heavenly Father. This takes place in the Upper Room, just before Jesus and the disciples go to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus will be arrested. Jesus knows what is about to happen. And he knows that his disciples will need heavenly strength. So he prays. 

It is a long and beautiful prayer, but it can be a little confusing. So I want to break it down into a few key pieces this morning, and help us to better understand exactly what Jesus is praying for, when he prays for us. 

Why Jesus Prays

And to start, let’s remember why Jesus is praying at this particular point in his ministry. This prayer occurs right before Jesus is arrested. Jesus knows what is to come. We hear him say in this prayer: “I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you.” So, Jesus knows that he is going to the Father, but his followers are not. He will no longer be with them in the same way, which leads to this prayer. “While I was with them,” he prays, “I protected them in your name that you have given me … But now I am coming to you.” 

This makes me think of dropping off my children at college for the first time. Lots of prayers, of course. (And maybe a few tears, too.) Entrusting them to God, knowing that we will no longer be with them. Praying that God will protect them. We’ve taught them, prepared them, as best we could. But now, it is time for them to be on their own. 

But this prayer also reminds us that they are never on their own, not as long as they have people who love them and are praying for them. One of the best gifts we can give to loved ones who are not currently near to us is to pray for them. That is what Jesus does for his disciples, and what he does for us. Jesus prays for us. 

What Jesus Prays For

But what does Jesus pray for, exactly? Verse 11 gives us the first part of this answer: “Now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.”

While Jesus was with his disciples, he could protect them. But now, things are changing. And so he turns to his heavenly father in prayer, asking God to protect them. Why? “So that they may be one.” 

A little later in this same prayer, he prays specifically that we would be protected from the evil one. Protected, so that they may be one. So that we may be one. 

We live in a very divided and polarizing world. It is harder than ever to “be one,” isn’t it? And the evil one is very happy about this. Because he wants nothing more than for us not to be one. 

I have often said that the devil doesn’t care what churches argue about, just as long as we are arguing. And the reason is simple: If we are arguing, we are not spreading the gospel. And we may even be undermining it, causing those on the outside to give up on the whole idea of church. And we don’t have to be arguing about the really big topics of our day. Any argument will do. 

In the first congregation that I served as a pastor, our council argued for quite some time about whether or not we should purchase a new vacuum cleaner. Months, in fact. The devil, I am sure, was delighted. Because if we are arguing about something – anything! – then we are not able to give ourselves fully to the task of being the church in the world. And we are not one, which Jesus wants for us. So he prays, “Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one.” 

In the World, But Not Of It

But being one doesn’t mean that our job is done. The world will still be divided. There will still be arguments. There will still be wars and rumors of war. Our unity as Christians doesn’t mean the world will be unified. And in fact, it might mean that parts of the world will oppose us. Jesus goes on to pray in verse 14: “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.” 

When we do as Jesus did, even when we do it united as Christians, we might still be met with opposition and hostility. Just as Jesus was. Why? Because, as Jesus says, we “do not belong to the world.” We are not owned by the world, in other words. The world does not rule us. The kingdom of this earth is not in charge, not with us. We are residents of another kingdom, the kingdom of heaven. 

We are in this world, but we do not belong to it. And prayer is the way that we remember this. To pray is to be reminded that we do not belong to the world. 

We are in the world, but not of it, as it has often been put. We do not belong to the world, and this gives us an ability to serve our world with freedom and love.

Sent Into the World

And this leads me to my last point about what we can learn from Jesus in this famous prayer. In verse 18, Jesus prays: “As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” 

We do not belong to the world, but we have been sent into it. All followers of Jesus are missionaries to this world. We are all sent by Jesus into the world that God so loves, to bring the light of Jesus into what can be a very dark place. 

To pray, in other words, is to remind ourselves of our mission, as Christians, to spread the love of God, to work for justice and peace in this world, and to bring the kingdom of heaven just a little closer to the kingdom of this earth. 

To put it another way, we pray not to avoid getting involved. Not really. We pray to make sure that we are getting involved in the right way, in the way that is pleasing to God. When you go on a trip, you make sure you know the way. Before you leave. Prayer is like that. It is our way of making sure we are headed in the right direction as we go to serve Jesus. 

Prayer changes things, in other words, and often because prayer changes us. 

Sometimes people get frustrated with politicians and others who offer “thoughts and prayers” after an act of evil without ever planning to do anything about it. It seems like a cop-out. And sometimes it is. But, on the other hand, I believe that everyone who truly offers “thoughts and prayers” will end up getting involved. Thinking about something and praying about it should almost always lead us to do something about it. How can it not? 

Prayer sends us into the world, just as Jesus was sent into the world. 

Closing

I have said a lot about this prayer that Jesus famously prayed in John 17, so let me try to sum it up.

First, this prayer reminds us of why to pray. We pray because Jesus prayed. Simple as that. 

Second, this prayer shows us one of the reasons Jesus prayed. Because he was going away to the Father. He would no longer be physically with his disciples. So he prayed for them. And this is the best gift a mother or father can ever give their children, other than love. We can pray for them. 

Third, this prayer teaches us what to pray for. We can pray for many things, of course. In this prayer, we are reminded to pray that we would be one. United by the gospel. And united for a purpose: To be sent into the world, as Jesus was sent into the world. 

Prayer reminds us that we do not belong to the world, but we are called to love the world, to care for it, and to protect it. To leave it better than how we found it, as my mother used to say. And prayer is one of the ways we figure out how to do that. How to leave this world a better place. 

Prayer alone does not do this. But there is no better place to start. May we do so faithfully, to the glory of God. Amen.