ONEFAMILY Outreach

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ONEFamily Outreach exists to "Connect Kids to Community and Communities to Kids." Have you considered having a mission week for your church? This is one of my favorite "in-depth" ways of reaching out with the Great News of Jesus Christ. Activities can include:

Interactive and participative praise concerts for children, youth, and families;
Morning staff studies on "Authentic Leadership" and "Building a Culture of Intentional Courtesy"
Brown-Bag Luncheon Studies for your community focusing on our scriptural call to justice;
In-service for your volunteers or teachers on reaching today's youth and families with the vibrant, living, message of Jesus Christ;
Evening parent seminars based upon two of Jerry's recent books: "Significant Conversations: Helping Young People Live Meaningful Lives," and "The Deepest Longing of Young People; Loving Without Conditions."
Local networking with other area groups (secular or faith-based) regarding prevention and intervention strategies for high-risk and incarcerated youth;
Humorous and thought-provoking school assemblies (secular or religious, elementary through high school).

ONEFamily Outreach is primarily supported by your donations and by trainings, workshops, retreats and concerts.

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“Perfected In Unity”

John 17:20-26

Easter 7c

John 17:20-26

[Jn 17:20] “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; [21] that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. [22] “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; [23] I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. [24] “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

[25] “O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; [26] and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” (NAS)

John 17:20-21

The Lord’s High Priestly Prayer

John 17 is often referred to as “the Lord’s High-Priestly Prayer,” or simply, “the Lord’s Prayer.”

This prayer follows the foot washing [Chapter 13] and the instructions to the disciples [Chapter 14-16]. In those teachings Christ declares:

· “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life [14:6];”

· “I am in the Father and the Father is in me [14:11];”

· “I am the Vine [15:1];”

· “I will send Him (the Holy Spirit) to you [16:7];”

· “I will see you again and your heart will rejoice [16:22];”

And he closes those teachings with these triumphant words:

· “I have overcome the world.”

It is with that jubilant exclamation point that Jesus is led to the pinnacle of prayer and it is in this prayer that we are able to witness our Lord’s intimate relationship with God. It is a prayer that teaches us how to pray, but also a prayer that teaches us about Jesus.

Jesus calls God, “Father,” six times (once he says, “Holy Father,” and another time, “Righteous Father”). Our Lord’s relationship with God was intimate and personal but always deeply respectful. Jesus was the only “begotten” [3439 monogenes] Son of the Father who-by his sacrifice-offers to make us adopted children.

There are three parts to our Lord’s priestly prayer, each part of the prayer forms an ever-increasing circle of fellowship: Personally, locally, and then globally.

1. Personally: Jesus prays for himself [vs. 1-5];

Jesus asks that he be glorified [1392 doxazo] just as he glorified God. We too can ask the Holy Spirit to help us live lives that glorify God that we may share in the unity of God’s glory. How can I glorify God on this day? At this moment?

2. Locally: Jesus prays for the Apostles-those God had given him [6-19];

Our Lord asks that the apostles be: a) kept in God’s name [11]; b) made full in Christ’s joy [13]; c) kept from the evil one [15]; and, d) sanctified in truth [17].

Through Christ, we can also be confident of these assurances—the world’s greatest promises—beginning immediately and lasting eternally!

1. Globally: For the church the Apostles would gather [20-26].

Once a year a high priest of Israel went into the temple and, before the tabernacle they would bear the names of the tribes of Israel [Ex 28:9-12,21-29]. Jesus, our great High Priest, now pleads on behalf of the church, the new Israel. Israel [HSN3478 Yisrael] means “God strives.” Here, in this prayer, we see the fulfillment of what God has been striving for all along:

Isaiah 2:2-4

[2] Now it will come about that in the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains, and will be raised above the hills; and all the nations will stream to it. [3] And many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; that He may teach us concerning His ways and that we may walk in His paths.”

For the law will go forth from Zion and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. [4] And He will judge between the nations, and will render decisions for many peoples; and they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they learn war. (NAS)

Jesus is the great High Priest who lifts up the new Israel to the Most Holy One.

Hebrews 4:14-16

[14] Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. [15] For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. [16] Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (NAS)

Hebrews 5:5-10

[5] So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him,

“YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU”;

[6] just as He says also in another passage,

“YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK.”

[7] In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. [8] Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. [9] And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, [10] being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. (NAS)

(See also Heb 7:24-8:2)

Jesus, the Begotten Son, the Prince of Peace, the Great High Priest, lifted us up in prayer and, still to this day, pleads for us at the right hand of God. Let us live in the confidence of that prayer; let us live in the courage of that prayer. Let this day find us at the furthest edge of faith and not huddled in the safety of the timid. Let us call out with Isaiah; “Here am I. Send me!”

Isaiah 6:8

[Isa 6:8] Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!” (NAS)

“For those also who believe in Me through their word”

Thus starts the High Priest’s prayer for us. We need to understand these things about the plan of God:

· The plan was not faulty with Jesus serving as a mid-course correction;

· The plan did not end with the death or the resurrection of Jesus;

· The plan didn’t end with the coming of the Holy Spirit and the dawning of the church;

· The plan won’t ever end, even after the Second Coming of our Savior.

One could say that the 4,100 plus years since Abraham cried out at birth in Ur are but dust mites on the screen of God’s eternity; the eternity that will follow Christ’s reign. That’s what we need to remember, just how miniscule our turfdoms are on that speck of dust and how immense is the eternity of God. If we could contemplate that truth, the suffering of this day would look inconsequential against the glory of that dawn. We would be willing to trade everything in this moment for the joy of that forever. And, we would exchange it gladly so that we could take every child of God that we could find with us. What do I possess that is possibly worth even a moment of that exceeding joy?

This is the church for which our High Priest prays, the commissioned church pushing itself to the edge of its limits so as to further his call. The church who, “Believes in Me through their word.” Remember, one’s word was not a written sentence or a statement proclaimed but a promise made; “I give my word that I will do as you asked.”

Jesus was God’s word, God’s promise delivered, the church is Christ’s promise made. Our Lord prays not only for us, but also that we fulfill his promise: “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word [20].”

To become Christian is more than acquiescing that “Jesus is Lord,” it means giving our word that we will live out his promise.

John 17:22-23

[22] “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; [23] I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.

“They may be perfected in unity”

Christ clearly reveals three critical truths in the Upper Room Discourses that he modeled throughout his life:

1. Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and God are three inseparable beings;

2. Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and God are united in purpose;

3. Jesus had to die as the perfect sacrifice for our sin if we were ever going to be able to join in the unity with the Father through the Holy Spirit.

Including us in the unity of the trinity was the ultimate endeavor of Jesus Christ. His life, death, and resurrection united seamlessly towards this singular mission. He was perfectly focused on this undertaking.

Similarly, we too are called to be “perfectly focused.”

Matt 5:48

[48] “Therefore you are to be perfect [GSN5046 teleios], as your heavenly Father is perfect [GSN5046 teleios].” (NAS)

The word for perfection [GSN5046 teleios] is the root word of our word telescope. We are to be telescopically focused, perfectly focused, on keeping God’s word. Every ounce of our energy, every moment of our time, should be rooted around the question: “Am I a unifying person for God?”

“Is my passion, my thoughts, actions, and words, focused on unifying others in a way that was modeled by Jesus Christ?”

Yet, here also is a distinction between Christianity and many other world religions. For many world religions, the goal is inner peace, which is completed in a series of self-emptying practices until the initiate achieves mastery (perfection) by becoming devoid of conflict. To Jesus, perfection was not attained by avoiding conflict but perfected in the midst of conflict. Inner peace was never found in self, but in unity. Unity was never a personal and emotional relationship with God, but perfect unity was in untity with God’s people. The peace of Jesus Christ (Shalown le Chizaq-Daniel 10:19) was magnified as he gave himself more and more to others, not as (like Lao-Tzu) he withdrew from them!

The peace of Jesus Christ is not solely found in contemplation, but in contemplative action:

· If I do not experience love, it’s because I am not loving others;

· If I do not know peace, it is because I am not giving it;

· If I am lost and confused and desolate, it is because I am not living out the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Our perfection can never be found in self-fulfillment, but in the fulfillment of God’s word. And God’s perfection is unity in the love of God:

· “So that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me [23].”

· “Perfection in Unity with God,” not just for myself, not just for the followers, but for all His children, So that the world [GSN2889 Kosmo; the world and all its inhabitants] may know,” that is the goal of Christ.

“Is all my passion on this day, all my thoughts, actions and words focused on unifying others in a way that was modeled by Jesus Christ?”

John 17:24

[24] “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

“Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am”

Our culture has a difficult time with words like passion, love and desire, because they are so couched in a muddle of incomplete sexuality and self-gratification. It would sell Jesus short to not understand how deeply he wants us to experience unity with God.

Let’s look at two important concepts in this statement by Jesus:

1. First, there is desire [GSN2309 thelo];

In both Greek and Hebrew the word for desire is also the word for delight. In actuality, the Hebrew language has a number of words that mean both desire and delight (with subtle differences). The word we can best associate with God’s desire/delight for us is “chaphets” [HSN2654a] and we can see it used as follows:

Psalm 45:11

[11] Then the King will desire [HSN2654a chaphets] your beauty. Because He is your Lord, bow down to Him. (NAS)

Ps 51:15-17

[15] O Lord, open my lips, that my mouth may declare Thy praise. [16] For Thou dost not delight [HSN2654a chaphets] in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; Thou art not pleased with burnt offering. [17] The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise. (NAS)

It is Christ’s desire and delight that we should enter into God’s joy. However, joy is far more than having our sugar tooth gratified with a piece of cake or indulging a whim or fancy. The emphasis of this term for joy is much deeper. Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane uses the Greek version of the word as he pleads to do the will [GSN2309 thelo] of the Father:

Mark 14:36

[36] And He was saying, “Abba! Father! All things are possible for Thee; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will [GSN2309 thelo], but what Thou wilt [GSN2309 thelo].” (NAS)

How much did Jesus desire to do God’s will? Enough to give his life. How much does Jesus desire that we join him in unity with the Father? Enough to give his life.

2. Where [GSN3699 hopou] I am [GSN1510 eimi]

When Jesus says he wants us to, “be with Me where I am,” he is not just talking about a place. It is not a reference to a someday heaven, but to the power found in Unity with God. A power that is available to us even on earth. The word for “where [GSN3699 hopou],” means wherever and whenever. “I am [GSN1510 eimi],” means “to exist, accompany, belong and even become.”

The statement then, is not a matter of “one day we will be in the place where Jesus has gone.” The fullness of this statement is that through the Holy Spirit we can be “in God,” God will “accompany us” and “we belong to God.”

It is the delight, the desire, and the will of Jesus that we be “with God” and that “God be with us” at all times.

Matt 1:23

[23] “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.” (NAS)

Therein is the heart of the Trinity, perfection in unity, that all may be one in the Father. What am I doing towards that purpose today? Is that my life’s will, desire, and delight? Have I shaped my life around that will?

You loved Me before the foundation of the world

We mustn’t miss this sentence in light of the beauty of our High Priest’s prayer; God loved Jesus before [GSN4253 pro] the foundation [GSN2602 katabole] of the world [GSN2889 kosmos]. It means before the universe was even conceived, Jesus existed and not only was he present, but he had the undying love [GSN25 Agapao] of the Father.

This is an important doctrinal statement, for it tells us that:

1. Jesus was not created, he existed before the universe was conceived and ordered.

2. Just as God is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent so also is his begotten Son, Jesus. Our Lord is all-seeing, all-powerful, and beyond the framework of time.

3. The undying love of God was the founding principle of the universe and it will be the guiding principle throughout eternity.

4. Our God is a God of order, not chaos and Jesus is the model of God’s loving order in the midst of man’s imploding disorder. God does not offer a “way out” of chaos, but a way to restore order in the midst of chaos and that way is love was modeled by Jesus.

If God loved Jesus “pro-katabolé” doesn’t it also make sense that God loved us “pro-katabolé” as well?

Jeremiah 1:5

[5] “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

This is no distant love either; God does not love people generically. God knows [HSN3045 yada] each of us personally and intimately as we will see in the next two verses.

John 17:25-26

“The world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me”

God’s love of us and knowledge of us is far from distant; in fact, it is extremely intimate. The term “to know” [GSN1097 ginosko] in Greek was also used for the intimacy of the wedding night between and husband and wife. However, the Hebrew term is even more intimate than the Greek. The Hebrew word for “to know” [HSN3045 yada] is used over 500 times in the Old Testament. It is a term of ultimate intimacy between husband and wife but also between God and His beloved children. We are those beloved children.

The word is not just used for “to know,” but also for;

· “I have chosen you;”

· “I experienced you;”

· “I know you for certain;”

· “I make myself known to you;” and

· “I understand you.”

Here is the greatest mystery of the universe. We can measure incredible distances across galaxies and we can measure sub-atomic particles, but how can we expect to fathom that the God who conceived and created all of this had our soul in mind even before it was formed?

Jeremiah 29:11-13

[Je 29:11] “‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. [12] ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. [13] ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.’” (NAS)

Why know God distantly when it is His desire to know you intimately? Let there be no distance between God and you; seek to know Him intimately. It can be done, God desires and delights that we do this. Yet, intimacy with God is only possible through the Holy Spirit and requires a restructuring of our current lives. Paul indicates this in Galatians, Chapter 5, when he reveals the gifts of the Spirit:

Galatians 5:25

[Gal 5:25] If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. (NAS)

“If we live by [GSN2198 zao] the Spirit, let us also walk by [GSN4748 stoicheo] the Spirit.” The word zao [GSN2198] means a way of living. The Way of the Holy Spirit is only attained if we walk by [GSN4748 stoicheo] the Holy Spirit. The second term, to walk by [GSN4748 stoicheo], means to “order our lives”. If we want to know the Way of the Spirit, we must put our lives in order, the Spirit’s order.

It is a difficult way at first, to go from being so fully immersed in a self-serving culture and, instead, to seek humility, gratitude, simplicity, and service. We work at this weekly in our outreaches to incarcerated youth asking them how pride, anger, or reciprocity has worked for them. Yet, as one practices the Way of the Spirit, the Spirit becomes our delight, our desire, and our will.

At that point, we find our lives immersed in the Holy Spirit and experiencing Christ’s deepest desire: “That they also may be in Us.”

Copyright Notice

Scripture Quotations noted from NASB are from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD VERSION of the bible. Copyright © The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

The New Testament Greek Lexicon based on Thayer’s and Smith’s Bible Dictionary plus others; this is keyed to the large Kittel and the “Theological Dictionary of the New Testament.” These files are public domain.

The Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon is Brown, Driver, Briggs, Gesenius Lexicon; this is keyed to the “Theological Word Book of the Old Testament.” These files are considered public domain.