The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. John. (17:1-13)
This reading from the gospel according to John is given to us as a bit of a preamble, a preparation for the Great Feast of Pentecost that we will celebrate next Sunday. In this passage we hear the words of the Lord praying his final prayers to God the Father before his life giving death. There are so many powerful words in this passage. For instance, John 17:5 “And now, O Father, glorify me in thy presence with the glory which I had with thee before the world was made.”
This is a bold statement of the relationship of Jesus Christ to His Father and the cosmic, powerful reality of the Son of God, who speaks of his glory that He had before the world had even come into existence.
But now I would like to focus on Jn 17:11 “Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are one.”
We know that this passage was a prayer for the strengthening of the disciples, who were about to endure a terrible psychological tribulation as they would have to deal with the fallout of having left their normal lives to follow a man that had been executed as a criminal and enemy of the state. But as we are so often reminded, these words of prayer from the mouth of Our Lord are words meant for each of His disciples including each of us.
I would like to take a few minutes to offer some practical advice on how we can live out the prayer of Our Lord Jesus Christ to be one. After all, Christ died so that we would be one as a community of Christians and one with God.
The first thing that we must do as Christians to be one, to be united, is to love Jesus Christ. We think we love Him, most of us admire some aspects of His teachings. Most of us believe in Him in some way, but what is required of us is something greater and that is absolute love. Absolute love is love of the teachings of Jesus Christ, as well as the person of Jesus Christ Himself. This love manifests itself especially in living life according to His teachings above all else and in prayer with Him. It is a fact that no relationship can survive long without true communication….Whenever there is a breakdown in communication, that is the first sign that things in a relationship will sour over time. How can we expect anything less in our relationship with God? It must be cultivated in prayer.
The next thing that we must do to be united as Christians is to follow the example of the Holy Fathers of the Church as seen in all of the ecumenical councils. Our Church is the Church of the councils. The First Ecumenical Council (whose memory we celebrate today) brought together the ranking bishops of the whole Christian world and this meeting was called by the Emperor Constantine the Great in order to bring about unity to the empire. We can also say that God used the emperor to safeguard the Church in oneness of mind. These men defended the Faith of the Church, they guarded the treasure that was passed down to them first by the Apostles. As we know it is not just important that you believe in Jesus, but that you believe in Him correctly. Anyone who says otherwise simply does not understand the nature and implications of truth. You believe in Jesus, good. Which Jesus do you believe in? If it is not the Jesus that is found in the New Testament and prophesied in the Old Testament and spoken of in the Church’s theology, then it is not the authentic Jesus of Nazareth, the messiah, the only begotten Son of God. It is some kind of imposter, a fraud, an idol. But it ain’t the Jesus handed down by the apostles and preached by His Church.
The next practical step to being one as a community gathered around Christ is to share of the sacraments of the Church together. The Church exists to bring the healing of Christ to His people and this happens through the sacramental and liturgical life of the Church. Having communion once a year is not enough, having confession once in your life is not enough. These sacraments are not meant to be exercises in religious piety, or routine habits. They are the required medicine for our souls and the maintenance and growth for our spiritual lives. They are not always easy, especially confession. Surgery is never easy, yet at times we find it necessary and quite beneficial. We bring all of our inner filth to confession before the priest. We leave nothing hidden due to shame. St. Nikolai of Zicha once said, “..In Confession, the Church wants one to show the wounds to his soul that he is hiding behind the appearance of health….In Confession, the Church wants one to reveal the festering sore on his soul…In Confession, the Church wants one who is playing the role of the splendid knight to show himself for what he is, the ruinous person he actually is when he is alone. No one goes to a physician to boast about his health. He goes in order to reveal to him the place on his health that is rotten.”
His Eminence Metropolitan Saba tells us that we should plan to confess at least 2-4 times a year. This is for our healing and great benefit.
Likewise we should receive Holy Communion on a regular basis but we also prepare for it so that we may receive the body and blood of Christ in a worthy manner. Because the bread and the wine are transformed into divine fire and light and we approach with boldness to partake and receive this within ourselves. How do we prepare? First we avoid partying and drunkenness on the evening before the liturgy. We should be sober minded as Christians and this is even more true when we are preparing to enter into the liturgy of the kingdom and to meet Christ face to face in the holy gifts. A typical Orthodox approach is to fast from midnight before the liturgy as well as to say a couple of the formal prayers before receiving communion. These are found in most of the Orthodox prayer books. Some say these prayers in the evening before bed and some say them on the morning of the liturgy.
We also make it our goal to show up on time for the liturgy, so that we can pray in an unhurried and attentive manner and give the Lord our focus for this brief period every week. I want to tell you with all love and firmness that it is completely inappropriate to come after the reading of the gospel and then receive Holy Communion. This is not a sign of faithfulness but an act of negligence on our part. There may be a couple of exceptions to this rule but in general there is very little stopping you from coming to the church on time and participating in prayers with your brothers and sisters. To come late is certainly better than staying home, but in such cases we should pray without receiving the gifts.
Finally another important step to being one as the body of Christ is to resolve differences with the folks around us as they arise. The Church is a community and a family, so harboring ill will or a grudge never solves a problem, it exasperates it. Most issues are miscommunications and misunderstandings but we should always be ready to talk and to forgive quickly so that we might heal whatever rift is there and we keep it from developing further. And of course this point is true not only in the Church but in the rest of our lives.
So please keep these steps in mind as we attempt to reach our ultimate goal of Christlike love. Love of our neighbors and love of God, and growth together, in the image and likeness of the Son of God, who loved us and gave His life for us. That we may be of one heart and one mind just as the Holy Trinity is One, Father, Son and Holy Spirit AMEN.
Source: Sermons