Pray, pray, pray

Last week, we spoke of the vine.

Jesus is of the father and the father is the vinegrower.

Jesus is the vine from which many branches grow.

We are the branches, we gain sustenance from the vine, we receive nutrients from the vine, we live because of all we receive from the vine.

And we bear fruit from all that flows from the vine.

The good works we perform, the visits we make, the support we give each other, that we feed each other and others like us and unlike us all happen because we are branches bearing the fruit of the vine.

This week though, just before Pentecost, just after the Ascension which we celebrated this past Thursday, and while we are continuing to hear from Jesus’ farewell discourse, the theme has changed a bit.

No longer is Jesus speaking to the disciples through the use of metaphor he is speaking directly to God.

The intercessor, Jesus, is giving back to the one who gave, the one who gave Jesus, Jesus’ disciples is now receiving Jesus’ disciples.

Because now is Jesus’ time to depart.

Now is time for Jesus to leave his disciples.

And this is not an easy leaving.

He knows.

He knows what is going to happen.

No longer will he be the shepherd or the vine, he will be the human Jesus, the Jesus who seeks to ensure his disciples are taken care of.

No, he is no longer speaking in parables, but as the disciples say to Jesus, “now you are speaking plainly, not in any figure of speech! Now we know that you know all things, and do not need to have anyone question you; by this we believe that you came from God.’”

So, no parables to the disciples, no metaphors to God.

This is a time for speaking plainly for Jesus is, in a sense, getting his affairs in order.

He is making final arrangements.

He is lining up the babysitter.

He is making sure the toaster is unplugged.

It is time to go.

And just before it is time to go, one last thing: this morning.

This morning Jesus talks to God.

This morning is the end of the end before we get started.

This morning is about clarity and intentionality.

One more thing before I go, says Jesus, I must pray.

And he prays, speaking directly to God as God the Father, Jesus tells God that he has made God’s name known to the disciples.

Through that name, all is given.

God gives all.

Not the vine.

Not the shepherd.

God.

And Jesus was given his disciples and he loved his disciples.

He showed his holiness, his Godheadedness, to the disciples beginning in Cana and throughout Jesus’ ministry.

He showed that he was the Son of Man when he raised Lazarus, when he fed the five thousand, when he healed the man born blind.

And by doing so, Jesus made known God’s works as well.

For God gave all to Jesus so that Jesus could feed, could heal, could make water into wine because God so loved the world, God gave God’s only son to the world.

And now that Jesus has made God known to the disciples, he asks on their behalf that they may know eternal life.

And still before that, that they may be protected by the Father, as they are still in the world but not of the world.

They are known by Christ yet the world still looks at Christ with side eyes and skepticism.

Their protector, the one the disciples traveled with, is now leaving them.

Just as he promised in John, chapter 6, he lost not one of his disciples; the twelve remained twelve in number until Judas betrayed Jesus.

And now it is time for Jesus to leave them, the disciples who made Jesus’ joy complete.

Because they are so associated with Jesus and because they will continue to share the word of God, the word who was with us since the beginning, the disciples are in danger.

Jesus acknowledges the disciples belong in the world, but they need protection too.

They need protection from the evil one who might infect the hearts of those who would harm them.

Protect them in Jerusalem; protect them in the world; protect them in Rome as they do the work they are given to do.

And the work they were given to do changed the world, from Thomas in India to James in Jerusalem to Paul in Rome, they shared the word in dangerous time, they shared this radical message of love throughout the world and for all time.

And Jesus is praying for them.

He is praying hard for the disciples.

You can hear the almost desperation in his voice as he makes his plea to the father.

They are in the world father, protect them.

Make them one as we are one.

Guard them as I have guarded them.

They need your help, father.

They no longer belong of the world, they belong of the Father; but they are in the world.

Protect them father.

This is prayer.

This is intercessory prayer.

This is Jesus praying on behalf of the ones he protected for so long, for three years from Galilee to Jerusalem, Jesus protected those that served him.

And this, this is the kind of prayer from which we can learn.

We know desperation.

We know sadness and heartache and we know those who feel that every day.

And we do so much for those in need.

We collect.

We collect food and clothing and soap and so on.

We provide.

We share our wealth with those in need, we share our time with those who need it, we share our talents with those who can use them.

And we pray.

When we pray the prayers of the people, we are reading a list of names of people who are sick or in pain and I do believe that prayer does work.

When we pray in the quiet of our hearts, when we are desperate for God to heal our loved ones through the care of doctors and medicine, we are performing good works, just as good as when we give of ourselves measured by time or talent or treasure.

Prayer works.

I know of no plan that God has for any of us, I only know that God does not wish for our hearts to break or our souls to dwell in heartache.

We pray for those who need those prayers because prayer works, that burst of positivity, that pleading mechanism that reaches the heavens does have influence, I believe that.

And sometimes our prayers are that much more desperate, when we face great challenges, we pray that though we may be hurting, the ones around us stay protected from all that ails the world.

By doing so, by praying from strength or desperation, we are entering into that fine threaded place, that liminal space as wide as the finest silken thread where we are closest to God, where God hears our pleas, our cries for the protection of our people just as Jesus once plead the same in the garden.

Now, not every prayer is answered seemingly, at least not our satisfaction; we might experience great pain and sadness throughout our life despite our most heart wrenching prayers.

We can even point to the fates of so many of the twelve disciples who were martyred in various ways, but even still, prayer works.

Jesus’ prayers were answered in that garden, his disciples were protected long enough so that the word would spread of this carpenter in Jerusalem commanding us to love.

Jesus’ prayers in the garden were answered because we love.

And our prayers too, perhaps they are not always answered to our satisfaction, but I do think they are answered by our becoming closer to God through those prayers.

So pray.

Pray as Jesus prayed.

Pray because we are in the world and sometimes, we are not of the world.

Pray to realize just how close you are to God.