Acts 16: 16–34 / Psalm 97 / Revelation 22: 12–14, 16–17, 20–21 / John 17: 20–26
This
is the homily that was prepared for Flohr’s Evangelical Church (ELCA) in McKnightstown,
Pennsylvania for Sunday, June 1, 2025 by Fr. Gene Tucker, Interim Pastor.
“CONNECTIONS & CONNECTIVITY”
(Homily text: John 17: 20–26)
Ever think about the things that tie
things together, or which connect them?
For example, we could mention such
everyday items as string, or rope, or bolts, or screws, or nails. Each and all
of these are unremarkable in and of themselves. But, they have their worth,
their purpose and their value in their ability to connect or tie other things
that are more valuable together.
So it seems as though there’s some sort
of a back-and-forth, mutually dependent relationship between these connectors
and the things they connect.
The same could be said about our
relationship to Christ, to one another as Christian believers, and of the
relationship between Jesus Christ, as the Father’s Son and the Father Himself.
All of these interconnections are mentioned in our Gospel text, appointed for this morning. It is part of what has come to be known as Jesus’ “High Priestly Prayer”, which occupies all of chapter seventeen of John’s Gospel account.[1]
Jesus’ connection to the Father makes
it possible for Him to relate to us all that the Father has told Him and has
appointed Him to tell us. Absent that connection, there’d be no need to pay
attention to what Jesus has to say to us (except, of course, if we believe that
Jesus was simply a remarkable human being, and a great teacher in His own
day…sadly, some Christians regard the Lord in just that way).
If we think about it, what the Lord has
to say in this prayer is also addressed in chapter fifteen, where He tells us
that He is the vine, and we are the branches. This is (at least to my mind)
another way of saying that the vine and the branches are connected, one to
another. It is that connection that makes fruitful ministry and work possible.
In this description, Jesus makes a point of highlighting two important items:
The vine and the branches, Then, of course, it isn’t just these two critical
parts of the plant, it’s also the connection between them which allows them to
function and to produce fruit.
Our Lord prays that all who claim His
Name will be one, even as He and the Father are one.
What does/might this “oneness” look
like in the world we live in today?
Does it mean that the Church (defined
as the Body of Christ, composed of all who have come to faith in the Lord)
should be organically one?
Perhaps that isn’t a realistic goal. Perhaps history will tell us that the Church, even in its very early times, was never organically, completely unified into one structure. The very early Church’s structure derived from its allegiance to and worship of the Lord Jesus Christ and the God who had sent Him into the world.[2]
History will also tell us that having
the Church organically unified, and under the leadership of one person, isn’t
necessarily good thing.
Today, we – all of us who claim the
Name of Christ – are children of the Protestant Reformation. That is to say,
that following the events of the early sixteenth century, the Church is now
divided into many different “families” or “communities”. In times past, and not
too long ago, major portions of this faith community wouldn’t have much or even
anything to do with one another.
Thankfully, those times are – largely
though not completely – behind us. Now, interfaith cooperation is much more
common than it used to be. Roman Catholics engage in joint ministries with
other Christians. Isn’t this a good thing!
Isn’t is a move in the right direction? Yes, indeed it is.
What can we hope for, given the state
of the Church today? What is possible, what is desirable?
My own personal answer would be that we
should continue to pursue mutual recognition of the validity and the value of
differing expressions of the Christian faith (provided, I would add, that such
an expression is faithful to the deposit of faith that has been transmitted to
us). Cooperation between differing faith
communities should be encouraged.
At the same time, I think that each
faith tradition brings with it certain strengths, certain benefits from which
other Christians could learn.
After all, when we get to heaven, it is
certain that denominational walls will disappear. There, we will be one in the
Father’s presence, and in the Son’s presence, too.
It’d be a good idea for us – all of us
– to practice our oneness this side of Paradise. It’s worth remembering that
the world around us is watching (at least to some degree), so when we value our
oneness in Christ, then we are able to fold into this connection others who, in
their turn, will also serve as connections to the Lord with still others who
will come to faith.
AMEN.
[1] John devotes five chapters to relating to us
things that happened during the Last Supper, devoting chapters thirteen through
seventeen to those events.
[2] Previously, I’ve mentioned Raymond Brown’s
book “The Churches the Apostles Left Behind” as a source to understand the
varieties of worship, theological emphases, and organization that marked the
very early Church. Brown’s conclusion, based on a careful reading of the New
Testament scriptures, was that there were no less than seven different models
of what the Church looked like in its formative years.
