John 4:1-6

John 4:1-6 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  Jesus is about breaking boundaries to demonstrate how God works to radically include all people.  When Jesus left Judea to head for Galilee, he could have taken the longer path to avoid Samaria, like most Jews of the time might have, but instead he opted to go through Samaria.  The Samiritans were the people who were left behind when the Babylonians sent most of the Jews into exile, and they had intermarried and were generally despised by most Jews.  Jesus, however, doesn't avoid anyone -- he heads toward anyone and everyone in an effort to demonstrate the love of God to all people.  So Jesus goes to Samaria, and he leads the disciples there, demonsrating by his example how to love others, even those who are different and perhaps despised by others in society.  There is no room for hatred or discrimination within the love of God.
  In the town of Sychar, he finds a well.  The town has ancient roots -- it's where God appeared to Abram in Canaan and where Jacob built an altar.  It's a place with deep roots for the people of faith, and God is about to do something miraculous here to demonstrate how the love of God is still active, still reaching, still including!

John 3:31-36

John 3:31-36
English Standard Version (ESV)

  The essence of sports is athletic ability -- you can't succeed without that.  The essence of summer is sunshine -- that's what brings so many summer activities to life, and if it rains throughout the entire summer, it doesn't go quite like planned.  The essence of something is what that thing is at the core, what centrally defines it.  Some might say the essence of the Cincinnati Bengals is disappointment...
  The essence of God is love -- this defines God.  The relationship that exists between the Holy Spirit, Jesus and God is based on love.  It is this love out of which creation flows, and it is this love out of which the desire to include humanity in that eternal relationship comes.  God invites us into something magnificent, and to come before God we must have everything that is not love removed from us. 
  For this reason, Christ died for us.  We are unable to cleanse sin from ourselves, so God does it for us.  As it is impossible for us to stand in the throne room of God with sin covering us, we must have the covering of Christ in order to join the eternal dance.  God gives this to us freely, but we cannot join without it. 

John 3:22-30

John 3:22-30 
English Standard Version (ESV)

 Many kids have grand plans to save the world in one small way or another.  I think it's wonderful, because the world needs their idealism and energy.  I hope that many of them keep it -- it's easy to get distracted by things that arise along the way, and when you look back, you realize that you ended up in a very different place than what you might have imagined.  Not that this is always bad -- but the mission and purpose drifts and evolves, sometimes for the better, sometimes not.  (I could write my autobiography next, but maybe I just did...)  What's great about Scripture is that the mission never changes -- it's always about God reaching out to include his beloved creations in the everlasting Kingdom.
  One of the things I love about John is that he never loses his focus.  From the time he started his ministry, it was all about proclaiming Jesus.  In today's reading, John's disciples expect him to be concerned that people are going to Jesus rather than John, but John remembers that it's not about him -- it's about the one whom John is pointing to.  John doesn't get concerned about dwindling numbers at his meetings, because those numbers are joining Jesus, and that was the goal all along.  John didn't allow his personality to take over his purpose -- he stayed focused on the goal, and that was proclaiming the name of Jesus.
  So what's your purpose?  What's your goal?  How have you drifted from it?  And what kind of prayer would you pray to ask Jesus to clarify your heart and redirect your purpose?

John 3:16-21

John 3:16-21 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  I was listening to a Tim Keller sermon last night, and he was discussing judgment and the work of the Holy Spirit.  The part that stuck out to me was that God isn't letting us off the hook repeatedly for our sins, filling out the proper paperwork each time we fall short -- instead, the Holy Spirit is reminding us that the justice of God is on your side.  As Rev. Keller said, it would be unjust of God to take two payments for the same sin, and our sins have been paid for.  Once Jesus paid the price for our sins, which he did with finality at Calvary, there is nothing left to be done to atone for our sins -- the price has been paid, and since it has been paid, it is in alignment with God's justice that we receive the reward that comes with the atonement for our sins. 
  And God doesn't do this grudgingly, as though God's realized that the people God created aren't all they were cracked up to be.  God doesn't regret creating us -- God willingly pours love and grace into our lives, and when the price of redemption totals up to the life of God's own Son, God freely gives that to us as well, knowing that it is worth it, knowing that death is but a temporary power anyway.
  God created you out of love, and that same love redeems you and seeks you and holds you for eternity.  Eternal life is a free gift to those who believe, for God came to save, and by the blood of the Lamb, we have been saved, thanks be to God!

John 3:9-15

John 3:9-15 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  Is that the question on all of our minds at times -- how can these things be?  We hear what Jesus says, we read about the miracles performed in the Gospels, we read the incredible promises from Paul in the New Testament letters, reminding us that we are loved unconditionally, without cause or merit, and that we are awarded heaven because God loves us.  All of these things are too incredible for us to fathom, too great to grasp with the human mind. 
  What Jesus tells us is exactly right -- our minds cannot immediately grasp heavenly things.  We have to start with the earthly things, and this is exactly why God came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ.  God knew we couldn't just grasp the concept of the free gift of salvation unless we saw, with our own eyes, the limitless love of God displayed on the cross and through the resurrection.  We needed to see the truths of heaven displayed here on earth before we could grasp how high and how wide the love of God is.  God translates himself into our world so that we might begin to understand, to get a glimpse of what heaven is like. 
  Now that we have seen on earth, we can begin to believe that God is, in heaven, all powerful, all wise, all loving, and completely majestic.  We have seen this, and it has been passed down to us, and so we can then believe!

John 3:1-8

John 3:1-8 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  When you're a kid, you assume your parents know everything.  I listen to the questions my kids ask me, some of which can get pretty deep, and there's an implicit expectation that I will know the answers.  When I confess that I don't have the answer to some of their biggest questions, it confuses them.  As they grow up and have kids of their own, they'll realize how little I really knew!
  Some church leaders create an atmosphere where questions aren't encouraged.  But church leaders don't always have all the answers, now or back then.  "I don't know" is sometimes the right answer, but pride can get in the way of acknowledging that, so some people will make the person asking the question feel bad.  Please don't invest your time and energy in organizations led by such people.  Find a place where you are encouraged to ask questions and discover what is true and what is unknown. 
  Nicodemus is a ruler of Jews, but he comes to Jesus because he realizes that he has reached the end of his knowledge, and in Jesus he recognizes that there is still more.  In Jesus, he finds something Truer than he has ever known, and it is beyond what his mind can grasp.  He wants to see the Kingdom of God, but he's afraid his aged eyes cannot look at the world that way.  Jesus is inviting him into something bigger, but he's so anchored in the reality that he's struggling to grasp it, even as a leader of the people of God.
  Faith isn't always easy for anyone.  We all have moments where we try and wrap our minds around what God has done, is doing and has promised to do.  Ever tried to imagine what the myriads of myriads described in Revelation look like?  Or tried to picture a resurrection body?  God is beyond us, beyond what we can grasp in our human minds, but God also comes to us to ensure that we can know God and be fully known by God.

John 2:23-25

John 2:23-25 
English Standard Version (ESV) 

  One of my favorite quotes is the Solzhenitsyn quote about how the line between good and evil runs through every human heart.  Jesus saw the crowds, the people who were amazed by his miracles, the ones believing in his name, and he saw them for who they are.  He saw their passion for him, but he also understood the evil they were capable of.  Jesus was able to foresee that many in these crowds would likely be calling for him to be crucified years later.  The crowds that hailed his name now would turn on him when he challenged them.  They loved him now, but he knew they would not always.
  You and I are no different.  We are capable of great acts of passion, devotion and selfless service, just as we can be selfish and divisive.  We can be awful to one another.  Jesus sees this in us because he knows us completely, and he still chooses to die on the cross for us.
  This is the miracle of Easter -- Jesus sees the sin within us and still lays down his life for us.  Jesus knew what he was getting in to -- he knew how the crowds would react, and he still spent years serving them, healing them, astounding them, teaching them, and he still ascended the cross and accepted their sin, my sin, your sin, so that we might be healed.  Jesus knows us, the good and the bad, and opts to die for us, because we are loved unconditionally.  We aren't loved when we're good, and we don't need to wait until we get it figured out to approach God -- we are fully known and fully loved, scars and wounds and everything!

John 2:13-22

John 2:13-22 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  It probably started innocently enough, and with good intentions.  Some people set up booths to sell animals for the sacrifice, trying to assist those who didn't have their own.  Then the money changers showed up, helping people pay the temple tax.  A few people probably did well, and then some others saw the business opportunity and followed them into the line of business, hoping they, too, could make some money.  It likely grew and grew and grew, until soon it had become a large commercial operation, maybe with little thought given to the reasons why or the original intention of it all.
  It happens to each of us, and it happens to all of us.  Things start small, and then they grow.  It's like telling a little lie to protect someone, and then suddenly it snowballs into something far bigger than it ever originally was.  Our hearts and our lives can become cluttered by things that have gotten bigger than we ever imagined -- we can become trapped, unable to see the original thought or goal.
  Jesus came to clear away anything that separated us from God.  Our hearts and lives can become so full that we can miss the single most important relationship in our lives.  May we pray for the courage to let God remove the barriers in our lives that separate us from pursuing God, and may we be willing to accept that it isn't always easy to let Jesus prune us so that we may continue to grow.

John 2:1-12

John 2:1-12
English Standard Version (ESV) 

  There's only about 1,500 things to say about this passage, but I'd like to focus on two.  The first being that Jesus uses the jars that are for purification.  Now, last night I crawled up on the roof and was cleaning out my gutters in the rain.  There was some really interesting stuff that had collected in the gutters -- it's dirt that has filtered down from the roof and sat in water for who knows how long.  Nasty stuff -- I washed my hands for a long time after doing that, and the water running off my hands was filthy.  Whoever was using these purification jars likely wasn't cleaning gutters, but I doubt that they had the cleanest hands.  These jars wouldn't have been clean on the inside, but Jesus opted to use them to provide the finest wine.  Jesus redeems them and re-purposes them without changing them.  Simply by choosing them, they're made clean for a higher purpose.
  Also, Jesus produces a lot of wine -- 180 gallons.  That could keep a party going for weeks!  When Jesus blesses the party, he does so in abundance, giving them infinitely more than they could ask or imagine.
  It's not always easy to trust in Jesus.  At times, it feels like supplies are running low and you're uncertain as to where what you need will come from.  Things feel scarce.  I don't have easy answers, but I trust that ultimately, Jesus redeems us, repurposes us, and provides us with abundance beyond what we can believe.

John 1:43-51

John 1:43-51 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  On the internet these days, it's pretty easy to make up your mind and never confront anything (or anyone) who doesn't already agree with your worldview.  Once you've picked your people, you can filter your world to only see articles and viewpoints from that perspective.  It takes work to find thoughtful pieces that challenge your worldview with intellectual depth. 
  If Nathanael had Googled "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?", he likely would have found a number of articles talking about bad things that come out of Nazareth.  He may never have gone.
  Philip issues him an invitation.  Philip doesn't try to change his mind or hand him a pamphlet about why he's wrong.  Philip trusts that if he can convince Nathanael to enter the presence of Jesus, it'll change his life. 
  Friends, I believe our evangelism should follow this model.  We need to come with a spirit of humility and a willingness to invite others to enter the presence of Jesus.  It requires a certain degree of boldness and enough intelligence to convince people to try Jesus, but Jesus is the one who transforms Nathanael, and he'll be the one who transforms the hearts and minds of those for whom you are praying, of those whom you invite.
  When Nathanael realized how intimately Jesus already knew him, he worshiped him as King.  Nathanael had seen enough, and yet Jesus promised more, because in Jesus there is always more!

John 1:35-42

John 1:35-42
English Standard Version (ESV)

  I have a supervisor at work who rarely answers my questions directly.  Instead of just answering the question, he takes the time to explain to me the background, and then helps me figure it out for myself.  At first, it was frustrating, because I wanted a simple answer.  Three years later, I'm grateful, because I've learned a lot more than I would have on my own, and I know how to figure things out for myself now. 
  Jesus doesn't always give direct answers, either.  There are certain questions to which Jesus was very direct, but often, he invited the questioner into a deeper relationship.  The two disciples were asking Jesus where he was staying, and rather than a direct answer, Jesus invited him to come and see, to discover more about Jesus, and as a result, he discovered that Jesus is the Messiah.  As a result of the invitation, his life was changed.
  Jesus has invited us as well.  This doesn't mean we'll immediately have easy answers to life's toughest questions, but it means that we'll learn about the purpose of life and the eternal relationship that shapes everything.  We'll learn about unconditional love and grace, and we'll discover a peace that passes all understanding. 
  The answers aren't always what we expect, but the invitation will surpass expectations.  Come and see, Jesus says, and those who choose to accept the invitation have a vision that forever alters life.

John 1:29-34

John 1:29-34 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  It's important to note what happens in verse 33.  Remember -- all of John's life had been spent preparing to announce the coming of Jesus' ministry.  John and Jesus are cousins, and John has been preaching in the wilderness, declaring to all that the Messiah was coming.
  And yet, when Jesus shows up and is baptized, we're told that John didn't know Jesus.  God was at work, and John didn't see it.  It wasn't until God opened John's eyes that John realized what God was doing.
  So friends, God is at work around you, but maybe you don't see it.  Like John, we're trying to follow God, and Jesus is in our midst, but we don't notice it.  We can't tell when Jesus is beside us, calling us.  If John the Baptist didn't notice, maybe you can give yourself a break for not noticing either.  God is at work, but we notice only when God reveals this to us.  So be patient with yourself and trust in God -- God will lead you forward in God's time, not yours.

John 1:19-28

John 1:19-28
English Standard Version (ESV)

  What would it take for you to believe that Jesus had come back to earth?  Plenty of people have claimed to be Jesus in the past two thousand years.  Wikipedia breaks it out by century.  The New Zealand Herald also has a helpful list if you're curious. 
  John didn't claim to be Jesus.  But he did claim that Jesus was coming soon.  His job, in summary, was to point to Jesus, to prepare the people for the coming of Jesus. 
  His job isn't so different than yours. 
  We don't know exactly when Jesus is returning, but we know that He will return.  We don't know how others will react, but that's not our responsibility -- we are called to preach what we know to be true, to live with faithfulness according to the calling, to have integrity between what we believe and how we live. 
  There are plenty of false signals, of people claiming to be who they are not.  We know that Jesus came with signs and wonders -- he performed miracles, and ultimately, he not only predicted his death but also his resurrection.  When someone else does that, I'll take their claims seriously.  Until then, I'll try and imitate John, focusing on what I can say or do that points to Jesus Christ, Lord of all.

John 1:14-18

John 1:14-18
English Standard Version (ESV)

  I have always love the way Eugene Peterson translates verse 14 in The Message translation: 14 The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish. 
  What God did was amazing -- God translated himself into a language we could understand.  Our senses had become so blocked by our sin that we couldn't see well enough to understand how God was at work reaching out to us.  The prophets were crying out, but we'd tuned our ears to hear other voices that we found to be more alluring.  So God broke through, showing us the fullness of God's glory, full of grace and truth.
  And of that grace, we have all received, grace upon grace.  That's what this life is, grace upon grace.  Breathing in, breathing out, grace upon grace.  Every day a gift, grace upon grace.  The way a small child grips your hand in trust, the way a good meal tastes, the feeling we get when a friend reaches out to say hello, grace upon grace. 
  God came into the world to show us the fullness of God's glory.  Jesus has made this known to us, revealed in his life, death and resurrection.  We receive this glory freely, as a gift, thanks be to God!

John 1:9-13

John 1:9-13 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  Yesterday was the 75th anniversary of D-Day.  D-Day was one of the most remarkable days of the 20th Century, in my opinion, because the forces of those in favor of freedom threw themselves and all of their might against those who were decimating Europe out of hatred.  To read the descriptions of the battle-scarred beaches is harrowing and grim.  I have stood on those beaches, and the legendary courage of men who faced the enemy and pressed forward astounds me.  To stand at the top of Pointe du Hoc and contemplate the bravery required to climb up a cliff in the face of overwhelming enemy opposition is to be awed at the forces fighting for liberty.
  He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
  Jesus came to us as a Savior, and humanity rejected him.  Upon his very birth, Herod sought to have him killed.  The religious leaders of Jesus' day opposed him, hated him, sought to discredit and destroy him.  And yet still, Jesus loved us.  Still, Jesus came to us.  Though the forces of sin opposed him and death reached for him to claim him, Jesus came to us, arms open wide, ready to love, ready to conquer.  Jesus is the conquering hero who has defeated death and yet still has the graciousness to knock on the door of your heart and ask if he can enter to dine with you. 
  We worship a Savior who comes as a hero in the face of human sin, the opposition, and withstands our hatred, our cries to crucify him.  The love of Jesus conquers, and we are liberated, freed, and loved.

John 1:1-8

John 1:1-8
English Standard Version (ESV)

  I've made some thing in my life.  I've made some paintings and some sculptures, none of which identify any artistic talent within me.  I've made some furniture as well, a few pieces of which have even turned out well.  But I don't know that I would say that I love any of it.  I'm pleased with some of it, even the flawed pieces, but I don't think I'd sacrifice to keep any of it, especially if it turned on me and started attacking me.
  Yet another reminder of how different God is than we are.  God is completely other, and yet God has become one of us.  We are creations of God, spoken into being, and we are known by God intimately.  That brings both joy and shame, as we revel in the relationship and also wish we could hide our weaknesses. 
  God fell in love with us, and God then entered into creation, writing himself into the story, not only so that we would know God completely, but also so that we could be saved by God.  God became the perfect sacrifice so that the Creator could saved the created, and the world has never been the same. 
  God made you, God loves you, and God sacrificed God's own Son to save you.  Never forget that those three things are true about you.

Esther 9:4-5

Esther 9:4-5 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  If Esther had ended with Mordecai and Esther saving the people and Haman punished for what he did and everyone living happily ever after, it would have been the perfect ending that needed no further explanation.
  But life's not perfect, is it?  And the real world doesn't always leave everything perfectly.  My life certainly isn't perfect.  I'm willing to be yours isn't, either.  And so what I love about the Bible is that it's real -- these are real people who sometimes do things that make us ask big questions, that make us think.  Moses says no to God.  Jonah runs in the opposite direction.  Job demands an audience with God.  Peter denies Jesus.  Martha remands Jesus for not being present for Lazarus.  The Jews rise up and kill their enemies, doing as they please to those that hated them. 
  The Jews had been threatened and saw Mordecai's rise to power as a chance to strike back at their enemies.  Later in this chapter it says that the Jews killed 75,000 of their enemies.  I don't really know what to do with that.  The Old Testament world was a violent place, and in many times and places the Jews could attack or be attacked.  I understand that, even if I don't like it.  This leaves a very different impression than the command to love your enemies and do good to those who persecute you.  When Jesus came, he raised the bar for what it means to follow God.
  So I don't have a neat answer to everything in the Bible, and being a Christian doesn't mean turning your brain off -- it means you should think, you should ask how God is at work here.  Personally, I think God is making it possible for God's chosen people to survive in turbulent times, to create a safe place where they can continue to worship.  You may not agree.  That's ok -- we can disagree and still be in the same church, and we can both faithfully follow Jesus, even if we disagree on things like how to interpret some of the parts of the Bible. 
  It's ok not to have all the answers.  I don't.  But I trust that even in my uncertainty, Jesus is still Lord of all.

Esther 8:15-17

Esther 8:15-17 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  Dusty Baker, a previous manager for the Cincinnati Reds, used to say that you're never as good as they say you are, and you're never as bad as they say you are.  In other words, if you base your opinion of yourself on what others are saying about you, it's easy to swing from high to low and never be certain of exactly who you are.
  Mordecai was once the target of Haman's rage that was intended to have every single Jew killed.  Now, he enjoys time in the presence of the King and wears royal robes.  He enjoys power and prestige.  It would be easy for this to go to his head and forget the low times.
  In our worst times, may we cling to the reality that God can and will accompany us through the valley of the shadow of death.  God knows pain and mourning, and God will not abandon us in those times.  God will redeem, rescue and save, although not always in the ways we understand.
  In the best times, let us remember that they happen because of God's power to redeem, rescue and save.  Here, God has worked through the incredible bravery and courage of Esther to save the Jewish people from destruction.  Others are now pretending to be Jewish because they want to be associated with the Jews.  The Jews are vindicated.
  Our identity lies in the hands of our true rescuer.  We are saved because of the love of Christ, and we are worthy because of what Christ has done for us.  The entirety of the world's hatred cannot take away our status as a redeemed child of God, and we should not forget that when the world's favor is poured out upon us.  We always need God, and defining ourselves first and foremost as God's beloved children helps root us and our identity in the truest thing that can be said about us.

Esther 7:7-10

Esther 7:7-10 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  When we last left the story, Esther had just revealed to the King that there was a plot to kill all of her people, the Jews.  The King was incredulous, as he had issued the order under the influence of Haman, but the King only cared about it once he cared about Esther.  Now, Haman, who had been climbing the rungs of societal power, finds himself on the receiving end of the wrath of the King due to the King's sudden change in how he feels about the Jews.  Haman had been reading the winds, adjusting his personal sails to race ahead, but God was at work through Esther and Mordecai, using these humble servants to transform the future, and the winds have radically shifted.
  Friends, do not invest your life's work in seeking political power and influence for yourselves.  Societal influence is a fickle friend, and if your sense of identity comes from who you know and how often you rub shoulders with 'important' people, it's very likely that shifting cultural and political winds will sweep you off whatever mountain you're trying to climb.  When your identity is defined by where you are in the societal pecking order, you're always striving ahead, and like Haman, the temptation will be to think little of people who stand in your way.  When you keep score like this, you'll never be comfortable.
  When I think of God as my shepherd, God teaches me how to rest.  To rest is to place your confidence in the one who cares for you, who leads you, who protects you.  The people around you right now are the most important people in your life -- how can you encourage them?  How can you use your resources, whatever they are, to help heal the brokenness in their lives?  View the people around you as treasured in the eyes of God, and it'll transform your heart from trying to get ahead into being grateful for the opportunity to love and serve where you are.  Besides, the eternal Son of God has already told you that he wants to come into your life and dine with you, to have an eternal relationship based on love with you -- what more could society give you that could possibly be better than that?

Loved

John 17:20-26

Romans 8:26-39

*****************

It’s graduation season, a wonderful time to stop and celebrate a momentous achievement.  I looked back, and I’ve celebrated five graduations – 8^th grade, high school, college, and then two master’s degrees.  I’d really like to figure out what I’m supposed to be doing with my life so I can stop.  While graduation is fun, all of the tuition beforehand isn’t nearly as enjoyable.  My kids will likely have more graduations – not necessarily because they’ll be in school for as long, but rather because they now have graduations for everything.  I’ve been to preschool graduations and kindergarten graduations already.  I won’t be that surprised when I get an invitation to graduation from 2^nd grade.  My kids may hit five ceremonies by the time they turn 10.

What’s great about graduation is that it’s something no one can take away from you.  You have a piece of paper that validates your experience – you knew exactly what you needed to do to succeed, you did it, and it’s a permanent validation of your achievement.  Even if you lose your actual diploma, you can call the school and they’ll likely have a record they can produce of your graduation.  No one can go back and un-graduate me from 8^th grade, even if I were to ever forget that lofty achievement.

If you’re like me, you’re looking for a similar scorecard or marker when it comes to faith.  I think all of us, in some way, shape or form, want to find a marker that validates our life in faith.  We want, deep inside of us, to know that our salvation is secure.  We want to know that we’re doing enough, that we’re doing it right.  We want something that affirms our security in Christ, that speaks to the anxiety we often live with at three in the morning when we wonder if the love and grace of God that often seems to transform others is really at work in our lives.  We want a graduation, but instead it can feel like we’re still in the admission office, working on the application, wondering if we’re good enough.

And the world around us leads us to ask other questions about God’s presence or absence in our lives.  On Friday, there was yet another shooting, and I was horrified to see that this was the largest American workplace shooting since only February, when someone else took their anger out in violence on their coworkers, wrecking lives and breaking hearts.  We know that Virginia Beach and all those who live there will never be the same due to this horrific act.  As soon as we read of these awful events, our hearts break not only for those affected but also because we know this is not how the world is supposed to be.

 It feels wrong because this is not how we were designed.  The feeling that things are wrong can only be there if there is a sense of what it means for things to be right, and that can only be true if the universe was designed on purpose, with a purpose.  Right and wrong have to come from somewhere, and we believe that God has planted them in the human heart.  Even when humans first chose sin in the Garden of Eden, God has been sending prophets and kings to remind us of what right is, what it looks like, and how to restore the relationship with God that was broken by sin.  When those messages fell on deaf ears, God sent his own Son, Jesus Christ, to show us the fullness of love and restore, once and forever, the relationship between humans and their God.

And so here, standing at the intersection of these two huge questions, what about the world and what about me, is where we dive into the two texts.  In the Gospel reading from the 17^th chapter of John, we’re going to focus on God, and then we’ll use that to turn our attention to how God is at work. 

John 17 is Jesus’ priestly prayer.  It delves into God’s relationship with Jesus, relating to what gifts are given from God to Jesus and how Jesus then passes these gifts on to believers.  Starting in verse 20, Jesus transitions from prayer for himself and the disciples into praying for those who will believe in Jesus.  That’s right – two thousand years ago, Jesus was praying for you, and he was praying for you to be united with all the saints and believers throughout the ages.  While you have been individually knit together in your mother’s womb, you are also part of a collective whole – Jesus is praying for the unity of the church.  The entire purpose of salvation is displayed in this passage.  In verse 24, Jesus prays that the church will be with Jesus, and he prays that they will see his glory, glory that was given to Jesus before the foundations of the world were laid. 

What Jesus is telling us is that the co-eternal relationship that Jesus has with God was formed before the world existed.  Before the sun hung in the sky, there was a relationship, and it was based on love, it was based on God sharing his glory with Jesus Christ.  They are co-eternal, and the world was created based on that.  Now, if what existed before the universe was a mutual sharing of glory, then we can surmise that the universe was created out of that love and a desire that the glory of God be shared – that those who were created would share in that future glory. 

Now, we know that humans brought sin into the picture and messed everything up, but Jesus knows about the problem of sin and is  still praying that the world may believe in God and be united with him forever.  Jesus is praying in verse 26 that the love of God may be in the church, and he is praying that the glory of God will be made known through Jesus Christ.  While Jesus certainly displayed it in his life, he did so even more fully in his death and resurrection, which is historically supported.  So we know that this is true and can trust that God’s will is to bring the church, as one body, into an eternal relationship with Jesus.

So that’s true about God’s will for the broken world, that joy and hope and peace will overcome sin and brokenness.  So what about us as individuals?

This, I believe, is what makes Romans 8 so powerful.  To get a full understanding of the context of this, we’d have to start at Romans 1, but in the interest of time, let’s focus on what Paul is saying here. 

Starting in verse 26, we acknowledge our weakness.  Immediately, I feel better.  I can come to God as I am, not as I want to be, and God knows that.  We don’t have to pretend – God is prepared to help us in our weakness.  The Holy Spirit is ready to intercede at a level I cannot describe.  And then who is weaving things for good?  It is God who is at work, calling and conforming and justifying and glorifying.  Notice who is acting here – it is God who is at active and at work. 

In verse 31, Paul puts it powerfully – the reason we cannot be defeated is not because we are brilliant or cunning, but because God is for us.  It is God who defeated death and evil – not us.  We cannot kill them on a global scale, and we cannot defeat them in our own lives – only the name and power of God can make them scamper.  It is God who justifies and it is God who intercedes for us and it is God who ensures that nothing can separate us from God’s love. 

While we are conquerors, it is not because of how adept we are with the sword or how accurate with the bow, it is because we are loved by God.  You, friend, are beloved, and it is not because of what you have done, but it is because of whom has made you, crafted you, placed you here and called you by name.  It is Jesus Christ who knocks, and it is Christ who enters and breaks bread with us.  You are treasured and held forever because of the love of the Father, and it is the Father’s will that you will be gathered, individually and as one body, into the eternal arms that are secure and strong and gentle and loving.  

Grace upon grace is yours to receive not to earn, and our diploma is not something we earn to secure ourselves, but rather it is a hill, 2000 years ago, where we point to see the fullness of God’s love and the glory that the empty tomb that demonstrated the glory of God, that helped us understand that the promises of Jesus were trustworthy and true.  When Jesus promised to gather us together, we know that we can rely upon those promises because we have seen him break the bonds of death.  Our fate is in his trustworthy hands because Jesus has chosen and come to us.  You cannot earn this the way you earn your way to graduation – so fret not, my friends, over your qualifications.  This is not yours by effort, but yours by gift, and we are welcomed into eternity by a King whose will it is to share his glory.  That is what we celebrate around this table.