John 17:1-5

William F. Schnell

May 4, 2008

On the field of athletic endeavor the more likely individuals or teams are to win, the less glorious it is when they do.  Likewise the less likely they are to win, the more glorious it is when they do.  A contest between two clearly unmatched opponents becomes ho-hum as the better team consistently outscores the underdog.  But notice how exciting things become as the underdog comes from behind to become a contender and, possibly, the victor.

The Kentucky Derby concluded yesterday and it reminded me of Seabiscuit and his race with War Admiral in what was dubbed the “Match of the Century.”  The unlikely victory of Seabiscuit was so glorious that it inspired a nation down on its luck in the midst of the Great Depression.  Indeed the story continues to inspire as a relatively recent bestselling book and box office hit movie have attested.  People love a glorious victory, and no victory is more glorious that one which is against the odds.

There is not a single athletic gene to be found in the Schnell pool.  My son, Jim Bob, discovered this when he tried out for wrestling as a youth.  The experience taught him many valuable lessons, the most obvious: that he was not a grappler.  Being a heavyweight, he wrestled at the end of the tournament.  One tournament his team was just barely behind as he went to the mat with his opponent.  In short: Jim Bob not only had to win, he had to win by a pin for the team to be victorious.

Apparently his opponent did not have any more of the killer instinct than did Jim Bob, and the poor fellow soon found himself under my son where the weight of both was working against him.  Jim Bob just looked up at his coach who was shouting directions, and then did what he was told.  The referee slapped his hand on the mat and I went absolutely nuts.  Standing by the mat I could hardly believe my eyes and looked to Nancy in the stands and shouted, “Did he win?

Nancy was screaming her head off in jubilation and, without a thought, I ran out on the mat to hug my son.  The coach grabbed me by the collar, jerked me back and shouted.  “We can lose points if you run on the mat!”  Imagine losing the tournament because of that!”  But what a glorious moment as his arm was raised in victory.  Then came the announcement that our team had won the tournament, and guess where Jim Bob was to be found?  He was over with the other team consoling the downhearted fellow who had lost to him.  That’s my boy.

Jim Bob was named after his uncle Jim, my brother, who is even more athletically challenged.  Many years ago during a Little League game my brother was playing right field in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and his team ahead by one run.  However the opposing team had the tying run on second when a big slugger came to bat.  He hit a high fly to right field and everyone’s hearts sunk as my brother put his hands up to shield himself from falling objects.  The ball sailed past his glove of course… and lodged in his armpit.  Everyone looked at the Ump while the Ump looked at my brother and shouted, “He’s out!”  A cheer rose from the bleachers, the dugout emptied and my brother was carried off the field rubbing his armpit.  It was his most glorious hour.

I am reminded here of something Winston Churchill said to his countrymen as France was falling to the Nazi’s during the great World War Two, and all were preparing for the Battle of Britain to begin.  He said, “Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour.’"  The greater the challenge, the greater the glory when it is overcome.

In our text for this morning Jesus seeks to inspire his disciples as they face the greatest challenge to their faith—the cross of Christ.  It threatens to dash all their hopes and expectations.  It seeks to destroy their Lord and Master.  It aims for their undoing and the whole nasty business has already begun to unfold.  Just before his arrest Jesus offers the longest of his recorded prayers in the Bible—what has been called “the Lord’s high-priestly prayer.”

After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the time has come” (Verse 1).  Up until this point Jesus was always telling people who were telling him what to do, “My time has not yet come.”  When his mother wanted him to reveal his glory early on in his ministry while at a wedding in Cana of Galilee, Jesus tells her, “My time has not yet come” (John 2:4).  Likewise his disciples wanted him to gain a higher profile by performing his miracles for the powers-that-be in Jerusalem, saying, “No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret.  Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.”  But Jesus responded, “The right time for me has not yet come…. (John 7:4&6). 

Twice in his continuing controversy with religious leaders Jesus escapes plots to kill him because, as the scriptures put it, his time had not yet come (John 7:30 & 8:20).  But in our text Jesus finally concludes, “…the time has come.”  The time has come for his crucifixion, that we have already seen.  But the time has also come for something else—something that always accompanies the cross of Christ.  That something, in a word, is “glory.”

“Father, the time has come.  Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you” (Verse 1).  Remember, the greater the challenge the greater the glory when it is overcome.  How does one overcome death at the hands of one’s enemies?  To borrow a quote from Jesus, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).  Jesus knows that God is going to raise him from death to glory in the kingdom of heaven, and that this victory will bring glory to the God he has represented on earth.

Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.  For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him (Verses 1-2).  Jesus’ victory is not only a glorious victory for Jesus and his Father in heaven, it is a victory for all who follow him—for all who deny themselves, take up their crosses and follow him.  But first the cross, then the crown—first the cross of Christ and then the crown of victory.  No cross, no crown—the one is just as much a factor in the equation of glory as the other.

When the risen Christ appeared to Peter, he said something cryptic to him that is revealed by the Gospel writer to us.  He said to Peter: I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go."  Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Follow me!" (John 21:18-19).

Following Jesus got Peter sentenced to crucifixion.  But according to church tradition, when Peter was about to be crucified he requested to be crucified upside down saying, “To die as the Master is more than I deserve.”  Indeed, if you will visit St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Delaware, Ohio you will find the brass handles on the great front doors to be inverted crosses.  I know, because I used to polish them while working as a Sexton at the church to support my seminary education.

As Jesus had foretold, this was the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God.  And of course God glorified Peter, not only in Delaware, Ohio but in the Vatican where the pope is regarded as the successor of Peter as the Bishop of Rome.  All Christians, Catholic and Protestant alike, regard Peter as the rock upon which Christ has built his church.  But first the cross of Christ, then the crowning glory.  This is the bedrock of our faith.

Not all of us will be crucified upside down like Peter, or right side up like Jesus, but all of us will have our crosses to bear.  The question is, will we flee from the crosses we are called to bear like Peter first did when he betrayed Jesus three times to avoid sharing his fate, or will we take up our crosses to follow Jesus like Peter eventually did?  Will we only follow Jesus while it is convenient and then forsake him when the going gets tough, or will we follow him all the way—come what may?

Jesus prays to God: “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.  And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began” (Verses 4-5).  If we glorify God on earth, God will glorify us in his presence on high.  And how do we glorify God?  We do it the same way as Jesus, by completing the work God gives us to do.  The work he gives us to do always involves a cross to bear—always involves a great challenge—because the greater the challenge, the greater the glory.

Our Eldercare Seminar has been a challenging piece of work from God.  My faith began to flag when the registrations failed to materialize after the initial advertising effort, but with perseverance we now have over 70 registered with perhaps some more walk-ins to be expected.  Today many people from our community will be introduced to The Church in Aurora as a place that is concerned about their needs and how to meet them.  Today we are completing the work God gave us to do.  Glory be to God.

God will have other work for us to do after this.  God may want us to reproduce this event in the future, or he may want us to offer ongoing support groups for those struggling with the care of their elderly loved ones, or he may want us to meet another need altogether in our community.  We do not know about that just yet, but we do know what he wants us to do today and we are committed to completing that work by his grace.

What is God calling you to complete?  Maybe you are completing a professional pursuit as you approach retirement.  Are you going to skate the remaining time away?  Are you going to rest on your laurels?  Or are you going to go out in a blaze of glory, doing the very best you can to complete the work of your hands which God has given you to do?  One day your pastors will approach retirement—not anytime soon I hope.  But when they do, hopefully they will show how much they loved the church by giving their best to the end.

And then they will enter a new phase of life, for each ending brings a new beginning with its own challenges and opportunities.  As the advancing years unfold, will we give up when the going gets tough?  Should I precede my wife in death I hope she will know that the best way to honor my memory will be for her to continue to live life to the fullest as God gives her every opportunity.  Yes, the opportunities get restricted as we age, but there is always some opportunity to grow and to give and to live. 

Soon enough—much sooner than we imagine—the time will come, to paraphrase Jesus.  The time will come when our own measure of days upon the earth will be ended.  May that time arrive just as we are completing the work God has given us to do.  May the crosses we have borne be the jewels in our crowns.  May we depart this life in a blaze of glory that has no end.  In the meanwhile let us cling to the old rugged cross.  First the cross of Christ, then the crown of glory.