The following sermon was presented by the Reverend John W. Howe, Rector of Truro Episcopal Church in Fairfax, Virginia, on May 15, 1988. The title is, Father, Keep Them, and the scripture reference is the Gospel of John, chapter 17, verses 11 through 19. 

We count the beginning of Jesus' ministry as taking place at that wedding party when they ran out of wine and his mother asked him if he couldn't remedy the situation. You read that story and you get the sense that he wasn't quite ready to begin. Woman, what have you to do with me, he says. It sounds almost a rebuff.

He says, my hour has not yet come. But it's clear that he was listening to his Father in heaven who said, It has come because he turns right around and does as she had requested and saves the party and saves the day with the miracle of turning water into wine. It's interesting that his career was inaugurated in that way, isn't it?

That he saved a party. He says so often, do this in order that your joy may be full. When he tells us things, it's for our own good.

He's not a killjoy, just exactly the opposite. He desires our pleasure. It's just that we sometimes seek it in the wrong places.

He saved a party at the beginning of his ministry. Now we come to the end of that ministry. The Last Supper is over.

Judas has gone out to summon the chief priests and the Roman soldiers. Betrayal is imminent, and with it, scourging, ridicule, mockery, abandonment by his friends, false evidence from his enemies, and then an agonizing death by crucifixion. And all that is about to unfold literally in the next few minutes.

And Jesus knows it and he prays. John chapter 17 has been called the Holy of Holies in the New Testament because here the heart of Jesus is laid bare before us in a way that it is nowhere else quite so fully. You might care to look with me again at that most important chapter.

Jesus, it's been called his high priestly prayer, the prayer that he prayed in the hour of his own greatest need. What we speak of as the Lord's Prayer is really a misnomer. It's the disciples' prayer that you and I pray, that he taught us.

We're the ones who need to say, forgive us our trespasses. He didn't need to say that. This is the Lord's Prayer.

This is the one that he prayed. and I called your attention first the strange familiarity of his words as he begins I commented that at the start of his ministry he says woman my hour has not yet come now at the close of his ministry he says father my hour has come my hour has come this is my hour this is what I came to do please don't ever look at the death of Jesus as some prematurely tragic ending to a promise-filled life. This is what he came for, to offer his life for you and for me.

He begins by saving a party, and he ends by saving the world. He begins by turning water into the wine of celebration, and he ends by giving his blood as the wine of salvation. he prays one thing for himself I want us to notice that we didn't read that part of the prayer the prayer really divides neatly into two sections the first he's praying for himself and the second he's praying for us notice what he prays for himself just one thing father glorify thy son that the Son may glorify thee.

What an interesting prayer. What a spirit-stretching prayer. Stop and think about it.

Father, glorify me. But not just because I've earned it and want to sit back and rest on my laurels. Glorify me so that I can glorify you all the more.

this is as if he's saying let me receive again the splendor that was mine in the heavenlies before I ever came to planet earth that and more the additional glory of a perfect lifelong obedience to you and unbroken trust and praise even in the midst of this crucifixion that is about to take place let me be glorified let me be seen as as unimaginably preeminent and splendid above all creation so that I might bow before you and offer tribute greater than I ever have before do you get it? let me be seen as king of kings and lord of lords so that my deference to you will be all the more noteworthy glorify me and exalt me above every name that is named so that I can bring fresh glory to your holiness and justice and faithfulness and mercy and love and prove to the world that you are truly God sometimes you hear a husband say to his wife I want to do this or I want to earn that or I want to accomplish this for you sometimes the wife says a similar thing to the husband maybe a child to his parent. I want to do this for you.

That's what Jesus is saying. I want all creation to see me in splendor such as has never been seen before so that I can offer that splendor to you. Do you get it?

We have the picture in the book of Revelation of the four and twenty elders surrounding the throne of God and it says, casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea. All that they have achieved, all of the honor and merit and accomplishment and splendor that is theirs, they lay at his feet. And the model for that, the chief example, is Jesus himself.

The one above every name, the one unimaginably splendid, lays that splendor at the feet of the Father. That's what he prays for himself. And in one sense, his prayer is immediately fulfilled in a way that we would never have suspected, but he knew all about it.

His prayer is immediately fulfilled on the cross. You say, how is that a glorification of Jesus? Well, it is.

If what you see there, if the eyes of faith will allow you to see through the pain and the agony and the horror of it, you see his heart of unbroken trust and unbroken praise. Here is the culmination of his yieldedness to the Father, and that's his glory. In another sense, it's not even yet completely fulfilled.

One day we'll see him in a way that we can hardly even imagine at this point. One day, that prayer will be fully complete. That's what he prays for himself.

Father, glorify me so that I may glorify you. In the rest of his prayer, think about it. Think of what he is even now going through.

Think of the emotional and the spiritual stress. Think of the burden, not only the physical pain that he knows he's about to experience, but the horror of entering into that God-forsakenness of the cross. And in that moment, He prays for us.

And that constitutes the bulk of the rest of the prayer. He prays for us. He prays four things.

Some of us have studied this previously, so I'm going to just summarize it very quickly, but I want us to be aware of what is on Jesus' heart and mind. in His hour of greatest need, He prays first of all that we would be one. Father, make them one even as we are one.

That perfect unity of the Son with His Father, He prays would be ours as well. Look at verse 20. He says, I do not pray for these only, the disciples that He had at that point in time, He says, but also for those who will come to believe in Me through their word.

He's praying for you and for me. For those who will believe in me through their word and their witness down through 20 centuries of history. And here's his prayer.

That they all may be one. Even as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. That's amazing.

That He would stake the conviction of the world on the quality of our relationships with each other. But that's what I just read. That what's going to convince an unbelieving world that Jesus has really come from the Father, that He is who He says He is, the thing that will convince an unbelieving and skeptical world is the quality of our oneness with each other.

Would you entrust such a mission? to such as we? You realize that while we say there is but one church of Jesus Christ in all of the world and all of history, you realize that there are over 20,000 denominations all calling themselves Christian, unable somehow to come together?

20,000 and still counting. Adding more all the time. I heard about a guy from this church.

a while back he was here he's left, he's gone elsewhere I heard this week that he started a new church you know why? he couldn't find one he liked only 20,000 denominations to choose from he needed one more 20,000 denominations amazing amazing I pray that they would be one how are we doing in this church are there folks in this church that if the truth be known you've got a problem with a broken relationship a grudge an unforgiveness somewhere either you against them or them against you we're hindering the will of God we're hindering the prayer of Jesus if we allow those petty differences to separate us from each other his heart's prayer in the hour of his greatest need is that we would be one and that thereby the world would be convinced that he is who he claims to be anybody you need to forgive anybody you need to go and ask forgiveness and be reconciled he prays secondly that we would be sanctified sanctify them in thy truth he says thy word is truth he says for their sake I have consecrated myself and I pray that they also would be consecrated as well to be sanctified is to be set aside for God's purposes we consecrate a communion cup when we take one that otherwise might be used for common use and we set it aside for the use of God. It's going to be used only in the service of God.

That's what it means to be consecrated. It doesn't mean that I am inherently better than anybody else. It means that I'm set aside for God's purposes.

Do you see yourself that way? I'm available to you, Lord, for you to do with whatever you see fit. Or are there areas in your life that really aren't very available, that are compromised?

Are there things in your life that are displeasing to God? It's time to clean them up, straighten them out, get them right. Ask Him to help you get them right.

I pray that they would be a holy people. I pray that your holiness would be manifested in them. That's my heart's prayer.

he doesn't so much pray as he declares the third thing that we're the sent out ones he says as thou didst send me in verse 18 so I have sent them into the world as you sent me so I sent them with the same purpose the same goal the same agenda the same mission the same priorities we're the sent out ones. We don't have any option about it. I have sent them into the world, into all the world, to be witnesses to your love and to mine, Jesus is saying.

You are my witnesses, he says in the book of Acts. Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations. It's not an option.

It's part of the job description. We're men and women under orders. And that could mean that we would be literally sent somewhere halfway around the world to Timbuktu.

Or it might mean that right where you are, you need to recognize yourself as being a person with a mission. And begin to take advantage of the opportunities that are ours every week, every day, to speak up something about Jesus. I've commented in the past that the root meaning of the word Catholic is really right here in being sent out into all the world.

It's not Catholic as contrasted to Protestant, one denomination among many. It's Catholic as contrasted to local, one worldwide church. We are sent out into all the world as men and women with a mission.

Are you available to him to go wherever he wants you to go, to do whatever he wants you to do? If you're not, then his prayer is being frustrated in your life. And fourthly, he prays that we might be kept.

He prays it positively and he prays it negatively. Verse 11, keep them, Father, in thy name. And verse 15, keep them from the evil one.

Protect them. Guard them. Preserve them.

Nurture them. Help them continue what I've begun, is what he's praying. Keep them in what I've started.

He says, while I was here among them, I kept them. Now I'm coming back to you, Father, and I ask you to do what I can't do personally anymore. Keep them.

Allow them to continue in what I've begun. Jesus' prayer for continuity carries over into the book of Acts. There's a phrase that we pick up in Acts chapter 2 that has been called the fourfold mark of the apostolic church.

It says they continued in the apostles' teaching and fellowship in the breaking of bread and the prayers. They continued in what he entrusted to the apostles. It's reflected again in the story of the choosing of Matthias that we heard this morning.

Judas has defected. We've got to choose somebody to take his place. Someone who's been with us from the beginning and who can become with us a witness to the resurrection.

Somebody who will continue, who will keep going what was entrusted to Judas, which he abandoned. It's reflected in Paul's exhortation to Timothy. That which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust the same to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Do you notice there are four generations mentioned there? And by implication five, because Paul got it from Jesus. Jesus to Paul, to Timothy, to faithful men, to others.

Five generations of passing on a sacred trust. Keep, continue that which I have begun. Do you ever stop and think what would happen if one of those links had been broken?

any one of them Paul to Timothy to faithful men to others to others to others to others to you what if one of the links had been broken shortly before Kathy was born my grandfather who was 98 years old passed away and I wish that his life had gone on just a little bit longer and overlapped hers you know it struck me if there had been somebody who was 98 whose life overlapped my grandfather's life and somebody who was 98 whose life overlapped that person's life you realize it would only be 19 men that separate Jesus from Kathy that's kind of dramatic isn't it and what if one of those links was broken do you see what I'm saying I dwell upon that for just a moment because we're going to ask you when we come to the announcement time to consider being a link in that chain as we look to staffing our church school and our summertime ministry to our children we need 240 people to carry on the ministry to our kids this summer and it's always a tough thing to find those folks we look around and we say there's so many others who can do it and we excuse ourselves the problem being that everybody else also excuses themselves keep them in thy name keep them from the evil one let this which I have begun be passed from one generation to the next those are the prayers of Jesus for his church I don't know if you spotted it but what he prays is what we confess the church to be every Sunday morning when we come to the Nicene Creed in just a moment we're going to say we believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church do you see that in his prayer I pray that they might be one I pray that they might be sanctified or holy I send them out into all the world as a Catholic church and I pray that they would continue in that apostolic succession that I have begun keep them, Father, in that continuity one holy, Catholic, and apostolic we confess that the church is at least somewhat already that. And we pray and look forward to the church being completely that as God continues his work among us. The thing I want to close with is just this.

I believe there's a direct connection between the two halves of Jesus' prayer. What he prays for himself and what he prays for us. I don't know if you ever thought about that.

But his prayer is, Father, glorify me so that I can glorify you. And then he turns right around and prays that we would be a certain kind of people. And I believe the implication is very clear that to the extent that we are the people that he prays that we'll be, we bring glory to him.

That's one of the ways in which that prayer is going to be fulfilled. To the extent that we overcome some of the differences that separate us from each other, to the extent that there is unity among us, we're bringing glory to Jesus and enabling Him to bring still greater glory to the Father. To the extent that we recapture some area of our lives that has been marred and broken by compromise, we bring glory to Jesus.

And He glorifies the Father. to the extent that we seize the opportunities that surround us every day to speak out to somebody about him and share his love rather than just keeping it to ourselves to the extent that we do that and see ourselves as the ones sent out for that purpose we bring glory to him we bring glory to Jesus whenever we take seriously the responsibility that is ours to pass on to the next generation that which has been entrusted to us. So I'd like us to pray.

I'd like us to bow our heads and just give God a moment, an opportunity to apply that very simple and in one sense very basic teaching to the place in our lives where it really needs to be applied. this is the heart cry of Jesus for you and for me is there somebody in your life that you need to go to and seek to reconcile a broken relationship I pray that they may be one is there an area in your life in which you know you've been doing something or failing to do something that puts you outside the will of God something that wounds his heart of love something that you need to make right I pray that they be sanctified do you have a zeal to share the wonderful love of Jesus with those around you do you see yourself as one sent into the world for that purpose are you available to him to go wherever he wants you to go as thou didst send me even so I send them into the world are you available to pass on to the next generation that which has been entrusted to you father keep them in thy name keep them from the evil one let them continue in that which I have begun Lord it's our desire to be those who glorify this Lord Jesus that he in turn may glorify you Amen