Our gospel is the first portion of what we call Jesus’ “high priestly prayer”. He prays for all who go out into the world on his behalf,
carrying the good news of God’s love to the ends of the earth.
After he prays for the disciples who are listening to his prayer in person, he prays for us, too;
he prays for “those who believe
through [the] word” carried by his disciples. (17:20)
We, like generations of disciples before us, are asked to be witnesses for the good news of God’s love to the ends of the earth.
And Jesus prays for us, before we were even knit together in our mother’s wombs, that we may follow Him and accomplish the work He gives us.
The theme for next month’s Vacation Bible School is “Operation Restoration: Mending God’s World”. Certainly, one of the ways we plan for God’s world to be restored is through prayer.
But this theme of “Mending God’s World” is one that you may recognize in other ways we come together as God’s church.
Today we are welcoming ten households into the congregation, each uniquely gifted and drawn here to worship and deepen their faith in Jesus. Together they’ll affirm their baptismal promises which includes a commitment to share in the Lord’s supper, to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed, to serve all people, following the example of Jesus, and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth. Our joy is made more full because they are here.
Next Sunday we have a group traveling to the Qualla Boundary to worship with and visit Living Waters Lutheran Church in Cherokee. Participants experience the hospitality of the congregation, but more importantly, they experience God’s presence and work in a place that is different from Grace and hear what God is doing there.
The following week a group is joining local storyteller Ronnie Pepper for a tour of historic African-American sites in Hendersonville, learning more about the history of our community.
In June, we will first welcome Andrew Steele from Global Refuge, one of our global ministry partners working with immigrants and refugees who are in crisis here and internationally.
And later next month, Pastor Christy Lohr-Sapp will preach at Grace. Pastor Lohr and her family are stateside now, but she serves as Pastor of the English-Speaking Congregation of the Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem and plans to return there later this year.
In July, our youth will travel to Living Waters for a day trip, serving in the food pantry, and then some of them will also travel to Winston-Salem for a weeklong summer service-learning trip with SparkDwell where they’ll work alongside neighbors and other volunteers in that city.
Additionally for the summer months of June, July and August, the congregation council has agreed to a holy experiment where our 11:15 worship will be fully bilingual. That means that at 11:15 whether you are in the sanctuary or in the fellowship hall, the liturgy will be the same and you’ll be invited to participate in English or Spanish. And one Sunday a month I’ll still lead a separate Spanish-language service.
In all kinds of different ways, we will be learning how to be God’s witnesses to the ends of the earth.
As Jesus’ followers sent out as God’s witnesses,
we are called to this work of mending God’s world:
of witnessing God’s love for our neighbors, as close as Cherokee and as far away as Jerusalem, and all the points in between;
of building relationships with people beyond the walls of our church building;
of listening to each other’s stories and hearing about how others have witnessed God’s transforming love in their lives;
and of learning how God is continuing to work through faith communities and faithful people in ways that are new to us.
In the last verse of our gospel today,
Jesus prays that his disciples will be one,
just as the Father and the Son are one.
He does not pray that all will be the same,
or that they will be in agreement about all things,
or even that their worship and faith practices will be identical,
only that they may know God and Jesus Christ whom God sent.
(v. 3)
As we enter into the summer months,
I hope we can be
attentive to how we can be part of mending God’s world;
curious about others’ experiences of God and Jesus; and
willing to be witnesses ourselves,
sharing how our lives have been changed by God,
that the world may know God’s love for them.
Let us pray.
Holy God,
Thank you for your Son Jesus
Help us remember that we are yours,
And teach us how to be witnesses to your love for the whole world.
We pray in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
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