Context: John 17 is a prayer. Jesus “lifts his eyes” or “looks up to heaven” and enters into an extended time of intercessory prayer. I invite you to consider our study passage this week as the “Amen” (so be it) to this prayer. When someone engages in Intercessory prayer, the needs of others are lifted up to God. At this point in his journey, Jesus knows the testing and turmoil that lay ahead for him and for his followers. He extends this prayer into our future as he prays for everyone “who will ever believe” in him. Jesus prays that we will experience union with God!
Jesus expresses this concept of union by saying he is (and we can be) heis {hice} which is translated one … with God. The simple word that Jesus uses to express this spiritual concept of union or being one with God or being “in” God or God being “in” us is en {en} which can also be translated “by” or “with.” It is a primary preposition which denotes a position in place, time or state in a relationship of rest or receptivity. It is a way of “being” and not “doing.” As we all rest together “in” God, we experience perfect unity according to our study version this week which is the (NLT) New Living Translation. The Greek word translated perfect is teleioo {tel-i-o'-o} which means to make perfect, to bring to completion, or to add what is yet wanting, so that someone or something is fulfilled. Think about the way different translations put it:
- (NRSV) New Revised Standard Version: become completely one,
- (KJV) King James Version: made perfect in one,
- (NAS) New American Standard: be perfected in unity,
- (NIV) New International Version: brought to complete unity,
This prayer for Christian perfection (in the words of John Wesley, founder of Methodism) or Union with God (in the words of the mystics) brings together several themes that have emerged during our Following Jesus study: we are sent to give and receive love to people as Jesus was sent by God to show God’s love to the people of the world, we live and learn in community with one another as Jesus lived and led in community, we are called to love others as Jesus loves us, Jesus is one with the Father and expects his followers to be united as one with God and with each other.
As we grow to in our capacity to give and receive love, we become complete in Christ. Together we and those people we love come to “know” God or ginosko {ghin-oce'-ko} which means to learn to know, to become known, to get knowledge of, to perceive or to feel, to understand, to become acquainted with … God in Christ!
Jesus’ prayer of intercession occurs at the end of the last night he spends freely engaging the disciples with his final thoughts throughout their dinner. He prays right before he is betrayed by Judas in the Mount of Olives, where he is arrested and tied up by Roman soldiers and Temple guards on his way to death on the cross and resurrection into new life. His prayer is a very appropriate response to the suffering ahead.
Going Deeper: Read the prayer of Jesus in John 17:20-26 again. Have you ever thought what it means to you to “be in” God or to be in a community who is “one with” God? If you have never thought about your relationship with God in this way you might try a “stream of consciousness” way of journaling. Take a blank sheet of paper and write: I am one with God when I … now write without thinking about what you are writing just let the words flow onto the page …
In his sermons, Meister Eckhart (echoing Origen, early church father) says … “If anyone were to ask me: Why do we pray, why do we fast, why do we do all our works, why are we baptized, why (most important of all) did God become man? I would answer: in order that God may be born in the soul and the soul be born in God. For this reason all the scriptures were written, for that reason God created the world and all the angelic natures: so that God may be born in the soul and the soul be born in God.”
So … why do you pray? Do you fast? Why or why not? Why do you serve God and others? Were you baptized as a child or an adult? What does your baptism mean to you? What do you think Meister Eckhart and Origen mean when they talk about “God being born in the soul and the soul be born in God? How do you feel about this way of expressing union with God? Have you ever felt that your soul was born in the “womb” of God? What objections, if any, do you have toward this language? How important is language to you?
Pondering: We live in a brutal world where perfection is often the ultimate goal of all of our endeavors … make no mistakes! Our cultural understanding of perfection is not the scriptural understanding. Inherent in the Greek word telos is a sense of spiritual formation through growth, completion, and fulfillment of one’s person-hood. God is always working to love us and to express that love to us and for us, encouraging us to express that love to others as an expression of our love and gratitude to God. God waits patiently for us to accept the love that is ours so that we can move toward union with God!
In The Spirituality of Imperfection: Storytelling and the Search for Meaning, a book written by Ernest Kurtz and Katherine Ketcham, they state, “spirituality begins with the acceptance that our fractured being, our imperfection, simply is … imperfection lies at the very core of our human be-ing.” How accepting are you of your imperfections? How do your imperfections keep you authentic? How accepting are you of others person’s imperfections? “The spirituality of imperfection begins with the recognition that trying to be perfect is the most tragic human mistake.” Perhaps when we stop trying to be “perfect” we stop trying to BE God and allow ourselves to be “in” God. And finally, “the holy place, where God is made known, is the place where human beings discover each other in love.” Have you ever found this holy place? What is it like to “know” God?
Prayer: Centering Prayer is a method of silent prayer that prepares us to receive the gift of contemplative prayer, prayer in which we experience God's presence within us, closer than breathing, closer than thinking, closer than consciousness itself. This method of prayer is both a relationship with God and a discipline to foster that relationship. Centering Prayer is not just a time of outer silence; it is a time of silence within the self.
How to engage in Centering Prayer … begin with 10 minutes (or whatever you can manage) and increase your time until you can sit in companionable silence with God for 30 minutes or more.
1. Choose a sacred word that has spiritual meaning for you. It will serve as the symbol of your intention to consent to God’s presence and action within.
2. Sitting comfortably and with eyes closed, settle briefly and silently introduce the sacred word as the symbol of your consent to God’s presence and action within.
3. When distracted by your thoughts (body sensations, feelings, images, and reflections), return gently to your sacred word.
4. At the end of your prayer period, remain in silence with eyes closed for a couple of minutes.
Source: Contemplative Outreach for more information on Centering Prayer
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