None has been lost

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 Magpie feeding

Gospel of John 17: 6-12 (NIV)

⁶ “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. ⁷ Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. ⁸ For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. ⁹ I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. ¹⁰ All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. ¹¹ I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name – the name you gave me – so that they may be one as we are one. ¹² While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that scripture would be fulfilled.

“None has been lost”. We could read right past these words in verse 12 if it were not for the fact that John had already recorded Jesus’ saying, “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day” (6: 39). The will of the Father is that, of those given Jesus by the Father, none is to be lost.

For Jesus to say this to his disciples suggests that Jesus knew that his disciples could become lost. Each had the freedom of will that the Father graciously grants to all of creation, including us. Each could have turned away from Jesus when the going got tough.

Jesus knew too that his disciples would encounter spiritual attack. Recall Jesus words: “Simon, Simon, Satan has wanted to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22: 31-32).

Jesus knew how important it was to do the Father’s will: “that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day”. He spoke of this in parables: those of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son (all in Luke 15).

Why focus on this? We all need to hear these four words, “None has been lost”, particularly when the going gets tough.

John’s Gospel was written, “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (20: 31). Jesus’ prayer was not only for the disciples: “I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one …” (John 17: 20-21).

“None has been lost” includes everyone who has come to Jesus since his crucifixion, resurrection and ascension. That includes all today who claim Jesus as Saviour and Lord.

How are you travelling? You might be facing really tough times. You might feel deflated, unappreciated, lacking in energy, health or purpose. Be reassured that, no matter how you feel and how grim matters may appear to be right now, if you are walking with Jesus, fully trusting in him, he will not let you go.

Jesus on the Holy Trinity

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 Family of white-winged choughs feeding

Gospel of John 14: 15-21 (NIV)

¹⁵ “If you love me, you will obey what I command. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor to be with you for ever – ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. ¹⁸ I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ¹⁹ Before long, the world will not see me any more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. ²⁰ On that day you will realise that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. ²¹ Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”

How powerfully the image of the Holy Trinity is presented in this short passage! A single sentence from Jesus has brought all three persons together (verse 16): Jesus will ask the Father and the Father will give another Counsellor, the Spirit of truth who will be a companion forever.

From these verses I begin to understand why so many in the world not only reject Jesus but reject any possibility of his existence. It is evident from the Gospels that Jesus was known to ordinary people and to the Jewish and Roman authorities. Anticipating his imminent crucifixion, Jesus made what may seem to be an obvious statement: “Before long, the world will not see me any more …”. The startling part of this sentence was yet to come: “… but you will see me” (verse 19).

How could it be that “the world” would not see Jesus after his resurrection from death but that such a privilege would be granted only to his followers? It appears from verse 21 that Jesus is the one who decides to whom he will reveal himself. The opportunity to see him and the ability to recognise him are not necessarily prerogatives of just anybody for Jesus will show himself to the person who loves him. That person will in turn be loved by the Father and Jesus too will extend to that person his love.

The same, it seems, pertains to the Holy Spirit. “The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But,” said Jesus to his disciples, “you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you” (verse 17).

Loving God (the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit) is complemented by our putting into action our desire to do what pleases the beloved. That includes being obedient to what is commanded. I do not see this as responding instinctively to a word of command (the kind of obedience drilled into those in the uniformed services). Rather I see this as yearning always to be a source of delight to the beloved and that includes knowing what is required (commanded) and doing it willingly (obeying).

Conversely those who ignore God, those who deny God’s existence, have no sense of wishing to please God or to obey what is commanded. These are described as having eyes but not seeing, having ears but not hearing or, as Jesus said to the Pharisees, as facing condemnation: “now that you claim that you can see, your guilt remains” (John 9: 41).

Holy Spirit, live with us and be in us we pray, now and always. Amen.

Fear God, honour the king.

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 Haze from an autumn hazard reduction burn, Canberra.

First Epistle of Peter 2: 13-17 (NIV)

¹³ Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, ¹⁴ or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. ¹⁵ For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. ¹⁶ Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. ¹⁷ Show proper respect to everyone. Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honour the king.

We know from earlier passages in this letter that Peter was writing to a scattered Christian Church that was already facing persecution from diverse sources for its faith in the resurrected Christ: “In this (God’s salvation) you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials” (1 Peter 1: 6).

Suffering for Christ is more explicitly acknowledged in later passages too: “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ …” (1 Peter 4: 12-13).

Peter knew that some of this suffering was at the hands of the Roman authorities and yet, in the passage above, he has commanded this scattered and suffering Church to “submit … for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king (read ‘Emperor’) as the supreme authority, or to governors …”. These same authorities, some 18 months after this letter was written, would execute Peter in Rome.

How was Peter able to reconcile enduring these “painful trials” with the apparently conflicting message he felt compelled to pass on to a suffering Church?

He knew well the teaching of his Master, for example during the “sermon on the mount” (Matthew 5) about being salt and light, about refusing to have anything to do with murder and anger and sexual lust, about turning the other cheek, about loving enemies and perhaps most significantly about “pray(ing) for those who persecute you”.

Peter was able to hold in tension these commands from Jesus and what he knew God would require of him in terms of obedience to the Father. Recall the situation described in the book of Acts where Peter and John healed a lame man in Jerusalem. The religious authorities were at a loss as to how to deal with Peter and John. The Sanhedrin called them in “and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, ‘Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard’” (Acts 4: 18-20).

For each of us there will be a time to remain obedient to God regardless of the instructions we receive from the civil authorities. We need to rely on the Holy Spirit (the source of Peter’s inspiration – see Acts 4: 8) and to continue to pray for those who may then be persecuting us.

By being obedient first and foremost to God we will be living as the free people that Peter referred to (verse 16). At the same time we will be demonstrating what it is to live as servants of God.

You are … a people belonging to God.

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 Autumn foliage

First Epistle of Peter 2: 4-10 (NIV)

⁴ As you come to him, the living Stone – rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him – ⁵ you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ For in Scripture it says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.”
⁷ Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
“The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone,”
⁸ and,
“A stone that causes men to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.”
They stumble because they disobey the message – which is also what they were destined for.
⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

How remarkable that Simon son of John, named “Peter” by Jesus to be the “rock” on whom Jesus would build his church, has here referred to Jesus as “the living Stone”! How remarkable, too, that he has written to Jesus’ followers scattered through Asia, describing them also as living stones! As living stones they, and we, are being built into a spiritual house to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Of this spiritual house, Jesus Christ is the “chosen and precious cornerstone”.

What is it that qualifies them, and us, to be built into a spiritual house and to be a holy priesthood? It is not because of any “worth” we may have earned through our own endeavours! The Apostle Peter tells us that it is because they, and we, are “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God”. Exodus 19: 5-6 tells us that God commanded Moses to proclaim to the people of Israel, “Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation”. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Peter has extended that proclamation to include “God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout (Asia Minor), … chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ” (verses 1, 2) – and to include us. Through the grace of God, we now have the status of being “chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God”.

This status carries an obligation, a responsibility: so that, in all circumstances, we “may declare the praises of him who called (us) out of darkness into his wonderful light”.

Reference to“his wonderful light” reminds of Jesus’ proclamation: “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9: 5). We therefore must now accept the challenge issued by Jesus to his disciples in his “sermon on the mount” to be “the light of the world” (Matthew 5: 14).

To continue Peter’s figures of speech we, like living stones who are being built into a spiritual house because we have been chosen by God, are to declare his praises. We do so as a royal priesthood, as a holy nation, as people belonging to God – for we have received his mercy.