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A Prayer for Dangerous Disciples
This is a sermon on John 17:11b-19 that will be published in Proclaim during the Easter season next year.

NRSV John 17:11 And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15 I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. 16 They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.

For those with an interest in Jesus Christ, it is worth pondering any prayer that has survived the ages. You can tell a lot about people by listening to their prayers. A person’s prayers make transparent his or her ultimate cares and concerns. This is even truer for a person standing in a position of grave danger or desperation. In John 17, we have an extended petition to God that Jesus makes mere hours before his arrest and execution. This prayer gives us a glimpse into the heart and mind of Jesus. Perhaps surprisingly for our day in which we tend to exalt self-interest above all others, Jesus focuses not on his impending death or a desire to avoid it, but rather he thinks beyond the Cross to the time in which his present and future followers would face the world on their own. His prayer is for dangerous disciples.

Red River Gorge State Park in the hills of eastern Kentucky is one of hidden gems in the United States. Its scenic hiking trails and rugged cliffs are favorites of outdoor enthusiasts, particularly rock climbers. During a recent trip to tackle a daunting formation known as Paradise Lost, my friend Rob was struggling to make it to the top when another climber, dressed in black except for a bright yellow X embroidered on his back, literally blew by him. By the time, Rob reached his destination the mysterious man in black was gone. Rob inquired about the man’s identity from another group of climbers resting at the top. “That was X,” said Jen. “X?” questioned Rob. “Yes, no one knows his name. He never talks to anyone. He just shows up and makes the rest of us look like beginners. He may not be very friendly, but as a rock climber, he is down right dangerous.”

Of course, Jen meant the word “dangerous” as a compliment. X was not a physical threat to the other climbers; he was a threat to rock formations. He was so skilled and death-defying that he made allegedly challenging climbs appear routine. It is in this sense of the word that Jesus desires his disciples to be dangerous. Through his life, death, and resurrection, Jesus sought to unleash a world-changing movement in which his followers would reveal to the world God’s transforming love and invite others to a community shaped by the values and lifestyle modeled by Jesus himself. It would involve a daring life in which Jesus’ followers would engage a world that would not always welcome Jesus’ message. Yet rather than withdrawing from the world into “safe” enclaves, Jesus followers were to remain in the world just as Jesus himself did during his earthly life.

The knowledge that his disciples would continue his ministry drove Jesus to his knees in prayer to God the Father during his last hours on earth. Our text today picks up the middle section (John 17:11b-19) of a longer prayer (John 17:1-25). The key to understanding Jesus’ prayer occurs in this wider context. Verse 23 reads in part, “…that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” In other words, Jesus’ prayer for his disciples is rooted in mission. It is a daring and risky mission for God because its success or failure depends upon the disciples who will remain on earth after Jesus’ death and resurrection. If the world is going to know the truth of God as revealed through Jesus, it will be through the witness of the community of disciples.

Jesus knows that such a mission requires divine assistance. If his present and future followers are to be successful, they will need to be transformed from mere women and men into a band of dangerous disciples who will model the reality and truth of God through their visible love for the world and for one another. Toward this end, in our text, Jesus makes two requests of God.

Guarded for Truth
In verse eleven, Jesus implores God to protect them. The crucial insight in understanding Jesus’ request is the recognition that this is not a prayer for mere safety or security. In the Western world, too many individuals have elevated mantras such as “safety first” and “better safe than sorry” to extremes.

Most adults have fond memories of a childhood in which they played outdoors from dawn until dusk. Most of us can tell stories of how we walked miles to school without our parents or roamed far and wide from home on our bikes in search of a wooded area to explore or for parks to play. In an era that lacked easy communication tools such as cell phones, we rarely even checked in at home except to grab a quick snack or to have a parent apply a bandage to a skinned up knee. Fast forward to modern suburbia. Today many parents would never allow their children to do what we did as youngsters. Today’s generation of parents walk their children to their schools and even stay at bus stops until the bus arrives. Instead of allowing children to venture out into the neighbor to make friends, we find friends for them by arranging play dates at which one or more parents are always present. We seek to protect our children by insulating them from every potential danger.

This is by no means an indictment of parents. It is important to take sensible precautions to keep children safe. I only paint this contrast to draw attention to Jesus’ prayer. When we hear Jesus asking God to protect us as his modern day disciples, we need to realize that Jesus is presuming that we are actually venturing out into a potentially dangerous world and not living in a carefully constructed cocoon.

If Jesus’ prayer assumes that the disciples will continue to risk engagement with a world that may or may not accept its message, what sort of protection does Jesus have in mind? Jesus is asking God to preserve the visible unity of his disciples before the watching world. In verse fifteen, Jesus requests protection from the “evil one” while they are in the world. This testifies to the reality that, although the goal of Jesus’ mission is to demonstrate God’s love for the world and offer true life to those who turn from its darkness to the light that Jesus brings (John 3:16-21), the world remains “enemy territory.” In the conclusion to his First Letter, John writes, “We know that we are God’s children, and that the whole world lies under the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19). Yet despite this reality, it is in the world that followers of Jesus will encounter persons who are desperately longing for the freedom, purpose, and meaning that are found solely in a vital relationship with God. These persons will never be reached unless we become dangerous disciples who are willing to risk our personal security that the world may know.

What does the world see when they look at us today? Do we make Jesus known through our visible acts of love as God’s unified disciples?

Set Apart and Sent
Becoming a dangerous disciple is not act of the will; it is accomplished solely through divine action. Thus, Jesus prays secondly in our text for the sanctification of his disciples. To be sanctified is to be set apart or dedicated to God. It is to embody the cares and concerns of the One to whom we are set apart; it is to reflect the character of God in our lives. Jesus knows that he will be returning to the Father after his death and resurrection, but his disciples will remain in the world. If his past, present, and future disciples are to fulfill Jesus’ mission to transform the world, then they will have to reflect his character and embody his way of life before a watching world. To make this a possibility, Jesus gave his own life so that those who follow him may be reborn as children of God (John 1:12-13).

Jesus is praying that God will make the possibility of a transformed life a reality in the lives of those who follow him. What is the ground for this request? Jesus’ own willingness to surrender his life so that others may truly live.

Jesus’ model of a self-sacrificial love also implores us forward into the world with a message of hope and acts of love in order to make real the truth of God so that others will join us in this divine mission with which Jesus has entrusted us.

In this season of Easter, may we begin to dream about the future that God sought to create through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. May we open ourselves so that God may answer Jesus’ prayer for dangerous disciples by beginning a new work in each of us.

May we live by faith, be known by love, and serve as a voice of hope in the world. Amen.

Reflections:
How would your life be different if Jesus’ prayer were to become a reality today?
How would our individual congregations be different?

WARNING: It is very possible that I have no idea about what I am talking about in this post.

In well intentioned attempts to speak in the language of the culture, churches are increasingly employing short film clips as part of the teaching and preaching segments of worship services. Some pastors plan entire sermon series around summer blockbusters.

I struggle with movies. I enjoy watching them. I know that they are effective ways of communicating and connecting with culture. But they are not neutral. Each movie proclaims a worldview and a set of values. Sometimes biblical themes are clearly articulated; other films offer a competing lens through which the view our lives. I offer this essay in hopes of opening up some conversation about the relationship between the proclamation of the Gospel and the use of film.

OPENING THOUGHTS AND QUESTIONS:

1) Should we support movies with gratuitous violence, sex, and language simply because they have “clips” that are useful for illustrating biblical truth?

2) If we use the content of movies for illustration, who is left is out? I am particular thinking about the many people who do not view films regularly. Please note that this criticism may be leveled equally at virtually every illustration, but it is a question worth asking.

3) Should we mention or use particular clips from a film that would not be appropriate for persons under 17 to watch? Does the use of a clip amount to permission giving for all persons to view the entire film because the teacher or preacher watched it?

4) I agree that the people of God must communicate in ways that connect with those whom we are seeking to reach with the Gospel. Yet we are called to reflect God’s holiness and character to the world. What is the balance between reaching out and holinesss? I do not believe that these are poles, but often the Church has played mission and holiness over against each other.

POSSIBLE PRINCIPLES for Moving Forward:

1) Context is everything. Teacher know thy people. To whom will I speak? Are they more likely to be engaged by the film or enraged by the film? Why?

The old dictum “All politics are local” is true in the proclamation of the Gospel. Make certain that you select the best way of communicating with the people before you. Malcolm Gladwell (Tipping Point) would call this the stickiness factor. If you are communicating in a media-savvy and film culture-drenched context, by all means use film as a tool.

2) Be Certain that the Biblical text controls the message (Not the film clip). Many communicators use allusions or outright clips from film in their messages. It has become the trendy thing to do. Why is this? Because film is a powerful medium and every communicator knows the importance of a memorable illustration.

The danger is that the message of the film or illustration can easily become central truth of our teaching. This is, of course, fine if it corresponds with the central truth of the biblical text that is being taught. If it does not, the film clip can easily become the text with the Bible as mere window dressing.

Let me illustrate: I recently heard a dreadful sermon on Heaven. The speaker tried to go beyond the Biblical data. He used a clip from the film Ghost starring Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore. He picked the scene in which Swayze’s character enters the tunnel of light on his way to the afterlife. The sermon then used this as a jumping off point for a series of stories about near death experiences of a warm tunnel of light. The problem? This had absolutely nothing to do with the biblical texts about eternal life about which the pastor allegedly was teaching.

3) Remember the baggage factor. We cannot simply play a brief film clip and pretend that the rest of the film does not exist. Let me return to the above sermon. When I watched the film clip from ghost, several other scenes were brought into my consciousness. First, I remembered the preceding scene in which the nemesis of Swayze is taken by a demonic creature to hell. This is a frightening scene. Second, I remembered several other scenes from the film: for example, the medium-spiritualist scene with Whoopi Goldberg. Whoopi’s character conjures up and is embodied by Swayze’s. Demi Moore then kisses Swayze by kissing Whoopi Goldberg.

So for me at least (and I wasn’t the only one as I heard many others talking about other scenes from Ghost as we walked out of the sanctuary), the film clip actually distracted me from the message rather than helping me to focus on its contents. In this case, it was no big loss, but what if it had been a fabulous biblical message that was derailed by this baggage factor?

4) Actually watch the film. Listeners are savvy. Don’t pretend to be cool, hip, and informed about the latest cultural trends if you aren’t. Phonies can be sniffed out faster than you can say, “Is Fandango a new rock band?”

5) If in doubt, don’t use the Film clip. Need I say more.

Conclusion: By all means use film, but evaluate critically how you employ it.

What do you think? Am I on the right track? What am I missing? Thank you for the conversation.

© 2005 Brian D. Russell

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus models ministry for his disciples ((5:1-9:35) and then sends them out to do likewise (10:1-42 cf. 28:16-20). All of this can seem mechanical and perhaps even forced. How can God expect us to engage in ministry when we don’t possess a certain skill set, a specific callling, or are simply afraid?

Matthew 9:36-38 can help us to find service and ministry a natural response to God’s work in our own lives by changing what we care about and shaping us into persons for whom God-honoring, compassion driven, needs meeting ministry becomes a defining part of our lives as followers of Jesus.

NRS Matthew 9:36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

I will make four brief remarks about these verses.

1) Ministry is centered on compassion and flows from compassion. Jesus sees the need of the scores of persons who are coming out to see him. Their deep needs (they are as sheep without shepherds) move him to compassion. Compassion is the fuel of ministry. The word translated compassion here occurs elsewhere in 14:14, 15:32, 18:27 and 20:34. In each of these contexts, compassion leads to action. It is worth noting that in all of these contexts, the object of Jesus’ compassion is people.

2) Jesus is moved to compassion because he has eyes to see and ears to hear the true needs of the people with whom he comes into contact. What would it look like if we could see others as Jesus see them? How would our daily interactions be different?

My colleague and friend, Dr. Robert Tuttle exhorts us to pray this prayer: “Lord, give me eyes to see and love others as though they were my own children.”

Jesus sees the needs of others and compassion moves him to action.

3) Ministry involves multiplication. The needs of the world are immense. The fields are ripe for harvest. There are so many opportunities available for loving service and witness that Jesus lifts up the need to pray for more workers. The lesson here is clear: Ministry is not a solo act. There is no room for competition. The needs are so great that we need to ask God to raise up reinforcements and co-workers. We need to multiply our service by empowering and encouraging others to aid us. Let us pray that God raises up a generation of Christ followers who will engage the world in compassion driven ministry.

4) Ministry involves urgency. The use of the harvest imagery is important. It is easy for us (most of whom live in urban or suburban contexts) to miss. Harvest imagery typically involves scenes of final judgment (for examples in Matthew see 3:12, 13:30, and 13:39). Yet, here it is not judgment but salvation. The times are urgent. Jesus proclaimed in 4:17 “The kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” Yet, God (the Lord of the Harvest) does not send in workers for judgment but to warn others and offer them the salvation that Jesus is bringing to reality through his life, death, and resurrection.

Being a disciple of Jesus implies that one lives a life on mission. This is not be a burden but a way of life. It is fueled by the same compassion that Jesus felt in the face of human need. May we have eyes to see and ears to hear in our day.

© 2005 Brian D. Russell

This essay represents that last reflection on what it means to be created in the image of God (imago dei). See the previous two posts for the initial points of reflection:

3) The imago dei trumps issues of sexual differentiation among people. So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them (v. 27). Male and female equally and fully reflect the image of God. There is no sense of subordination here. There are no limits placed on the extent to which either man or woman can function as God’s ambassador. Being fully human implies that we function as God’s representatives on earth. The tensions between the sexes that we experience to this day seem absent in this text as well as in the subsequent narrative in Eden (Gen 2:4-25).

Male and female are presented as complements to one another. They each bear the divine image and thus were created to reflect equally the character of God to all of Creation. Tensions and issues of domination and inequality are not the Creator’s original plan. These are the result of the Fall of humankind in Gen 3-11.

4) Creation in the image of God seems to be the basis for the special relationship that is forged between the Creator God and humanity. It is clear from the biblical witness that all of the world belongs to God and that God cares for all creation. Yet, it is worth pondering that it is to the newly created humanity alone with whom God converses at length and continues to converse with in Genesis 1-2. God’s blessing (vv. 28-30) is direct address and suggests that humans have the capacity to act according to God’s wishes. Humans are empowered to rule over the animal world and subdue it. Subdue should not be equated with unjust dominance or abuse. Genesis 2:4-25 helps to emphasize this point. We find God conversing with his newly created man and working together to name animals. Man is to till the earth. The implication here is that humanity is to start with what God has created and build upon it.

Why is all of this important? Two reasons:

1) We now live in a post Genesis 1-2 reality. Genesis 3-11 describe the persistent presence of sinful choices and actions by humans. Sin has fractured God’s creation. Genesis 1-2 stand as a witness to the Creator’s original intentions and as a reminder that our world was once “very good.”

2) In order to understand salvation, these text point to what full salvation would look like. It is wholistic – much more than an opportunity to “go to heaven.” Salvation is an invitation to become the persons that God intended us to be. It is a return to Eden.

What questions does this essay raise for you?

© 2005 Brian D. Russell

This essay continues the refleciton of the profound text in Genesis 1:26-31 which reveals that God created humanity (male and female) in His image.

In Part one, we talked about the missiological purpose of humanity’s bearing of the imago dei (image of God).

Secondly, it is crucial to think through the implications of the text’s assertion that all persons (male and female) bear the image of God. In other words, it is worth pondering the fact that the imago dei is not limited only to certain humans. An Egyptian text from ca. 2050 BC entitled “Instruction Addressed to King Merikare” reads:

Well tended is mankind – god’s cattle,
He made sky and earth for their sake…
He made breath for their noses to live.
They are his images, who came from his body…
He made for them plants and cattle,
Fowl and fish to feed them…
When they weep he hears…
For god knows every name (Lichtheim, AEL 1:106)

What is remarkable about this Egyptian text is that it is a rare example from the Near East in which humans as a whole are valued. It is more typical to devalue people as slaves of God or, if image language is used, it is deployed only in reference to a great King. Our biblical text however places no limits on the scope of the term. It applies equally to all persons, male or female. The implications of this cannot be overstated in our world today. Racial tensions, ethnic squabbling, and dangerous explosions of nationalism continue to remind us of the divisions that exist among those whom God has created to bear his image. Even our churches reflect this. It is cliché but it remains a valid critique of modern Christianity in America to say that Sunday morning worship remains the most segregated time in our nation. Yet, Paul clearly saw the reality of a new humanity in Jesus that reflects our Creator’s original plan:

NRSV Galatians 3:28 There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

The import of this truth is crucial for a correct orientation toward humanity. All persons are born in the image of God. This means that each person carries intrinsic value in the order of creation. Each human has the potential to live out God’s creational intension. The scope of our missiological focus then is universal. We cannot pick and choose worthy recipients for the Gospel message. All are worthy because all bear the image of God. Chris Wright reminds us, “Mission is not primarily to Hindus and Muslims, but to people in God’s image to whom God can speak and who stand before God in his judgement and mercy.”

Last, this truth speaks a word against the degradation and continue devaluing of human life in our country and world. Every person is born with an intrinsic value in the eyes of God. Every life has a wealth of potential. Every person lost to starvation, violence, and disease represents a loss to the wider human family. The Church needs to take this truth seriously in its embodiment of God’s mission.

Reflection:
1) How would your view of the people with whom you interact daily change in light of this biblical text?
2) Who are the disposable people in our world today?

© 2005 Brian D. Russell