SPEAKER_00 0:07

Jesus says, I am the vine, you are the branches. If you abide in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. Welcome to Pillars Abide in Me podcast, a weekly opportunity to abide in Christ through weekly pillar sermon and worship reflections. I'm Christian.

SPEAKER_01 0:27

And I'm Trish. Hear these words from the Book We Love. After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed. I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you. For the words that you gave me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf. I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I have been glorified in them. 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 as one as we are one. 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. 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. 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. I'm not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world, and for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth. I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me, I have given them, so that they may be one as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me, and I have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also whom you have given me may be with me where I am, to see my glory which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

SPEAKER_00 4:03

The prayer is winding, and Jesus is opening himself up to the Father, running to the Father. There are three commands that he prays, like imperatives. Glorify your Son, protect them, sanctify them. Three commands. Jesus speaks in the imperative, not demanding that the Father do something that he's otherwise uninclined to do, but to express in a way the desperation for the ones he loves. Protect them, sanctify them. And the winding prayer with its demands are really just a desperate plea that we would be one. One in God, one with God, one in Christ, one with Christ, one with each other, that they may be one, as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, may they be in us. One, completely one, that the world may believe. He mostly prays for intimacy, presence, and connection. The prayer is laced with the language of relationship. And Jesus prays, As you, Father, are in me, and I in you, may they also be in us. It's not something you manufacture, it's something you open yourself to. It's not a feeling you muster, it's a reality you submit to. It's not a strategic plan to accomplish, it's a life to inhabit. That they may be one as you, Father, are in me, and I in you may they be in us, so that the world may believe. It's something that you let happen. Something you let happen when you stop hiding, when you stop fighting, when you stop demanding and embrace the deeper reality of the truest true. To borrow from Augustine, you are more inward to me than my most inward part. As you, Father, are in me, and I in you, may they be in us, so that the world may believe.

SPEAKER_01 6:45

For our part as a pillar community, we love to be praying for you. So feel free to reach out to us at Abide at PillarCurch.com. And if you're willing, receive this blessing. Sisters and brothers, let us claim the freedom Christ gives us by his self-giving on the cross. May he enable us to serve together in faith, hope, and love. Go in peace and serve the Lord. Thanks be to God. May the God of love who shared his love strengthen us in our love for others. May the Son who shared his life grant us grace that we might share our life. And may the Holy Spirit dwelling in us empower us to be only and always for others. Amen.