Sermon preached at St Paul’s Athens and on Zoom on the Sunday after Ascension – 13th June 2021: Acts 1, 15-26; John 17, 6-19.
Fr Leonard Doolan
Sometimes in our Church calendar we have a season within a season. Today is the 7th Sunday of the Easter season, but also the Sunday after Ascension, referring backwards to Thursday of last week, the Feast of the Ascension.
Thanks to the chronology of St. Luke, the ascension of our Lord into heaven is recorded on the 40th day after the resurrection, anticipating the descent of the Holy Spirit on the 50th day, the feast we know as Pentecost. We should remember that Pentecost was an already existing Jewish Festival. Originally an agricultural festival, by the time of Jesus most Jews celebrated this feast as the annual celebration of the giving of the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai.
I am reminded of a church that had two stained glass windows side by side – on the left Moses holding the Ten Commandments, and on the right the descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples – thus emphasizing the connection between the covenants, Old and New, yet also marking the departure of the believers of Jesus from the Old Dispensation into the Spirit-filled life of Grace in the Holy Spirit, the new Covenant or Promise.
So on this Sunday between Ascension Day and Pentecost, we find in our gospel reading from St. John’s gospel a Jesus who still has his feet securely placed on this earth, and he is addressing God, his Father, and our Father.
This passage of scripture falls within the chapters of St. John’s holy gospel that we refer to as the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus. These words are unique to the 4th Gospel, and they are records of words addressed by Jesus, not to the disciples, but to God.
Why might we refer to this as the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus? It is because the words and the intention are ‘intercessory’ – in other words Jesus is speaking ‘on behalf’ of his followers. Historically it is a priestly role to be an intermediary – to be almost like a two way channel between heaven and earth. Perhaps this is not such a commonly held view of Anglican priesthood, but this idea is there traditionally and historically – and Jesus’ words in this part of John’s gospel are priestly in that sense – he is praying to the Father, for those he has loved and gathered. It is petitionary prose.
In our liturgy these days, we have a section of the worship that we refer to as ‘Intercessions’. These now, gladly, are more often than not led by baptized lay people, rather than by the priest, but as the name suggests, the person leading those prayers is voicing the words on behalf of the gathered church, offering them to the Father. These are prayers in one sense, but petitions, which is why the words include phrases like ‘Lord in your mercy’ to which the whole gathered church replies ‘Hear OUR prayer’.
The intercession of the church is mirroring the intercession of Christ, who is the High Priest, and also THE intercessor; in the Letter to the Hebrews we read ‘Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace in time of need’ (Hebrews 4, 14-16). We also read, ‘he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues for ever. Consequently he is able for all time to save those who approach God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.’ (Hebrews 7, 24-25).
Thus our priesthood, conferred on us not by ordination, but by baptism, and the intercession offered by us as his church, subsists in Christ’s priesthood and Christ’s intercession. The give – away words spoken by Christ are ‘I am asking on their behalf’. This is priestly and intercessory work.
Interestingly in today’s gospel passage Christ makes a claim – that he lost no one that had been given to him by the Father. No-one, except the one who was destined to be lost.
It is this same person referred to in our first reading today, from the Acts of the Apostles. This is a reference to Judas Iscariot – a well known character, infamous for his part in the betrayal of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Judas will for ever be associated with that treacherous kiss. Outside the 4 gospels this is the only reference by name to Judas. Acts also tells us that it is by a prophecy of David that Judas’s action was predicted. Jesus also hints to this by saying, ‘so that the scripture might be fulfilled.’ We read a slightly ‘filleted’ and anaesthetized version of this passage in Acts, as Judas’s end is described with somewhat graphic detail – detail that our church lectionary gurus clearly think is too gory for us to hear. I will leave you to read it yourself.
However, the fact now is that there are only 11 disciples, and if scripture is to be fulfilled they must make up their number to twelve again. The choice is between two men; Justus and Matthias. They decide the fate of both men by lot, and the lot falls on Matthias. I always wonder if poor Justus felt cheated by the gambling habits of the disciples! Justus is denied his place among some fairly well known names, like Peter, Andrew, Philip, James, Bartholomew, Thomas and the rest.
Jesus prays for his disciples – at that time the original 12 of them – but not just them. All followers of Jesus are disciples – and we know that there are many beyond just the twelve. In his priestly prayer he seeks that we may all be sanctified in the truth.
Next Sunday when we celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit, our Christian Pentecost, we are truly sanctified in the truth, for it is the work of the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth – the truth about God, the truth about our own vocation or calling to be in God’s image, the truth about constant intercession for each other and for our world, which is not just an ecological system, not just an environment under threat, but God’s sacred creation.
Bishop Kallistos Ware says, ‘It is our human vocation to be priest of the creation. The essence of priesthood… is to offer, to give thanks, and to bless. The priest – and here I am not speaking of the [ordained] priesthood but of the [essential] priesthood inherent in our personhood and renewed through the sacrament of Baptism – is the one who takes the world in his or her hands and then offers it back to God…through this act of priestly offering, creation is brought into communion with God himself. Such is the essence of priesthood; such is our God-given vocation as human beings; and it is a vocation that only human beings can perform.’ The Beginning of the Day – Ware, p53,54).
The 4th Gospel, the gospel of John, offers us the life-giving words of Jesus, our great high priest and intercessor. We abide in his everlasting priesthood, and in his eternal intercession.
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