In May 2001 journalist Giles Brandeth interviewed South African Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu. As you know, Desmond Tutu has dedicated his life to bringing justice, peace and equality to the people of South Africa. There were a million questions Brandeth wanted to ask Tutu. But the Archbishop had been diagnosed recently with prostate cancer, and Brandeth realized that this interview might be the last one Desmond Tutu would ever give. So he asked the Archbishop to choose the topic of conversation.
What would Tutu choose to talk about? Giles Brandeth wondered. Tutu had played a leading role in transforming his country’s politics. He had worked with the most powerful leaders around the world. He had won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Those topics weren’t Desmond Tutu’s priority, however. He said, “If this is going to be my last interview, I am glad we’re not going to talk about politics. Let’s talk about prayer and adoration, about faith, hope and forgiveness.” This great world leader wanted his final message to be about his faith in God. (1)
If you knew that the prayers you offered up today would be your last, what would you pray for? Wouldn’t you focus on your truest priorities and most heartfelt desires? That’s what Jesus did. Our Bible passage today is about the last major prayer Jesus prayed before his arrest and crucifixion.
He had just spent three years in intense ministry with his disciples. Thousands of people had heard his message and seen his miracles. By his coming death, he would save humanity from the power of sin and open the door of eternal life. What else could there be on Jesus’ to-do list?
This may surprise you. What he prayed for was us. Listen as he begins his final prayer: “My prayer is not for them alone [speaking of his disciples]. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message . . .” Do you hear that? He is praying first of all for his disciples, and then he’s praying “for those who will believe in [him] through their message . . .” That’s us! Jesus’ final prayer was for his disciples and for us. Why would Jesus pray for us?
Surely one reason is that there is more work to be done to satisfy Jesus’ agenda, and you and I are an integral part of that undertaking.
Bill Crowder tells of his best friend from Bible college, Macauley Rivera. Macauley had two great dreams in life: to marry his college sweetheart, Sharon, and to start a church in inner-city Washington, DC, in his old neighborhood. Everyone who knew Macauley knew of this great passion he had to spread the Gospel in the inner-city.
Sadly, just before graduation, Macauley and Sharon were killed in an automobile accident.
At Macauley’s memorial service, the pastor exclaimed, “Mac is gone.” Then, quite dramatically he asked, “Who will serve in his place?” Here’s what happened next. Over 200 students stood up and committed to spreading God’s word in inner-city DC in Macauley Rivera’s place. (2) Two hundred students!
Football coaches have a saying: “Next man up.” I suspect the same term is used in the military as well. It means if one combatant goes down, someone else is to step up and take their place. In football it means that every player should be ready and willing to step up in order to get the collective job done--which often allows teams to continue to win even after major setbacks like injuries to star athletes. No matter what, the work goes on. Christ’s work, the bringing of the Kingdom of God upon earth, depends in part on our readiness to do our part. That is true of being part of a team. It is also true in terms of individual acts of discipleship.
Ross Boone tells the story of his friend, Kevin, and his desire to minister to a non-believing co-worker. While Kevin was praying one day, he had a vision that God was calling him to pray with this co-worker. Kevin was really hesitant to believe that this vision came from God. He worked in a small, open-concept office, and he imagined it would be awkward if everyone in his office was listening in on his prayers for this person in his office. But Kevin couldn’t shake the conviction that this vision was from God. So he prayed for an opportunity to pray with this co-worker.
A few days later, Kevin heard through the grapevine that his unbelieving co-worker’s marriage was falling apart. The next day, all of Kevin’s co-workers got called away for various business responsibilities at the same time---all except this co-worker. Was this his opportunity?
Once everyone left the office, Kevin’s co-worker broke down in tears. She declared, “Kevin, my life is over.” That was the opportunity Kevin needed. He was able to pray with his co-worker and counsel her in her anxiety. (3)
Jesus shared the love and message of God with thousands of people while he walked this earth. But he left plenty of work for you and me to do. Our prayers and our availability will decide how much impact we will have for the Kingdom of God. Why was Christ’s last prayer for his disciples and for us? Obviously, it was because there is more work to be done and you and I are an integral part of that undertaking.
This is to say that you and I have been entrusted with the work of the Savior, and God will give us what we need to succeed in His service. You and I--we have been entrusted to carry on the work of the Messiah. The Deliverer. God in the flesh. And God will give us what we need to be successful in that work.
A young man named Pat Dirken loved to surf. However, one day when he was surfing he was hit by a particularly large wave, which injured his spine and left him a quadriplegic.
Pat spent months in physical therapy, and traded his surfboard for a wheelchair. Pat never lost his faith in God, but after the accident he had trouble understanding why God would allow him to endure this loss of his arms and legs. And then Pat’s church joined a ministry of the Wounded Warrior Project. This wonderful ministry provides lunch and a listening ear to injured service members at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
Pat Dirken discovered that his disability allowed him to earn the trust of the injured soldiers. They saw that he understood their suffering and their scars, and they listened to him when he told them about how God has given him strength. Pat Dirken looks at this ministry as a place God has put him in. He says, “It’s a God thing. I feel called.” (4) That’s a wonderful attitude to have in the face of a disability. God allowed him to use his disability to God’s glory and the service of others.
What is it you feel called to because of your faith in Jesus Christ? You say, I don’t know any calling I am qualified for. Here’s what you need to understand: God does not call the qualified; He qualifies the called. In Jesus’ final prayer, he says in effect to God, “If the believers just stay in relationship with me like I stay in relationship with You, You will enable them to do my work.” We don’t need to rely on our own talents, strength or intellect to do God’s will. It is God’s power working in us that allows us to have an impact on the world.
It reminds me of something Bob Goff once said. Goff is the founder of “Love Does,” an international humanitarian organization. He says, “God asks what it is He’s made us to love, what it is that captures our attention, what feeds that deep indescribable need of our souls to experience the richness of the world He made. And then, leaning over us, He whispers, ‘Let’s go do that together.’” (5)
Isn’t that great? “Let’s go do that together.” God wants us to do His work with joy. He knows that we yearn for a greater purpose and calling than just taking care of our own needs. We’re not idiots. We were created for more noble and heroic work, work that has an eternal impact. And God is ready to equip us for that work. God leans over and says to us, “Let’s go do that together.” Why is this Jesus’ final prayer for us? Because there is still work to do, and because He wants to enable us to do our part.
But there is one thing more we need to see: Jesus’ final prayer is a reminder that we are supposed to work together to complete the mission to which he has called us. This last prayer of our Lord is often called the Unity Prayer. Jesus knew that a unified effort multiplies our individual efforts far beyond what we could accomplish on our own.
In the last decade, that amazing company Google, now officially known as Alphabet, has spent millions of dollars on Project Aristotle, a project whose aim is to create the perfect team. What mix of personal character traits or habits, Google set out to determine, leads to the most productive, most unified team?
Project Aristotle involved measuring nearly every aspect of Google employees’ lives. The company’s executives interviewed hundreds of employees over several years, and analyzed all sorts of data on the productivity and innovation of almost every team in the company.
All this in-depth research yielded one result. Listen up those of you in business or education or sports or any endeavor that requires teamwork. This is research by one of America’s great companies. What they discovered was this: The best teams have members who are sensitive to one another’s needs and who listen to one another. That is the conclusion of this major study. Education, skill sets, charisma--none of those matter most in creating successful teams. What matters most, according to this Google task force, is creating an atmosphere of “psychological safety” where members are respected and listened to and able to contribute their best work. (6)
Stop and think about this for a moment. Jesus had the power to heal the sick, cast out demons, calm storms, multiply food to feed thousands. He had the power to come back from the dead. After his resurrection, he was going to grant all these powers and authority to his followers. And yet, the greatest power Jesus desired for his followers was unity. Why? Because our unity is proof to the world that Jesus is who he says he is.
Isn’t that interesting, especially with the division that is happening in this great country, including in many churches?
Listen to what Jesus says in verses 22 and 23 of this passage: “I have given them the glory you gave me--the glorious unity of being one, as we are--I in them and you in me, all being perfected into one--so that the world will know you sent me and will understand that you love them as much as you love me.” Not our preaching, or our miracle-working or our building breath-taking cathedrals--nothing is as important as our unity in Christ. Our unity will prove to the whole world that Jesus is the Son of God, and that God loves us.
Composer Giacomo Puccini wrote a number of famous operas. In 1922, while working on his last opera, Turandot, Puccini contracted cancer. He told his students, “If I don’t live to finish Turandot, I want you to finish it for me.” Can you imagine hearing those words from your master? “If I can’t finish my most important work, then I want you to finish it for me.”
Shortly afterwards, Puccini died. His students studied his opera carefully and soon completed it. In 1926, Arturo Toscanini, a student of Puccini, directed the world premiere of Turandot in Milan, Italy. When Toscanini reached the part of the opera where Puccini had to stop, he began to weep. He lay down his baton and announced to the silent auditorium, “Thus far the Master wrote, but he died.” Then he picked up the baton, smiled through his tears and said, “But his disciples finished his work.” When Turandot ended, the audience broke into thunderous applause. (7)
There is more work to do to spread the message of Jesus around the world. “Thus far the Master wrote, but he died . . . his disciples finished his work.” We, his followers, today are integral to his plan for the world just as Christ’s first disciples were. Our unity multiplies our efforts far beyond what we could accomplish on our own. What is God calling each of us to do for the sake of spreading His message? And how can we join together with other believers around the world to accomplish it? That is the task that awaits the twenty-first century church. Are you ready to be the next man or next woman or next young person up?
1. Source: reported in The Age, May 19, 2001, https://storiesforpreaching.com/category/sermonillustrations/prayer/.
2. “Macauley” by Bill Crowder, Our Daily Bread, June 29, 2009. https://odb.org/2009/06/29/macauley/.
3. “God’s on the Move: A call for stories” by Ross Boone, Boundless, November 10, 2016 4. https://www.boundless.org/blog/gods-on-the-move-a-call-for-stories/.
4. “God’s Call” by Melissa Lauber, Ministry Matters, Dec. 27, 2011. https://www.ministrymatters.com/all/entry/2204/gods-call.
5. “Calling: Be My Witness” by Missy Deal. https://www.greenville.edu/news/calling-be-my-witness Greeneville University website.
6. “7 Stories That Prove The Importance of Teamwork” by Merily Leis. Published: June 20, 2017. Updated: February 1, 2018. https://www.scoro.com/blog/teamwork-stories-importance-of-teamwork/.
7. The Rev. Rosemary Brown, http://day1.org/616-hide_and_seek.