Scripture/Sermon of the Day

20 “I ask not only on behalf of these but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their word, 21 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. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, 23 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 have loved them even as you have loved me. 24 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.

25 “Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 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.”

Because God is in Jesus, and Jesus is in God — and Jesus prays that we may be in them! He says: “The Father is in me and I am in the father and may they be in us…”

IV. It reminds me of something moving — like energy — like walking into a dark room — and turning on the light switch moving electricity so fast, the lights go on in an instant.

Jesus is talking about spiritual electricity from God that runs through us, the makes us alive and awake with love —instantly connecting us with everything.

V. Jesus is trying to describe dynamic energy that flows through God — and Jesus — and us — and the point of our lives is TO STAY CONNECTED WITH THIS CURRENT — this divine energy that heals us — an energy that FORGIVES, that FEEDS people, that SEES everyONE as a neighbor.

I’ve used this quote before by Archbishop Desmond Tutu when he told the priest Richard Rohr, “We are only the light bulbs, Richard, and our job is just to remain screwed in!” OUR JOB IS TO STAY CONNECTED TO GOD.

VI. I just did something I’m so proud of, I have to tell you — it’s so amazing, Jesus could have used it in one of his sermons. Although this thing I’m using wasn’t invented until 2000 years after Jesus —

But — since God is in Jesus and Jesus is in me — Jesus can tell you through me! Because where do you think our best ideas come from? Do we “make” them? Do they originate in us? Not according to the Bible! Jesus says, “APART FROM ME YOU CAN DO NOTHING!”

VII. A few days ago I change a pickup in my electric guitar. It looks like this. There are five wires that connect this pickup to the guitar — and when they are soldered to the correct component in the guitar — they make this amazing sound when plugged in. Like Jimi Hendrix playing the Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock.

Five tiny wires — different colors — silver, red, green, white, and black. So small — about the same thickness as a piece of thread. And you don’t need the red and white wires. And the green and silver wires are only meant to ground the guitar so it doesn’t buzz when it’s plugged in. The only wire that really matters — the one that powers the pickup to carry the sound through the amplifier so a million people can hear it — is the thin black wire. That small wire makes the music of Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page and Metallica and Jimi Hendrix possible — that little, almost microscopic black wire. Without that wire, the pickup is useless. The other colored wires can’t replace it — they will not give the guitar its voice.

VIII. That’s what Jesus is trying to say. It’s like that black wire is the Holy Spirit — the spirit of Jesus! — the spirit of love. Jesus and the Holy Spirit keep us connected to God, so the power of God flows through us and if we keep that connection strong, God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit will keep working their miracles of love through our lives —