May 24, Easter 7A (John 17:1–11)
We can’t all be one until we believe that all people matter equally to God.
The morning of March 13, the sign outside Mechanicsburg Presbyterian Church in south central Pennsylvania was blank. Inside, on a day the office would typically be closed, the pastors and program staff met to make what seemed like a hard decision at the time. They considered all the options, brainstormed possible responses, and then prayed. By noon on that March Friday, their thinking became words that filled the blank slate: “Worship Online—10 a.m. Be kind. Wash your hands.”
Jesus gathers with his disciples on the night we now call Maundy Thursday and teaches them the things he feels they most need to know. Then he lets them hear the prayers he offers to God, a plea for the future of his followers and a claim that just as he and God are one, so can his followers be one.
It is possible the disciples do not realize quite how climactic the moment is, which is not surprising considering the general temperament of the people around Jesus. We may find it both funny and reassuring that even the disciples have an incomplete understanding of who they are following. For them too, the sign is temporarily blank. How will they be the people of God, the followers of Christ, when their circumstances have changed so radically?
