Don't Poo-Poo the Woo-Woo

The Holy Gospel According to St. John, the 17^th Chapter

Jesus prayed, ”I ask not only on behalf of these (disciples), but also on behalf of those who will 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 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.”

“As you Father are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us.”  What the heck does THAT mean?  What is this St. John mystical woo-woo stuff?  Is there any way to make sense of this stuff without the use of mind altering substances?  The mystics love this stuff… They say that it shows that we are all somehow cosmically connected to God.  They say that the truth of our reality is that as much as we all feel like individuals, THAT is an illusion.  We are, NOT in fact individuals but parts of a universal whole. 

Our egos, our brokenness, our sin, our fear, our humanity or whatever else out there makes each of determined to struggle to be individuals… to separate ourselves from each other and God, thinking that if we can be truly independent, truly free from needing anything from anyone else we will finally be happy.  Some folks chase that illusion their whole lives but eventually… hopefully… each of us finally figures out that we will only really find peace when we allow ourselves to fall back deeply into that universal wholeness of God like you fall into a deep, squishy feather bed after a long day of hard work.  And you know, as mystically woo-woo as all that sounds, I have to admit that there is something in all of that mystical woo-woo that I find to be the truth.  Like a fish swims in water, God is the One in whom we live, move and have our being.  To be independent from God and one another leaves me feeling like a fish out of water, gasping and sucking and fighting for breath!  It’s only in that divine ocean that we have life.  It is only in that divine ocean that we swim with one another as we were made to swim. 

The trouble with John’s Gospel and things like this being so mystically woo-woo is that we often tend to leave them ONLY in that mystical woo-woo sort of space.  We can admit that there is some great truth in all the woo-woo, but we hold it captive and keep those ideas prisoner only in those dark, candle filled spaces filled with smoke and spiritual practices. 

I don’t mean to poo-poo the woo-woo... the dark, candle filled places or spiritual practices.  They are powerful ways to help connect us with God, but this prayer of Jesus is not JUST about some mystical woo-woo… it is not JUST meant to be something that connects us spiritually and individually with the God in whom we live and move and have our being.  This prayer isn’t JUST a prayer that we all connect spiritually, but that we might ALSO realize that we are all very much physically connected with one another in the very practical, very physical, very day in and day out ways that we all live in this life as well. 

Jesus is praying here that we disciples come to realize that as we physically care for, support and give life to our neighbors, that too is part of being One with God and Christ.  Jesus is praying that we come to realize that your neighbor’s day to day needs… the needs for something to eat, a place to sleep, the need for human companionship and support are needs that God is calling ME to meet for you!  You are MY responsibility!  And MY needs… the spiritual for sure, but also the routine day to day, physical, keep the heat on and commute to work things are things that God is calling YOU to meet for me. 

Jesus is praying that we come to realize that without each of us active and involved and giving in one another’s lives, we will not be whole… we will not have life… we will live like fish out of water!  Jesus is praying that we all come to understand that I am, only because WE are. 

As Americans the idea that “I am, only because WE are” is not something we easily embrace.  We are supposed to be rugged individuals after all!  We’re supposed to all be like John Wayne!  Rough and ready people who always have and always will make it on our own, owing nothing to anyone else, ever! 

When I lived in Colorado, out on the plains, the ranchers would say they needed nothing from anyone.  Except when they helped each other at harvest.  Except when their hay caught fire and needed the fire department.  Except when they needed a tractor… except when they needed a road to get their stock to market, except when they needed a market for their stock, except, except, except. 

The truth is we DO need each other. We can’t live without each other.  That is the way God created us to be and Jesus prayed that we would come to understand that so that we might have life and have it abundantly.  Here in this church, we are interconnected and dependent on one another.  We are connected spiritually with each other and dependent on one another for our spiritual life and growth for sure, BUT we are also connected to each other in very physical, practical, day to day ways as well.  We are asked to give our time and our money and our talents and our energy not just as a spiritual response to gift of being One with God, but also because that person sitting next to you, or behind you, or across the room from you needs a place to physically gather here with you, and you with them!  They need to talk with you, share with you, hold you, pray with you, serve with you, be alive with you or else neither you nor they will be whole! 

There is much talk these days out there in the world about “makers” and “takers,” about people called “us” and other people called “them,” about those who belong and those who do not.  Jesus’s prayer is that we come to realize that all those words that divide and degrade and demean are not things that lead to life.  Hate and racism and fear and exclusion are not God’s way and do not lead to abundant life. 

Jesus’s prayer is that we come to realize that as we embrace the mystical Oneness of God we might also embrace the earthly Oneness we have with one another and Jesus is asking us, as his disciples, to model that Oneness here in this place and then show that different reality, that Truth to the world.  May Jesus’s prayer be fulfilled in us.  May we embrace the spiritual Oneness we share with God and Christ.  May we fall deeply into the Divine where we are Spiritually ONE and may we ALSO live deeply, physically, inclusively, lovingly, passionately, generously and overtly as ONE in our physical lives as well so that the world may know the REAL life they have been given in God and that they too might begin to live that life abundantly.  Amen.