Now What? "Living Eternally Both Now and Forever

Easter Is Almost Over

Resurrection isn’t something that happened—it’s always happening.  

Now What?  This series will help us learn what it means to live as Resurrection people.  

The past seven Sundays have kind of flown by, at least for me.  When we started this series, it was the first time that we had gathered together as two congregations becoming one.  

And now here we are, asking that very important question---Now What?---one last time. 

Today, we are going to read and study a prayer from Jesus that is caught between times and speaks to our identity and purpose. 

FOLLOWING JESUS MEANS LIVING ETERNALLY

John 17:1-11

• The scene for this passage is at the Table.  
• Jesus’ Final Discourse with his followers is theologically rich.  

After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. 5 So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

• The verb tenses fluctuate between past and present.  

6 “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me is from you, 8 for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I have been glorified in them. 11 And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.

• How was it meant to be read by early Christians? 
• There is a “now” and “not yet” aspect to this prayer. 
• What does it mean to be Resurrection people—living eternal life?

At the heart of this passage is a lesson in what it means to be a follower of Jesus in every age—to live eternally both now and forever. 

A story about eternal life

While completing my clinical pastoral education, I served as a chaplain at Florida Hospital in downtown Orlando.  I often had a twelve-hour shift on a weekend when I was the only chaplain on duty.  

There was one of those shifts when I started at 7 AM and picked up all the chaplain requests for the day, and almost despaired at how many there were.  

One of those requests came from a man who had lived his whole life as a paraplegic. He'd had an accident as a child that left him confined to a wheelchair.  By the time I met him, he was in terrible condition.  He was covered in sores, required assistance from a breathing machine to stay alive, and at the time of my visit was suffering from a bout of pneumonia.  

And yet, he was cheery and so glad to see me.  He told me a story about how he'd almost died recently, and had a vision where Jesus told him it was not his time to go, that he still had work to do. 

He told me that his work was to offer hope and encouragement to others, and that he wanted me to visit so he could pray for me. 

So he did.  It was a beautiful prayer, offered up through wheezes and coughs, but probably the most beautiful I'd ever heard.  I stood there, head bowed, holding back tears, feeling like I was standing on holy ground. 

When I finally left him, I knew what I had witnessed was eternal life.  That man had lived through some of the worst things that could happen to a person, and yet he persisted.  He spent as much time as he had on earth shining a light.  

It was a moment when I realized the whole "now and not yet" of what it meant to live eternally--to live through hell at times but refuse to stop working for heaven, right here on earth.  

Living Eternally: A Primer

• Holding a long view by acting in the present.  
• Realizing that every act of love continues on forever. 
• Living in hope for a future filled with peace and joy. 

FOLLOWING JESUS MEANS LIVING ETERNALLY