I Give You My Word!

7th Sunday of Easter, 5/13/18
John 17:11b-19


I Give You My Word!
I. To protect you
II. To fill you with joy
III. To sanctify you


We all have our rituals when it comes to our departures from loved ones. Some of us like things to be short and quick—a handshake, one of those one-shouldered hugs, maybe a peck on the cheek and we’re off, leaving our loved ones looking at us walking away.

Others favor the extended version. One hug isn’t enough. It has to be multiple ones and of the type that just about squeeze the breath out of you. One kiss won’t do. It’s got to be half a dozen or more. We hang on to their hand, not wanting to leave.

But no matter which type of departing person you are, promises are usually part of your departure ritual. “I promise I’ll be back soon. I promise I’ll call you often. I promise to take care of myself. I promise that I’ll think about you.” We’re accustomed to making those promises and more as our final words.

This past Thursday the Christian Church celebrated the Ascension of Our Lord. Forty days after his resurrection from the dead Jesus visibly ascended into heaven. It must have been amazing to see. But what did his followers hear? We know that after Jesus was gone, angels appeared and spoke to his followers, but we don’t know whether Jesus said anything or not.

So, did he depart and leave them with nothing? Were memories of Jesus the only thing they had to hang on to now that he was visibly gone?

Not at all. Making promises is a common departure practice. But Jesus didn’t wait until the seconds before his ascension to make his departure promises to them. He did that already on the night before his death, exactly six weeks earlier.

We have some of those words before us this morning from John 17. So, as he left them, as he ascends and visibly leaves our world, what promises does he make to us? With what does he leave us? As he left, Jesus said, “I give you my word.” Sounds fairly simple, even rather trite, but it’s everything that we needed. And it’s still everything that we need and it always will be. “I give you my word.” Let’s see how that’s just what we need as Jesus explains it to us this morning.

Part I.

It happens too often in our world. We see on the local TV news that a child has been left without adult supervision and something terrible happened to the child. And we wonder, “How could any parent do that? How could they knowingly leave their young child alone even for a minute, let alone an extended period of time?" We shudder knowing the potential danger.

Jesus once told his followers, “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves” (Mt. 10:16). That’s certainly no confidence-builder for us. Sheep have no natural defense mechanism. To place fat, juicy sheep among hungry, ferocious wolves is a deadly environment for sheep. Life expectancy for sheep in such situations is measured in seconds, not minutes.

You are one of those sheep. So am I. But there’s no need to worry. Why not? Listen to Jesus. He gives you his word. “Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me.” Jesus prays for his Father to protect us by….his name? Really? His name? How about his angels? Why not his almighty right arm? How about with an astounding display of his vengeance upon those who oppose us? Not so. Instead, Jesus prays for his Father to protect us by his name.

And that’s exactly the protection we need. God’s name is his revelation about himself. It’s everything he has told us about himself in his word. It’s every truth about himself that he has made known to us. Those truths cannot be overthrown. Those truths stand forever. Those truths are his word.

Before he ascended into heaven Jesus said, “I give you my word. I give you my word to protect you.”

There are times when life mortifies us. We hear the “C” word from our doctor. We’re scared to death about the path our child is on. We know our current position is extremely precarious and the future fills us with fear. We know that if we let our guard down for a moment, we could lose everything. So what does Jesus do? He comes to us and gives us his word. How’s that working for you? Don’t you wish he’d do something else? “Lord, give me something powerful, something visible, something tangible, so that I know everything will be OK.” But he doesn’t. He simply gives us his word. But that’s everything. That word reveals how he redeemed us with his sacrifice on the cross. He made us his own. He forgives us and sets us on a course for eternal life with him. And nothing—not even Satan—can overturn his word. Jesus said, “I give you my word.” That’s all we need.

Part II.

If you had to choose a word that characterizes your life at this moment, what would that word be? Tired? Pensive? Hurting? Stressed? Worried? Depressed?

Perhaps those words partly describe your life, but you wouldn’t go so far as to say that one of them is the word that characterizes your life.

OK. Fair enough. So let’s turn things 180 degrees. Would “happy” be the word for your life? Well, that’s probably stretching it a little too far the other way. If that’s your situation, then joyful is probably inaccurate as well.

But that’s exactly the word Jesus uses for your life. Listen again to Jesus. He gives you his word. “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.” Full measure of joy?!? Is that really how Jesus characterizes your life? Indeed he does. He gives you his word.

And Jesus keeps that word. Christian joy is not giddiness. Christian joy is not marked by someone who spends the day laughing uncontrollably. In fact, Christian joy might not even place a smile on your face. That’s because Christian joy is inner joy. It’s the joy of knowing that even when our outward circumstances are not what we want them to be, that even when they’re painful, we still have the inner joy of knowing that our Savior gives us his word that he will work out all things for the good of those who love him. That “good” might not come for us until we see him face-to-face in heaven. But that’s OK. Because happiness in this life isn’t our goal; eternal joy in heaven is.

Jesus said, “I give you my word. I give you my word to fill you with joy.”

So, Jesus is giving you his word that he is filling you with joy and that everything will turn out well for you—eternally well for you. Are you convinced of it? Is that how things look for you from where you’re standing now? Would you be honest if you chose “joyful” as the word to describe you? Let’s admit it—we have a hard time believing what Jesus tells us right here in his word—that he is giving us the full measure of his joy. Why is that? Because too often we measure our joy based on the wrong things—the things this world considers to be the source of joy—money, health, relationships, careers, creature comforts. When Jesus told us that he came to give us life to the full, he didn’t mean this one; he meant life with him. You have that life by faith in him no matter how dire and disappointing this life is. Jesus won that life for you by his death and resurrection. You have that life through the word of your Savior. Jesus said, “I give you my word to fill you with joy.”

III.

As Jesus ascends into heaven, he shares one more amazing truth with us. He calls us his saints. Do you feel like a saint? Well, perhaps not in the way some Christians define a saint, but it’s true—you are a saint by faith in Jesus.

Jesus gives you his word. Listen to it: “They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.” Being a saint means that you are holy in the eyes of God and that’s exactly what you are by the grace of God. Jesus died for all your sins. He washed them all away with his blood. If all your sins are forgiven—gone—then you are a saint.

And now Jesus gives you his word so that you live like it. To be sanctified not only means to make holy, it also means to set apart. By faith in Jesus you’ve been set apart from the unbelieving world. God has special plans and purposes for your life now and forever. God has made you radically different from the people of this world. You’re special to him. Having a hard time believing it? Jesus said, “I give you my word. I give you my word to sanctify you.”

Jesus made his visible departure from this world and left us with this: I give you my word—a word which protects you, fills you with joy and sanctifies you. In other words, his word does everything we need it to as we await our departure from this life. But too often, it doesn’t seem like enough. Too often, Jesus seems purposely absent and far away from us. Too often life’s harsh realities suck the joy right out of our hearts. Too often, our sinful shortcomings and our blatant violations of God’s will defy the fact that Jesus has sanctified us. Do you know what I’m saying? Then what should we weary Christians do? Take Jesus at his word. Dig more deeply into it. Hold more firmly onto the word and promises of the one who died, rose and ascended. Jesus said, “I give you my word.” Christian friends, that word can never fail us. Those are his departing words. Take them and make them your own daily. Amen.