“Beautiful Butterflies!”

If you'd like to read my sermon, the complete text is below.  If you'd like to hear my sermon, click on this link for the audio file:
https://www.box.com/s/id3fqycqxalfhoo5fxpl

Meditation on John 17

May 12, 2103

***

     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, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 

     And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

     ”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. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; 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. 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. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them.

    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. While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me.

     I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.

     Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.

     “I ask not only on behalf of these, 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.” (John 17)

***

        Though it seems like a long time ago, just a couple of weeks ago, Jim and I were on vacation in Arizona.  The snow lay on the ground as we left—and more was in the forecast.  But it was in the upper 90s in Phoenix as our plane touched down.

       Our vacation was a time to rest and not do too many things. Most of all, we wanted to be outside because we had spent so much of the winter in the house. So in Phoenix we took many walks in the sunshine. And one day, we went to the Botanical Gardens, full of the plants of the Sonoran Desert. 

       We saw many succulents like aloe.  And cacti, such as the tall, tree-like Saguaro (pronounced “swarro”) in which gila woodpeckers, purple martins, house finches and gilded flickers burrow holes and make homes for their young. 

      The Botanical Gardens had a special butterfly exhibit, outdoors but completely enclosed with netting. We had to pay extra to go in—about $3.50 a piece.  Inside, we saw many flowers and shrubs that butterflies like.  And workers had put out tasty treats for butterflies, too, such as slices of orange.

     We encountered probably hundreds of butterflies. Big and small. Some with stripes; others with spots.  Some were mostly one color, such as the bright orange Julia.

     Classes of schoolchildren passed through while we visited.  And there was plenty of giggling because these butterflies are social creatures, not afraid of human beings.  In fact, you had to move very carefully to make sure you wouldn’t hurt them by accident. They would light on your shoulders or land on your head or stick to your back. One stuck to the seat of Jim’s pants and the kids all thought that was funny, too.

       Park workers stationed inside made sure that no one touched the butterflies or inadvertently carried them out on their clothing or backpacks, or in their hair.  If they saw a butterfly on you, they slowly swooshed the air with a feather duster and gently “dusted” the butterflies back where they belonged.

     As Jim and I left the exhibit, we heard someone complain about having to pay $3.50 to see butterflies!  I didn’t mind paying the fee because I knew it would go to maintaining the gardens, which really are worth seeing.

     But I guess I wasn’t that impressed with the butterflies, either. We have lots of pretty butterflies here in Minnesota in the summer.  Maybe even prettier than the ones we paid to see in Phoenix.

      And also, I couldn’t help imagining the butterfly as it was before it was a beautiful creature.  When it was a hungry caterpillar.  You know, when it eats all the leaves off your trees and shrubs till they die. Seeing the butterflies reminded me of how the gypsy moths have killed millions of oak trees in Pennsylvania and hundreds of other tree and shrub species.  They are such a problem that the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has resorted to spraying insecticide from airplanes onto large wooded areas throughout the state.

        While I was complaining about the bad caterpillars, Jim had a more gracious response.

       “You just have to forgive the gypsy moths,” he said.  “And move on.”

***

       You may have noticed that I usually wear a cross around my neck, but sometimes I wear a butterfly. The butterfly is my favorite Christian symbol, a reminder that we are not what we used to be.  All of us would still be ugly, selfish caterpillar-like creatures—hungrily devouring everything, seeking to make ourselves feel good, caring nothing about our neighbors—if it weren’t for Jesus, God’s sacrifice for our sakes.   In Jesus, all who believe are transformed into new creatures, no longer slaves to sin and the temptations of this fallen world.  We have the power to love and forgive.

      Doesn’t it amaze you to think about our Savior, Jesus, who was willing to die for ugly, sinful caterpillar-like creatures like us? And when He lived and walked among us as a human being, He continually interceded for us in prayer, like He does in today’s reading in John 17.

     Christ pours out his heart to the Heavenly Father throughout this entire chapter, seeking salvation and joy not just for His beloved disciples but for all who would hear the gospel through them and believe on His Word.  He prays for their sanctification and protection from the evil one. And He prays that wherever He will be, those the Father has given to Him may be with Him and see His glory. Jesus prays this prayer right before one of His disciples betrays Him, and our Lord is arrested and crucified.

       The theme throughout this prayer, the repeated request, is Christ’s desire that His followers—Spirit-transformed beautiful, butterfly-like creatures--would be one.  This is the whole point of Christ’s sacrifice—to reconcile us with God—make us one with Him—and reconcile us with each other—make us one in Him!

      On this Mother’s Day, I direct my message of encouragement especially to mothers, whose loving influence on their families, homes, communities, and churches is great. 

       Christ’s heart is for the unity of all believers in Him. So may our hearts as Christian mothers also be for the unity of all believers—in our families, homes, communities, and churches.  But the only way we can truly be one is if we graciously love and forgive one another as God has so graciously loved and forgiven us.  It does no good to rehash the sins and pain of the past. It does a world of good if we follow Christ’s example—and pray for unity and peace amongst Christians, so the world will know to whom we belong and for whom we now live!

     With the Spirit’s help, we can and will see each other not as the ugly, selfish, caterpillars we once were, but the beautiful butterflies that we are now in Him and ever will be.      

      

Let us pray.

Holy God, we thank you for your Son’s work on the cross for our sakes and for the salvation you offer to all who believe.  Forgive us when we stumble and fall and forget that we are not sinful caterpillars anymore, seeking after our own pleasures and disregarding the needs of our neighbors.  Open our eyes to the beauty of Your Kingdom and the promise of new life in You.  Help us to be confident in who we are and what you call us to do and be, transformed by the Spirit more and more each day into the image of our Savior.  Stir us to be one with each other as we are one in Him, enthusiastically sharing the Good News of Your salvation until we see our Lord face to face.  In Christ we pray.  Amen.