Giving is living – John 17:1-5, Part 2

Jesus has one more bit of work to do.  Not a small bit either.  It is the final offering.  Jesus would be offering his life through his beating, his crucifixion and his death. 

Astoundingly, as Jesus tells us in his prayer in John 17:1-5, his offering brings praise to God.  In fact, Jesus in verse 5 envisions the glory, the praise that he had when he dwelt in the presence of God before the world the began.  Jesus reminds us that he is God, that he was not created, and that he shares glory with the Father and always did.  He not only brought glory to God on earth by completing the work God gave him, but through his work of offering he amplifies or increases the glory of the presence of the father. 

What Jesus is saying about glory in this prayer is kind of a lot to take in.  We so rarely talk like this.  But think about it this way.  In all that Jesus is and does, from before creation, before his incarnation, throughout his life on earth, Jesus and the Father share glory and they increase one another’s glory.  Jesus’ work of offering his life increases the glory and praise given to the Father because so many more people will respond to Jesus by choosing to become his followers and give praise and glory to God.  When we talk about giving praise and glory to God, we are not primarily talking about singing worship songs.  That is part of it.  An important part of it.  But we are talking about something more.  Jesus’ act of praising God, of giving God glory was his work of offering his life. We’ll talk about how that relates to us in just a moment. 

Before we get to how Jesus’ work of offering his life relates to us, I want us to see that while there is quite a lot of glory and praise in this first part of Jesus’ prayer, there is something else we need to remember.  Jesus has not yet gone through what will be awful, horrible pain and death before he returns to the presence of the Father.  So even though he sounds so positive here, so much glory and praise and joy, we shouldn’t read Jesus’ prayer as devoid of pain.  He had obeyed God, but Jesus’ obedience was very, very difficult.  Glory came through suffering.  Praise came through pain. 

The reality that praise came through pain is how we can relate to Jesus’ work of offering his life. Jesus is the example for us.  Jesus’ example of sacrificial living, the work offering of his life is the pathway to bring praise to God.  Yes, we can and should sing songs of praise, and we can often serve God faithfully in ways that we enjoy.  But let us not avoid being willing to live sacrificially like Jesus did.  When we embrace the work of offering our lives, we will be amazed to find that giving is living.

I didn’t make that phrase up.  Giving is living.  The writer Mitch Albom learned that phrase from his professor Maurie.  You might have heard of the book Tuesdays with Morrie.  Albom wrote that book after numerous weekly visits with his college professor who was suffering failing health.  Albom would watch as people came to visit the professor, thinking they were going to lift his spirits, but they would leave surprised to have him lift them up.  Morrie, the professor, was the one who was dying.  Morrie was the one we would normally think of as needing encouragement.  Instead, he did the encouraging.

When Albom asked him about this, he said, “Morrie, all these people come to encourage you, to help you. But every time you ask them about how they are doing, and you talk with them, and you end up lifting them up.  What gives?” 

Morrie responded, “I am dying, but when I give, I feel alive.  Giving is living.”  That’s the Jesus way.  That’s the work of offering our lives.  When we embrace the work of offering our lives in service to Christ and the mission of his Kingdom, while it will require sacrifice, we will find it brings praise to God, and that we will experience the truth that giving is living. If you’re tracking the first part of Jesus’ prayer, you might have noticed I didn’t talk about another theme he mentions. 

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