Acts 1:15-17, 21-26; Psalm1; 1 John 5:9-13; John 17:6-19One day a group of friends was shopping in a local mall. It was a normal day of crowded walkways andloud noise; just another day. As thegroup stood at the edge of a large, open space near the food court, the PAsystem began playing an upbeat dance tune. Suddenly, two young women ran into the middle of the crowd and starteddancing. Within five minutes, twodancers became ten, then ten became twenty and then, the whole space was filledwith dancers who were working together, energized, joyful, and they wereinviting others to join in with them. The group of friends out for a stroll in the mall suddenly becamewitnesses to what is known as a “Flash Mob!”
“Flash Mobs” are a new phenomenon that developed whereby,a group of people (sometimes as large as 100+ dancers) all of a sudden show upin the most unexpected places to dance, to perform, to create a shock factorfor those witnessing the spectacle. Thecarefully disguised mobsters, who appear as a part of the crowd, suddenlybecome unified around a common mission and together, they step out in order tobring about an outrageous feat into a mundane afternoon. For a Flash Mob to be effective, you ofcourse, have to have dancers, but there must also be spectators, who are regular folks enjoying a regular day, and then suddenly, they find themselves watching something happening around them. In the midst of a Flash Mob, the folks in the surroundingcrowd may do nothing, some may tap their feet and clap, and then there aresome, who might even join the dance. Canyou imagine the practice, collaboration, and unity necessary to bring as manyas 100 people together for such a feat? So what in the world does a Flash Mob have to do with the Gospel?
Today’s gospel reading is often referred to as Jesus’“High Priestly Prayer” and in it; unity and mission are at the heart of thisprayer. Mission: “As you have sent meinto the world, so I have sent them into the world.” (John 17:18 NRSV) Unity: “so that they may be one, as we areone.” (John 17:11b NRSV) Jesus’ ministry was the incarnation of God’sperfect love among us. Jesus was sentinto the world to bring the experience of God’s love to us, in himself. Equally, Christ sends us disciples out, inorder to carry forth that mission of love and reconciliation to the world. In a peculiar way, Jesus sends us out to be a“Flash Mob” for the Gospel, in the unexpected and unlikely lives of the peoplewhom God loves.
“So that they maybe one, as we are one.” If you ever havethe opportunity to watch the dance of a “Flash Mob” in person, you will noticethat the dancers are all in step with each other. They have a common purpose and they have amutual goal. Like those dancers, thechurch has common purpose and clear mission, which is to be gathered intounity, so that we might carry forth Christ’s ministry of reconciliation. However, we sometimes get distracted.
Dean Lueking wrote an article in Christian Century a fewyears ago, that challenges the problems of church distractions and calls usback to our mission. Lueking asserts“The blight . . . of power games, and the obsession with always being rightstill throws up huge, offensive roadblocks against Jesus' prayer. Such sin drags us back to the Upper Room . .. to the grief of our Lord over our tearing apart the seamless robe of unifyinglove in which he would wrap us. “ 2 When we lose sight of our mission, our callto witness to the gospel in the world, our mission fails, and the world around usis unable to come to know the love of God. We must live in unity in Christ in the church, so that others will knowthat same unity. For us to accomplishour mission, which is “to bring all people into unity with God and each otherin Christ,” (BCP p. 855) we must seek our common purpose, and a mutual ministrytogether. We must dance the dance oflove together.
Unity happens, when we begin to dance in the circle oflove of God, but we must never forget that coming together is not merely forour sake. In today’s Gospel, “Christ prays ceaselessly for and through thechurch to the world—that they may be one, as we are one.”2 “For God so loved the world," it doesnot say For God so loved the church. That may be hard to hear, but it isthrough the mission of the church, God “seeks to reclaim and redeem a worldgone astray from that love, and to draw that world back into the sphere of thatlove.” 1
Our unity is not merely for us to be at peace and withoutstrife as a gathering, our mutual life together is a visible sign, and itchallenges the world about Jesus’ ministry. Because “if Jesus was sent into the world as one who sanctified himselffor the sake of his followers, so that they might be sanctified in truth, andif they are sent into the world as he was sent into the world, does this notraise the question of the purpose of our sanctification.” 1 Sanctification is about being set aside for a holy purpose. We are sanctified, we are set apart, and ourpurpose is to witness to life!
In Christ, we live as witnesses to life in the midst oftragedy, life in the midst of death, and life everlasting. Our hope is in Christ, in God’s promise oflove, in which we will never be abandoned. Our lives are changed by this kind of faith, and it will change theworld that is, if we but recognize the gift and give it away. With that kind of good news in our lives, wemust share it.
We the church are brought together to learn to live thelife of reconciliation together, but not for ourselves alone. It is by this communal dance of mercy, grace,reconciliation, and love that takes place among us, that we can go out andshare it with the world. We are sent outto invite others into this dance.
We are called to be a “Flash Mob of the Gospel” thatshows up in those unexpected places and situations: in coffeehouses, stores, and restaurants;with the sick, poor, downtrodden, and the hopeless; and we just show upeverywhere God sends us. We are unifiedin Christ, sanctified by love, and sent out into a hurting world. With joy, exuberance, energy and the supportof the Holy Spirit, we are called to dance the jig of resurrection, of newlife, of everlasting life in Christ, not just here, but out there.
It is when out there we show up out there as agents ofOur Lord, everything changes. We meetpeople where they are, just as Jesus did. We dance and people are watching then, suddenly people on the margins ofthe dance begin to move, some join in and dance beside us, and maybe othersjust tap their foot, but they hear the song. The song of God’s love plays loudly, and we dance. So here, we are, taught, fed, strengthenedbut now, it is time to for us to go dance. After today’s sermon, the Eucharistic meal, the dismissal, the postlude,and coffee hour, “Go out into the world together. Go everywhere and go announce the Message ofGod’s good news to one and all.” (Mark16:15 The Message) show up in the unexpected places, unified in our commonpurpose. Go, dance, and invite others tojoin with us.
1 Janzen, J Gerald."The Scope Of Jesus' High Priestly Prayer In John 17." Encounter 67.1(2006): 1-26. ATLASerials, Religion Collection. Web. 14 May 2012)
2 Lueking, F Dean."That They May Be One." Christian Century 114.14 (1997): 407-22.ATLASerials, Religion Collection. Web. 17 May 2012.)
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