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John 17:20-26

Jesus Prays For His Disciples

May 29, 2022

Seventh Sunday of Easter

Lectionary Year C

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ASK (a.k.a The On-Ramp)

Good morning!
Before we begin, I need us to sit in a circle.
Good! Thank you!
Now, I have a question for you: Have you ever copied what someone else did and said?
Yeah? Good! Because that's what I'd like you to do this morning with me.
Once I say, "Go" I'd like you to:

Do exactly what I do.
And say exactly what I say.
When I say the word, "Stop" that's when you stop copying me.
Any questions?

START Activity…

Say "Go."
(Be sure to move slowly/deliberately with exaggerated movements.)
Hold up your hand. With your other hand, point at the hand you held up.
Say, "An adult human hand [pause and wait for the kids to repeat you] has 27 bones in it."
Put your hands down.
Hold or put out one of your feet. Point at it.
Say, "An adult human foot [pause and wait for the kids] has 26 bones in it."
Put your foot back. Put your hand down.
Then hold up both hands
Say, "If we add up [pause] all the bones in our hands [pause] and all the bones in our feet [pause AND point at your feet], we get 106 bones.
Say, "The adult human body has 206 bones in it [pause] and half of them [pause] are found in our hands [shake your hands above your head] and our feet [point at your feet]"
Say, "STOP"

…END Activity

Well done at copying me!
I have a few questions for you:

Can you tell me how many bones are in an adult human hand? (27)
How many bones are in an adult human foot? (26)
How many bones are in an adult human body? (206)

And more than half of those bones are located where? (in the hands and feet)

TELL (a.k.a. The Freeway)

It looks like you’ve learned something by copying me!
And, if you wanted to, you could now go teach those same things to other people.
This is one of the main ways Jesus taught his disciples – by having his disciples copy him.
Except, instead of talking about how many bones are in our bodies, Jesus showed his disciples how to interact with and talk with God.
And, when the disciples copied what Jesus did, then they were also learning how to interact with and talk with God in the same ways that Jesus knew.
In fact, in today’s scripture story, that’s exactly what we hear Jesus say in his prayer when he says, “I [have] made your name known to them.”

SHARE the Good News (a.k.a. The Destination)

Not only did the disciples copy Jesus' actions and learn how to better interact with God, they also taught others in the same way Jesus had taught them.
The same thing is true for us. As we learn about Jesus from the faith stories, we see actions and words from Jesus about how to interact with God that we can then copy.
The more often we copy Jesus’ words and actions, the more we are learning how to interact with God.
And the more we learn by copying Jesus’ words and actions, then the better able we are to teach others how to do the same thing.
When we all do this copying and learning and teaching, then we, as individuals and as a community, are better able to receive God's love, grace, mercy, abundance and healing and then share it with those around us.

That’s the good news for today. Let’s pray.

CLOSING Prayer

This is a repeat-after-me prayer.

Dear God,

Thank you for Jesus.

Please help us…

...to copy his words and his actions…

...so that we can better know you...

...and then share your peace and love with others.

Thank you and Amen

Originally posted April 14, 2013
Updated on May 2, 2022
Written and edited by Nathanael Vissia

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