In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

     Our gospel lesson for today, is in fact, the gospel lesson for the Seventh Sunday of Easter every year. And what that means is that the Church feels it is a passage of Scripture so important, so vital to the life of the Church, that we must hear it every year--unlike most other passages that may show up, if at all, only once every three years. So, when we have a text like this from John 17, part of Jesus' High Priestly Prayer at the Last Supper, we need to sit up and take notice. And we need to ask ourselves, what is it about this text that is so important and vital? Why do we need to hear this every year?

     Well, first, we might conclude that it's because it's from Jesus' High Priestly prayer, in which he prays for himself as He prepares to become the once for all sacrifice for sin, and for the Church, that we might be consecrated for God's service, as well. But our passage today is not the whole of the High Priestly Prayer...the assigned text for today is only a part of Jesus' prayer. So, this passage is not included each year just because it is part of Jesus' prayer. Second, we ask if there is something in this part of the prayer that makes it so important for the life of the Church--and there, we begin to get to the fact of the matter. Granted, this passage begins with Jesus speaking about his own glorification on the cross, as He is praying this prayer on Maundy Thursday, the night of his betrayal and arrest.the night before His crucifixion. But Jesus speaks in such a way elsewhere--his words here are not necessarily unique to the High Priestly Prayer. What is unique to this passage, is that He prays for the Church in this passage.asking specifically, on our behalf, for two things--really. First, Jesus asks that the Father would protect us in His name--and second, so that we may be one, as the Father and the Son are one. These petitions are not prayed, or recorded anywhere else in Scripture, leading us to the conclusion that it is this, which is so vitally important, that it is read, in Church every year, year after year. So, we ask next, why did Jesus pray for this--and why is it so critical to the Church?

     That's almost embarrassing for us to ask, isn't it? Shouldn't it be completely obvious and clear to us, why remaining in God's name, for the sake of unity is critical to the Church? Jesus prayed that His followers would be protected in God's name, so that they may be one, as we are one. In other words, no unity will come to the Church, unless we remain in God's name. And what is God's name? The name that has been revealed to us, is the name of the Holy Trinity--the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. That is the name that was given to Jesus to reveal to us--and He does so, not just in Matthew 28, where Jesus commands, specifically, that we baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit--but also in these Farewell Discourses we call them, the final words of Jesus to His disciples at the Last Supper. For here, as much as anyplace else in Scripture, Jesus develops the Trinitarian theology, as He explains the work of the Son, in relation to the work of the Father, and the work of the Holy Spirit. There is no other name, or names, that Jesus ever reveals for God--nothing but, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. And indeed, Jesus prays that the Father will protect us in that name. Which means, protect us from turning to other names for God, protect us from anyone who would lure us away from the Triune name, and protect us--shelter us--keep us, under that Triune name. Because, according to Jesus' prayer, when we remain in and under that name--we will find unity--oneness, with all others who are in and under that name. Which might seem a somewhat elementary proposition--of course, those who belong to the Holy Trinity, will find unity with others who belong to the Holy Trinity. But given that fact, why would Christians choose to move out from under the Triune name of God? Why would any Christian, or group of Christians begin to use some other name for God, besides the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit? Wouldn't that lead to dis-unity? Wouldn't that, according to Jesus' own teaching, destroy the oneness of the Body of Christ? Indeed. Which is exactly what's happening in the Churches today--and among Christians today. Because some find the names "Father--and Son" offensive, because they are male gender terms, some in the Churches today, are advocating a new usage--adopting the heresy of modalism, for example, referring instead to Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier. But that's not the only movement away from the name for God that Jesus has given us. In many of the new resources coming out, there is a tendency to stay away from Trinitarian language altogether, preferring instead, to address every hymn, prayer and communication with the deity, simply to "God". But "God" is not the name which we've been given, for the one true God. There are many gods that are worshiped in the world--and while we may, at times, pray to "God", generally--our God has revealed Himself, specifically, through His only Son, Jesus Christ. And what Jesus says, is, "I am the way and the truth and the life.no one comes to the Father, but through me." Which is why our prayers must, normally, be Trinitarian in nature. Normally, to the Father, through the Son, in the power and presence of the Spirit. There may be exceptions to that form--for instance, we may at time address particular prayers to the Son or to the Spirit--but normally, especially in the worship of the Church, we pray not to some abstract, all-inclusive notion of God, we pray to the Triune God, in a prayer that reflects the Triune nature of God. To do anything else, is to bring about dis-unity in the Church, and to put oneself outside the community gathered and protected under, the name of the most Holy Trinity. To be kept in and protected by the name of the Holy Trinity, is to be gathered with, and in fellowship with, others who believe in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. And no matter what others might be doing, inside and outside the Church--we take this prayer of Jesus seriously--we see it of critical importance that we pray, and worship, and baptize and commune, and live, in no other name, but the name that Jesus was given, and which He has revealed to us--the name of the Holy Trinity. Because we cannot trust that any other name can save us, and redeem us, and keep us from the evil one. Peter, in our second lesson, reminds us that like a roaring lion, our adversary, the devil, prowls around, looking for someone to devour. And we resist him by remaining steadfast in our faith--the faith taught by Jesus, the faith of the apostles, the faith of the catholic tradition, the faith that is, faith in the Triune God--in fellowship and unity with all our brothers and sisters in the world who are undergoing the same kind of suffering. And suffering it is, as St. Peter suggests.

     When our teenagers go to school and are criticized and made fun of for holding fast to the Christian faith and Christian moral and ethical teachings--it is the work of their adversary, the devil, trying to shake their faith in the Triune God. When we are firm in our resolve to keep Sunday morning a time of worship, and face ridicule because we are committed to keeping the Lord's Day--it is the work of our adversary, the devil, trying to gobble up our time and keep us from, Sunday worship in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. When people make fun of us, at school, at work, in our families, for believing Jesus when he says, "I am the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but through me"--it is the work of our adversary, the devil, who is always trying to foster a universalist attitude towards religion that says, "it doesn't really matter what you believe, as long as you believe something." Make no mistake about it--our adversary, the devil, is indeed prowling around looking for someone to devour--and he begins by trying to get us out from under the protection of the name of the Holy Trinity, so that then, he can divide and conquer. But we resist him--we remain steadfast in the faith, when we remain steadfastly faithful to the Triune God--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. For, as Peter says in Acts, "There is salvation in no one else; there is no other name under heaven, by which we must be saved", other than that name, in which we were baptized, under which we live, through which we will receive, protection, and unity.

     This is why Jesus prayed thusly for us, in His High Priestly prayer--and this is why we hear this prayer, year after year without fail. That we may be protected in the name of the Most Holy Trinity--and that we may experience true unity, through this Trinitarian faith.

     In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.