All Saints
John 17:20-26
In another life I studied quantum theory at the University of Regensburg in
Germany. It is a much more interesting field of study than many might imagine. But I have to admit, when I turned my attention to theology, I didn’t think I would be finding much use for quantum theory again. Then I read today’s text.
But before we get to that, I need to explain a couple of basic points about quantum mechanics for those of you who may not have been paying close attention in Year 10 science.
Firstly, quantum mechanics looks at the interactions of particles at the sub-atomic level, much as classical physics looks at the laws that govern the interaction of matter on the large-scale level.
As we know, everything material that exists, like air, water, stars, trees and us, are made up of distinctive combinations of atoms. Water, for instance, is simply a collection of molecules made by combining two hydrogen atoms with one oxygen atom. H2O. That seems pretty straight forward.
But what takes place within these various atoms is something quite remarkable. Electrons orbit around a nucleus that composed of protons and neutrons. And these subatomic particles are again formed by even smaller fundamental particles such as leptons, quarks and bosons. But the really interesting thing is that matter seems to relate and act differently at the subatomic level than at the large-scale level.
Just a few points that you may recall from those long-gone days in science class. Sub-atomic particles appear to act as both a particle and a wave. This means we need to look at them as being both at the same time to understand how they work.
And here is another interesting point. These particles/waves are connected in ways that are hard for us to fathom. For instance, Albert Einstein (who you have all heard of) together with Boris Podolsky and Nathan Rosen (who you have probably never heard of) put together the famous EPR thought experiment in 1935 seeking to show that quantum theory really didn’t make sense. But they appear to accidently have gotten it right. Some decades later laboratory experiments not possible in the 1930s showed that what they proposed was actually the case. Basically, it was shown that particles that are split remain somehow connected and in communication even at great distances. So if a particle has a total spin of 0 and it is split, and one half of the particle is measured or made to have a ½ right spin, the other half of the particle, even if it is kms away or even on the other side of the galaxy, will instantly have a ½ left spin to balance it out. And this information between particles is transferred faster than the speed of light. Which according to classical physics is not possible. And yet it happens. Einstein was not happy about this and called it ‘spooky action at a distance’ which is not a technical scientific term, but it is easy to remember.
Another famous scientist of the time, Erwin Schrödinger (famous for his Schrödinger’s cat thought experiment) looked at the whole phenomenon of how subatomic particles are both wave and particle at the same time, and are somehow connected even after being split, even if they are half a universe away. He called the whole scenario quantum entanglement. And that became the technical term.
So this is the point. At the most fundamental level of reality, everything is completely entangled. That’s the way God made our universe. There are connections and actions that defy our understanding of time and distance, and of wave and particle. Everything is so inter-connected to everything else at the foundational sub-atomic level that traditional categories of space and time cannot explain the depth of these connections. And this, in a nutshell, is what is called quantum entanglement.
Now, back to today’s Gospel reading.
This is the only substantial prayer of Jesus that we have apart from the Lord’s prayer, which is more of a template. In this prayer we have a glimpse into the heart and deepest concerns of Jesus as he was preparing for the cross.
The first thing we notice in today’s text, which is the final part of his prayer, is that Jesus is praying for us. ‘I ask not only on behalf of these here, but also on behalf of those who are yet to believe in me through their word.’ Think about that. Jesus prays for all those who are yet to believe. That’s us.
That alone, if nothing else sticks in your mind from this text, should bring comfort and peace. Jesus prayed for us – for you and me today.
But what exactly does he pray for? He prays that we might all be one. And in his prayer he reveals something of what this means. He does this by revealing who he is in relation to the Father and who he is in relation to us.
Jesus does this through the repetition of key words and ideas. It is something we find often in John’s Gospel. The key themes repeated in the next few verses are unity, love and glory. Like elsewhere in John’s Gospel, we find that these words and concepts are not simply repeated, but recur in every changing configurations that continue to fill out these key concepts.
For instance, in the case of the theme of unity or oneness we begin with Jesus’ wish that we might all be one. The foundation of this idea we then find is that Jesus is in the Father and the Father is in Jesus and that all of us who believe in Jesus are in this unity of Father and Son. Likewise, Jesus says, that he is also in us, and the Father is in him. And in this way Jesus says we are becoming ‘completely one’ so the world will see and know that the Father loves each of us just as he loves Jesus.
So the love that flows from Father to Son and Son to Father is the same love that flows to us, and between us. And we learn that this has been the case since before the physical world was founded.
And this famous prayer of Jesus finished not with an ‘amen,’ but with these words: ‘I made known your name 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.’
And that is the end of the prayer. Jesus concludes with the desire that the love of the Father which flows into the Son, with whom the Father is one, will also flow into us, and that Jesus will also be in us just as we are in him.
So now, and in the future, and from before time began, love and unity flow between Father and Son, and between the Son and us, and between us and the Father, and between all of us. And the glory of the Father is also the glory of the Son. And in following Jesus we reflect this glory back to the Father and we experience and see this glory ourselves.
Now, if that all sounds impossibly complex and interconnected, that is exactly the point.
This text sounds a lot like the situation of quantum entanglement that underlies all physical reality.
Perhaps we might call this divine entanglement. It is description of the complex interconnectedness which underlies all spiritual reality.
It makes sense that a God who creates a physical world so completely and mysteriously inter-connected or entangled would also produce a spiritual reality no less complex and interconnected.
But you might say, ‘This is all too complicated. How can we ever understand what Jesus is describing in this prayer? ‘
I would like to suggest that that is not the point.
Let’s think again about the world of quantum physics. Some time ago at a conference on the relationship between science and faith, I was asked how to tell if someone actually understood quantum theory, as there were (and still are) so many competing and contradictory explanations and understandings about what actually takes place at the quantum level.
My answer was that I could not tell them how to tell if someone understood quantum theory, but I could tell them how to tell if someone did not. This got their attention.
The simple test, I said, was that anyone who says they understand how the quantum world works, has no idea what they are talking about.
In the field of quantum mechanics, it is well known that basic principles, like uncertainty, action at a distance, wave particle duality, and entanglement work in practical application. But it is also well-known that no one really understands how or why these principles work.
Similarly, on the spiritual level, we do not know just how it is that Jesus and the Father and the Spirit are one. Nor do we fully understand just how we are one with Jesus and with each other. Or how he is in us and we are in him. Or how love and unity flow in every possible direction between Father, Son, and believers, or how all this is both still being ‘made known’ and has at the same time been true since before the foundation of the world.
But we know that it works. We know that if we think of the relationship of Father and Son in this way, and of our relationship with both Jesus and Father in this way, and the relationship that we have in unity and love also toward one another, that it works.
Understanding how it works is not a prerequisite for it working.
But if such things are too complex for us to understand, or at least fully understand, then why does Jeus bring it up? Why does Jesus pray in this way? And why does John record this complex prayer?
The reason is because John’s Gospel is about knowing who Jesus is as God, and about who we are in Jesus. It is about knowing what it means to be one with Jesus, who is also one with the Father. John’s Gospel is about the mutual circle of love between Father and Son, and between us and Jesus, and among one another.
So Jesus, in this prayer, is describing the reality that we are completely entangled in divine love and unity and glory. We may not understand the complexities of how it works any more than we are able to understand the complexities of the quantum world.
But we know that it works.
We know that we are safely entangled in the love of Jesus. We are bound up in unity with him and with the Father and with the Spirit. We are entangled and inextricably connected to all those who are also entangled in Christ’s love.
This divine entanglement that begins and concludes in the person of Jesus and in our relationship to him is not a mystery to be solved. It is a truth to take comfort in.
In Jesus, God has entangled us in his love, and in is very being. And we do not need to fully understand how this works to know that there is no better place to be than fully embrace and entangled in God’s love.
Amen.
Pastor Mark Worthing.
Port Macquarie.